You never know, even in VT.
Colchester Schools Locked Down, Threats False
Friday, 02/15/13 6:06am
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Police say a report of a man with a rifle near two schools in Colchester turned out to be false alarm.
Police received information Thursday afternoon about two students who said they saw a man holding what appeared to be a rifle in the woods near the Mallets Bay School.
Police put that school and Colchester Middle School on lockdown while they searched the area.
They later found a man surveying property near the area. He was wearing clothing similar to what the students described and was carrying surveying tools that may have been mistaken for a firearm. He had no weapons.
did the surveyor say he had a "gun"(theodolite)?
😀 Funny,
I have been trying to break my old habit of yelling things like, "Grab the gun and head for the truck!" The world is changing and people are watching/listening everywhere we go.
My party chief was working at the airport when Pres Bush flew in , they were told not to call the instrument the gun over the walkie, Secrete service told them if they do it would be broke into million pieces, no questions asked .
I was surveying at a high school for a baseball park & every time I took a topo shot I would say "shooting" into my walkie-talkie. Turned out I was on the same radio frequency as the school. I kept hearing "did you hear that?" several times. I stopped saying that for a while.
I had to run some elevations to the basement area of a major bank and while explaining to the bank president that the rodman would be "holding up" the rod, I was immeditaly challenged as to the use of speaking those two words together.
years ago as a PC on a 2 man crew, da boss asked us to pick up some added info on house survey out in the country. We were coming from a day of cutting line on another and were looking pretty seedy.
I went to the front door to announce our arrival and to check for dogs, locked gates etc.
A very attractive lady appeared and stepped outside to talk to me. The slovenly looking I guy appeared behind me, I guess to check her out. I turned to him and said in a low voice to "go get the gun out". When I turned back to her, she was pale as a sheet and shaking a bit.. OOps. I told her that the 'gun' was the survey instrument but it still did not settle her that much. Very dumb on my part.
I was doing a seabed hazard survey off the coast of Dubai near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after Desert Storm on a 100' survey boat. About the time a US Naval Warship went past I was carrying a side scan sonar fish over my shoulder from the stern to the bow of the boat. If you have ever seen a side scan fish in that position it looks like a portable rocket launcher. As soon as I saw the guys on the ship eyeing me and realized what I it looked like I dropped it to the deck and made no movement. I quess they figured out what was up as they traveled on their way but to this day I am surprised we were not blown out of the water.
Next time you go into the bank and while you are filling out your deposit slip ask the guy in line ahead of you if "holdup" is one or two words.
One of our crew was out searching for pins when the cops rolled up, guns drawn. He was told to put his hands over his head, turn around and kneel. Aparently there was a call of a man with a gun in the area. After some tense moments and a search of the truck, it was determined that the magnetic locator was mistaken for a gun. A lot of people in the world have no idea what we are and what we do. They should have had surveyors on Sesame Street - "The People in Your Neighbohood". 😛
April 1, 1998...Russellville, Arkansas
Measuring culverts and other 'hydraulic structures'...
right after the Jonesboro School Shootings
long hair'd hillbilly...with a camo survey bag around his neck...draped over his his chest...full of field books, scales, templates, ass-wipe, etc...
stood on the side of the road pointing a suunto ranger down the curb...got to get the azimuth...facing away from the sun...
the Pizza delivery boy, driving down the road, with the sun in his eyes...Saw a mad man with a camo chest holster pointing the biggest glock he ever saw right at his face...
...one phone call later..
4 cars...one with a dog...7 cops with hands on pistols...HOLD YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM...SHOW US YOUR WEAPONS...
needless to say...DDSM was standing with his arms out like Christ on the Cross...
:'(
Tom, I didn't know you were licensed in Vt....