I begin this chapter with the story of my boss, Jim Howe, using his own words to relate his path through early work in his parents’ appliance-repair shop, through work as a welder in the Navy, and to shop ownership. Then, I describe Jim’s shop. At Howe’s, we repair and fabricate most anything, such as trailers, tractors, lawn mowers, ladders, dumpsters, and lawn art. Customers include farmers who work the vast fields of corn and soybeans outside Ames, employees from construction and other local businesses, city and county workers, and just regular people who have something that needs fixing. Work at Howe’s develops not just depth of knowledge but also breadth because we grapple with a wide range of projects. And in repairing and fabricating, we use a range of welding processes (namely stick, mig, tig, and oxyacetylene) and machining tools (such as lathes, drill presses, mills, press brakes, ironworkers, box-and-pan brakes, and shears) on not just steel but also aluminum and stainless and occasionally other metals. This project variety consistently challenges me, posing unfamiliar problems and necessitating help from someone who has already developed greater expertise in the relevant knowledge domain. That person is often, but not always, Jim.