Thinking back to my first big boiler job in 1998

I was out on a job near Gary, Indiana last week, and it reminded me of my first big install back in '98. Had a 300 horsepower Cleaver-Brooks that took me and my old foreman, Bill, three full days to get the tubes set right. Back then we didn't have half the fancy tools they got now, just a come-along and some patience. Anyone else look back at old jobs and think we had it harder or just different?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily_torres311mo ago

Three full days on a boiler sounds about right for 1998, but I'm not convinced it was harder. People act like come-alongs and patience were some kind of medieval torture, but it's just slow work. Fancy tools just mean you make the same mistakes faster now. Bill probably was just slow and you blame the tools. Maybe the real problem was Gary, Indiana.

hayden_craig951mo ago

@lily_torres31 is onto something bigger here. People love to claim "back in my day was harder" but it's just ego talking. Like how everyone says their first car was a junker and they loved it. Same with tools. Nobody wants to admit their job actually got easier. The real trick is seeing how people judge their own past work. Bill probably showed up hungover and blamed his tools. Same thing happens at grocery stores when people complain the self-checkout is too slow. They just want an excuse for their own bad luck or bad planning. Modern tools just expose bad habits faster. If you can't do a boiler in two days now, you would have taken a week back then. Time reveals skill level no matter what you're working with. Gary, Indiana was definitely the wild card in that whole situation though.

the_anthony1mo ago

@lily_torres31 is wrong, 1998 was harder and tubes didn't care about fancy tools.