Life was better. You were either an accountable adult or unemployed. Boss couldn’t reach you when you were off the clock and nothing was immediate life or death. Things still moved by mail and courier, no email.
They say tech advancement is good but it has not been good for the employees. Sure it makes my job easier but now I’m expected to be available always.
The mixer absolutely does not fit in a bucket, nor does a cut-off saw for at matter. Let's not even talk about the scaffolding. I am a carpenter and a mason, with my own business. I've got WAY more invested in the masonry side than carpentry tools. Most carpenter jobs can be dine with simple hand tools not so for masonry projects.
You're talking about job site carpentry/joinery, and even then, we have scaffolding, every single power tool under the sun, every single hand tool under the sun and then some.
This isn't even counting the machines in the workshop.
Well from my 24-ish years in site joinery in the UK, about 50% of the bricklayers have their own saw, they always use the contractors mixer and none have ever used their own scaffold, it's usually hired in by the contractor
I'm glad as a mfr that I am able to set a nail with out a hammer in my hand lol. I can only imagine that Framing has gotten so much easier. It's still hard work don't get me wrong, but thing about it. Lazer levels, cord less drill/saw. I don't know if yall had air compressors back then but I'm guessin hammers were always swingin.
In those days, old timers were having John Henry competitions to see if they were faster than an air nailer. The crazy part of it, was the reality that some were almost as fast as a nailer, because the skill was honed in during those days like six shooters of the Wild West!
My grandfather had a set of "cordless" tools from the late 80s. Catch was the battery was so frigging big that you had to wear it around your waist like a fanny pack.
He gave me the set in the early 2000s. The tools were made of metal. Could probably survive being run over by a tank. But the batteries were shot and there was no chance I could get them repaired or replaced.
I'd be happy to replace those batteries with some nice lithium cells like they use in modern tool batteries. Easy peasy.
Fr I'm in so cal if you are too I'd do it
I agree. I've only been in the trade since '02 and i remember running extension cords for power tools. Yeah, cordless drills were popular but there was nowhere near the variety of cordless tools as there are today. Porta-bands didn't exist. Cordless sawzalls were weak. We still used a hacksaw. Recently, I've seen cordless coring drills, rotary hammer drills, and even a battery powered pipe threader.
Laser? What the hell is that? Better go get your plumb bob
I use a battery powered hammer drill to anchor bottom plates in basements. I love how powerful battery powered tools have gotten, tool tech is advancing very quickly now
I started in commercial construction only 7 years ago and every SDS gun we had was corded. One day we spent more time chasing breakers poping due to extension cords and rain than we did actually drilling. Next day boss man shows up with 3 dewalt cordless SDS guns and I don't think the corded ones have been out since. At this point the only corded tools we use regularly are SDS Max and stationary tools.
dude people were hand banging nails in the 80s ill take my electronic shackle just to save my forearm. as a 29 year old carpenter I can't even imagine hand banging every nail framing a house.
I was a kid in the 80s so I don’t know but I sure can YouTube how to do stuff now, whereas before you’d either figure it out or someone had to show you I suppose.
But fuck being available without pay!
Yeah thats why i feel like not being a foreman with a company truck os better for my stress levels and life at this point. You have their truck and if an emergency comes up on site they say jump and unless you have a damn good reason you are almost obligated to say how high. I’m much happier as a lead hand personally.
I have much much more paperwork to do because it’s so easy to generate more forms and more inspections and more paperwork. The material and updates are available faster but nothing is easier.
You're on a leash, and the demands for higher and higher productivity make things tougher, not easier. Everything is now quantified in such a way as to make work far less enjoyable. Because the tasks are easier, you're expected to love your job, but there are lower benefits and downtime. Quality of life is lower.
The algorithm charges as much as possible for each and every purchase you make. The demand for ever-higher profits is untenable. All the technological factors at play behind the scenes conspire to make your life harder. But at least we don't live in some fascist dystopian hellscape, right?
Would have loved to live in those days, I'm born in late 80's so it's just a dream in my head. I'm a foreman for a mid size excavation company running 3-4 jobs at a time and it's between 80-100 phone calls everyday, 30-40 emails. Can't imagine what is like to be a super or PM.
Big complex projects were successfully built without all that technology. It's seems we like to complexify what should be simple. I thought technology was meant to simplify what was complex.
> It's seems we like to complexify what should be simple.
I think our right, we probably employ more people as project managers and bean counters, while we got rid of all the draftsmen and a bunch of engineers and architects.
>Sure it makes my job easier but now I’m expected to be available always.
I just switch off come the end of the working day and feel under no obligation to respond to work related communications outside of working hours.
First axiom of digital minimalism: is the technology in your life working for you? Or are YOU working for the technology?
If it's the latter, get rid of that tech and free your life up.
That’s kind of on you though. My phone is dead once I put in my 8-12 hours and if I’m running work you best believe I’m getting paid if they wanna work me after my contracted hours.
True story.
I worked in lower Manhattan from 1970 to the late 80s. I was friends with a bar owner and with one of his bartenders.
The bartender lived in a building owned by his boss, and the bartender used to tell me that "Charlie" had the key to his apartment, so if he missed work, he had to hide under the bed so "Charlie" couldn't find him.
I was told stories about bridge painters back in the day they would work sometimes 16 hr shifts and around 3-4 pm the boss would drop off a case of beer and an eight ball to keep them going. Man have times changed or have they? Lol
Old boarding crew my dad worked with (3 man, mid 70’s) placed a 60 of whiskey on a window sill, when the bottle was empty, day was done
And those igloo lunch boxes. They held beer, not food
No show, no dough. Employers were wa-a-a-y less permissive then, and not just in the trades. If you've got a job, you'd *best* show up, if you wanted to keep it.
One of my painting subs just learned the hard way. I gave them three chances to pull it together. We had a Come to Jesus talk after the second and I was crystal there will not be a fourth. But, he's got plenty of time to get hammered and play video games now.
Yup it sounds rough but I literally couldn't tell you how many subs I've had to replace before a job even started because they didn't feel like rolling out of bed.
There's other trades that are scheduled to come in after you, and even if youre the last set of subs to come in, my client and myself have to wait on you because you can't figure out how to use an alarm clock. If you dont respect other peoples time I wont give you any of mine.
my dad just hired a kid like this. 19 years old I think and he's been with us for 3~ months and already no call no showed 5-6 times and idk how many times he's been 10 minutes to several hours late, I think the only reason he's still with us is he's my dads brother in laws brother. We are in concrete so it's really crucial to be there on days we are pouring, He's been lucky enough to have 5 dependable guys (me included not to toot my own horn) I suppose you're bound to get someone like this eventually if you keep hiring.
