Closed for the Holiday

OK. This will be my last post of the year. The next 2 weeks are going to be jam packed with family, last minute shopping, getting a few jobs out etc.

I want to take this time to thank all of you that have read and participated in my blog. You are all awesome.

I also want to thank the 2 of you that whined about getting to many emails. You are also awesome.

This next year I am going to make things interesting. I am going to be controversial on several items, I will be conducting interviews with people (only RLS), in a nut shell I am going to take this thing to a whole new level. I will be posting in new places and I am going  to expand my reader base on a state then national level.

Note: If any of you are interested in participating in a 10 question Q & A please contact me through email. I am compiling a list of questions and want to post a new interview once a week. Must be an LS.

Christmas is my thing, so I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I want to pay respect to those with other beliefs as well.

This coming year is going to be a real turning point for us. People will be going going back to work, revenue will pick up, people will start spending more and who knows maybe we can turn a profit.

Peace and Love to all of you.

JMW

Lots of Corners

OK. Let’s talk about multiple corners.  A sore subject?  Sometimes!!

A month or so back I and my totally awesome right hand man were doing a boundary survey in Paradise Valley in a subdivision that has zero monumentation.

The only way to get to the lot was to come off of the section line which is the east line of the subdivision and then chase the subdivision corners for a check.

Remarkably we found several monuments around this subdivision that checked within tolerance. I was very happy with that and proceeded to our lot and set all 4 corners. (Yes I filed a map).

The first corner we came of course was at the corner of a block wall surrounded by trees. I immediately saw a rebar with a yellow cap sticking up about .5’ west of the wall corner, shot it and what do you know, I missed it .5’. Then I look around a little more and discover another rebar with yellow cap 3.8 feet on the northerly projection of the subdivision line where no line actually exists.

So there we are in the trees staring at these 2 points wondering WTF? So me being the diligent monkey that I am I start digging next to the wall corner and beat a little concrete out and what do I find, yes a rebar that is called out on another survey and guess what, it hits really well.

The funny thing about this is that the rebar at the wall corner was actually easier to shoot than what these other 2 guys did. They spent a lot of effort to set these points for who knows what reason.

Did I contact them? No. Their monuments had no direct impact on my survey; however I did show them on my ROS.

I guess my point on this is always dig next to the wall corner. Obviously things are built there for a reason. A little research and hammer work can go a long way.

Offer

I was given an opinion last week by a fellow surveyor that I am the only one using Topica for self promotion.

Well I have to say that I honestly never thought of my blog as self promotion.

I like to talk about business and surveying and am doing so in a manner that anyone around here is yet to do.

After some thought I have to say he is right. Anyone that does something like this is doing a certain amount of self promotion.

I am still trying to figure out what I am gaining my blabbing to a bunch of surveyors?? Probably nothing as very few of you is likely to enhance my business my throwing me tons of work that you will most likely keep for yourself.

I am in the process of taking my blog beyond the Topica crowd, starting with APLS members and then to people I know across the country that happen to be surveyors. I will have a significantly larger amount of viewers very soon.

So I am going to make an offer to all of you.

If you have something you would like to promote (within reason) contact me and I will post and then put it on the side bar for a pre-determined amount of time.

Needless to say if you want to promote your survey business it will never happen here, but anything else is fine. It is open game. Yes, even a side business.

If you are an equipment, material or software vendor I will post your ads for a reasonable fee.

If you are an Arizona Joe Surveyor I will post your promotion for free.

So think it over. If there is something you would like to get the word out on, please contact me. I am more than willing to help.

Cool Old stuff

Year end tax planning

OK, the new year is almost here and if you are like me the end of year tax planning is a key part of life.

This year has been very strange, even more than 2009.

Certain areas are up while others are down and others are gone.

I have made it through and next year is looking pretty awesome.

I made a prediction earlier in the year and it has come true.
My prediction was that after the November elections and the Republicans got some control back people would start spending money.

Boy let me tell you, a giant freight train of work came slamming down out of the sky and landed right on top of my predicting head shortly after. I have been running for over a month with no end in site.

How is this relative? Well let me tell you.

Being that this has been a strange year for business and my books were looking like a straight push or a loss, this sudden surge of work can change that.

