Pro tip: a 22 year old rookie on my crew got me to finally label my drop lines
I've been pulling cable for 11 years and have always just kept drop locations in my head or scribbled on a scrap of cardboard in the van. Last Tuesday we were finishing a 14 unit apartment rough-in off Colfax and this kid Marcus, who's been on the job maybe 6 weeks, asked why none of the cables coming out of the panel had tags on them. I kind of brushed him off and said I'd know which is which when I come back to terminate. He just shrugged and said 'but what if it's not you coming back?' That hit me harder than it should have, mostly since I was out sick for 3 days in March and another guy had to trace 9 home runs with a toner, which ate up half his morning. So now I've got a roll of white tape and a Sharpie in my pouch and I label every drop at both ends before it goes in the wall. It takes maybe 20 extra seconds each and it already bailed me out once when the super moved two outlet boxes on me. Marcus has no idea I changed anything, but I'm thinking of buying him lunch. Do you guys tag at the panel, the box, or both?