Yeah the hourly pay can be pretty good but I think what bothers most people is the unpredictable work availability. It can be great for weeks or longer, then suddenly it isn't, and not really any communication about when/if the projects will return. Overall I'm happy I found the gig but it isn't reliable full time income.
The attractiveness of different wages really depends on what the job involves (working in the hot sun versus in an air conditioned room), whether hours are flexible, and whether you have to spend much time commuting to/from. It sounds like this is pretty good on the intangibles, so it really just comes down to whether the $/hr tradeoff makes sense.