Knocked over a cone for the first time in 6 years yesterday

I was setting up for a steel beam job on a tight downtown lot in Portland and clipped a traffic cone with the counterweight. Felt like an idiot for a second, but then I realized I had gone over 6 years without hitting one. The operator before me at this yard used to bash them every other week. It's a small thing, but keeping track of your swing radius in tight spots is what separates the careful guys from the ones who leave a mess. Anyone else have a little milestone like that they noticed?

2 comments

2 Comments

martinez.karen24d agoTop Commenter

Totally get that feeling. Hit a paper sign on a scaffold last month after three years clean and it bugged me way more than it should have. Keeping that swing radius tight is a quiet skill that really does separate the clean jobs from the ones that cost you time and money.

fiona_reed24d ago

Quiet skill" is right @martinez.karen - only skill I've got that's quiet is hitting things I wasn't aiming for.