I am guilty of leaving a Leica GST-20 tripod, tri-brach with single prism on a construction site like many before and after me have. It was not in or near or in a public R/W.
My case is such, however, that I did not wake up in the middle of the night realizing that I had left a thousand dollars worth of stuff on a construction site. I did not discover the situation until I reached into the cubby for the backlight tripod in the work truck that I discovered that it was not there. A quick look in the direction of the backlight point revealed a leveled and properly aimed backlight ready for action. Is that being prepared? I think not.
Being a solo operator and the first on the job site, I didn't have to answer to or explain anyone except maybe maybe a couple of you guys.?ÿ
JA, PLS SoCal
Did you adopt it, or leave it for posterity??
?ÿ
Yes, I have left a couple backsights up and retrieved them over the years, but 1 time, I was working on 10 ac, deep in a cedar swamp, on the fringe of my coverage area.?ÿ I brushed a 1320 to where I though there would be an iron.?ÿ Yep, found one, and right behind the iron was a prism pole pushed in the ground.?ÿ Nice big prism, orange target on a SECO compression pole.?ÿ I brought it home.?ÿ Checked with my neighboring surveyors - non fessed up to leaving it stand guard - so it got adopted.?ÿ It has been there through several winters, the pole was corroded shut, point rusted, bult glass still in good condition.?ÿ Just for fun, we soaked it in oil, were able to free the extension, clean everything up, and that rod is still in the Truck used as an extra backsight!!
Then there??s setting something IN the rig instead of ON the rig - bumper, hood, etc. - a cardinal rule of mine learned the hard way.
?ÿ Had a guy working with us years ago that had lost several jobs due to company buyouts or massive layoffs, etc that were absolutely not his fault but he nevertheless had an innate fear of losing his job and we couldn't really help but mess with the poor guy knowing his weakness.?ÿ One Friday, he headed out of town on vacation a little early (pre-planned) and I received a call at the office that "you guys left that candy cane pole here".?ÿ It had actually been left on a notch in the middle of a very quiet dead end road and the clients put it by their house.?ÿ Not one to waste a crisis, I immediately called the guy who was halfway to a great weekend and let him know that the backsight rod had been run over and the boss was not happy and the unemployment line was almost certainly in his future.?ÿ That still tickles me.
It followed me home. I also contacted local surveyors but no one claimed it. So as you did, I cleaned, painted and calibrated the setup and put it to work.
I was driving down the road to the next point got out to take the shot. No Data Collector! Back tracked down the road and there it was laying in the middle of the road. Some idiot had left it on the back bumper of the truck and drove off????
Left backsights, rods, yep.
The best was one that was 2 hours away, the boss called and asked if I was missing a backsight. I had no idea...he assured me I was...it was on a trail on a project and the super there had called it in.?ÿ
Left a rodman in the woods.
Almost did that one day.?ÿ Sent him off in a specific direction to see if he could find some fences meeting up at a corner, then come back to report what he found.?ÿ Much longer than it could have ever taken he finally approached me from almost the opposite direction.?ÿ He had become so disoriented he was thrilled when he realized he could see me.
So even in checkerboard land it may be wise to carry a compass.?ÿ I do, but can't remember the last time I used it.
Left a rodman in the woods.
Same.?ÿ Sometimes I wonder whether he ever made it out.
Had a 5700 base set up on a ridge line east of the Cortez mine off NV 306 approx 75 miles from Elko.
Was my first project being "in charge" and was wary as we were a sure wild bunch of non land surveyors that were set free to roam and grab gravity grids.
The moment I was sitting down after a short dinner and shower to wash the coating of salt, dust and ATV exhaust, i realized the base was not on my hotel desk top. Nor the yellow suitcase its normally transported inside of. Nor the yellow top Optima that powers it.
2100ish. July. Sun still up and setting fast, I headed to the mine and begged the security people to let me retrieve the gear and was told its a violation of the safety policy to drive alone on the haul roads or anywhere without an escort.
2245. Finally someone was willing to drive in Tandem to the site but stopped and waited as they weren't allowed to drive OFFroad.?ÿ
2330 arrived to the base, green and amber lights writing their tales of satellites trajectories and the yellow suitcase sitting patiently open waiting to head home.
Finished the data QC for 10 people around 5 and we headed back out at 0630.
Never got to sleep. And that probably was what saved me.
One of our linemen brought us back a Leica data collector he'd picked up off the side of the highway looking seriously worse for wear. Could only surmise somebody left it on their bumper and jumped on the highway cruising along at 75 when it finally fell off and bounced down the pavement where it came to rest. Pulled the serial number off of it and contacted Leica who gave us the owner's information and I contacted them. You would think they'd have been happy to get their data collector back, or what was left of it. Far from it. Read me the riot act, the ungrateful nimrods. I can only guess that now the nimrod was going to have to explain the mystery of his disappearing data collector to his boss.
?ÿ
Another time I had a guy working for me who was always on his cell phone, yacking about this and about that. Our GPS system crapped out, internal radio and I asked if he could run it into the dealer about an hour away to get it repaired. He leaves yacking on his phone and drives off leaves both GPS cases sitting in the parking lot. I couldn't help myself and picked them up and brought them back inside and didn't say a word. An hour later I get a call. "I think I lost the cases". I feigned shock and dismay. "How? I watched you leave with them." I waited until the next day to tell him just to let him stew and hopefully change his ways. Didn't work.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
One morning all the party chiefs were called to a meeting in the supervisor's office.
Evidently one crew left a backsight out and it happened to be on the supervisor's route home.
After some harsh words and warnings the supervisor asked, "Any questions?"
One party chief replied, "Did you check it for level and over the point before you picked it up?"
Laughing about leaving the rodman in the woods.?ÿ 45+ years ago a bush axe got left in the woods in metro Atlanta.?ÿ As far as I know it may still be there.?ÿ We were cutting a random traverse line when the fellow ahead of me SCREAMED and ran past me down the already cut line.?ÿ He had swung his axe,?ÿ ?ÿstuck the blade into the trunk of a tree, and the hook stuck right into a LARGE hornets nest.?ÿ He was stung several times before he could get away from them.?ÿ None of us were brave enough to try to retrieve it so we just cut a new line in another direction.?ÿ Small critters can make big men do funny things.
Andy
My smartphone is equipped with a compass.?ÿ Or, simply go to any of several options to see precisely where you are at the moment and look for landmarks to help get you oriented.?ÿ That came in very handy one day in an area where access via four-wheeler was very limited and generally involved leaning low to avoid tree limbs, thus arcing this way and that.?ÿ There was no sun to aid us.?ÿ Pulled out our smart phones, homed in tightly on where we were and headed off as best we could in the direction of our target location.?ÿ That was one of those times were one person points and says "Thata way is North" while the other person does the same but in a very different direction.
Small critters can make big men do funny things
I like profound but simple statements.?ÿ
N
I've always wished I had saved the Tumbleweeds comic strip from decades ago (and can't find on line) where someone is trying to find their way and is told "It looks kinda northy over that way."?ÿ My sister still refers to it when there is confusion about directions.