I have a not-so-close friend and colleague that started surveying around the same time as me; and we've kept up with each other over the years just enough to know where the other was working. I found out recently he's retiring and decided to actually call him and chat.
We worked briefly at the same place in the seventies. He left for greener pastures with more pay and better equipment. I remember the bust around here in '81 and he left to try his hand at something else. A short time later I found out he was back in town and dragging tail-chainmen around by a leather thong.
We both earned our shingle about the same time and that's where the similarity ends. Our careers have taken markedly different paths. He has always been a company man. He's worked for large firms and small, and was never quiet about the good and bad attributes of both. I've made a career by hopping all over the place in an attempt to experience every nook and cranny of the industry. My work was never about the pay, it was about the experience. At times I believe his work was always about the working environment and benefits. Definitely two different approaches. Neither actually any better than the other, just our personal preferences. The reason I thought about this was after I spoke with him about his retirement. He was glad to be "getting out" of the business and had no plans to keep his license current. He has made it to the last traverse point and is going to box it up for good. He's selling the house and moving to his lake cabin.
After talking with him I realized I had never heard him sound excited about a project. I remember when the firm he was with picked up a huge ODOT contract for one the biggest interchanges in the State, his reply was "my life will be hell for the next two years". I realized while he has done very well for himself and isn't a bad surveyor, he never had "the love" for the industry. I don't think I could have stuck with something all these years without that passion, but I guess he has. I congratulated him on his accomplishment and wished him luck with his lake cabin and new 250hp fishing rig. His last question for me was something like "how much longer are you going to stick with it?" I think I laughed and told him "as long as I can."
I like what I do. Every job still has that "new car smell" excitement when you crack open the folder. I simply cannot imagine spending as much time as I have in this business without having a love and passion for the work. Some surveyors look at the scope of a project and lament about what they're "Going to have to go through". My thoughts about a job, on the other hand, are something along the lines of "Look what I GET to do!"
I guess I have actually always been where I wanted to be. There is some satisfaction in that. I probably never would have thought about it if I hadn't spoke with someone that stuck with surveying "as a job", and apparently merely endured his tenure. I can't say I feel sorry for him. He's always had the chance to try and find that "one thing" (as Curly told us) that would make his tail wag. But I sure as hell am thankful I've been where I've always been excited about the work, even after all these years.
I guess that's how you know you're in the right profession.
...now gimme fifty and a hunnert...;-)
People ask me from time to time when I'm going to retire. My standard answer is, "About three days prior to my funeral."
I've had many odd jobs here and there and other jobs in places I'll never admit to.
This is the only job I've ever made a living with.....
A Harris, post: 343076, member: 81 wrote: I've had many odd jobs here and there and other jobs in places I'll never admit to.
This is the only job I've ever made a living with.....
Momma Cash's family were all carpenters, and I tried to followed suit when I was young. I framed and worked in a millworks for a while building "shop built" cabinets. I found a niche replacing counter tops with an old fella that wanted to sell his business to me. But the lure of a steady paycheck working for Pops Cash proved too much to resist.
Although I still have a garage full of woodworking tools, I'm a surveyor....
paden cash, post: 343071, member: 20 wrote: dragging tail-chainmen around by a leather thong
That sounds extremely uncomfortable for at least one of the parties involved... :snarky:
Several guys I work with keep telling me that they can't wait to get out of this business and retire. They're good surveyors, and I've learned a lot from them. When I tell them about going to events like this, they look at me like I have three heads and ask why I'd even think about anything having to do with surveying after work. Usually, the phrase "Bortner, you're a freak" is uttered during the conversation.
Maybe I spend more time than I should thinking, reading, and learning about surveying, but I thoroughly enjoy it and can't imagine NOT doing it!
paden cash, post: 343071, member: 20 wrote: Every job still has that "new car smell" excitement when you crack open the folder.
I've had a few jobs that had a different smell....
I heard some fellas talking on the radio the other day; they said they talked to people who loved playing the guitar. But when they decided to do it as a career; it wasn't fun anymore.
I don't think surveying is like that; although you could survey as a hobby, I don't think there's to many that do. I started surveying August 11, 1975; I remember thinking how lucky I was, to have landed such a prestigious job as a surveyor! I mean; guys like Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln were surveyors:
It's been a great 40 years, and i don't expect to be quitting anytime soon. I did have a job, during the slow time, in the 80's. I worked at a water slide park in Bellevue NE.
12 hours a day; 7 days a week; all summer long; I wore shorts, a tank top and mirror shades...B-) 100's of women walking around in bikini's...Call me crazy; but I still think I like cutting line through a swamp, in the pouring down rain, to get to an old stone, better..:snarky:
Duggie
RADAR, post: 343142, member: 413 wrote: I heard some fellas talking on the radio the other day; they said they talked to people who loved playing the guitar. But when they decided to do it as a career; it wasn't fun anymore.