RJR is an S Corp and operates on an accrual basis, therefore when the bottom line is huge that means a check to old Uncle Sam is written in March instead of Sam writing me one.

So one thing I have to do is defer billing on 2 months worth of work until January 2nd, this will help reduce the profit margin in the company. Another thing I will do is write a whole bunch of checks on December 31 and hope I can end the year with a zero bank balance.

Those are just a couple of tricks. On a good year I would do all of that, I would give awesome bonus's to my employees (I give high dollar to everyone, at least 5-10% of salary) and buy or upgrade equipment and then write myself a huge distribution check.

The important thing is to look not profitable.

Get this, they key to monetary business success is low income and high expenses. It took a while to get my mind wrapped around that since we are programed to believe the opposite.

The CPA is the one that does all of the magic. A good CPA makes all of the difference in the world. I personally have a CPA and tax attorney team assembled that work closely and I consult on a quarterly basis.

There is a lot more to this but I will stop now.

Professionalism – Do I know?

I am a really good surveyor. It’s true. Ask anyone that has ever worked with or for me and even if they dislike me they will tell you that I am a really good surveyor.

Am I an expert? Never!!!! I would never portray myself as such because when that happens I would be asked to testify and that is the last thing I would want to do. That just sounds like unwanted liability. Besides, there are others that are way more qualified for that title and better surveyors as well.

Want to know one of the things that make me a professional?

It’s knowing what I don’t know and let me tell that is a lot.

There is one thing that I am an expert at and that is utilizing other people’s talents. I have never been afraid to go to someone more qualified than myself for an opinion or an answer. To beat myself into the ground trying to figure it out or refusing to ask is detrimental and arrogant.

On many occasions I have sought the help of others in areas from math problems, deed interpretation, AutoCad, grammar in legals, expert witness, the list goes on and on.

Over the past few years my best friends have become a Blacks Law Dictionary, Wattles, my attorneys and a handful of surveyors that I go to for answers, each one are used for a different thing.

Example: Just recently I had a problem plotting some easements. I had started the whole thing incorrectly from the POB and nothing was fitting. After about an hour of staring at this stuff I called a colleague, sent the info over and within 30 minutes I was on the right track. My bad? Oh yeah!

Example: When I get a hold of something like a spiral curve I will usually go to a math whiz for the calc’s.

Example: I recently had a problem interpreting the language in a deed. While at lunch with a friend that happens to be an attorney I tossed it in front of him and got confirmation on my thoughts.

Example: I have twice used a total rock star of a surveyor as an expert witness and because of what he said my attorneys were able to kick some ass.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of another set of eyes, even if they are a less qualified pair they can often see something that you are missing.

Almost every day I discover something new about this profession that I did not know, albeit a trick of the trade or a law thing, etc.

I am sure about this. As long as I am in this profession I must remember that there is much I do not know, there is much to learn, I am not the end all of surveyors and everyone has something to offer.

Title Company Re-write II

I want to thank whoever posted this comment and I also want to thank them for actually taking the time to ask and learn something.
I really got a lot out of this post, it puts things in perspective from the eyes of a title agent.
Please read.

"Anonymous said...

I too, have had a lot of bad experiences with title company rewrites. At one seminar I attended, there was a nice gentleman, a title examiner, who I have a lot of respect for, and I approached him with the, "How come you guys always rewrite our descriptions."

He explained. Not ALL descriptions get rewritten. Generally, new parcel descriptions prepared by surveyors aren't. Generally, that is.

He further explained that when a surveyor writes a new description that is part of a parent parcel, CITE the reference to the original description ("A part of that parcel of land as described in . . ."). That way, it tells the title examiner exactly what your intentions are right up front. Also, if you have a tie to a record line, call that out as well (". . . to a half inch rebar with plastic cap stamped ABC, accepted as the southeast corner of that parcel as described in a deed recorded in . . ."
Again, this tells the title examiner exactly what your intentions are.

I discussed the point of calling out a line as defined by two existing monuments and why that was better, in a surveyor's eyes than just calling out a line without any monument references.

He explained that yes, calling for the monuments AND the record line you are saying the monuments define is a sure-fire way of telling the title person that, "Hey, here's the record line and it is defined be the location of these two monuments."

