It was around 10 years ago this month. I was out on a job looking for a monument that hadn't been used since 1880's, boss said you go look this way and i'll look that way. Half hour or so later I stumble 🙂 upon what appears to be the monument that we had been looking for, a red granite stone, peaking out of the ground around 9 inches or so. Dumbfounded as to what I found, I got on the 2-way and told the boss to come look at what I had just found. Boss inspected the stone, he then pulled out a piece of paper and I read out loud;
4x5x13" red granite stone......
Boss put his hand on my shoulder and said good job, now go find me another.
Since then I have been hooked with my new career.
I have been told that if you love your job you will never work a day in your life.
How did I allow this to happen??
you're okay telling that story here... I guess. but in the future, we never ever accidentally trip over the monuments we're looking for. We find them using innate skills only surveyors have with an uncanny sixth sense that can only be described as God-given. Although, between us, I've found more than a few stumbling around through the soles of my all-too-worn boots.
Including a few that were right under my nose that I didn't see right away too......
But on the second or third look.......
> you're okay telling that story here... I guess. but in the future, we never ever accidentally trip over the monuments we're looking for.
No that's perfectly fine. The guys that trip over the monument, cuss it out, and keep looking around are the guys we want to send back to the office. 😉
Always remember that what you see on the top isn't necesarily what is below unless you dig it up and measure it. I learned that lesson years ago. :-/
Similar experience over 40 years ago. Working my way through a 2 year degree in computer programming a few courses at a time. Was employed by a surface coal mine as general labor and had been out with survey crew running levels one other time. Company hired new crew chief and put two of us with him for a day. He said we needed to find a starting point for the survey and it would take him a few minutes to get ready.
Spread out a stack of maps & papers on the hood of an old station wagon. Wood hubs holding everything against a light breeze. He would read one of the papers and pencil mark the larger map. Read another paper and mark the map again. After about 10 minutes I asked what type of starting point he was looking for. He pointed to the N.E. corner of the larger map (section map he called it) and said the papers (deeds he said) reported there was a marked stone at that corner.
I replied "Well if that matches the topo quad the way I think it does that is the fence corner under the high voltage line on top of the hill north of us."
Crew chief looked at the maps, up at the hill and back at me. "You can read the d--- maps!"
I said "Been using quad maps since I was in Boy Scouts at 12 years old. Don't know about the other map though."
Next he asked if I knew anything about drafting. Told him I had completed a college course in Engineering Graphics that included a bit of survey drafting.
Next day crew chief informed me company owner had assigned me to the crew full time. Have been at it ever since. Didn't finish the programming degree until 1996 and followed it up with a 4 year in "Management of Computer Information Systems" in 2000. Funny how the two career paths have merged over the years.
I was helping look for monuments on a steep hillside for a logging outfit....
Was getting ready to take a pause climbing,,, and almost sat on one of the ones "on line" that I was going to come back and look for after I'd searched for the corners!
Too true on that second and third look sometimes...!!
Be sure what you find is what you were supposed to find.
Short version of very long story goes as follows: Found stone close to where we expected it to be. Very nicely squared up, in fact, too good. Upon further evaluation it turned out to be a tombstone from the 1850's which predated the section corner we were seeking.
We did dig up the monument and found that it did match that of record and was within a few feet of the original plat.
What I was trying to get at was, I have been hooked on surveying from that moment on.
I missed one a while back, I moved the truck and whoop there tis. :-O
Pablo B-)
My buddy and our sons, who are the same age and best friends,(that worked out well) had hiked to the top of Bell Mountain one time....found the remains of the old fire lookout tower, the foundation piers anyway...
I announced that there should be a survey marker around here somewhere....we looked around...and my son said "Pops? what's that under your foot?"
Yeah... I was standing on it.
Like Shawn said... I have found a bunch of them by just feeling around with the soles of my boots...
I have a pet Benchmark at the local Air Force Base that I have used many times over the last 30 years. I went out there with a new coworker one day to do some leveling. I had him driving so he could learn his way around. We parked the truck in the parking space that was very close to the BM. I got out of the truck, walked 3 steps and spotted the depression that the BM was in. I told him that it was right here, and walked over to the BM and put my right foot on it. I turned around and he had the pin finder in one hand and a shovel in the other. I told him that it was right here so he flipped on the pin finder and starts searching for it. That did not produce anything so he started to get the tape and compass out to pull in from the power pole and the centerline of road. By this time I have turned around enough so that my tennis shoe has polished the brass cap so I showed it to him. This BM is hard to find if you just use the description, they have added a power pole about 20 feet way, and the fire hydrant that is the other refference has been moved, but it is there. I also have a good GPS position on it, if all else fails.