Maybe you mean SCOPE, extent or range of hour instead of SPOKE? The word, PLUGGING means to work or persevere by adding, entering or punching in numbers.

"Plug" is an interesting word here. In this context I think it means "to input data values into a database." 1) It comes originally from the idea of electrical or audio connections. The "plug" is at the end of the device's cable. You put the plug into a "socket" or "jack." This is called "plugging in" the device. Plugs and sockets are standardized. You can choose which of several devices to plug in. You can plug in a lamp, or a toaster, or a vacuum cleaner. 2) In algebra, letters like "x" stand for variables. The variables can have any value. When you are evaluating an algebraic expression, you can choose any value you like. In formal language, this is called "substituting" a value for the variable. Thus, in the expression 5x + 1, we can substitute 10 for x, and the value of the expression is then 51. 3) In informal language, substituting a value for a variable is often called "plugging in a value." In the expression 5x + 1, "if we plug in 10, we get 51. If we plug in 100, we get 501." 4) Some computer languages, including database programming languages like SQL, also contain the idea of a "variable" to which a value can be "assigned." This, too, can be referred to as "plugging in a value."

Plugging is another word for 'putting' or 'inserting'. For example, you plug a cord into a socket. You plug your ears with your fingers to block loud noises.

Hey Olya, you are right

As Naomi commented earlier, the word "plugging" in this context simply means to transcribe numbers into a computer or other form of technology. However, I also am at a loss for what the phrase "the spoke of the many hours" may mean; could you have possibly typed the phrase incorrectly? The only reasonable alternative phrase I can imagine that would allow this phrase to make sense would be "they spoke of the many hours spent plugging numbers into the database." In this case, "spoke" is the past tense of "to speak," meaning that "they" spent time in the past speaking of the hours that they spent putting numbers into a database on a computer. I hope this helped! I apologize if it didn't :(