This is how I've always run crews too. First one is for free, but two gets documented, signed by both parties, and we're having a real come to Jesus talk. Third one we say goodbye, won't be seeing you again. I try and be fair/flexible, but I have little tolerance for fuckery or disrespect.
This year has been educational for me. I'm growing my company and the subs that I had when we were fry said that they can handle the level we're working at now, but most can't. I blame myself for this because I let it slide for too long but I'm having to pull folks outside and flat tell them to Fing never ever say anything negative about the job in front of the client. Ever. They can call me an asshole to my face but in front of the client "everything is going great" "no problems" were really happy with how this is turning out".
I'm almost 39. I got my contractors license at like 25 and been doing it ever since. I came into this business greener than a Caribbean jungle and I refused to let the bad and complex nature of the job ruin my jovial and happy-to-help disposition.
It took me 10 years to learn that no good deed will go unpunished and that I cannot mix personal emotions with the black and white, set in stone nature of this business. My life has been very much less stressful since coming to these realizations and hardening my heart to the bullshit these grown ass men create in their own lives.
If someone is the type of person to get drunk on the jobsite ONCE, they are going to do it again. This is a guarantee. If they are the type to no-call no-show, they are going to do it again. If they are the type to steal tools or materials, they will do it again. If they lie about their hours, they will do it again.
People don't do this because they think its ok. They do it because they want to or it is just who they are. Same as people who show up every day and do a satisfactory job every single day. That is just who those people are.
Save yourself some gray hairs and just cut the losers out of the organization immediately. This also helps to weed out future losers, because winners do not like to work with losers so they will ridicule them and make them feel unwanted for you.
Good. Now learn it. Ingrain it into your being.
If you want to do some good in life, separate your feelings from your business. Use your business to make your more money so you can use it at your discretion to help others AWAY from work.
You can be this way in your personal life too. Just cut the losers out of your life. It's amazing how happy you can be in life without the folks who drag you down.
Tried this, and the judgment from family when you cut out the bad apple is unbelievable. I suppose some people are just too kind and caring. But when you do it in business, people ask why you did not do it sooner.
I am NC with some of my family. Good riddance! My family I still talk to isn't NC with them, so I constantly hear about how they're visiting and whatnot, but my life is great without them in it. Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world
Not a lot different in the basics no. My biggest gripe is I used to work all day without interruption. When I got home, I'd look at my answering machine to see if I had messages. Return calls as necessary.
Now I love the convenience of my phone, but I sorta dislike the interruptions.
Not sure what your situation is like, but you should be able to schedule your phone to enter Do Not Disturb automatically after a certain hour, and it'll auto-reply to texts informing you'll get back to them at X time. (I know this works for Android, not sure about iOS.)
You can also set out of office auto reply for email, too. Between x and y, send out of office message.
I really think **thee** biggest disservice that IT has done for the general public is not *making* people set this stuff on first use, without a way to disable it. I get that there are niche jobs out there, but unless you're a doctor or mortician, you should have set times that you are unavailable! It's something my company pushes hard for people who aren't on-call, and I really want more industries to adopt it by *default*.
As a builder I fought getting a cellphone.
I had a landline at my home office with an answering machine and a fax machine when those came available.
Same on the job. Part of my temp power poles was a landline telephone hookup...even had a fax onsite. We were at the forefront of technology.
I didn't want a cellphone because that little time between work and home was MINE. I was forced by my wife as she got one and of course the plan came with one for me. Flip phone.
If a worker didn't show I'd call them at home and leave a message on their answering machine. We'd deal with it later.
Honestly it happened less than today if I remember. Maybe the pace of communication was slower or expectations were different.
Today if a worker is dodging a call, text, email it is seen as intentional as there are really fewer excuses.
They were in the office in the am or late afternoon, sometimes lunch and off at a job during the other times. So you’d call early or end of the day and schedule it.
By the 80s, a lot of homes had answering machines, but I digress.
No, there was no phone tag. Before the end of the day you told your crew where to be the next morning and what time. Then they either showed up on time or got fired. It was that simple.
Cell phones have eliminated people planning ahead. When you know you're not going to easily be able to get a hold of someone for the next 12 hours, you make a plan and then you stick to that plan. You don't make last minute changes and expect people to pivot on the fly. Parents told their kids what time to be home. People discussed when and where they would meet up at the mall ahead of time.
Plus, why are you trying to call him? Tell him when to be where and what he needs to be doing. End of story. Don't call him at home. That's his off time.
When a guy doesn’t show up, I’m gunna call to find out. If it was the 80s I wouldn’t simple as that. I had a guy show up everyday for a year, no phone, no car. Then one day he vanished. He could be dead for all I know.
While this is true, I also deal with days and work that is time sensitive. If he’s gunna be late, thats different than not at all. I need to make changes/decisions on the fly to accommodate. Now a lot of this could be relieved if projects didn’t put ridiculous schedules and fines in place, but that isn’t the world we work in today.
If he’s gonna be late to the point where it impacts your schedule then he can stay home/go home.
Work your guys. Don’t work yourself *around* your guys. If one doesn’t show up on time, adjust your plan. Is this guys skill set so valuable that you have to know if he shows up or not? Better be a crane operator if the answer is yes.
Look at it this way: if I roll onto a site and I don’t have a specific tool, I’ve got to figure out how to get by without it, because the work is going to get done. Just next time I’ll make sure that tool is in the truck, or in your case, I’ll have a reliable hand.
Absolutely I agree with you. I would tell him to stay home, but within 30 minutes of start I’ll contact another site foreman and see if he can lend a guy for the day in the worst case scenario. Usually it just means a longer/harder work day for the guys onsite myself included.
What kind of bullshit logic is that? If I did a no call no show I would expect someone at work to give me a call as something could be wrong. Have you never ran a crew before? Calling people who didn’t show up is super common and expected.
>Contacting employees in the 80s
And 90s dude lol, and a lot of the early 2000s
Everyone having a cellphone at all times and as an expected thing is not as old as you think it is
You just didn't get a hold of people when they weren't home 🤷♂️
When you were all on site and the boss left and something came up that had questions it jyst waited until he showed back up and solved it
Times were great, it wasn't a big deal at all
I def found some value in the lack of screens, but we had all sorts of stupid shit going on then too. For instance with a answering machine, you got one chance. If you messed up your message there it went.
And if you wanted to find your friend, you might end up driving all over town. Wait...that part was kind of fun.
I graduated in 2010 and in high-school I had to pay like 25 cents to connect to the internet, and they where still pretty shitty. Definitely nowhere near smart phone state yet. Being expected to have a cell phone wasn't a thing untill a little after the 2000s
Had a foreman one time that kept trying to call my cellphone during work hours. I told him I ain't got time to BS, I got work to do, if he needs to talk he should get me a work phone or a walkie-talkie or something.