Then, he explained something to me that I had never considered. He said from a title examiner's point of view, when they have an original description that they have previously insured title on, it's gold (or should be in a perfect world). Now, take it one step further and say the north line of this parcel has a deed call for "EAST a distance of 100 feet."
A new survey is done to split off a piece from the parent parcel and uses the found monuments on the north line to define it's location, but does not call out for these monuments to define the deed line location. And, because we always have a difference between record and measured, that line is now called out as "North 89 degrees 55 minutes East a distance of 100.05 feet to a found half inch rebar."

From a title examiner's viewpoint, since a call wasn't made to the deed line or some statement added like "accepted as the northeast corner of . . ." WE have just created an overlap or gap.

There is now a 5 minute angle between the original deed line and also a .05' excess onto the next parcel, so from a title examiner's point of view, do they insure title to this new parcel knowing there's a potential for the discrepancy?

I think most of us are on board with calling for found or set monuments and we understand why that's important, but after hearing this guy's take on it, I gained a whole new perspective and in addition to that, started writing my descriptions in a whole new way that make them as bulletproof as I possibly can.

This guy wasn't saying he knew a better way of writing descriptions (although I have had many a fight with title people who felt they could!). He was merely saying there are other ways of looking at deed descriptions. In retrospect, I have a lot of respect for this gentleman's integrity. He was doing his job and also gave ME an education."

The old Guys

I was thinking the other day about this guy, one of my first crew chiefs, he went by a certain name but when I found out his middle name was Howard I immediately dubbed him Howie. (He hated it).

Howie was a nasty son of a bitch.  He chewed Copenhagen, smoked generic cigarettes and drank coffee all day. At night it was a 6 pack of Old Style and the cheapest TV diner he could find. He was a connoisseur of prostitutes and had the clap 11 times that he knew of.

He would go to Saudi Arabia for 2 year stretches and sleep in the back of his Land Rover to avoid housing bills and then vacation in Thailand every 6 months, get baked out on Thai stick and bang hookers for 2 weeks, hence the clap so many times.

He carried a 270 behind the seat of the truck just in case he saw a wild burro. He would shoot them on site claiming that they would pull out stakes. (Note: This is true, I have had it happen and they set them neatly over a hill and crapped on the nails.) I suspect that he was part burro himself that’s why he hated them so much.

He avidly hated anyone that worked in the office and referred to them as “office pukes”, he had zero use for anyone wearing a white hard hat or white shirt and was convinced that anyone that wanted to work in an office had a vagina.

While he was all of this, he was an awesome field surveyor (only) and passed his LS the first time. (Early 70’s)

This nasty Mofo made me tough. I was already pretty tough and still am but he would go out of his way to make things very hard on me. He was an agitator. He would mess with your physical and mental status, he had a way of making a person continually question themselves, therefore I became a check freak. I still am.

He had a method to his madness and his training. Those with a weak mind or the PC pussies of today would have never made it with him. They would have quit and cried to mommy.  I actually witnessed people quit on the spot because of him.

Bottom line is that he made people good surveyors. That was his main goal with youngsters and he accomplished it well. He was a living breathing survey machine and he wanted to teach. He loved it, but only on his terms.

Today, he would be written up, fired, sued and have the book thrown at him.

But that won’t happen because one day he was on vacation with his mail order Philippine wife in an undisclosed location, he smiled at her and dropped dead from a massive heart attack. Death was quick for the old surveying donkey.

If you were on his good side he would treat you well after hours (I was), but on the job it was take no prisoners. If you were on his bad side you were total shit and he wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire.

Speaking of fire he had an eye-man burn one of his trucks to the ground. Imagine how the rest of the time those 2 spent together was. My question is: how the hell do you accidently torch a truck?? What goes through your brain before and during that??

I know a lot of you my age and older were brought up by similar guys of the older generation. I personally loved these old guys. They were tough and the work ethic was hardcore.

I would love to be able to send these new/young guys back in a time machine and give them 6 months of Howie. They would come back much better having done it.

So let’s all take a moment to remember the guys that trained us. Good, bad or ugly, we all learned a lot.

Because of them, I am who I am today, just a whole bunch more refined.

