Hit 10,000 hours on the job last month and I almost missed it

I was going through my old log book from the ConocoPhillips refinery turnaround in Billings and realized I crossed 10,000 hours on the tools. I started keeping count back in 2016 after a guy in the trailer said most guys never know when they hit their apprentice hours. The weird part is it didn't feel any different that day. I was still fighting a stuck tube plug and burning my knuckles on a header. My wife asked why I cared so much about a number and honestly I couldn't explain it good. I think it mattered because it meant I stuck with it through the layoffs and the 6 week job in North Dakota in January. Any of you guys keep a log or am I the only one weird about this?

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river19027d ago

My buddy Dave did the same thing with a log book and he hit his 10k during a shutdown in Texas, and he said the only reason he even noticed was because his kid spilled juice on the page and he had to re-add the whole month. He ended up framing the stupid page and hanging it in his garage next to a bent wrench from his first job. His wife gave him crap about it for a year but then she put it up in the living room when they moved. He told me the number itself didn't matter, it was proof he didn't quit when it got bad. Layoffs and that North Dakota cold will test you, so keeping count is just your way of saying you made it through. I never kept a log myself but now I kind of wish I had.

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