I don't think surveying is like that; although you could survey as a hobby, I don't think there's to many that do. I started surveying August 11, 1975; I remember thinking how lucky I was, to have landed such a prestigious job as a surveyor! I mean; guys like Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln were surveyors:
It's been a great 40 years, and i don't expect to be quitting anytime soon. I did have a job, during the slow time, in the 80's. I worked at a water slide park in Bellevue NE.
12 hours a day; 7 days a week; all summer long; I wore shorts, a tank top and mirror shades...B-) 100's of women walking around in bikini's...Call me crazy; but I still think I like cutting line through a swamp, in the pouring down rain, to get to an old stone, better..:snarky:Duggie
It's not that playing the guitar isn't fun any more, it's all the crap that goes along with it. I imagine it's cool to be a big enough star to where you don't have to worry about anything except walking on stage and playing - as long as you don't mind the travel, anyhow. But playing in local bands trying to make a living is very tough. A typical four hour gig - say nine to one - is actually about a ten hour night door to door, typically. With very few exceptions, people who play in bar bands do so because they love it and it's in their blood, because the money sure isn't worth the hassle. Kinda like surveying, I guess B-)
I still enjoy the Profession. The Business has me looking forward to retirement.
Ok...you're crazy....;-)
I started April of 1975. Other than a few years in the early 80s I have been at it for over 40 years. I still worked part time during those years. I can't imagine what I would have done that could have given me more satisfaction. To take a vague description and turn it into a final plat that makes sense is very satisfying. Or to take an undisturbed site and after many hubs later it is a subdivision or business is kind of like watching your kids grow up! While probably never stopping,I hope to be more selective in a few years. Looking forward to doing some boundary work in western NC instead of the swamps of eastern NC.
Being relatively new to the business, reading stories like these make me proud of being part of the profession. I never hear plumbers talk about how much they love digging trenches, or electricians talk about how much they love pulling wire through an attic, but darn near every surveyor has a story about how much fun they had cutting line through the nastiest woods imaginable and that to me is remarkable. Surveyors are a unique bunch and there are for sure those that do it for the sake of having a job and see the numbers as just that, numbers. Then there are those who appreciate what the numbers are telling them and never get tired of putting the pieces of the bigger picture together and I feel that I am in that group as well.
My work was never about the pay, it was about the experience.
Thank you.
I'm hoping for three days after mine!
😀
This makes me think of the office employees. There is a certain amount of heartfelt respect for those who are able to sit under fluorescent lighting for eight plus hours per day. I couldn't live like that.
Lee D, post: 343152, member: 7971 wrote: It's not that playing the guitar isn't fun any more, it's all the crap that goes along with it. I imagine it's cool to be a big enough star to where you don't have to worry about anything except walking on stage and playing - as long as you don't mind the travel, anyhow. But playing in local bands trying to make a living is very tough. A typical four hour gig - say nine to one - is actually about a ten hour night door to door, typically. With very few exceptions, people who play in bar bands do so because they love it and it's in their blood, because the money sure isn't worth the hassle. Kinda like surveying, I guess B-)
Ain't that the truth. Those gigs are not for me, never really cared for them but maybe once in a blue moon.
RADAR, post: 343142, member: 413 wrote: although you could survey as a hobby, I don't think there's to many that do
I'm one of those rare ones. I "sat under the fluorescent lights" for 34 years as a radio, embedded software, and signal processing engineer. That was probably the best choice for my career.
But I always had Davis, Foote, and Kelly within reach beside my bed or read about the history of my region with particular attention the history of its surveying. For decades I wanted to see a solar compass and finally did.
I've played with a Dietzgen transit, figured out the limitations of long-term averaging with a Garmin, estimated where an 1843 treaty line was using the survey notes and topo maps/Google Earth, reported 500 bench mark recoveries to NGS, measured a several-mile triangulation network with a Topcon GTS-2B, written my own 2-D least squares program, puzzled over plats that don't close, and recently tried the almost-useful Trimble 4000sst.
Those have all been interesting and sometimes satisfying activities. I'm just glad I don't have to cut thorn bushes in 99 degree heat, wade swamps while watching for gators, or pound stakes all day in rocky ground while dodging yellow machines like some of you.
Sometimes we do jams that are a blast and are totally worth it, but being in a "working band" starts to get a lot like "work"... lol
Bill93, post: 343334, member: 87 wrote: the almost-useful Trimble 4000sst.
You do realize that the SST was obsolete 20 years ago, right? The fact that they even still work at all is a testament to what a great product they were.
I always said that when playing became like work, I'd quit. Now, I just ignore the work part and enjoy the playing. That's, I suppose, how I justify still playing in a band. It sure ain't the money. Surveying is the same for me. I just ignore the work and enjoy the job. Cutting brush is exercise. Calculations are brain training. Every now and then you have to acknowledge the crowd (client) and say, "Thank you."