I had a boss ( part owner) who was pissed that I didn't have a cell phone, if he wanted to talk to me he would either have to phone my foreman or drive out to my jobsite to see me. Often it was just where was the last place you saw this tool or part.
Nearest boozer to job.But then again? That looks problematic but we were actually all on price work and we had made our money so the pub wasn't a slacking off exercise.
God I miss those days.....
Holy shit…someone just tell him the truth.
Yes. no shows were rampant.
It was a different time man.
Way more than today. People had lots of excuses. Rarely valid. Truthfully construction was a fairly tolerant environment to that kind of run of the mill shit headery at the time.
For most of the 80’s, if not all of them - manufacturing was still the king. Construction was its wild semi lucid cousin with a fairly low bar for entry. You couldn’t keep a factory job? You could work construction.
We started at 8am for shit sakes (not 630 am like today) People still didn’t show. Honestly unless they had a friend in the crew? No one really even cared to check up on them. Hell we probably left early anyways to go drink (and drive) and might catch up with them at the local topless bar. How mad could your manager be at you when he was already at the bar too since 2pm. He most likely told the owner he was visiting sites.
Don’t even get me started on how much people dicked around if you sent them out of town for a job ALL THE TIME.
I remember getting a fist full of change before leaving the shop…to use by leaving site to find a pay phone to call the shop with…to only find out the manager was not at his desk/in the building
True story, they had to put a phone in the office shitter…so you could talk to your manager via a pay phone while he crunched out a violent alcoholic shit AND told you how stupid you were….good…times?
The truth is accountability in construction in the 80’s was…awful…BUT it was a hard shitty job a lot of people didn’t want to do.
So, if you could show up when it counts? Were willing to put in long hours when they were there? Were a half assed decent human to be around?…well…people looked the other way for not showing up because you had a big night…leaving early because “fuck today”. Etc etc.
The company my old man worked for had a set schedule that the super would call at 7 pm and tell you where you were working the next day. I always think how did I find these jobs without GPS? I remember sometimes taking a ride the day before to the job just to make sure I wasn't late in the morning. I also remember writing directions down on paper to get me to the job. What a pain in ass now I just get a link and Google map it. So much easier then the old way lol
I inherited both the Thomas guide and the Directions book from my old man in the mid '00s. For those who don't know, the Thomas guide for a city had an index of street names, and it would direct you to the corresponding map and what grid on the map the street was on. The Directions book would have the streets listed alphabetically, and each street had a little paragraph that gave you directions starting from a nearby major cross street.
There were actually responsible, hard working people in that time so if you hired good people, you appreciated them and treated them right. This, of course gave them incentive to come to work and do the job. If you want responsible, honest, reliable workers then pay them and understand people make mistakes. These days, the one who works hard everyday doesn’t hear from a boss until he does one thing wrong, then all hell breaks loose. Employers who do this should lose their business license and have to go dig ditches. Plus you didn’t have workers pulling their cell phones out every ten minutes looking at Susie rotten crotch naked.
Home phone was the only way to reach people back in the day.
Beepers were not commercially available until the 90s. Prior to, these devices were almost exclusively available to doctors (drug dealers got them in the late 80s and early 90s).
Besides, people showed up to work and on time! Some were late and there were always a few fuck ups, who were promptly fired (unless they were related to the boss).
Things are very different today and not in a good way.
This is like the third comment I've read saying beepers were for drug dealers and doctors. My dad is certainly neither, but he had one because he was a telephone repairman and on call back then. He also had a phone in his truck and his car, both of which i thought were so badass
No cell phones was great.
Guy didn't show up? Who cares.
They knew to call you before bedtime or find another job.
Guys showed up.
And actually showed up, and knew how to do thier job.
And actually worked hard to get it done out if pride.
Now days guys got phones, texts, email, and dissappear..but most aren't missed because so many show up just for paycheck, no intentions or care about the job or being productive.
I fired over 63 Union fellow bridge workers in the last 15 years.
All were aware and warned.
If I hear anyone say. "Fuck it I get paid by the hour"
They're GONE right now. It's over.
45 years in the trades, it's worse every year
Useless Paper work
Training *safety, crane. Harassment, racism, LGBT bullshit"
We're there to do a job.
Companies take advantage now , you buy a $1000 phone se they can keep track of you, instead of talking face to face man to man .
We had answering machines kinda like voice mail, you'd just leave a message. Also, someone was usually home to answer the phone, and write down the message.
lotta business done in the local taverns. Companies were smaller, more local and guys were easier to find, albeit raging alcoholics half the time.
Pay phones and beepers were pretty popular too until cells became more affordable.
I was gonna say this. It’s crazy that if you didn’t show up one day you were fired. I almost don’t believe it. What if you were sick or had a family emergency?
We still have an 80s/90s culture of showing up to work 30-60 minutes early to hang out and drink coffee and bullshit. I find it more annoying to be woken up at 430 in the morning from a text saying their tummy hurts and won’t make it to work than I do having them not call or text at all
I was born in the mid 80s and my dad did construction his entire life. People called our house phone year around to see if my dad was interested in a job. He was a turn around guy, usually always working out of state. He’d work 6 months of the year.. 7/12s.. and usually take the other year off.. but if he got bored around the house or I guess if we needed the money he would start calling around to his buddies around the country seeing if they had a job for him.. he’d load up and roll out.. but yea.. always had people calling. We didn’t have cell phones.. I’d take a message “Toby called about a job in Idaho..”
You just.. called when they were home. Left a message. Obviously couldnt call in 15 mins before your shift, but I would pray I got the answering machine and not my boss lol.
Most of the people in here are full of shit. You could call in, you just had to do it before your boss left home or in the evening.
While this is true, we now live in a world where literally almost no one has a home phone or answering machine. So if he doesn’t got a cellphone? You’re fucked lol,
I’ve got better shit to do than chase people. If he calls me or comes in the next day with a decent excuse, I’ll deal with it then.
Right now I’ve got to keep working while down a man.
My union used to have a part of the contract where you had until noon the next day for it to be considered a no call no show. Freaking hilarious, “what if they’re in the drunk tank?”
I had a fax machine installed at my home. I was a supervisor for an electrical company. I had to get the crews time sheets and transcribe them from a carbon copy to a fax report and send it in daily. We had pagers . I drove a crane through DC and virgins using a paper road atlas for directions. No pay phone ? Oh well
Home phone or leash..(pager)answering machine messages (phone tag)people that want to work will call you to figure out which job they're going to be on.No-shows weren't much different.
