[danielsmay1]

You realize that he said the machines were first made in the mid-70s?

If he stopped welding around the time that the Internet was taking off, that would mean that it was $5-7/hour in the early to mid 90s NOT 1970. The "now 20 years later" later in the comment backs this up.

$5-7/hour in the 1990 is $20-30k in 2019 money, which is about what your example mechanic is making.

[oblib]

You're right. 1990-92 is "about the time I quit" building vans for quadriplegics to drive and that's what I was referring to in regards to the $5-$7 per hour those companies I sub-contracted from were paying. And that was at most and it was not a "living" wage in Los Angeles back then.