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Rant: the new guy asked if we still use chalk lines and I felt ancient
This morning I was laying out a shell plate and pulled out my old chalk line, this beat up red one I've had since my first job in Norfolk back in 2003. The apprentice, fresh out of school, asked if that was 'still the standard' or if we just used lasers now. I laughed and showed him how the chalk line doesn't need batteries or a calibration check, and it works in the rain on a windy deck. He watched me snap a perfect line in about ten seconds and admitted he'd never even held one before. It got me thinking about all the little tools we take for granted that are still the backbone of this trade. Don't get me wrong, I use a laser for big radius marks, but for a straight reference line, nothing beats that snap. Anyone else got a tool they keep having to defend to the younger guys?
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laura_allen17d ago
My first year in the trade, I spent a whole afternoon snapping lines with a guy named Pete who kept calling me "kid" and telling me I held the chalk box like a girl. Now I'm the one handing it to some twenty year old and watching them look at it like it's a relic from a museum. I get it, lasers are cool and all, but there's something honest about a line that comes from gravity and a wet string. Plus, I've lost count of how many times my laser died on a job site, but I've never once had a chalk line tell me its battery was low. Honestly, the real kicker is when they ask if we have an app for that, and I just snap a line and say, "There's your app, it's called experience.
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