I didn't get a cell phone til fall 2002, after I graduated that spring. My first three summers working I would call my boss from home or a pay phone if something came up. He had a cell phone, we were doing exterior work, a lot of roofing, on a different job every few days. Some big jobs would be a couple weeks. It was annoying as hell because cell phones existed but I just didn't have one
I remember a little notepad by the phone. My dad would get calls from the foreman and there would be little scratch-it notes next to the phone. Usually it was about job changes or hour changes or something like that
I wonder if any remote places actually use carrier pigeons, that would be so badass 😂
The chargehand for the section of a motorway we were working on insisted on having a key to our accomodation and if we werent outside when he arrived in the van he would come in and drag us out and sling is in the van
You only had to have that experience once and you were always up and ready
Fun Fact. Then employees were more responsible and had less work rights and obligations.
An irresponsible worker would never get on the site for a second chance
You called in sick to the office and brought proof from a doctor when you returned. Funerals required a clipped obituary from the local newspaper. You were either a responsible adult and reliable employee or you weren’t needed.
Emergencies weren’t emergencies unless something was actively spewing or the fire department was actually on site - and it was handled by whatever foreman and crew who had the misfortune to still be hanging around the job. Men would get all the way back home and have a message waiting or get a call to come back in if it was really bad. Today almost everything that are considered supposed ‘emergencies’ are usually just piss poor planning and scheduling issues - the terror fuel for the emergency fire is actually just the interest on the construction loan compounding - it’s not real and it’s not really an emergency. Like scheduling two trades to be simultaneously in the exact same space and criticizing both of them in a job meeting for not being finished- or this week on my job they put a huge industrial machine on the floor in spite of knowing pipe connections to fuel it had to be made above it’s location and they had forbidden us access to the area at the beginning. They created their own delays and emergency - it wasn’t real and it was easily avoidable but instead I had 17 calls and texts spread over 12-1/2 hours (because those never take any time and are always conducive to productivity) to try and hurry everything up.
With cell phones and unenforced labor laws that most managers and foremen don’t even know they’re violating - they disrespect reasonable boundaries and make it our problem. My company has learned the hard way I bill for every call and work related text after clocking out - because it is almost never an actual emergency or something that can’t be handled the next morning.
Almost everybody had a landline. Phone mounted to a wall somewhere with 20 feet of cord for the handset then we got really monitored and had handset that didn’t have a cord. Ooo.
You hired people you trusted and micromanagement was not a thing.
I personally worked in the field and checked in twice a day. I also worked off a calendar.
This sounds great. I purposely don’t answer my phone outside of work hours. That’s my time. No I don’t want to work Saturday at 9pm on a Friday evening
unless the company gives me a work phone, you wouldnt be able to contact me either. my personal phone isnt a way for you to contact me. youd just have to walk to where im working. pretty simple
My boss has been working construction since he was 14 (67 now) he has gotten work by word of mouth his entire life, (granted he has a cellphone now) he’s not super rich nor does he want to be. A simple life with Love and fulfilled by your own existence is all we look for. but Either you see em Sunday at church, on a job, or some mysterious other ways. Certainly an older style of gettin information and one heavily reliant on the grace of God. But what’s better than not getting 1000 phone calls a day. I’ve learned that if you give it all to God and still hold the willingness to work and do the Job right. God will provide. It just takes faith, something many of us and myself can always grow in. Thankful to work and serve.
Dude, we take sooooo much for granted. I am the grandson and son of masonry contractors. I remember my dad stressing big time about having the crew list and having to contact sometimes up to 80 people to get them to site. This on top of having to bid projects off of full sized sheets. No pdfs with auto scaling. I can now do in probably 20 minutes what he’s spend half of days, and a whole lot of evenings, doing.
On a related note, I can’t wait for AI bidding programs to do my bids, takeoff, shops, and scheduling for me. I’m gonna have so much free time to spend just staring out a window.
In the 80s if someone didn't show up you'd pop down to the nearest pub and ask if anyone was looking for a job for the day.
Was about to say, in the 80s they probably just asked you where tf you were the next day, or told you to pack up next time you showed up
Life was better. You were either an accountable adult or unemployed. Boss couldn’t reach you when you were off the clock and nothing was immediate life or death. Things still moved by mail and courier, no email. They say tech advancement is good but it has not been good for the employees. Sure it makes my job easier but now I’m expected to be available always.
Has it made your job easier? Or just faster?
My job has gotten a lot harder
Have you ever heard of a star chisel? I have never had to drill a hole with a hammer. Our jobs have gotten immeasurably easier since the 80s.
Tell that to us bricklayers 😂
Bricklayers carry everything they need in a single bucket, whereas joiners/carpenters need a can with many thousands with of tools
The mixer absolutely does not fit in a bucket, nor does a cut-off saw for at matter. Let's not even talk about the scaffolding. I am a carpenter and a mason, with my own business. I've got WAY more invested in the masonry side than carpentry tools. Most carpenter jobs can be dine with simple hand tools not so for masonry projects.
You're talking about job site carpentry/joinery, and even then, we have scaffolding, every single power tool under the sun, every single hand tool under the sun and then some. This isn't even counting the machines in the workshop.
Well from my 24-ish years in site joinery in the UK, about 50% of the bricklayers have their own saw, they always use the contractors mixer and none have ever used their own scaffold, it's usually hired in by the contractor
Dude buy a truck already
Yeah I'm not in Yankee doodle land dude, far more storage/versatility in a van
I'm glad as a mfr that I am able to set a nail with out a hammer in my hand lol. I can only imagine that Framing has gotten so much easier. It's still hard work don't get me wrong, but thing about it. Lazer levels, cord less drill/saw. I don't know if yall had air compressors back then but I'm guessin hammers were always swingin.
In those days, old timers were having John Henry competitions to see if they were faster than an air nailer. The crazy part of it, was the reality that some were almost as fast as a nailer, because the skill was honed in during those days like six shooters of the Wild West!
We were nuking countries in the 40s. The 80s weren’t the Stone Age, they just had no cordless tools unless you were an astronaut.
My grandfather had a set of "cordless" tools from the late 80s. Catch was the battery was so frigging big that you had to wear it around your waist like a fanny pack. He gave me the set in the early 2000s. The tools were made of metal. Could probably survive being run over by a tank. But the batteries were shot and there was no chance I could get them repaired or replaced.
