So this happened...

I remember the first survey I signed, a recorded plat out on old Hwy. 66 in western Oklahoma. I don't remember the first cap I set mainly because caps weren't required when I first became licensed.

Congrats. Keep up the good work.

Congratulations! Yes to both but it's only been ten years.

I was really disappointed when I went to set my first property corner:
there was one already there!

I hope you didn't let that stop you, Dave.

> I was really disappointed when I went to set my first property corner:
> there was one already there!

Heck, set another one. Most folks value quantity over quality these days. 😉

Definitely remember the first survey I signed. It rained hard at times. Spent more time sitting in the truck than working. Had my 15 year-old nephew helping me.

Incredibly, I have been called back twice to cut off tracts to expand that first one so that now there is an area of roughly 10 acres total. And, on Tuesday of last week I received a call from a banker asking questions about the entire tract and its three parts as they are about to foreclose on the deadbeat who currently owns it. I came to know the deadbeat in about my second or third year surveying on my own as he was the very first client I ever took to small claims court. That involved a different location, though.

Do not remember when I started installing caps.

I'm glad I found this forum. So many of you have great insights and helpful advice. I believe this forum helped prepare me for lots of surveying related things like the RPLS exam, dealing with clients, and life in general. So thanks for all the lively discussions! 🙂

Congrats! I remember both seeing as it was only last October that I passed. Now comes the wait for all the paperwork!

Cy

Congratulations,

I remember it like it was 20 years ago. The first survey I singed was for a four or five mile transmission line re-route. Lot of pages.

Congratulations to the nubies.

What I remember most is the first time a plan came across my desk that was done before I came to the company and before I was licensed, it was originally done by another surveyor down the hall.

My question was why would you think I would sign this, I've gone back to this property and really don't agree with some things, send it to his office.

It was then and there that I decided to be a professional and not anyone's fall guy.

Rodney Dangerfield said it best, "Look out for number one and try not to step in number two".

B-)

It has been over 30 years for me, and I am on my second rubber stamp. The first one got hard and brittle, and had to be retired. No caps required in Mississippi, but I have some in case there is a need.

Congratulations! You have a lifelong learning process in front of you. Most will be enjoyable, some not much so. If you are self-employed, you get to choose your own clients! B-)

Congrats!

at least you knew you did something right

CONGRATS!! I guarantee you that wherever you set that first cap, you will NEVER forget it.
I don't do caps, I am a cartoraphic tech, but I do remember my first map!! Beautiful, downtown, Can To, Viet Nam. Have a copy of the final print around the house somewhere.

I remember the first argument I had with another Professional Surveyor. He held Jr. Sr. rights and a road layout. The road layout came after the first conveyance. Oops on his part. That was one week after I received notice...

Congratulations. One more big step in the journey...
Don't ever forget the way you pick that first map apart or triple check everything on your first pin. Let go of the nervous nellies but do them all with the same care...

Congratulations.

I didn't see "arctan(x)" in the listing in your link though. 🙂

> Congratulations.
>
> I didn't see "arctan(x)" in the listing in your link though. 🙂

Oh yeah, I am kind of math nerd B-) Look for Anthony R. Crowley.

I remember the first I refused to sign. I was working PT for a local engineering firm while finishing my degree. Boss sent us to pick up some newly painted parking stripes at a Walmart a couple towns away that our company had been hired to perform an ALTA on. Another crew had done the control, the boundary work, tied the buildings, utils, etc. I was given some of the notes so that I could find control to work from and could barely tell what the other crew had done, but could tell that they weren't particularly careful doing it.

I came back to work a couple days later and the CAD guy shows me the completed drawing with my name under the certification saying the boss told him I was signing it since I was the last guy on site.

I simply replied that the boss must be confused because I don't know much about it other than where some parking stripes are relative to a couple control points and that he wasn't paying me enough to sign plats. I picked up the job file for the staking we were doing that day and took off for the field. The plat was corrected to have the boss's name by the time I returned.