I just realized I've been on call for 20 years straight

It hit me when my pager went off last Tuesday, the same one I've had since 2004. I remember when we used to get a full set of paper prints for every job, and now it's all on a tablet. The tools are lighter and smarter, but I still keep my old feeler gauges in the truck. Anyone else been at this long enough to miss the sound of a relay rack chattering?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.parker2mo ago

Nostalgia for broken old gear is a trap. The new stuff just works better and my back thanks me every day.

felix_jones11d ago

Is it really the gear itself we miss though? I've been thinking about this the other day when I pulled my old beat up framing hammer out of the shed. It wasn't the tool that was good, it was how I felt using it - like I had earned every dent and scratch on that handle. My new gear works perfect and my hands don't ache at the end of the day, but it doesn't carry the weight of 10 years of mistakes and fixes. Maybe nostalgia isn't for the broken tool, it's for the version of ourselves that didn't know any better and still got the job done.

wrenstone2mo ago

Kept my old leather tool belt for the same reason. The new stuff works fine but it doesn't have the same soul.