I'd be happy to replace those batteries with some nice lithium cells like they use in modern tool batteries. Easy peasy. Fr I'm in so cal if you are too I'd do it
I hope you kept those tools, it's very doable to replace any batteries
I agree. I've only been in the trade since '02 and i remember running extension cords for power tools. Yeah, cordless drills were popular but there was nowhere near the variety of cordless tools as there are today. Porta-bands didn't exist. Cordless sawzalls were weak. We still used a hacksaw. Recently, I've seen cordless coring drills, rotary hammer drills, and even a battery powered pipe threader. Laser? What the hell is that? Better go get your plumb bob
I use a battery powered hammer drill to anchor bottom plates in basements. I love how powerful battery powered tools have gotten, tool tech is advancing very quickly now
I started in commercial construction only 7 years ago and every SDS gun we had was corded. One day we spent more time chasing breakers poping due to extension cords and rain than we did actually drilling. Next day boss man shows up with 3 dewalt cordless SDS guns and I don't think the corded ones have been out since. At this point the only corded tools we use regularly are SDS Max and stationary tools.
Or a water level!
Star chisel? Have you been working since the 1880' s
I used one in 90’s. 1990’s. Survey marks in kerb.
dude people were hand banging nails in the 80s ill take my electronic shackle just to save my forearm. as a 29 year old carpenter I can't even imagine hand banging every nail framing a house.
Haha. Used to use star chisel in the 90’s putting in survey marks in concrete kerb.
I was a kid in the 80s so I don’t know but I sure can YouTube how to do stuff now, whereas before you’d either figure it out or someone had to show you I suppose. But fuck being available without pay!
You said but fuck.
I also do that without pay.
Yeah thats why i feel like not being a foreman with a company truck os better for my stress levels and life at this point. You have their truck and if an emergency comes up on site they say jump and unless you have a damn good reason you are almost obligated to say how high. I’m much happier as a lead hand personally.
I have much much more paperwork to do because it’s so easy to generate more forms and more inspections and more paperwork. The material and updates are available faster but nothing is easier.
Or drowned it in a series of internet based, useless tasks.
You're on a leash, and the demands for higher and higher productivity make things tougher, not easier. Everything is now quantified in such a way as to make work far less enjoyable. Because the tasks are easier, you're expected to love your job, but there are lower benefits and downtime. Quality of life is lower. The algorithm charges as much as possible for each and every purchase you make. The demand for ever-higher profits is untenable. All the technological factors at play behind the scenes conspire to make your life harder. But at least we don't live in some fascist dystopian hellscape, right?
You should write a novel. Not being sarcastic.
Become a writer.
Would have loved to live in those days, I'm born in late 80's so it's just a dream in my head. I'm a foreman for a mid size excavation company running 3-4 jobs at a time and it's between 80-100 phone calls everyday, 30-40 emails. Can't imagine what is like to be a super or PM. Big complex projects were successfully built without all that technology. It's seems we like to complexify what should be simple. I thought technology was meant to simplify what was complex.
> It's seems we like to complexify what should be simple. I think our right, we probably employ more people as project managers and bean counters, while we got rid of all the draftsmen and a bunch of engineers and architects.
>Sure it makes my job easier but now I’m expected to be available always. I just switch off come the end of the working day and feel under no obligation to respond to work related communications outside of working hours.
And say goodbye to all future prospects.
I'm progressing pretty well in my career actually...
First axiom of digital minimalism: is the technology in your life working for you? Or are YOU working for the technology? If it's the latter, get rid of that tech and free your life up.
Those “tech bros” are some of the worst humans.
That’s kind of on you though. My phone is dead once I put in my 8-12 hours and if I’m running work you best believe I’m getting paid if they wanna work me after my contracted hours.
“They don’t build ‘em like they used to!”
True story. I worked in lower Manhattan from 1970 to the late 80s. I was friends with a bar owner and with one of his bartenders. The bartender lived in a building owned by his boss, and the bartender used to tell me that "Charlie" had the key to his apartment, so if he missed work, he had to hide under the bed so "Charlie" couldn't find him.
I wish you’d picked a different name. I thought he was a paranoid Vietnam vet and this was so confusing at first.
I'm not convinced that's *not* the case.
Always have coke on the plan table.
Helps with production speed too!
I was told stories about bridge painters back in the day they would work sometimes 16 hr shifts and around 3-4 pm the boss would drop off a case of beer and an eight ball to keep them going. Man have times changed or have they? Lol
Old boarding crew my dad worked with (3 man, mid 70’s) placed a 60 of whiskey on a window sill, when the bottle was empty, day was done And those igloo lunch boxes. They held beer, not food
They are perfectly sized for a six pack of standard cans and a handful of ice. Pretty sure it was intentional in the design
Guys I work with used to get beers and steaks on their 1-2hr lunch break, paid btw. Boss man wasn’t trying to get rich back then.
You make more consistent money keeping your men happy. If you make 99% and they get 1 then they're bound to find a better arrangement somewhere else
No show, no dough. Employers were wa-a-a-y less permissive then, and not just in the trades. If you've got a job, you'd *best* show up, if you wanted to keep it.
One of my painting subs just learned the hard way. I gave them three chances to pull it together. We had a Come to Jesus talk after the second and I was crystal there will not be a fourth. But, he's got plenty of time to get hammered and play video games now.
> I was crystal there will not be a fourth It's a painter, you should have been offering crystal.
Yup it sounds rough but I literally couldn't tell you how many subs I've had to replace before a job even started because they didn't feel like rolling out of bed. There's other trades that are scheduled to come in after you, and even if youre the last set of subs to come in, my client and myself have to wait on you because you can't figure out how to use an alarm clock. If you dont respect other peoples time I wont give you any of mine.
Yeah, that's pretty generous.
my dad just hired a kid like this. 19 years old I think and he's been with us for 3~ months and already no call no showed 5-6 times and idk how many times he's been 10 minutes to several hours late, I think the only reason he's still with us is he's my dads brother in laws brother. We are in concrete so it's really crucial to be there on days we are pouring, He's been lucky enough to have 5 dependable guys (me included not to toot my own horn) I suppose you're bound to get someone like this eventually if you keep hiring.
This is how I've always run crews too. First one is for free, but two gets documented, signed by both parties, and we're having a real come to Jesus talk. Third one we say goodbye, won't be seeing you again. I try and be fair/flexible, but I have little tolerance for fuckery or disrespect.
This year has been educational for me. I'm growing my company and the subs that I had when we were fry said that they can handle the level we're working at now, but most can't. I blame myself for this because I let it slide for too long but I'm having to pull folks outside and flat tell them to Fing never ever say anything negative about the job in front of the client. Ever. They can call me an asshole to my face but in front of the client "everything is going great" "no problems" were really happy with how this is turning out".