Title Company Re-Writes

I recently had problem with different legal descriptions (recorded) on the same parcel. I used the documents I found (which matched) and surveyed before I received title which turned out to be a mistake.

Upon receipt of title and reviewing the documents it contained I quickly discovered that I had set 3 monuments out of position due to missing calls in the recorded legal’s (2 matching), so now I have to go move them, therefore cutting into my bottom line.

Did I get ahead of myself? Absolutely. I just happened to be down the street from this particular project and rolled the dice and lost.

Going back several years I had a problem with a particular old title agent. This guy was old, nasty and would only hear what he wanted. He was holding up a land division over some wording he found to be incorrect or disliked (I think the latter). I jumped through all kinds of hoops to keep this guy happy because of my client. After I completed everything this old guy wanted he then said to me “good, now I can re-write it the way I want”.

Needless to say I was royally pissed and have since then told a few title agents to pack sand.

Now I do understand the fact that technology is starting to get rid of this practice due to copy and paste, pdf and laziness.

However I am wondering why this practice ever even occurred? What makes anyone think that they are better than a surveyor at writing descriptions?

We as Land Surveyors have had to eat the worlds shit by having to decipher title agents, attorneys and the average Joe’s hand written legal’s. (Note: The average Joe’s are often better than the aforementioned due to the fact that they don’t know anything so they pull something up and plagiarize it.)

Also I am still on the fence about and description writing software; I personally think it promotes laziness and mistakes, the old “well the software said it was true” syndrome and makes it real easy to write a non-compliant description.

Maybe it has improved over time. The first software I looked at was garbage and I was so disgusted I have refused to try another. Maybe I need to open up a little?

Are we professional interpreters? Yes we are and most of us have become really good at it.

Maybe Santa will bring us all Crystal Balls:)

Worker Bees

This guy is dead on with what he is saying. For those of you who read my last post about the holiday rush will remember me saying that I have always been the last one out the door on a holiday.
What I failed to mention is that this is so because holidays and parties should be about the employees. They work hard to ensure that things go smooth and should be thought of first at this time of the year. Those that actually do care about their work.
So if you are an employer and you have made some profit or if the CPA is telling you to spend some money before year end, hook em up with some cash.
You can always hand them a 1099 and cash is king.
I am willing to bet that the bonus's have been scarce the last couple of years.

See below.

" I owned my own company at one time, but had to let it go (early 80's when the economy tanked). I know what you're saying about being the last one out the door on a holiday weekend. But, as I've gotten older and have worked for several successful companies, one thing I noticed is, the owners are often the FIRST ones to leave on a holiday weekend. Why? Because they have their "worker bees" organized in such a manner that they feel confident the work is being done properly. Last year, at our office's informal Christmas get-together (a catered thing in the company courtyard that was very relaxed and casual), I was frantically trying to get about 3 projects out the door as the owners and the rest of the employees were sitting outside 20 feet from me, laughing; knocking back a few cold ones and playing Cornhole.
I have a different perspective today than I did when I owned my own company. Being an owner can be a ball and chain around your neck, or can be a more freeing experience, depending how the deck is stacked. I doubt seriously that Donald Trump or Bill Gates will be the last ones out of their offices before the holiday."

I want to wish everyone a great holiday weekend and I want to thank everyone that has made comments and given input for content.

You are all awesome.

4 Day Weekend Rush

This upcoming weekend can be considered a good or bad thing or more of a hectic thing.

For those of you that are employees you can go about it with a carefree attitude with the idea that you get a paid day off and go drink lots of beer and hang with the family.

For those of us that own a business holiday weekends can be a nightmare in that we have to go on a mad rush to get lots of things done before Wednesday evening, jobs out the door, billing, checks, job prep for the following Monday and hope that no one has concrete coming on Friday.

That is how it is for me at the moment. I have to do all of that (thankfully no concrete is coming) which includes, billing, get 6 jobs out the door, write checks and job prep for Monday in order to relax for a full 4 days. (Badly needed!!!)

Good, bad or ugly? That is the life of a business owner, no matter how many employees I have had to cover things I have always been the last one out the door on a holiday weekend.

