Thankfully, most wall warts are just 2 prong. I usually being an extension cord specifically for those. That way, the small plug of the extension cord is the only thing talking up space on my strip

While I attempt to ask for "Tier 2 tech support". If I have some time, I will generally let the Tier 1 folks read from the queue cards. The way I see it is this: In the world of IT/IS, There is always something new to learn. Many of us don't have time to learn everything about everything we deal with, especially in the world where BYOD and unauthorized software conflicts occur. Sometimes, I may be surprised at a step they have me do that I may have forgotten. I jot it down while doing it and feel good that I learned something new/forgotten. Otherwise, if they stepped me though everything that I've done, then I feel good that I did everything the official company says to do. Also, there's no reason to be rude to these guys/gals. They have to talk to the same types of 'frequent flyers' as we do. They may only be doing this to advance in IT/IS; to be able to properly assume the person, on the other end of the phone, know to plug it in before complaining that it doesn't work.

Cloud computing seems to be taking off right now. However, I have an engineering friend who still gets paid to program ADA. I would focus on what type of programming (work) you would like to get (back) into and learn what language they tend to focus on. Best of luck to you!