I'm pretty sure that Scooter is a female dog.
Paul appears to be doing some sort of online or computer based electronics course. I'm not sure if he's etched any of his circuit boards or not. I haven't watched him closely enough. Etching can be done by marking the traces with a waterproof marker like a Sharpie and using an etchant like ferric chloride. It's not really that hard. I've etched circuit boards myself for converting a regular flashlight to using 48 white LEDs.
They probably don't need to work if their apartment is paid for by RLC. That may be why a lot of the RLC inhabitants spend a lot of time at home. RLC may encourage it.
A college education in Russia is pretty much free for citizens. That's why so many Russians have degrees, and are generally better educated than people in the U.S. Medical care is free also.