Activity Feed › Discussion Forums › Strictly Surveying › Archaic?
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Until I was about 8 or 9 years old, I would simply announce, “Joe’s coming.” My parents knew the mail would be in our mailbox in about two shakes of a lamb’s tail. For the next 10 years it switched to, “Gordon’s coming.” Didn’t need some fancy title to know who was coming and why. The woman in charge of the Post Office was Ruby about that entire time. Her baby brother, Roy, was a high school classmate of Dad. I believe the letters on the wall identified her as Postmaster but the locals referred to her as being the Postmistress. She was simply sweet ol’ Ruby to me.
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I am a officially a chainman, and damn proud of it.
Went through a 5 semester CHAINMAN program, took my final yesterday and got a $10/hour automatic raise.Try and take it from me.
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I’ve worked for more than a few companies, in multiple states, and with hundreds of people, in the last 30 or so years.
I don’t remember anyone ever not understanding when I referred to the total station as the gun. I also don’t remember it ever getting a reaction from anyone who may’ve overheard.
Surveying is mostly male. It’s usually an instrument man or I-man. And when I’ve worked with a woman, she was the instrument person.
I’ve never had an issue and no one’s ever misinterpreted my meaning or taken offense.
This is kind of a silly thread
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@dougie
That sounds like a situation that is occurring from time to time here. Somehow, the local PO has hired a couple to be the substitute for the regular mail carrier. She drives the car and he handles the mail. I have never seen this practice anywhere else. It’s only when the regular carrier has a day off, so it’s rather noticeable as I’m near the end of the route and the mail arrives 30 to 50 minutes later than normal.
Most of you aren’t home when your mail arrives, so this probably sounds strange. I’ve been home every day since mid-December with minimal time away.
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Those who are unable to discern the intent of the speaker will forever be subject to the misinterpreted insult and the unwanted feelings they conjure. It isn’t just the responsibility of the speaker to convey his message, but also the listener. If you choose to take offense where none was intended that is your fault.
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I don’t remember anyone ever not understanding when I referred to the total station as the gun.
If your project was an affordable housing subdivision located in a rough neighborhood I bet you would think twice about saying “gun” out loud. Hell, it’s bad enough everyone thinks you are filming them with the “gun” and you are undercover cops pretending to be workers. ????
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congratulations on completing your progressive process and nice raise too!
titles excluded, you’re qualified by the process not by the name.
Again nice work! You’ve earned all of it!
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Best I can recall we have only had one project next door to the “projeccts”. We had to initially work in an area of a few acres of overgrown vegetation. We found over 20 bicycles that had somehow been abandoned there. We turned that into a low-income residential neighborhood. My nephew was good friends with a fellow who moved into one of the new homes. He was invited to attend a party there one night. As he and his wife got out of their vehicle and started towards the house someone (not his friend) stuck their head out the front door and seemed to be shocked. Within a minute his friend appeared and escorted them into the house. When they were ready to leave, the friend and his wife escorted them back to their vehicle and made sure everything was fine with the vehicle. Dang few red-headed white guys with a blonde wife were seen in that neighborhood.
Near the completion of the work a fellow came strolling by and asked my co-worker if he could “borrow” a cigarette as he could see he had some in his tee shirt pocket. He was told, “No”. For a few seconds, I thought bad things were going to happen. Then the guy muttered something and went on.
Between the start and finish of that job the police visited the site multiple times per week including two murders and a kidnapping. There was a feud between certain residents of this “project” and residents of a similar “project” in a town about 30 miles distant. Gunfire was considered to be “just another day at home”.
Once. Just once in the last 35 years.
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If your project was an affordable housing subdivision located in a rough neighborhood I bet you would think twice about saying “gun” out loud. Hell, it’s bad enough everyone thinks you are filming them with the “gun” and you are undercover cops pretending to be workers.
I remember a field tech who constantly wore a cap with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) logo on it.
I never had to work with him, but I remember hearing an argument between he and his crew chief early one morning. The chief was adamant that the tech not wear the cap for the day’s work, and the tech was extremely put out that someone would dare to tell him what to wear.
They were headed to one of the more notorious neighborhoods of a large metro area, where it was indeed de rigueur for residents to swing by each morning (in some very expensive vehicles that seemed out of place for this area) to check out a survey crew and ask some pointed questions regarding the filming capabilities of our gear.
Before going into this neighborhood, field staff were routinely instructed to never, ever refer to the instrument as “the gun”.
I don’t remember how many folks in the crew room had to get involved to convince the tech not to wear said hat, but it was more than a few.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil Postman -
We once performed a job for a fellow who had at least 20 cars stop by his house, go inside for maybe five minutes, then leave again in the relatively short time we were there. I don’t believe they were concerned about his health and simply doing a welfare check to be nice.
