Re: Seeking to become an amature microbiologist....

As someone who is delving deeper and deeper into this area, I have a few things to say.
First, be prepared to sacrafice HUGE amounts of spare time if you want to learn about the world of microbiology.
The second thing is, you will find so many 'things' that even for a professional microbiologist, it is very hard to put things into proper context. You may find something that looks wierd, and shouldn't be there, but it may be perfectly normal.
Be prepared to study medicine, because all systems are relative---digestive, lymphatic, etc.

Experience is the best way to go in the beginning ie. learning to use the tool.
I would recommend not spending less than 500USD for a decent scope. If you can get darkfield settings, all the better.
Learning to grow cultures is also an essential aspect to this type of study.
I would also pick a specialty. I chose immunology, which requires me to recognize the wide variety of cells, and their respective functions. Very good for blood analysis.
If you have other questions, I can try and answer them. Shroom