Activity Feed › Discussion Forums › Strictly Surveying › Advice to younger surveyors
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So true. As I get older, I find ways to get to a point with less effort. It is sometimes hard to explain to the younger guys that walking an extra quarter mile is much less effort than getting the rig buried. And no one wants to make that call to the office…
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. -
Couple more:
- When you get to the job site, get out and start working hard…NOW. Sitting in the truck thinking about it doesn’t actually help much.
- Get the stuff done that you can right now. You will see the hard stuff and your brain will start working on it.
- The most valuable moments are the first ones at the site. You can never get those back through the day. You will always be chasing them, or they will be a good investment, your choice.
- On a big, nasty topo survey, do the easy stuff first. This goes against conventional wisdom, but trust me.
- The client might bail after the first 100 acres, the economy might drop, whatever.
- Sometimes the hard stuff gets more obvious after some time working the project.
- Getting shots now rather than scratching your head is valuable!
- Same applies when you have a bunch of stakes to get in the ground
- Talk to the foreman, keep them happy (it pays off)
- When you get a bunch of wood in the ground to start, it helps with your outlook and it makes you look good.
- Take care when you write up stakes and tie on flagging and paint your stakes (construction staking).
- The “customer” has zero clue as to the amount of work that you do to get that stake in that position
- The stake is the only thing that they see from your product.
- Write clearly.
- Write large enough that they don’t have to get off the machine,
- Be flexible, write it the way they are used to seeing it
- Tie the flagging correctly
- Use enough paint that they stand out across the site. This isn’t the time to be subtle.
- When the grizzled old guy in the machine questions your work…be humble.
- He was doing this when you were in diapers.
- You are on the same side
- He LOVES to find mistakes by surveyors…this is a GOOD THING! (Not good to make mistakes, but good that someone cares to check.)
- Build trust on a job site. Trust is the difference between profit and loss.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. - When you get to the job site, get out and start working hard…NOW. Sitting in the truck thinking about it doesn’t actually help much.
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The other thing is when a vest gets old, it doesn’t stink too much when dry. Then it starts to rain and I try to figure out where that horrible smell is coming from…and the sinking realization that it is me…time to buy a new vest!
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. -
Mostly great advice (I have reservations about the Vienna sausages!). Although significantly less experienced, I would like to add one piece of advice.
Even if jumping down/over/across obstacles seems to be the more expedient route, find the path with less impact if possible. In 20, 30 or more years, your knees will thank you!
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Posted by: @jon-payne
Mostly great advice (I have reservations about the Vienna sausages!). Although significantly less experienced, I would like to add one piece of advice.
Even if jumping down/over/across obstacles seems to be the more expedient route, find the path with less impact if possible. In 20, 30 or more years, your knees will thank you!
That’s an important fact. All the years I spent slamming hubs with a 4# shop hammer took their toll on my shoulder and wrist. The doc mentioned something about repetitive impact/ motion injury. Several surgeries have optimized things, but it probably would have been a better choice to minimize the strain over my career.
And don’t even get me started about melanoma. Several dermatologists have bought nice cars with what I’ve paid them to whittle little pieces off of me over the years… 😉
ps – Viennas are an acquired taste for sure. It all started when I could buy a package of crackers, Viennas and a soda pop for a buck. You can keep the potted meat stuff though.
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I grew up in AK, and I know -18 (and BTW, it isn’t Montana -18…Alaskans don’t add the wind chill when they talk temps).
I do not miss -18 at all. I never had to do real work in that type of weather, but I imagine it involves a lot of warming up in the truck.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. -
The shoulder thing is real. It seems about half of us end up with shoulder issues. That sort of injury cuts into fishing, and that is unacceptable.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. -
Only -18F, come on man, get on out there! (LOL and :sarcasm off) BTW, its -15F at my house in the big village.
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It’s not at all bad as I have it down to science and the best part is no mosquitos or pesky people bugging me! If the wind kicks up or it gets much below -20, me or the gear will usually cry uncle. I’d rather be in Hawai’i, but it just don’t pay the same.
Willy -
I once had a chainman that could round house a 10 lb hammer left or right handed. Got twice the work out of him before he wore out. 😉 Jp
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Marking paint is a lot less hazardous if you take an empty Pringles chips can and shorten it a bit to make a cover for the paint. You can even carry it in a backpack with no worry.
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set the stakes plumb – They should look right, not leaning all over (soil conditions allowing)
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On the survey equipment front:
Call up other surveyors. Who use various brands of gps.
Ask to shadow them for a day. Learn all you can.
It’s a little like the ford Chevy dodge Toyota Nissan argument.
One year, Ford is in the lead. Another year, it’s toyota. This appears to be a “constant variable”. GPS is changing, at a 3 yr rate. That is, every 3 yrs, somebody re invents the wheel, (major advancements) and then every body tries to follow suit. It seems that this could drop to every year, but watch out for “minor tweaks and face lifts”, but they are not game changers. Of course, this is just my opinion, based on reading, and thinking.
And, don’t get any tick bites. They are bad for you!
Nate
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