Those of you that are worker bees have it very easy. You have to do your job and that is it. The owner has to know how to do every job.

Would I change it and go to work for someone? Doubtful. I have been doing it like this way to long. Well if the offer was really kick ass, maybe???

Broken Rod

Some time ago I was 4 wheeling in the Gila River. I had my gps stuck in the door pocket through the window. Typical carry method in order to stay fixed. I went through a dip and all of a sudden something landed on the roof. So I say WTF was that and look up and saw that my rod had snapped right where the pin holds the height and my GPS head had gone crashing to the roof.
Now I am thinking to myself, wow that was lucky it landed on the roof and cushioned the fall although it did kill the DC cable.
So as I sat there performing field surgery I started thinking back to the days of 3 years ago when there were multiple crew's running and I never really paid attention to how the equipment was being handled and when I did I usually bitched about something.
Point being employees for the most part could care less about the expense a broken piece of equipment will bring. After all, they are unaware of what a bottom line is and are there to collect a check.
Life has gotten simple without a bunch of employees although the revenue is less.

Professional Courtesy

OK, below is a copy of an email that received from a blog follower. I liked what he has to say. While he speaks in generalities it touches again on what I have been saying about everyone has a different view and perception of things and takes action accordingly.

It also goes along with the topic of the week.

"Professional Courtesy is that which is provided to others in the same profession

by compliance with, and to, the established and published standards within the

profession.  By an act of non-compliance, such as not recording, not stamping

monuments, not registering as a BTR firm, the non-compliant are giving

other professionals the big fat middle finger.  My sense of professional courtesy is

bent when I have to spend time writing letters to a client and having them sign the

waiver so I can layout a wall or building referenced to boundary monuments that

some jack ass has set in secret and as such can remove or move just as quickly

after I have offset the wall or building.  When I go to use a GDACS monument and

find a new monument not of record, set by some construction project. Where is the

professional courtesy when I am in the street placing my number on the monument

and spending my hard earned money on mylar and recording fees to maintain

compliance? Where is the professional courtesy when a high profile project such

as the light rail project has little regard for professional standards and compliance

there with.  I loose work, money, and time to the professionals out there giving me

the middle finger courtesy.  Based on your blog on losing work to the low bidder,

you are receiving the same courtesy.

So, follow your professional courtesy and pick up the phone and call the latest

surveyor for the intersection of McClintock and Apache Trail sectional monument.

See if his professional courtesy fits your need?  Of course, first drive to the

intersection and look at the monument(s).  I have offered to have other

surveyors meet me in the field to solve professional courtesy issues.  Name

a Saturday, a place and I will be there.  This offer

has been on the table to all, for quite some time.  The survey “code of blue” has no use

in land surveying and does not serve to protect the public, it only serves to protect

bad surveyors and makes our profession look bad.  Get over yourself and think

about the public you serve and not bad surveyors who don’t provide professional

courtesy with compliance with basic minimum standards of care.

Thanks for your blog, but remember your not Paul Harvey and you don’t know

the “rest of the story”.

I think this is a valid thought and point of view. He points out that there are 2 sides to every story and he is right.

OK, this post is the last I am going to do on this sort of topic for a bit. This has been a depressing week. I have to say that I am a little disappointed more of you did not post comments about the mess mentioned in my "Say it isn't so/Baffled" post.

But on the bright side I actually received a personal email from a follower with this post.

Tomorrow I am going to change it up, so stay tuned.

Clarity

This is a great comment on yesterdays post. Please read.

Anonymous said...

"I think your outline John with your comment about the surveyors being turned in to the board...

You said;
“First on the part of the possible implicated parties. If you are about to be turned in, pull your head out of your ass and go by the book, no more short cuts, if you are on this list you probably deserve it, so re-examine how you have been doing things. The book and rules are there for a reason, use them."

Your comment is pretty attacking considering you don’t know the facts of their situations. This would fall under my “treating every other surveyor like he is an idiot” comment I previously made. I recall you starting this blog with you yourself being taken to the board. That’s pretty bad when you rip on others that find themselves in the same situation that you have once been in. Do as I say not as I do??

I like that you’re willing to put yourself out there with some controversial topics but lets remember this blog is out there for all to see. Lets be professional and show good leadership."

