Wait though, a chalk pen doesn't really do the same job as those pencil ticks. The chalk is gonna wipe right off the top plate when you drag your tape or slide a board past it, same as a chalk line does. Pencil on raw wood at least digs into the grain a bit and sticks around longer. Where the pen shines is speed, not staying power. I still keep a carpenter pencil in my bags and hit the plates with it after the pen, takes two extra seconds and I'm not guessing when the chalk disappears halfway through the day. Basements are extra bad for it too, all that damp concrete dust floating around.

My cousin did the exact same thing you did, turned down a clerk gig in 2010, and honestly he's doing fine now. Not every office job is some golden ticket just cause it comes with a pension. Those clerk jobs can be dead boring, sure, but the bigger issue is you get stuck at that pay grade forever unless someone above you quits or dies. Meanwhile a call center gig taught you how to deal with people, and that skill moves with you anywhere. Your uncle got lucky with timing too, pensions for new hires got slashed all over the place after 2012. So you didn't blow some once in a lifetime shot, you just picked a different road, and those usually loop back around anyway lol.