Mr. Lucas is right in his July POB article
Read it and weep, you expert measurers!!
is that the one that claims a surveyor can't read a deed?
No, it is: "Math isn't the answer; it's the problem"
Snoop
Same guy, and I haven't read the whole article yet because my online subscription to POB sends me the magazine in such a small format that even zoomed in I need a magnifying glass to read it. I'll check it out on the POB website, I guess. I agree with the basic theme of what I have been able to read of it, though. We do (I do anyway) tend to get caught up in the math. I've been doing a retracement of a lot in an old 1945 subdivision where I have found a few original monuments that don't fit the map worth beans and I was trying to find a math solution holding various monuments to find the solution that fit the occupation lines the best. Finally, I just pulled a Schaut and held the original pipes up front and the fence posts in the back and voila, the fences are right on the lines.
From the article:
"Remember when you asked your fifth-grade teacher why you needed to learn math, and she said it was to keep you from becoming a ditch digger? Little did she know that if you eventually wanted to become a competent land surveyor, you were bringing up a legitimate point."
Jeff's 5th grade teacher must've went to the same National Teacher's Convention that my 6th grade teacher went because I distinctly remember being warned "get educated or become a ditch digger." She didn't tell us that "ditch diggers" generally use giant machines called "Excavators" and they get paid a lot more than the average teacher 🙂
Keith
did you need the definition of "transit", "tape" and "plumb bob" at the bottom of the article?
😉
Keith
lol Dave,
Nope, don't need a definition of my old tools!
Keith
I thought the sarcasm of including the definitions helped make his point about too many people ignoring field evidence. I'd rather see this than some of the insulting headlines his columns have used.
> "Remember when you asked your fifth-grade teacher why you needed to learn math, and she said it was to keep you from becoming a ditch digger?"
>
>
Yeah, and I believed her, too. So I got a bachelor's degree in math but I still ended up doing a lot of digging in a lot of strange and unpleasant places.
Keith
Ted Madson used the same technique. Make controversial statement to develop interest. But when you boil off the vapors, what's left is some very smooth shine that goes down easy once you understand that "it depends". The rules are clear, but applications will show the rule to be an arse in some cases. What the judge and jury think makes sense will typically prevail, regardless the book procedures.