I'm almost 39. I got my contractors license at like 25 and been doing it ever since. I came into this business greener than a Caribbean jungle and I refused to let the bad and complex nature of the job ruin my jovial and happy-to-help disposition. It took me 10 years to learn that no good deed will go unpunished and that I cannot mix personal emotions with the black and white, set in stone nature of this business. My life has been very much less stressful since coming to these realizations and hardening my heart to the bullshit these grown ass men create in their own lives. If someone is the type of person to get drunk on the jobsite ONCE, they are going to do it again. This is a guarantee. If they are the type to no-call no-show, they are going to do it again. If they are the type to steal tools or materials, they will do it again. If they lie about their hours, they will do it again. People don't do this because they think its ok. They do it because they want to or it is just who they are. Same as people who show up every day and do a satisfactory job every single day. That is just who those people are. Save yourself some gray hairs and just cut the losers out of the organization immediately. This also helps to weed out future losers, because winners do not like to work with losers so they will ridicule them and make them feel unwanted for you.
You are wise beyond your years! And your last line is 100% correct. The trash takes itself out.
"No good deed goes unpunished" - felt that.
Good. Now learn it. Ingrain it into your being. If you want to do some good in life, separate your feelings from your business. Use your business to make your more money so you can use it at your discretion to help others AWAY from work.
You can be this way in your personal life too. Just cut the losers out of your life. It's amazing how happy you can be in life without the folks who drag you down.
Tried this, and the judgment from family when you cut out the bad apple is unbelievable. I suppose some people are just too kind and caring. But when you do it in business, people ask why you did not do it sooner.
I was referring to friends. Family is a whole other complicated ball of wax. But you gotta do things sometimes.
I am NC with some of my family. Good riddance! My family I still talk to isn't NC with them, so I constantly hear about how they're visiting and whatnot, but my life is great without them in it. Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world
Hell yeah, well said brother. 👏
>But, he's got plenty of time to get hammered and play video games now. And prolly smoke weed too
They're boomer ex-bikers. Tequila and some racing game they spent four jobs profits on rigs for.
these dudes sound awesome lol
Great guys. Not great to work with.
Prolly smoke weed, too
There was a phone in the superintendents trailer. Or go 1/2 a block to the nearest pay phone. 25 cents
[удалено]
Not a lot different in the basics no. My biggest gripe is I used to work all day without interruption. When I got home, I'd look at my answering machine to see if I had messages. Return calls as necessary. Now I love the convenience of my phone, but I sorta dislike the interruptions.
Not sure what your situation is like, but you should be able to schedule your phone to enter Do Not Disturb automatically after a certain hour, and it'll auto-reply to texts informing you'll get back to them at X time. (I know this works for Android, not sure about iOS.) You can also set out of office auto reply for email, too. Between x and y, send out of office message. I really think **thee** biggest disservice that IT has done for the general public is not *making* people set this stuff on first use, without a way to disable it. I get that there are niche jobs out there, but unless you're a doctor or mortician, you should have set times that you are unavailable! It's something my company pushes hard for people who aren't on-call, and I really want more industries to adopt it by *default*.
Yeah, I know about it, but I have never set the do not disturb message. I do simply ignore certain people until after work, though.
While driving? I use drive time to add to the other 80 calls I field a day
The early 80’s was a major recession and people with a good job showed up.
As a builder I fought getting a cellphone. I had a landline at my home office with an answering machine and a fax machine when those came available. Same on the job. Part of my temp power poles was a landline telephone hookup...even had a fax onsite. We were at the forefront of technology. I didn't want a cellphone because that little time between work and home was MINE. I was forced by my wife as she got one and of course the plan came with one for me. Flip phone. If a worker didn't show I'd call them at home and leave a message on their answering machine. We'd deal with it later. Honestly it happened less than today if I remember. Maybe the pace of communication was slower or expectations were different. Today if a worker is dodging a call, text, email it is seen as intentional as there are really fewer excuses.
They were in the office in the am or late afternoon, sometimes lunch and off at a job during the other times. So you’d call early or end of the day and schedule it.
By the 80s, a lot of homes had answering machines, but I digress. No, there was no phone tag. Before the end of the day you told your crew where to be the next morning and what time. Then they either showed up on time or got fired. It was that simple. Cell phones have eliminated people planning ahead. When you know you're not going to easily be able to get a hold of someone for the next 12 hours, you make a plan and then you stick to that plan. You don't make last minute changes and expect people to pivot on the fly. Parents told their kids what time to be home. People discussed when and where they would meet up at the mall ahead of time. Plus, why are you trying to call him? Tell him when to be where and what he needs to be doing. End of story. Don't call him at home. That's his off time.
When a guy doesn’t show up, I’m gunna call to find out. If it was the 80s I wouldn’t simple as that. I had a guy show up everyday for a year, no phone, no car. Then one day he vanished. He could be dead for all I know.
It’s his responsibility to call you. It’s not yours to find out where your guys are. They’re either there, or they’re not.
While this is true, I also deal with days and work that is time sensitive. If he’s gunna be late, thats different than not at all. I need to make changes/decisions on the fly to accommodate. Now a lot of this could be relieved if projects didn’t put ridiculous schedules and fines in place, but that isn’t the world we work in today.
If he’s gonna be late to the point where it impacts your schedule then he can stay home/go home. Work your guys. Don’t work yourself *around* your guys. If one doesn’t show up on time, adjust your plan. Is this guys skill set so valuable that you have to know if he shows up or not? Better be a crane operator if the answer is yes. Look at it this way: if I roll onto a site and I don’t have a specific tool, I’ve got to figure out how to get by without it, because the work is going to get done. Just next time I’ll make sure that tool is in the truck, or in your case, I’ll have a reliable hand.
Absolutely I agree with you. I would tell him to stay home, but within 30 minutes of start I’ll contact another site foreman and see if he can lend a guy for the day in the worst case scenario. Usually it just means a longer/harder work day for the guys onsite myself included.
What kind of bullshit logic is that? If I did a no call no show I would expect someone at work to give me a call as something could be wrong. Have you never ran a crew before? Calling people who didn’t show up is super common and expected.
Yeah, running crews for 15 years and I’ve had exactly 2 no call no shows the entire time.
Did you call them when they didn’t show up?
If someone is a NCNS do you really think they’ll answer if I call them?
Yeah they might. Be a better person, you sound like a selfish asshole.
And yet here I am making more money than ever, no issues with my site guys, and road crew only turns me down when they’re booked.
Hahahaha you should write a book about your achievements
I have had that happen a couple of times. Bleak.
If it’s enough of a problem they also had a saying in the 80’s: “Your services are no longer required.”
Yup. And they now have to get up, get dressed, load up, drive out, and THEN get fired. They'll learn. Or not.
Early morning calls or night calls no shows no job life was simple back then
>Contacting employees in the 80s And 90s dude lol, and a lot of the early 2000s Everyone having a cellphone at all times and as an expected thing is not as old as you think it is You just didn't get a hold of people when they weren't home 🤷♂️ When you were all on site and the boss left and something came up that had questions it jyst waited until he showed back up and solved it Times were great, it wasn't a big deal at all
I wish I was born sooner.
