I worked with a guy that liked to set two lath for something like clearing limits then say to the new guy, "our line is crooked." If the new guy bit then he would say, "two points make a line, how can only two points be crooked?"
They are speaking to their feelings and perceptions; I don't think it's a direct challenge to the Surveyor's knowledge.
They perceive there is a problem; they have no means or experience to verify the Surveyor's work.
It amazing to me how I stand on a spur ridge and look down one way then turn around and the line going down the opposite direction looks 20 to 30 degrees off to me. Then I verify it with my compass or my lopper handles and see that the line is straight.
> They are speaking to their feelings and perceptions; I don't think it's a direct challenge to the Surveyor's knowledge.
>
> They perceive there is a problem; they have no means or experience to verify the Surveyor's work.
>
> It amazing to me how I stand on a spur ridge and look down one way then turn around and the line going down the opposite direction looks 20 to 30 degrees off to me. Then I verify it with my compass or my lopper handles and see that the line is straight.
:good:
That's what I was trying to say only with a lot more words. :-/
> I like the folks that think they can put them self on line between only two stakes....
Can't you?
I've got a couple of different methods (not counting using a theodolite). I thought any surveyor worth his/her salt could.
A couple of things if remember from 9th grade geometry:
A line is infinite, no beginning and no ending.
If it goes between 2 points it's a line segment.
If it goes from one point it's a ray.
If it's not straight, it's not a line - there is at least one curve.
Just had to be a wise guy.
> ... straight lines often look crooked until I check them then they look straight.
I like that!! 🙂
> I have decided that I am no longer going to argue with anyone telling me, "that line isn't straight!" Too many times, in situations where you can't see from the front corner to the back corner, we have put stakes on line and had someone tell me the line wasn't straight. From now own my answer is going to be, "it is straight and if you don't believe it, hire another surveyor to prove it" and then walk away.
[sarcasm]Oh...You wanted a STRAIGHT LINE???...That will cost another $XXX![/sarcasm]
DDSM:beer: :plumbbob:
you are wrong but so what?
The line as you describe IS NOT STRAIGHT. Even if you set points on a line that is unobstructed, the line is still NOT STRAIGHT. I have not doubt that any line you have set IS straight enough for HUMAN PURPOSES.
I have not doubt that you could mark a line even staighter than the one in question, but the client will not want to pay for the cost to do this.
[sarcasm]You are staking them on the arc arn't you? [/sarcasm] (filling in for Keith Williams here) 😉
I recommend looking at them straight in the eyes, and saying, "Yes it is straight. It is absolutely straight. I am positive." And say no more. They will babble.
I've had people argue with me that the line isn't "straight" when all I have set is a lath near each pin (i.e. no extra points on line). They'll stand at a front corner, look at the back corner, and insist it's not "straight", while making a curved motion with their hands, as if they expected their land to bulge outwards into their neighbor's yard (the curved hand motion never goes the other way). I tell them it is a straight line from "this marker" to "that marker" ... but they'll insist it doesn't "look straight". I still can't figure this one out.
I should mention, too, that once we had a worker call who was building a fence along a county part boundary, saying it wasn't straight, and as it turned out, an adjacent owner (who was a real PITA to the field crew) had moved the stakes about 10 feet away from his property. The owner insisted he didn't move them and that we were now trying to steel 10 more feet of his land. We could still see the holes were stakes were set a couple days prior.
Yes, it happened to me before. It was this man.
:good: