Hi, all. I'm Jim and I'm from Illinois. I'm a retired Civil Engineer and worked in the highway construction business for 45 years. I started my career working as a summer student for the State department of transportation building highways and bridges using army surplus transits and dumpy levels. (Same equipment used to build the Gateway Arch...which blows my mind!). At that point, I operated the dumb end of a 100' chain. I never did any surveying professionally but occasionally would do some layout work related to the asphalt industry...i.e. plant layout, etc. As I said, I'm retired but, as I see various surveyors out there doing their thing, I'm overwhelmed with the expertise and equipment today. I'm here to look to refresh my experience a bit and ask a few questions about my "antiquated" equipment.