I love that this guys thinks I am out of line. It proves what I have been saying that every person has a different perception of things.

In light of that I will clarify a little.

First and foremost the last thing I want is for anyone reading this blog to take offense or think that I am calling anyone an idiot.

Well, maybe take some offense when needed. If I want to offend I will and you will know it.

Fact is that there are so many great surveyors out to be learned from (even people that get turned in). We all bring something different to the table and we should all pay attention. No one is the end all of surveyors.

He is correct in that I am unaware of all of the facts as stated twice in yesterdays post and the truth of the matter is that I got turned into the board for having my head up my ass and taking short cuts.

So I will qualify my statement by saying, beware guys, you are on the chopping block, turn it around while you still can. Start using that book of rules to the T and no more short cuts.

That  is a lot closer to what I meant. I have a tendency to by very direct and abrupt, especially when I am pissed off and am often taken out of context.

So thanks for the thought provoking comment. Very cool.

Now on to something else.

This topic that I posted has potential to become quite inflammatory.

I want to see comments and opinions but will ask you to keep names out of it.

If you have a beef with someone call them in private.

Give them the same courtesy you want even if you have never received it.

If I see names being flung around I will send it to spam.

We all have a great opportunity here to have our voice heard. No matter what you have to say, say it!!!

The purpose of this blog is the business of Land Surveying and all the stuff that goes with it.

You’re voice and opinion is the most awesome thing that can happen, even if I take offense. I want it!!

Thanks.

Say it isn't so!!!!/Baffled????

Alright is blog time. I was going to do fun this week but something I think is very strange has come up and I am sure it will warrant a lot of opinion.

I was busy the last few days and just noticed this comment that someone posted on my BTR Rule 7 post on 11/10/10. Please re-read original post if you need to.

Please read: Comment posted by anonymous

“I was a party to the group turned in by one  surveyor (7-9) in one month...... He actually contacted me after he turned me in and wanted me to surrended MY AND ALL INFORMATION I CAME ACCROSS IN THE PAST YEARS WHICH COULD BE TURNED INTO A COMPLAIN so he could turn them all in. What do you think of that?!

I am totally miffed. And I do not know if other surveyors fed him any information for his turn in.... He told me.... " I don’t turn in everyone,  just ten for now, rest assured I have another 30 or 40 sitting here on my desk.

Do you have time to sit down with me and approach these 30 to 40 situations?"

It seems to me somone is going to turn in a record number of complains in the near future....

What does anyone have to say about this stuff.... Do you want to know who is behind it? There is MORE than one.”

What I have to say about this is, WTF??? Really? Really?????

I sincerely hope that this is false.

I hope that this is a pissed off conspiracy freak using this blog to spout shit.

I have some major concerns about this if it is true.

First on the part of the possible implicated parties. If you are about to be turned in, pull your head out of your ass and go by the book, no more short cuts, if you are on this list you probably deserve it, so re-examine how you have been doing things. The book and rules are there for a reason, use them.

Now for the people that are compiling this list (if this is true). Are you out of your mind????

Take good care on this one. If this is true and you are going follow through with it, know this.

Fact:  You are going to be a target for the rest of your career.

Fact:  If you ever become un-employed from your current position you will have a hard time getting a job.

Fact:  You will be served with countless defamation of character lawsuits amongst others.

Fact:  You will be scrutinized to no end by surveyors, attorneys and most likely the board.

Fact:  This will create years of animosity and set this profession further back than it already is.

The list of facts is endless and I can see all cons and no pros.

So… Since I am unaware of all the facts of this particular item I will say this (there are 2 sides to everything).

If this is a true thing I will ask the ones making lists to seriously re-think this action. An action of this magnitude will only harm this profession. So please use your good common sense.

I understand that everyone has a different motivation and perception of things, but one thing stands true. The only way to improve a circumstance or profession is through diplomacy and forward thinking.

This accusation is the opposite of that.

A witch hunt is far from the answer.

As professional I believe that I am supposed to help my colleagues fix mistakes (if they are willing). This is my opinion. It is much easier to get people on board with direct honesty as opposed to full on attack.

Bottom line, there are good surveyors and bad surveyors. There are more good than bad and like everything else in this world the small majority of the bad stand out. Unfortunate? Yes.

