Favorite & Least Favorite Tasks

favorite ... finding very old pins/monuments
least favorite ... cleaning/oiling the tape

all time favorite: watching the backhoe dig down to an old wagon axle that was 4' sub-grade and answered the 40' conflict between two original patent surveys. (and only partly because that would have been a hard expense to justify to the boss otherwise.)

least favorite: addressing schedule b items- especially those that look similar to to "10FF".

favorite, finding old witness trees
hate, staking driveway pipes on jobs without any given elevations. Rehab, widenings ect.

Favorite: training my troops on proper techniques and procedures

Least favorite: accounting

Favorite - legal research in the old documents. You never know what you'll find.

Least favorite - making those tax deposits every month.

Favorite: Finding old original survey monuments

Least favorite: Collecting delinquent accounts

Finding monuments seems to be the clear winner. That's why I made a hobby of finding and reporting NGS monuments (300 recoveries). But actually my favorite is finding not just updates, but actual mistakes on the NGS data sheets (I have found a few).

Why has no one mentioned cutting line or treating poison ivy as least favorites?

Favorite: The satisfaction from helping good people make good things happen and they are thankful for my knowledge and skills.

Least favorite: The frustration of working to complete a project for ungrateful twits.

Favorite would be the boundary monuments followed by a parking lot data collection.

Least favorite by far is topo for elevations on a big site on a 25' grid. Up and down, move over 25 feet, then down and up, move over 25 feet, then up and down. If you have two brain cells to rub together it gets boring after the first ten seconds or so. Utterly mindless work, but the client needs it and it pays well. And people feel sorry for you. "Look at that poor man over there. Wonder what he's doing? We'd better offer him some water."

Favorite
Recon surveying - searching for monuments, hubs, control and any ancient markings in the field.

What I Dread
Uncovering my desk and sorting files into the cabinet.

favorite- Seeing the light come on when passing on knowledge or skills.
least favorite- interpreting crap field notes...

I'm kind of partial to recon - on anything. Property corner, NGS mons, tree blazes to find a line, I don't care. Just show me the map (I don't have to take it with me). Point me in a general direction. Don't need a tape since I'll count paces if needed. If the sky is clear just tell me what time it is. If not, I might take a compass. Give me a radio and I'll call when I find something worth reporting.
Got to be deep woods though. I do NOT like the urban environs at all. I'd rather be in the woods alone with the snakes and bears and the occasional pack of ferrel dogs than drug-heads asking me if I'm "5 O", or the "po po" or do I want a "rock" or some "hard". I didn't even know what any of that meant until a few years ago.

Least favorite would be getting hit up for change or a smoke while I'm busy on the gun. That just annoys me to no end. Getting into water I can't see through bothers me as much as going underground. Well.. heights, yeah I can't do heights anymore. I get bad vertigo and sometimes vapor locked. High-angle rescue never got called on my behalf but there have a couple times I began to wonder.

Does this sum it up?
We the willing,led by the unknowing, working for the ungrateful,
Have been doing so much, with so little, for so long,
That we can now accomplish the impossible
With NOTHING.

Favorite: Corner Recovery

Least: The phone

> Finding monuments seems to be the clear winner.
>
> Why has no one mentioned cutting line or treating poison ivy as least favorites?

You just stole my thunder, Bill. 😉

Carl

Favorite: searching for section corners in undeveloped areas (seems to be a common favorite).

Least favorite: dipping sewer manholes on a trunk line in Phoenix during the summer.

Favorites: GETTING PAID. Finding old corners, definitely. Looking through old plats is usually pretty cool too. Getting clients to understand the depth of things we have to have a handle on to get their project completed. There are lots of things that I really like when I start a new project.

Dislikes: CHASING MONEY. Cutting line forever and chopping out where a corner is supposed to be and it's laying there or gone, replaced by snakes and bees. Overlaps and gaps... I'm dealing with the repercussions of an overlap right now that should have never, ever happened. Projects that never seem to end because of a needed signature or laziness on the part of somebody... this is one could go on and on also.

Carl

A Favorite: Counting the money

A Least Favorite: Chopping line

Least Favorite: re-doing someone else's work. Whether they messed it up and it needs fixed, or a property that I am redoing that someone else already surveyed.

Favorite: Researching title back to a patent and finding the changes.