Boundary Lines
> > I once missed a 9.5" measurement on some plans that resulted in 50' of a 10 course high concrete block wall having to be demolished.
>
> How long ago was that Ed? Interesting how you still have not forgotten the actual distance of the mistake even to this day, it stuck with you.
That happened in 86 or 87. No, I'll NEVER forget that blunder. We were an hour from the office and I was ashen faced for a good two hours from the time myself and the superintendent found the blunder til we got back in. Was a humongous warehouse wall. Precut interior steel and everything. I knew at the second we caught the mistake what it meant. Big bucks to fix, and I wasn't working for some big engineering firm. I'd been a PC for about 2 1/2 years and hadn't ever been in a pickle like that and didn't know how the boss was gonna react. Ended up just being a very valuble lesson for me. I went on to do a lot more layout work for that fella and for myself when I went into practice. I never made another boo boo even close to that again. Never forgetting that one though, saved my butt a few times over the years until about 7 years ago when I decided to drop that part of my practice. And, I didn't drop it because I'd lost confidence in myself. I lost confidence in the builders and their personnel's abilities to competently follow my work. I mean, it got to the point I hated to put a stake in the ground and leave it because I didn't know what might be done with it no matter how good I was. I guess many of us have had that same feeling.
been there...
...done that. Even got the tee shirt. You've made a great point Butch!
Nothing worse than leaving a "done" job with that sixth sense telling you something just don't seem right. 99% of the time that extra sense is right, and it's usually something silly like eaves vs wall. Or you wrote cut when you meant fill.
I totally agree with the 2 eyes are better than 1. And it is a major issue for us soloists, because we all do make a mistake. Hopefully (oohh, that's bad), we can count on our 6th sense and our experience to anticipate problems and head them off before they become one.
I have always found the office field divide in our industry to be troubling.
I have seen a lot of incompetent surveyors, both in the field and in the office. The most troubling are the ones that make their way to the top by disregarding the tenets of our profession and focusing on profits above all else. It seems that there are engineers who view surveying as more of a necessary evil than anything else occasionally reward such people.
In my opinion your party chief is your helper. There is a chain of command and responsibility as well. If the assertion is that this gentleman is indeed an idiot who should be relieved of duty but is not due to personal connections, I would posit that the problem at hand is not the party chief.
My chief is an idiotic genius!
Wayne, I have nearly fired myself for the same reasons..... Go figure, mean it, meander it, it's all the same!!!
🙂
N
Mapmaker
> First Surveyor I was a chief for, didn't want me doing any calcs. He had trouble with guys making mistakes, and do things their way. Ignoring his wishes and not respecting his license. I did what he wanted and after a year, when problems came up I'd call him. While waiting on his answer I'd do my calcs for practice. When he'd call back, I'd compare his coordinates to mine. Typically saying yup those are correct. It took him awhile, then one day asked me what I meant they were right. I said for practice I was calcing too, and we matched. I caught him making an error one day. He was doing 3 jobs at once, and rushed through on a problem we had. I told him we had different answers, gave him my numbers. He called back 15 minutes later and said use my numbers. After that he let me be a Party Chief, but I always ran my numbers past him, and respected his license and wishes.
>
> I guess bottom line is make your Surveyor happy, and comfortable with your skills. Two sets of eyes are better than one. I worked for him 8 years. Best Surveyor I ever worked for, and he felt same about my being his Chief.
Every surveyor I chiefed for let me set any corner I felt I had a handle on good enough to set. They knew if I didn't, I would bring it in for a skull session before anything was set. They not only trusted me when I set one, they trusted me NOT to set a questionable one.
I wish I had had more chiefs like me. LOL:hi5:
I have been surveying for 39 years and have never made a mstake!;-)
