In response to the recent "who are you" post, since I can't actually answer that question with a short response, how about "true responses to true encounters of the face to face kind"?
Here is a recent encounter I had with a neighbor of my client, after finding a common property corner (set by me, 20 years ago, it turns out) (note: In Colorado, we do not have an open right to trespass, we often do without incident, but when there is a protest, we have to follow statutory procedures. In this case, I did not set foot on this neighbor's property):
Neighbor, running out of nearby house: "HEY! No, no, no, you can't do that! You can't just walk up to my property and survey it!!?ÿ
Me: "Sir, actually, I know exactly where I am, and I'm not on your property at all"(Ok, I was a couple steps on his property).?ÿ
Neighbor: "You can't do that! I do NOT want you to be surveying around here. I KNOW what you are trying to do (presumably taking his land away)!!!?ÿ
"You are on my property! DO YOU WANT TO ARGUE WITH THE COUNTY SURVEYOR? ARE YOU CLAIMING THAT THE COUNTY SURVEYOR IS WRONG???!!!!!!"
Me: "Sir, I AM the county surveyor, and I will immediately walk away, sorry to bother you. Have a nice day" (me walking away backwards, since I had taken the GPS shot, keeping my eyes on this crazy man, watching out for a gun).
Reminds me of the drug mama who wanted me off of HER property. ?ÿI was simply shooting the bars at the four corners of the tract that I had set a few years previously for the OWNER of the tract who was the drug mama's landlord. ?ÿWhen she labeled all survey people as thieves, I informed her that her husband's father had worked for me in years past, so she might want to tell him that he is a thief.
It took me a long time to figure out what "5-0" meant and why people yelled "5-0" when we got the "camera" out.
Best true encounter I've had was in Kansas in 2002 perhaps.
We were surveying for our client who had an access easement, leading from the main road to her property, which ran adjacent to her sons property and a neighboring lady and her husband. First arrival to the property, we were promptly asked to leave by the son. We did.
A couple days later, we notified the sheriff about our return to the property. (At this time, the right to open trespass didn't exist) Upon stomping the instrument in over a common corner pin found for the neighboring lady, the access easement and the right-of-way. A truck came screeching to a stop just feet from us. The gentleman jumped out of his truck, screaming and red faced "get off my property!!!" He was on his phone immediately calling the sheriff. We halted our work and waited for the sheriff. At the same time, our "boss" was on his way as well.
Not long after everyone arrived, the deputies were calming the neighbor lady down who was bawling. The son was yelling at the sheriff about how he wasn't going to get re-elected if he didn't make us leave.
We completed the survey and upon completion, it was revealed why the son didn't want us there. The pins had been "moved" about 3' according to a survey our firm had done years prior to establish the easement.
Fun times!
It took me a long time to figure out what "5-0" meant and why people yelled "5-0" when we got the "camera" out.
You might tend to be an old surveyor when you can explain what "5-0" is a reference to.?ÿ
I was staking a new county bridge (c. 1981) that was centered on the section line in a fairly rural area, and about 900' from a section corner.?ÿ As was common in the day we "stacked a sight" on the section corner as we commenced.?ÿ It wasn't long before we noticed the sight (a 4' range pole bottom section) was laying over.?ÿ After about the third time our sight had been disturbed one of the iron workers told us he had seen a blue pickup run over the sight...I started watching.
Sure enough, here this yah-hoo comes rolling through the intersection and nails the pole...which was by now in pretty bad shape.?ÿ We also noticed he was making trips by at about 30 minute?ÿintervals.?ÿ I caught him on his next trip by.?ÿ He was obviously very drunk and very mouthy.?ÿ He owned property nearby and was dead-set against ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that had anything to do with anything he could see.?ÿ He even wanted to argue the location of the section corner.?ÿ I would have thought he might have been a danger to us if he had ever gotten out of his truck.?ÿ I'm pretty sure he was probably unable to walk.?ÿ We moved our back-sight and called the county deputy at lunch.?ÿ The law was apparently familiar with him and wanted less to do with him than we did.?ÿ
The iron-workers were building the rebar for the bridge piers.?ÿ I asked if they could cut us a 8' section of their #10 rebar.?ÿ We got a piece cut and the fella with the torch even sharpened the end for us to get it in the ground.?ÿ I stood on the cab of the truck with a sledge and got the piece almost halfway in the gravel.?ÿ We wasted a whole?ÿcan of flo-orange paint on it and replaced all the cones around it.
Nobody actually saw him hit the sight, but it was evident what had happened.?ÿ The orange rebar was leaning over almost horizontal and the cones were all strewn about.?ÿ A closer investigation revealed most of the paint was scraped off the rebar and replaced with warm motor oil.?ÿ A good trail of oil originated at the scene and trailed down the road about 200 yards...to the unoccupied blue pickup on the side of the road.?ÿ There was a good sized puddle of oil underneath the engine.
I don't know what got broken on the pickup.?ÿ This was back in the day when older six cylinder Chevy trucks didn't have oil filters.?ÿ I'm guessing the oil pan was somehow compromised.?ÿ The truck stayed in that one spot for the best part of a week.
We never saw the old coot again after that.?ÿ I'm guessing he had to crawl home.
I was staking a new county bridge (c. 1981) that was centered on the section line in a fairly rural area, and about 900' from a section corner.?ÿ As was common in the day we "stacked a sight" on the section corner as we commenced.?ÿ It wasn't long before we noticed the sight (a 4' range pole bottom section) was laying over.?ÿ After about the third time our sight had been disturbed one of the iron workers told us he had seen a blue pickup run over the sight...I started watching.
Sure enough, here this yah-hoo comes rolling through the intersection and nails the pole...which was by now in pretty bad shape.?ÿ We also noticed he was making trips by at about 30 minute?ÿintervals.?ÿ I caught him on his next trip by.?ÿ He was obviously very drunk and very mouthy.?ÿ He owned property nearby and was dead-set against ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that had anything to do with anything he could see.?ÿ He even wanted to argue the location of the section corner.?ÿ I would have thought he might have been a danger to us if he had ever gotten out of his truck.?ÿ I'm pretty sure he was probably unable to walk.?ÿ We moved our back-sight and called the county deputy at lunch.?ÿ The law was apparently familiar with him and wanted less to do with him than we did.?ÿ
The iron-workers were building the rebar for the bridge piers.?ÿ I asked if they could cut us a 8' section of their #10 rebar.?ÿ We got a piece cut and the fella with the torch even sharpened the end for us to get it in the ground.?ÿ I stood on the cab of the truck with a sledge and got the piece almost halfway in the gravel.?ÿ We wasted a whole?ÿcan of flo-orange paint on it and replaced all the cones around it.
Nobody actually saw him hit the sight, but it was evident what had happened.?ÿ The orange rebar was leaning over almost horizontal and the cones were all strewn about.?ÿ A closer investigation revealed most of the paint was scraped off the rebar and replaced with warm motor oil.?ÿ A good trail of oil originated at the scene and trailed down the road about 200 yards...to the unoccupied blue pickup on the side of the road.?ÿ There was a good sized puddle of oil underneath the engine.
I don't know what got broken on the pickup.?ÿ This was back in the day when older six cylinder Chevy trucks didn't have oil filters.?ÿ I'm guessing the oil pan was somehow compromised.?ÿ The truck stayed in that one spot for the best part of a week.
We never saw the old coot again after that.?ÿ I'm guessing he had to crawl home.
Former employer had a whole pallet of 4' long number 10s, someone's bright idea of permanent control points, they had blunt ends.
