Cleaned out my old work boot and found a 3-year-old time card from my first week pouring iron

I was getting ready to toss these beat up boots, the ones I wore when I started at the old Mid-State foundry. Shook one out and a crumpled, heat-warped time card fell on the floor. It was from my first full week on the floor, three years back this month. The total hours shocked me: 72. I just stared at it. I remember that week, being so tired I fell asleep in my truck before driving home. But looking at it now, that number isn't just hours. It's the week I stopped being scared of the furnace roar and started to hear the rhythm in it. That card is from when this job stopped being just a job for me. Has anyone else kept a weird little thing that takes you right back to when you were new?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulperry5d ago

Sounds like you just kept proof of being exploited for 72 hours.

adam_anderson65d ago

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. First thing you do is take screenshots of everything, then save the full logs. A simple text file with timestamps beats memory every time. What's your usual process for documenting this stuff?

valthomas5d ago

Honestly, that's a cool find, it's more about the memory than the hours. Paulperry, I get your point, but sometimes a tough week is just part of learning a real job.