Since 1978 I have worked as a certified welder at a few different jobs:  repairing wrecked rail cars, building recycling equipment, and acting as a supervisor.  In 2008 when the economy faltered, my work place closed.  I was left without a job, and soon thereafter my wife lost her job, having been diagnosed with dementia.  I decided to stay home and care for her.

Over the years I had accumulated my own welding equipment and I decided to put it to use.  I was able to get some steel from my last workplace, and I used it to build five smokers.  I sold them almost immediately, and so decided to keep constructing them.  I now build 30 to 50 a year.