Smoked pork chops were my favorite meal as a kid - I still like them a lot now, too! Don't eat them that often, though, too many other yummy things out there competing for plate time!
Hopefully you can find a good camera shop that can fix it. Might have to travel up to Atlanta or somewhere to find a shop, but to save a $500 camera, it's be worth a drive.
I break the cocochar stix up (hit one against the other perpendicular) into roughly halves (they fit better in the basket). Go 3/4 full. Put a pile of regular lump (medium sized pieces) on the top and light them to help get the coco started.