Had to choose between a big offshore job or a local river contract last spring

The offshore job was 28 days on a rig in the Gulf, good pay but a long time away. The river job was inspecting a bridge support near St. Louis, half the pay but I'd be home every night. I picked the river job because my kid was starting baseball season. It was the right call for me, even though the work was cold and the viz was maybe two feet on a good day. We used a lot of touch and feel, and my tender was a new guy who learned fast. I didn't make the big check, but I got to see my son's first home run. Has anyone else turned down a big job for family time and been glad they did?

3 comments

3 Comments

leo2381mo ago

Scraping hulls sounds miserable" is putting it lightly. I get the family angle, but turning down Alaska pipeline money for harbor maintenance? That's a serious pay cut to watch your wife be pregnant. You can see that at home after work.

kim.sandra2mo ago

Yeah, I took a local maintenance gig over a pipeline job in Alaska a few years back. The money difference was stupid, but my wife was pregnant and I didn't want to be on the other side of the world. Spent that winter doing hull scrapes in the harbor instead. Never regretted it, even when the checks were thin. You can always find another big job, but you don't get those moments back.

price.alice2mo ago

Scraping hulls sounds miserable, but at least you got to be home for midnight feedings. Bet your kid doesn't remember the thin checks, just that you were there.