If this is a true thing, I say let it go and move forward. If you find any violations on these people in the future do what you have to do, but leave the past behind.

History proves that the bad ones always weed themselves out. Besides, we need bad surveyors and ones that make mistakes to keep us all in check.

I have made a lot of mistakes and personally learn more from them than my greatest accomplishments.

Once again I sincerely hope that this is false.

Below is a comment from another anonymous surveyor. I like what he has to say because I am personally way too busy to police my colleagues, I barely have time for lunch. Also he is just plain correct.

Please read: Comment posted by anonymous

“Sounds to me like there is a surveyor out there that needs to concentrate on surveying rather than being a PI. Turning someone in that needs to be turned in is ok...... running around being a nark in a down market is unprofessional!

Trying to work through our differences rather than just turning each other in is what we should be doing! Surveyors often complain about not being treated and paid like professionals well this is why. Start communicating with each other to RESOLVE problems instead of treating every other surveyor like he is an idiot! We create more problems for our profession when we do this. Or you can just keep thinking that you are the only surveyor out there that knows how to survey and the rest of us are the idiots.... what ever makes you feel good.

Just remember....... it's not if you make a mistake it's what you do about it when it's brought to your attention.”

It's the weekend again

OK boys and girls it's time to put em down, shut em off and relax.

For guys like me that are running solo some work will be done over the weekend (I am so busy!!!) but I will find time to go to the races on Sunday and hopefully see anyone besides Jimmy Johnson win.

Great week with great comments. I'm glad that I could provoke some thoughts.

I know you all have opinions so thaw out a little and post away. The community needs your input and so do I.

I am deciding if it will be controversy or fun next week. We have had quite a bit of the first so maybe the latter??

I have received some kind of weird information that is worth speaking about so maybe a combo of fun and serious.

All that said have a great weekend. It's all going to be there on Monday so enjoy.

Thanks for all the votes and awesome comments!!!

Response to BTR 7

Ok. I have received what I think are 2 awesome comments pasted below. Please read them.

My response to the first comment is call him now and don't pussy foot around. Be direct and while he may be irritated, if he is the pro you say he is he'll appreciate it in the long run.
That is what I want people to do with me. I personally have so little time that ambivalence is a waste.
Tell him. I would.

Then second comment discusses a hardcore BTR fine be imposed for surveyors. Being a recent product of a review and fine etc. I have to say that I agree 100% with this person.
Make it sting!!!

Whoever wrote these 2 comments are awesome. I also received a comment not posted on this blog. I have asked the person to let me post it. Keep your fingers crossed, it is really good. It touches on personal accountability.

Thanks!!!



Anonymous said...

Turning another surveyor in is not always an easy thing, even when they've blatently screwed up a survey. We recently came across one that a local surveyor had done (he beat our price by more than half!). We have a lot of respect for his work and since he's a one-man show, we figured he could do the work with less overhead. When we saw a copy of his survey though, we were stunned. This guy has a history of doing fine work, but this one looked like it had been done by someone who was clueless as to how to survey and/or prepare a proper ROS plat. Incorrect information was shown; misspelled words all over the place; sloppy linework, etc. So we were faced with a question; do we talk to this guy personally, turn him in, or what. We opted to not turn him in because he hadn't been given a chance to correct his errors. Talking to him is going to be harder though because of his past work (generally excellent) and the fact that he's a respected friend. How do you tell someone their baby is ugly and not sound horrible?
Lots of stories are out there and we all have war chests full of them.

November 11, 2010 6:37 AM

 

Anonymous said...

