Sometimes I wish I had a camera aimed at me while I work. And if being able to laugh at oneself is good for you, I'm the healthiest joker out there.
Yesterday I needed to locate a proposed pole line that ran some 2000' off the section line into a pasture to an irrigation pump house. It was a straight shot and I should be in and out of there in a jiffy.
It was approaching 100 degrees and being old and fat I thought I might drive the run instead of walking. The gate was locked and there was no answer at the contact phone number on the work order. Oh well, a walk is good for me I reasoned...
As I tried to make it over the fence into the field the bottom rung of barb wire gave way leaving me straddling the top wire. Happens so often I just added another tear on the inside thigh of my blue jeans and a slight wound on my inner thigh. The pasture was knee high in what I call bluestem grass and halfway down I tripped over an antique drag harrow (a farm implement for you city dwellers)...the spikes were sticking up. I got a nasty gash on my knee but was more worried about the DC that hit screen side down. Luckily I made out worse than it did.
The pump house was a 6' square cinder block affair that had seen better days. The wooden roof's eaves hung over the block about 8" and I had to bang the rover around to get a shot on the corners. The wasps that inhabited the old pump house took exception and I made a managerial call that two shots on the building was good enough; it was time to leave...But knowing the wasps are prone to follow your wind I rushed back 10 yards and then stood still. It worked. They flew off looking for me elsewhere.
I guess I still had wasps in the back of my mind as I hoofed it back to the truck. About halfway back up the hill a horse fly buzzed me and then nipped me on the back through my sweaty t-shirt. I initially thought "wasp!" and rotated from a saunter to a quick trot...just in time to fall over the drag harrow again that was still hiding in the grass.
I found some napkins in the truck (from my last 'truck stop fried chicken' purchase) to dob blood from my wounds. All in a day's work I guess.
I wish someone had caught my antics on video. It would be a hoot to watch.
Nothing is ever as easy as it looks.
No chiggers?
Thinking "It was a straight shot and I should be in and out of there in a jiffy" was the problem. Those "easy" jobs are always the bad ones.
Ken
That could be the introduction to the chapter "So you want to be a surveyor", in your book, of "Surveying Experiences, large and small".
Dave Karoly, post: 437954, member: 94 wrote: Nothing is ever as easy as it looks.
You obviously didn't go to high school with the same cheerleaders I did.
James Fleming, post: 437958, member: 136 wrote: You obviously didn't go to high school with the same cheerleaders I did.
Old Joke Number 67:
Q: What's the difference between a limousine and a cheerleader?
A: Not everybody has been in a limousine.
(insert rim-shot)
often considered getting one of those GoPro camera things for such days, kinda every day for me now... actually it would be to help me remember why I have blood stains
I think it may take a few of us to drag our dear Uncle Paden kicking and screaming into the 21st century, or at least the late 20th. As has been said before, "if there aren't pictures, it didn't happen"..... Everybody who gets into "trouble" in the field absolutely needs to carry a camera of some sort. A phone with a camera would work (preferably one that takes video as well for days like yesterday).
I thought you had retired?
translated:
You should retire!
Your "sojourn" explanation could probably be sold as a script for a "Three Stooges" short. 😉
John, post: 437969, member: 791 wrote: I think it may take a few of us to drag our dear Uncle Paden kicking and screaming into the 21st century, or at least the late 20th. As has been said before, "if there aren't pictures, it didn't happen"..... Everybody who gets into "trouble" in the field absolutely needs to carry a camera of some sort. A phone with a camera would work (preferably one that takes video as well for days like yesterday).
What are you talking about? There is video:
[MEDIA=youtube]jocRd-aajW0[/MEDIA]
You should get a body camera and be sure to turn it on when you leave the truck.
