That line about the foreman not knowing until the day he had to build it hit home for me. I had the same deal on a job in Phoenix, thread with 200 plus messages, and I thought I was covered because everything was in writing somewhere. Then a sub tried to back charge me for extra framing and I went digging through email to prove my side, and it took me half a day to find the one message that mattered. The old timer foreman was right, the printed CO book in the trailer saved me because the dates and signatures were all in one place and the sub could not argue with his own handwriting. The app crowd is not wrong either, but only if every single person actually logs it the same day. What held up for me in the end was printed copies signed at the time plus a simple log, not one or the other. The email thread just proved I sent things, not that anyone on the crew ever saw them.

Gave up easy money" is a funny way to say kept your weekends and your sanity, but sure, sounds real nuts. Your buddy in Austin can have the title and the 60 hour weeks, you can have dinner with your kids. Sounds like a pretty easy call to me.