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As someone who used to water ski almost all year round in chicago…
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- Posted by: A Harris
Many times as party chief, it was my job to head into whatever situation with crew looking on and acting as support to drag me back if it was too much to handle.
I’ve waded miles thru waters not over breast deep along Black Cypress Bayou in warm weather and waited until sloughs froze over along Sulphur River to survey across the ice to maintain along the boundary.
We do what it takes or else hand the job off to somebody that will jump in and do whatever it takes.
Worst day ever was staking on US 59 thru Queen City while a Blue Norther was in full force and temps had dropped into the teens with a gale force north wind that was practically blowing us down with ice forming and ground freezing. We were the only people visible and outside doing anything that day. No traffic and no other contractors on site. It was a work or be fired, should have simply gone home, sat by the fire and told the boss to stick it and went solo the next day…………..lessons learned.
Don’t take a risk that you don’t know the outcome before jumping in.
“Don’t take a risk that you don’t know the outcome before jumping in.”
Good advise, but impossible in reality!
4 ex-wives later…
I used to do this out of a Jet(Death) Ranger 3, except we were on the side of the mountain, with the skids pushing against it whilst we shimmied back to the cargo hold to retrieve the gravity meters, all the while realizing that if the pilot needed or wanted to he’d pull in the collective and take off with or without us on the skid.
I’d still do that again rather than get married again, especially to my ex-shrew, i mean exwife…. 😉
(youtube.com/watch?v=bQdVHnS_TyQ)
@ Loyal
We do what we know we can and with everything else we rely upon natural and learned abilities.
Have had my share of stepping on turtles, snakes and who knows what in the local swamps and I doubt that will happen again unless it is a do or die situation.
My leaping gnome days are in the past and relying upon a staff to cross this world is becoming as natural as taking my ATV everywhere to save walking and use that energy to dig up the next monument or control point and setup equipment to record the location.
If you want to see something completely dangerous, check out scoop shovel racing.
- Posted by: Jitterboogie
I used to do this out of a Jet(Death) Ranger 3, except we were on the side of the mountain, with the skids pushing against it whilst we shimmied back to the cargo hold to retrieve the gravity meters, all the while realizing that if the pilot needed or wanted to he’d pull in the collective and take off with or without us on the skid.
I’d still do that again rather than get married again, especially to my ex-shrew, i mean exwife…. 😉
More like this. Exactly like this actually. I hated this and loved it simultaneously:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf-yJe1_0jI
Wow. That got my heart thumping this morning.
Being from Fl I would have subbed it out. I ain’t going in water unless its 75 degrees or above. ????
I’ve done plenty of work in swamps in Florida. I prefer the ice to worrying about gators.
I remember one time wading through waist deep water in western Palm Beach County and seeing a half eaten wild pig. I will say that I never came face to face with a big alligator, but I was always worried. I have seen plenty of small ones, though.
- Posted by: John Hamilton
I’ve done plenty of work in swamps in Florida. I prefer the ice to worrying about gators.
I remember one time wading through waist deep water in western Palm Beach County and seeing a half eaten wild pig. I will say that I never came face to face with a big alligator, but I was always worried. I have seen plenty of small ones, though.
I’ll take dodgy Helo rides with green blade tips over submerged unknown alligators. Both over my ex wife. 😛
Another surveyor I know who also happens to be a neighbor was hit by a chopper rotor in the head while scrambling off the skid. He said he was wearing a hard hat which was completely destroyed, but miraculously he survived. Granted he is one tough sob former marine.
WillyIn Florida the wild hogs are more dangerous than the alligators. Water Moccasins can be a nuisance too. The gators and snakes can be dealt with. Soon as a hog sees you (If there is one you can bet there are more nearby) it wants to kill and eat you right now. ????
- P
I’ll take dodgy Helo rides with green blade tips over submerged unknown alligators. Both over my ex wife. 😛
Wow, haven’t thought about that in a while. It’s been a few years since I’ve noticed the pilot scrubbing the green off the tail rotor before returning to camp. ????
- Posted by: FL/GA PLS.
In Florida the wild hogs are more dangerous than the alligators. Water Moccasins can be a nuisance too. The gators and snakes can be dealt with. Soon as a hog sees you (If there is one you can bet there are more nearby) it wants to kill and eat you right now. ????
Maybe pastels irritate them.
- Posted by: Williwaw
Another surveyor I know who also happens to be a neighbor was hit by a chopper rotor in the head while scrambling off the skid. He said he was wearing a hard hat which was completely destroyed, but miraculously he survived. Granted he is one tough sob former marine.
That was quite a day for CL. He is a friend and former employee, great surveyor and tough guy. I remember visiting him in the hospital after that happened and he wanted to get a cigarette so bad. Found a way to take him out on a walk in his gown and IV trolley and we got into a allowed smoking area (obviously a while ago). Got back to room and nurse ratchet was chewing our tails out about the health hazards of smoking. My only response was “lady, this guy is in a very small club of people who have been hit in the back and head by a spooled up helicopter rotor, and at this point the potential health hazards of a cigarette smoke would be statistically inconsequential to the events that have transpired in the last week, give us a break in the health hazard lecture” or something along those lines.
- Posted by: NorthernSurveyorPosted by: Williwaw
Another surveyor I know who also happens to be a neighbor was hit by a chopper rotor in the head while scrambling off the skid. He said he was wearing a hard hat which was completely destroyed, but miraculously he survived. Granted he is one tough sob former marine.
That was quite a day for CL. He is a friend and former employee, great surveyor and tough guy. I remember visiting him in the hospital after that happened and he wanted to get a cigarette so bad. Found a way to take him out on a walk in his gown and IV trolley and we got into a allowed smoking area (obviously a while ago). Got back to room and nurse ratchet was chewing our tails out about the health hazards of smoking. My only response was “lady, this guy is in a very small club of people who have been hit in the back and head by a spooled up helicopter rotor, and at this point the potential health hazards of a cigarette smoke would be statistically inconsequential to the events that have transpired in the last week, give us a break in the health hazard lecture” or something along those lines.
For a state as big as Alaska, sure is a small world. Just ran into CL at the conference and he’s doing well.
Willy Meanwhile, from Texas:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12208848
I was doing a topo around a pond and the engineer wanted to get a few shots on the bottom of the pond. Well it was late autumn and there was ice, the pond was iced over. I started out but I thought a moment, what if I fall in? Well I soon backed off and told the engineer I couldn’t get the shots due to thin ice. I’m sure the design went well. Sometimes the engineers ask for stuff they don’t really need.
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