During my first few years surveying, passers-by often asked questions about the total station or theodolite I was using.
"Are you making a movie?"
"Whatcha taking pictures of?"
And the elderly woman slowly trudging past, muttering to herself, "I'm gonna be on TV, I'm gonna be on TV."
I'm sure everyone here has a similar story.
Fast-forward twenty-some years... Last weekend I was doing some nature photography along the banks of the Nolichucky River in a rural part of northeastern Tennessee, where I met a fisherman and struck up a conversation. After a few minutes, he gestured to my camera and tripod and asked, "So what are you surveying?"
- Doug
lol....If someone were to ask me what I was taking a picture of today I would tell them to look at the screen and see. I have a Topcon 7001i total station. And, the pics it takes are actually pretty good. It's interesting how things flipped on you while with a real camera.
I once had a guy ask me to "spray around his driveway also" when I was "mine sweeping" (using a Schonstedt to locate some sub surface mons). He thought I was spraying for insects. 🙂
CV
In the past couple years the new one I have been asked is, Am I gonna be on Google now?
Ha, never would have imagined that, but it shows that it can happen.
I've even gotten the "I don't want to be in your movie" while playing with my brass transit.
Well naturally. Who wants to be in one of those silent films shot with a brass transit?
> After a few minutes, he gestured to my camera and tripod and asked, "So what are you surveying?"
Clearly, he thought you were running one of the new, compact laser scanners.
The question I'm always asked after shouts of "5-O! 5-O!" Look out! are relayed is, "What cha surveilling?"
AS3
Me and Chris were away from the robot hunting a pin. Some dude walked up to the gun looking into the face. We found what we were looking for and had the bot turn to us (search mode) and when it locked the guy saw where the gun was looking and came to talk to us. "What'cha yall takin pichures of?". and "Dang, I thought maybe 5-0 was out here." Then he proceeded to sell us some junk, no doubt fake, gold chains.
While surveying the Pack Square project in downtown Asheville, NC an elderly woman approached me about what we/I was doing. I had just gotten all setup and ready to shoot. My buddy Victor saw I was entertaining her so he left us alone while I explained how the stuff works. She knew we were surveyors and was always curious about how it all works. I explained the basics and she was dieing to have a look through the scope. She was short for my setup and I explained I'd have to break it down an re-setup to a height she could see. We were kind of pressed for time that day and Victor was getting in a hurry so I had to decline. She understood and thanked me for spending a little time with her.
Then there was the time we were surveying around a day-care. The kids were out playing and when they saw me setting up the gun they all hearded to the fence and all started asking tons of questions. Talk about the million-question afternoon! You'd have thought I was a serial killer being questioned by a room full of FBI profilers.
While surveying around the UNC-Asheville campus an archeology professor walked up while I was getting setup. Her first question: "Is that a total station." Almost gobsmacked I said "well as matter of fact it is!". They had just bought one for a summer project her and her class were about to embark on. They hadn't been trained on it yet or anything but was asking tons of questions. My partner Tony was standing there while I explained away on everything. She thanked us for our time and headed on to her class. After she was out of ear-shot, Tony looks at me and smiles saying "you loved every minute of that didn't you". She was the first person I could describe things in serious technical detail and she got it. Sure I loved every minute of it.