My "easy" one this week was putting stakes on a line at 100' intervals... simple enough. The grass was tall and everything was very wet, but it wasn't that bad... until the deer flies discovered our presence. About 400' down line it started raining, but not hard enough to be a problem beyond making the screen on the DC harder to read. About another 600' down the rain stopped, the sun came out, and it got HOT. If you've never been in South Louisiana when the sun comes out in July after a good rain, think 90+ degrees with 90% humidity. We put the last few stakes in and turned to walk back to the truck. At this point I figured out that my fat, out-of-shape a$$ was over a quarter mile from the truck with no water in a sauna. Not smart.
Needless to say I made it back; jumped in the AC after packing the gear and slammed three bottles of water. I'm definitely not as young as I used to be.
where the heck is TDD?
paden cash, post: 437952, member: 20 wrote: Sometimes I wish I had a camera aimed at me while I work. And if being able to laugh at oneself is good for you, I'm the healthiest joker out there.
Yesterday I needed to locate a proposed pole line that ran some 2000' off the section line into a pasture to an irrigation pump house. It was a straight shot and I should be in and out of there in a jiffy.
It was approaching 100 degrees and being old and fat I thought I might drive the run instead of walking. The gate was locked and there was no answer at the contact phone number on the work order. Oh well, a walk is good for me I reasoned...
As I tried to make it over the fence into the field the bottom rung of barb wire gave way leaving me straddling the top wire. Happens so often I just added another tear on the inside thigh of my blue jeans and a slight wound on my inner thigh. The pasture was knee high in what I call bluestem grass and halfway down I tripped over an antique drag harrow (a farm implement for you city dwellers)...the spikes were sticking up. I got a nasty gash on my knee but was more worried about the DC that hit screen side down. Luckily I made out worse than it did.
The pump house was a 6' square cinder block affair that had seen better days. The wooden roof's eaves hung over the block about 8" and I had to bang the rover around to get a shot on the corners. The wasps that inhabited the old pump house took exception and I made a managerial call that two shots on the building was good enough; it was time to leave...But knowing the wasps are prone to follow your wind I rushed back 10 yards and then stood still. It worked. They flew off looking for me elsewhere.
I guess I still had wasps in the back of my mind as I hoofed it back to the truck. About halfway back up the hill a horse fly buzzed me and then nipped me on the back through my sweaty t-shirt. I initially thought "wasp!" and rotated from a saunter to a quick trot...just in time to fall over the drag harrow again that was still hiding in the grass.
I found some napkins in the truck (from my last 'truck stop fried chicken' purchase) to dob blood from my wounds. All in a day's work I guess.I wish someone had caught my antics on video. It would be a hoot to watch.
Paden,
I had "one of those days" yesterday.I got the crew headed out to our current rush job with no problems. One of our good clients needed corners set/verified for three lots in one of our subdivisions and I figured the crew's time was better spent where they were headed and I could take the robot and verify the corners in a "jiffy". Of course, the lots don't look the same as they did last time I was there. Lots of earth moving lately. I hadn't found the first one yet when the sprinklers came on, soaking me and the metal detector. It was already hot, so the shower was welcomed. Until the heat and humidity made me feel like a steamed lobster. Every single one of the ten corners I needed to verify were buried 12"-18". So, what I thought was a quick one or two-hour job took me four hours in the hot Georgia sun.No blood let from all that but I have so many bruises and shallow cuts on my legs and don't remember getting any of them.
That's one of those jobs where you know the snot-nosed kid sitting behind a really big desk to make him seem like a big man whines over the invoice by starting out with, "But, all you had to do was...............".
Beware of any job where the person giving it to you starts out with "This will be easy; all you have to do is..."
clearcut, post: 437972, member: 297 wrote: I thought you had retired?
translated:
You should retire!
I have. But there are many definitions of the word.
I kept some equipment and one client for my "retirement". It has worked out wonderful. I have an excuse to get out of the house, and I have several excuses to stay indoors. Best of all worlds.
ps - I still would have to drive to my favorite "truck stop fried chicken gizzards" even if I was 100% retired. The way I see it, I get paid to eat lunch. 😉
Peter Ehlert, post: 437989, member: 60 wrote: where the heck is TDD?
He's almost finished digging (single handedly) a Trans Pacific tunnel from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Started about a week ago. :p