I def found some value in the lack of screens, but we had all sorts of stupid shit going on then too. For instance with a answering machine, you got one chance. If you messed up your message there it went. And if you wanted to find your friend, you might end up driving all over town. Wait...that part was kind of fun.
I graduated in 2010 and in high-school I had to pay like 25 cents to connect to the internet, and they where still pretty shitty. Definitely nowhere near smart phone state yet. Being expected to have a cell phone wasn't a thing untill a little after the 2000s
Had a foreman one time that kept trying to call my cellphone during work hours. I told him I ain't got time to BS, I got work to do, if he needs to talk he should get me a work phone or a walkie-talkie or something.
I had a boss ( part owner) who was pissed that I didn't have a cell phone, if he wanted to talk to me he would either have to phone my foreman or drive out to my jobsite to see me. Often it was just where was the last place you saw this tool or part.
Nearest boozer to job.But then again? That looks problematic but we were actually all on price work and we had made our money so the pub wasn't a slacking off exercise. God I miss those days.....
Beepers the old foreman says
I had "Phantom beeper vibrations" for years after I finally got rid of the last one.
Holy shit…someone just tell him the truth. Yes. no shows were rampant. It was a different time man. Way more than today. People had lots of excuses. Rarely valid. Truthfully construction was a fairly tolerant environment to that kind of run of the mill shit headery at the time. For most of the 80’s, if not all of them - manufacturing was still the king. Construction was its wild semi lucid cousin with a fairly low bar for entry. You couldn’t keep a factory job? You could work construction. We started at 8am for shit sakes (not 630 am like today) People still didn’t show. Honestly unless they had a friend in the crew? No one really even cared to check up on them. Hell we probably left early anyways to go drink (and drive) and might catch up with them at the local topless bar. How mad could your manager be at you when he was already at the bar too since 2pm. He most likely told the owner he was visiting sites. Don’t even get me started on how much people dicked around if you sent them out of town for a job ALL THE TIME. I remember getting a fist full of change before leaving the shop…to use by leaving site to find a pay phone to call the shop with…to only find out the manager was not at his desk/in the building True story, they had to put a phone in the office shitter…so you could talk to your manager via a pay phone while he crunched out a violent alcoholic shit AND told you how stupid you were….good…times? The truth is accountability in construction in the 80’s was…awful…BUT it was a hard shitty job a lot of people didn’t want to do. So, if you could show up when it counts? Were willing to put in long hours when they were there? Were a half assed decent human to be around?…well…people looked the other way for not showing up because you had a big night…leaving early because “fuck today”. Etc etc.
I want to hear more of your stories
You’re too kind.
Well said,
The company my old man worked for had a set schedule that the super would call at 7 pm and tell you where you were working the next day. I always think how did I find these jobs without GPS? I remember sometimes taking a ride the day before to the job just to make sure I wasn't late in the morning. I also remember writing directions down on paper to get me to the job. What a pain in ass now I just get a link and Google map it. So much easier then the old way lol
my dad always used the Thomas guide
I inherited both the Thomas guide and the Directions book from my old man in the mid '00s. For those who don't know, the Thomas guide for a city had an index of street names, and it would direct you to the corresponding map and what grid on the map the street was on. The Directions book would have the streets listed alphabetically, and each street had a little paragraph that gave you directions starting from a nearby major cross street.
Beepers and landlines
Beepers where for doctors and dealers
One of the labourers in the early 80's had a beeper, but then again he was supplying drugs to about 10 construction sites.
My pops had one being a GF for a very large electrical contractor back in the mid 80's. Along with a small spiral bound book for all his contacts.
In the 80s there was high unemployment. Employees were the ones who had to worry about making contact with the boss.
There were actually responsible, hard working people in that time so if you hired good people, you appreciated them and treated them right. This, of course gave them incentive to come to work and do the job. If you want responsible, honest, reliable workers then pay them and understand people make mistakes. These days, the one who works hard everyday doesn’t hear from a boss until he does one thing wrong, then all hell breaks loose. Employers who do this should lose their business license and have to go dig ditches. Plus you didn’t have workers pulling their cell phones out every ten minutes looking at Susie rotten crotch naked.
You show up Friday or you don't come in Monday
Home phone was the only way to reach people back in the day. Beepers were not commercially available until the 90s. Prior to, these devices were almost exclusively available to doctors (drug dealers got them in the late 80s and early 90s). Besides, people showed up to work and on time! Some were late and there were always a few fuck ups, who were promptly fired (unless they were related to the boss). Things are very different today and not in a good way.
This is like the third comment I've read saying beepers were for drug dealers and doctors. My dad is certainly neither, but he had one because he was a telephone repairman and on call back then. He also had a phone in his truck and his car, both of which i thought were so badass
Your dad is a badass! He was probably a tier 1 tech as well. Of course, telephone techs (depending on level) had beepers.
Salesmen were the first adopters of phone tech. Miss a call, miss a deal.
No cell phones was great. Guy didn't show up? Who cares. They knew to call you before bedtime or find another job. Guys showed up. And actually showed up, and knew how to do thier job. And actually worked hard to get it done out if pride. Now days guys got phones, texts, email, and dissappear..but most aren't missed because so many show up just for paycheck, no intentions or care about the job or being productive. I fired over 63 Union fellow bridge workers in the last 15 years. All were aware and warned. If I hear anyone say. "Fuck it I get paid by the hour" They're GONE right now. It's over. 45 years in the trades, it's worse every year Useless Paper work Training *safety, crane. Harassment, racism, LGBT bullshit" We're there to do a job. Companies take advantage now , you buy a $1000 phone se they can keep track of you, instead of talking face to face man to man .
We had answering machines kinda like voice mail, you'd just leave a message. Also, someone was usually home to answer the phone, and write down the message.
No shows called in or got fired.
If it wasn't raining, sometimes we used smoke signals.
Previous generations had job security and spoke to each other.
Exactly. And you made a plan once and stuck to it. Now people will assume a plan is cancelled if you don't confirm it again later
Life was nicer. People showed up on time
It’s called work ethic. Some have it, some don’t
You communicate with him what time and where he needs to be the next day before he leaves. Why is that difficult?
Because good help is hard to find, and accountability is at an all time low.
lotta business done in the local taverns. Companies were smaller, more local and guys were easier to find, albeit raging alcoholics half the time. Pay phones and beepers were pretty popular too until cells became more affordable.
We planned ahead and told people where to be the next work day. Guys would seldom no-show. They'd show up sick, hungover, with broken bones, etc.
You showed up for work when you were expected to show up. If you couldn't make it in to work for some reason you phones work to let them know.
Lol you old timers are hilarious. Miss one day and you're canned? Did you spend all your time looking for guys?
