That guy on the job site laughed at my laser level and I finally upgraded

I was out on a foundation layout in Nashville last month and this older concrete crew foreman watched me set up my old rotary laser. He just laughed and said 'you're burning daylight with that thing, get a green beam self-leveling unit.' I brushed him off but after fighting with bubbles for 45 minutes I finally gave in. Grabbed a DeWalt green beam for $350 and it cut my layout time in half. Has anyone else had a tool upgrade forced on them by a random comment like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.christopher2d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, did that guy just save you $350 worth of headaches in one morning? I swear, sometimes the universe has to slap you with a concrete foreman's laugh to get you to buy the right tool. I did the same thing with a nail gun once, kept using the old POS until a roofer told me "that thing sounds like a dying squirrel." Never looked back. Your DeWalt treatin' you good so far or you already got your eye on the next upgrade?

eva_moore1d ago

I don't know about the universe slapping anyone, @wells.christopher. That concrete foreman was just doing what any decent tradesman should do, pointing out a better way to work. It's not some cosmic sign, it's just a guy who's been around long enough to know the difference between a tool that fights you and one that doesn't. The DeWalt is fine, does what I need it to do for now. I'm not looking for the next upgrade because I'm not trying to keep up with some imaginary arms race in my toolbox.