Although he was a gifted musician, he was a plumber by trade and never played music professionally.

He's still driving the old boltbucket he drove while he was in school.

Good examples of job production would be a specially designed wedding ring or made-to-measure suits or the Yangtze dam in China.

But since the storm, modular houses, which range from simple shotgun-style cottages to fancy minimansions, are starting to appear across the Gulf Coast, as public officials and private citizens search for ways to speed the slow pace of recovery and begin experimenting with new forms of shelter.