I was gonna say this. It’s crazy that if you didn’t show up one day you were fired. I almost don’t believe it. What if you were sick or had a family emergency?
What else did they have to do back then? Scroll the local paper for 10 minutes and that's all you had
No show meant no job. It was a simple time.
No cell phones in the 80’s. Damn I miss those times.
If you wanted to keep your job, you called the boss. Not the other way around.
We still have an 80s/90s culture of showing up to work 30-60 minutes early to hang out and drink coffee and bullshit. I find it more annoying to be woken up at 430 in the morning from a text saying their tummy hurts and won’t make it to work than I do having them not call or text at all
People didn't need 2 jobs to make ends meet in the 80'. But yeah, today people will rely on their phones so much, it's crazy.
Land lines
I’m envious of a guy with no phone lol
I was born in the mid 80s and my dad did construction his entire life. People called our house phone year around to see if my dad was interested in a job. He was a turn around guy, usually always working out of state. He’d work 6 months of the year.. 7/12s.. and usually take the other year off.. but if he got bored around the house or I guess if we needed the money he would start calling around to his buddies around the country seeing if they had a job for him.. he’d load up and roll out.. but yea.. always had people calling. We didn’t have cell phones.. I’d take a message “Toby called about a job in Idaho..”
If you want him to use a phone for work purposes you need to give him a phone.
You just.. called when they were home. Left a message. Obviously couldnt call in 15 mins before your shift, but I would pray I got the answering machine and not my boss lol. Most of the people in here are full of shit. You could call in, you just had to do it before your boss left home or in the evening.
While this is true, we now live in a world where literally almost no one has a home phone or answering machine. So if he doesn’t got a cellphone? You’re fucked lol,
I’ve got better shit to do than chase people. If he calls me or comes in the next day with a decent excuse, I’ll deal with it then. Right now I’ve got to keep working while down a man.
My union used to have a part of the contract where you had until noon the next day for it to be considered a no call no show. Freaking hilarious, “what if they’re in the drunk tank?”
Pagers
I had a fax machine installed at my home. I was a supervisor for an electrical company. I had to get the crews time sheets and transcribe them from a carbon copy to a fax report and send it in daily. We had pagers . I drove a crane through DC and virgins using a paper road atlas for directions. No pay phone ? Oh well
Home phone or leash..(pager)answering machine messages (phone tag)people that want to work will call you to figure out which job they're going to be on.No-shows weren't much different.
I didn't get a cell phone til fall 2002, after I graduated that spring. My first three summers working I would call my boss from home or a pay phone if something came up. He had a cell phone, we were doing exterior work, a lot of roofing, on a different job every few days. Some big jobs would be a couple weeks. It was annoying as hell because cell phones existed but I just didn't have one
I remember a little notepad by the phone. My dad would get calls from the foreman and there would be little scratch-it notes next to the phone. Usually it was about job changes or hour changes or something like that I wonder if any remote places actually use carrier pigeons, that would be so badass 😂
The chargehand for the section of a motorway we were working on insisted on having a key to our accomodation and if we werent outside when he arrived in the van he would come in and drag us out and sling is in the van You only had to have that experience once and you were always up and ready
Fun Fact. Then employees were more responsible and had less work rights and obligations. An irresponsible worker would never get on the site for a second chance
How did he get a job with no phone number?
Called the foreman 1 & 1/2 hr before work time or left a message on his answering machine
You called in sick to the office and brought proof from a doctor when you returned. Funerals required a clipped obituary from the local newspaper. You were either a responsible adult and reliable employee or you weren’t needed. Emergencies weren’t emergencies unless something was actively spewing or the fire department was actually on site - and it was handled by whatever foreman and crew who had the misfortune to still be hanging around the job. Men would get all the way back home and have a message waiting or get a call to come back in if it was really bad. Today almost everything that are considered supposed ‘emergencies’ are usually just piss poor planning and scheduling issues - the terror fuel for the emergency fire is actually just the interest on the construction loan compounding - it’s not real and it’s not really an emergency. Like scheduling two trades to be simultaneously in the exact same space and criticizing both of them in a job meeting for not being finished- or this week on my job they put a huge industrial machine on the floor in spite of knowing pipe connections to fuel it had to be made above it’s location and they had forbidden us access to the area at the beginning. They created their own delays and emergency - it wasn’t real and it was easily avoidable but instead I had 17 calls and texts spread over 12-1/2 hours (because those never take any time and are always conducive to productivity) to try and hurry everything up. With cell phones and unenforced labor laws that most managers and foremen don’t even know they’re violating - they disrespect reasonable boundaries and make it our problem. My company has learned the hard way I bill for every call and work related text after clocking out - because it is almost never an actual emergency or something that can’t be handled the next morning.
Almost everybody had a landline. Phone mounted to a wall somewhere with 20 feet of cord for the handset then we got really monitored and had handset that didn’t have a cord. Ooo.
Landline phone or a nearby buddy who would take a message and pass it along. Very civilized and it worked.
Be on the job at 8 or look for another job…
In the 80’s , if you wanted to get paid, you showed up. If you didn’t you’d either not have a job or have a face to face the next morning. Simple
You hired people you trusted and micromanagement was not a thing. I personally worked in the field and checked in twice a day. I also worked off a calendar.
You called their home number. If not there or no one answers, then oh well.
Walkie talkies.
This sounds great. I purposely don’t answer my phone outside of work hours. That’s my time. No I don’t want to work Saturday at 9pm on a Friday evening
unless the company gives me a work phone, you wouldnt be able to contact me either. my personal phone isnt a way for you to contact me. youd just have to walk to where im working. pretty simple
My boss has been working construction since he was 14 (67 now) he has gotten work by word of mouth his entire life, (granted he has a cellphone now) he’s not super rich nor does he want to be. A simple life with Love and fulfilled by your own existence is all we look for. but Either you see em Sunday at church, on a job, or some mysterious other ways. Certainly an older style of gettin information and one heavily reliant on the grace of God. But what’s better than not getting 1000 phone calls a day. I’ve learned that if you give it all to God and still hold the willingness to work and do the Job right. God will provide. It just takes faith, something many of us and myself can always grow in. Thankful to work and serve.
Dude, we take sooooo much for granted. I am the grandson and son of masonry contractors. I remember my dad stressing big time about having the crew list and having to contact sometimes up to 80 people to get them to site. This on top of having to bid projects off of full sized sheets. No pdfs with auto scaling. I can now do in probably 20 minutes what he’s spend half of days, and a whole lot of evenings, doing. On a related note, I can’t wait for AI bidding programs to do my bids, takeoff, shops, and scheduling for me. I’m gonna have so much free time to spend just staring out a window.