The rear line of this property runs along the edge of a former man made lake that is now an active sink hole. It functions like a detention pond with a bottom drain rather than an outlet structure. I tried to recon this site a couple of weeks ago and quickly realized that my standard attire of cargo pants and short sleeved polo shirt were not going to work for this site. I was being swarmed by a cloud of 50+ mosquitoes at all times and even getting bitten through my clothes.
This was my "uniform" today. Winter weight cargo pants, tightly woven canvas shirt, wide brimmed hat, mosquito net, & 40% deet spray. All clothing including the top of the hat were given a liberal coating of deet spray upon my exit from the truck and I used a lemon eucalyptus oil based repellant on my exposed skin and the mosquito net. Most of the mosquitoes acted like I was surrounded by a 4" thick force-field but the really aggressive ones held their noses and bit me anyway. Four hours in the field and I probably got less than twenty bites but my nerves are shot from walking around in an angry cloud of pint-sized vampires all afternoon.
Even the instrument wasn't safe. There's one in flight coming in for a landing at the lower left of the scope and another already latched onto the bottom of the gray focusing ring.
1991 - Saudi Arabia
2013 - East Tennessee
Twenty-two years and I still haven't mastered the art of the self portrait. I'm so busy concentrating that I forget to smile. :pinch:
Then there are those where a mosquito lands on your check just as the 10 sec timer on the camera snaps the shot. 😛
'A good preparation is already a job half done!'
it's an old Flemish saying, don't know how this should translate from Dutch to English but I guess it also exists at your side.
How were the temps? I guess a hot an sweaty job!
I liked the pics, did you do any surveying in Saudi Arabi?
Christof.
Stephen,
Does that 30 mph sign slow them down any?
The big ones in North Dakota carry extra drill stem with them and when they pick you up they don't bring you back!
Pablo B-)
Christof,
No when I was in Saudi Arabia I was a Combat Engineer in the Army. Land Surveying didn't find me until I finished my service and began taking civil engineering class at a local college.
I saved this job for the right day. The temp was 82° F with a light breeze and the humidity was fairly low. Still hot and sweaty when working in winter clothes but better than our typical mid-90's with high humidity.
Pablo,
No, both the cars and the mosquitoes ignore the 30 mph sign.
Those of you who work in swarms of insects daily have my sympathy and admiration. Typically if I work up a good sweat and keep moving the bugs leave me alone. This is the first time that I've had to use a net and one of the few where I've used any repellants to keep bugs out of my face.
You need to come to the Mosquito Festival at Clute, TX some year.
They have a standing joke about two mosquitoes and a cow.
It seems they caught themselves a cow and their conversation was as follows:
Mosquito 1: Should we eat it here or take it home.
Mosquito 2: We better eat it here. If we take it home the big ones will take it away from us.
😛
Robot
I feel worse for you about using the Topcon Robot setup that I have, especially when fighting the bugs..............:-(
Stud.
Great post.