Become a welding inspector. It's something I've always wanted to do. Learning to weld, itself, isn't that hard. You apprentice to learn all the other bullshit that goes with it, like blueprint reading.

Look into being a welding inspector, though. You'd essentially go around a job site and inspect welds, as the name implies. If they've done it wrong, you log it and have them grind it out and do it again. There's like a three day testing thing every year, check it out. Buy the materials, learn it, go test. You'll make more than welders if you get in the right place.

Apprenticing with a union just isn't worth it these days. The one here in central Alabama struggles to find work. And when they do, it ain't the new guys getting it.