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Best I can recall we have only had one project next door to the “projeccts”. We had to initially work in an area of a few acres of overgrown vegetation. We found over 20 bicycles that had somehow been abandoned there. We turned that into a low-income residential neighborhood. My nephew was good friends with a fellow who moved into one of the new homes. He was invited to attend a party there one night. As he and his wife got out of their vehicle and started towards the house someone (not his friend) stuck their head out the front door and seemed to be shocked. Within a minute his friend appeared and escorted them into the house. When they were ready to leave, the friend and his wife escorted them back to their vehicle and made sure everything was fine with the vehicle. Dang few red-headed white guys with a blonde wife were seen in that neighborhood.
Near the completion of the work a fellow came strolling by and asked my co-worker if he could “borrow” a cigarette as he could see he had some in his tee shirt pocket. He was told, “No”. For a few seconds, I thought bad things were going to happen. Then the guy muttered something and went on.
Between the start and finish of that job the police visited the site multiple times per week including two murders and a kidnapping. There was a feud between certain residents of this “project” and residents of a similar “project” in a town about 30 miles distant. Gunfire was considered to be “just another day at home”.
Once. Just once in the last 35 years.
It’s easy for me to reject that type of work these days. But someone needs to do it.
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I think most of woke america (disclaimer: that’s not a political reference, it’s ideological) has missed some fundamental realities of language lately. I’m sorry to see it here actually in writing, but words have meaning while they also have history. A woman/female is just as much “man” as a man/male. Should we differentiate between mankind and womankind? As far as not pulling chains anymore, what does chairing a board really mean? After figuring out what chairing is, do we call a female chairman a chairwoman? That sounds easier and more clear <insert sarcasm>. It could also sound sexist and might come back and bite the woke in the arse – implying that a male chairman is better or worse than a female chairman. That’s just one example of thousands. I’d much prefer to try to stay focused on things that matter – like things that are interesting, hilarious or that may actually make a positive difference in our community/world.
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I was reading another forum (apologies), and the word “chainman” came up more than once.
First of all, chain, and man should be two separate words. Second, what they refer to is no longer a part of modern surveying. For an example, what if your intern is a woman?
Other than that, it makes me wonder how many generations will it take for surveyors to stop using this language? Are there any other archaic names in use? Are the persons operating the survey instrument being called a transit man?
It would appear that the internet disagrees with you. ????
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Does your intern get insulted by the sound of the word “surveyor”? Life is too short for such nonsense.
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but words have meaning while they also have history.
Like “call a spade a spade”, the history is interesting and predates the new nterpretation. I suppose no one should “tell it like it is” these days. ????
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Per that Webster fellow’s book:
chainman
noun1: one who searches tax and assessment records in order to compile lists of mortgages, deeds, contracts, and other instruments pertaining to real-estate titles
2: a sawmill worker who removes lumber from a conveyor and sorts and stacks it according to grade markings
3: CHOKERMAN
4: a surveyor’s assistant who measures distances, marks measuring points, and performs related dutiescalled also lineman, rodman, tapeman -
Great thread. My observations.
The nearest stop sign or traffic light outside of projects has always been littered with pennies, nickels and dimes. ($1.40 is my max to date). Those who disrespect small change are destined to poorness.Drug dealer and/or users don??t fear Surveyors. I have asked crack smokers to bump the car up a little so I could occupy a traverse point. They complied with little difference. I??ve had one buyer wait on me because he thought I was next in line. Watching the blinds and/or drapes indicates to what level of concern they have. I have heard ??they??re just surveyors? before coming upon plants. I think most drug dealers have worked on a field crew for two weeks, hence drug dealing in better.
The few women surveyors I??ve worked for/under have been quick to use your good advice and slow to rub bad advice in your face. How many engineers can you say that about? I have called authoritative women ??sir?? without a bat of the eye; responsible young women ??ma??am??, old ladies ??miss?? and mixed work group ??you guys?? without noticing a problem. If you tip well at a diner, everyone calls you ??honey and sweetie?? from then on. If I were woke, I would realize that women have always hated me for thinking these were ok, but as of now, I am not yet awaken. I know this is changing, or has already changed and I am the slow one. I just think, where I live, women are in charge, but don??t want it to be so obvious, in order to keep being in charge.
I know this is all wrong today, but the ??man?? in chainman, postman or Workman??s Comp, refers to all. Women are men too. Actually, more than a man. The line between respect and offense has been blurred to the point of nonexistence. Again I sincerely apologize if I offend anyone, I want to express a view that I believe pertinent to the post, but don??t want to get kicked off either.
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