Let me address something that I've preached about locally, and at the state level for years. Getting sanctioned by the BOTR, or for some of us, getting a slap on the hand. (I've been before the Board on two occasions in the last 30 years. Both times were for very minor things and I came away unscathed, more or less).
There's no incentive for some guys to follow the rules and do a good job. What's the worse that could come of it? You get called before the Board; you admit your guilt, or not; get a slap on the hand, a relatively small fine and your name in lights in the next Board newsletter. There's a local surveyor in the area where I work who's notorious for rejecting damn near every monument he finds, capped or not, and for setting his own monuments right next to them (sometimes, within hundreths - yes, we found one case where his monument was so close to another capped monument that he had to cut off part of the other guy's plastic cap and we couldn't get ribbon between the monuments). This surveyor rarely files his surveys. A few years back, the entire group of surveyors from this area wrote a letter that we all signed and told him he needed to 1) Record all of his surveys for the past ten years that should have been recorded had he followed the rules and 2) Start recording all his surveys from this day forward (holding to the Minimum Standards Rules for recording). He ended up recording about 12 surveys for the ten year period and is back to his old practices of not recording.
But, I digress.
My point is, if we want this sort of shit to stop, the Board needs to grow some balls and start handing out HEFTY fines and sanctions. Say, a thousand dollar minimum fine per violation. Yes, that's steep, but my guess is, if someone gets popped, they'll never get nailed again because of the expensive lesson they learned. And, they'll be more inclined to be watching the other guys to make sure THEY are following the rules.
Impose the hefty fines and you'll eventually see a lot less complaints filed. It will take time, but the word will get out and those who are cutting corners will either come in line, bow out, or will be paying out so much in fines that they can't stay in business.
My two-cents for now.

BTR Rule 7, Part 2

Alright.

First thanks to everyone that voted on my latest post question.

With an overwhelming 13 yes to 1 no vote, the surveyor in question has been found guilty by this blog and those who read it.

Now the big question is what am I going to do??? Will I turn this person in or let it go???

I have decided to let it go.

Just seeing what my fellow surveyors think is good enough for me and hopefully the person in question (you know who you are) is reading this and has reflected on things and will most certainly act in a more professional manner in the future.

Something a little funny about this is, I actually found a bust on an ROS this person did, (someone blew a GLO Lot calc) and informed them of my findings right away and told them why I think it.
 Huh? What a concept.

In a comment to my BTR post someone mentioned getting turned in recently along with 9 others and never received a phone call, email, nothing.

What I want to know is how do 9 guys get turned in at the same time?

Is there some sort of underground surveyor gang wreaking havoc on the valleys monuments? Pulling out lathe for kicks? Painting random flight crosses??

How does this happen?? Do you people not have each others back? That is (hopefully) 18 eyeballs looking around.

Bottom line is we all need to work together. Even if you hate the other surveyor they are still a colleague and deserve professional courtesy. Pick up the phone. Stop trying to be the only surveyor in the universe. There are a lot great minds in this business. Use your own brain and use theirs to, you'll surprised at the progress you can make.

BTR Rule 7

Ok. A touchy topic.

As many of you read in my previous post about my experience with the BTR I mentioned another surveyor that found our mistake. (If you did not see archive.)

This surveyor called me and told me he was going the opposite direction of us which was fine.

After the call and review of our info I repeatedly requested a meeting with this particular person and was continually blown off.

After my fourth request for a meeting to compare notes, this person informed me that they were too busy to meet because of spending all or their time opening a satellite office.

Needless to say, I was simply baffled by this person’s unprofessional attitude and lack of willingness to share information.

If the roles were reversed I would have had a meeting scheduled the same day to help the other surveyor out.

That’s how I behave. I always want to help if I can, especially when a colleague is on the chopping block. With a little cooperation a whole bunch of time consuming problems can be avoided.

Land Surveying Minimum Standards

Rule number 7 reads as follows:

 “In the event of a disagreement with the measurements and/or monumented corner positions of another registrant, the land surveyor must make and document all reasonable  efforts to contact the other registrant in an attempt to resolve the disagreement.  The other registrant(s) shall make all information relevant to the disagreement available, to explain  objections, and afford an opportunity for discussions, explanation and corrections  necessary.”

Now in my opinion this particular person is in direct violation of this line item and I have struggled on whether or not to turn them in to the board.

I want to know what all of you think about this. In violation yes or no??

Please see polling bar on right side.

Common!! Vote on this. I know you all have an opinion. Please share with a simple yes or no click.

FYI, poll will close at 2pm on Wednesday the 10^th.

I am going to post again on Wednesday evening and tell you what I have decided to do.

Thanks!!!!

The Weekend!!!

Oh yeah it's Friday.

What a week it's been.

I got my quarterly BTR rag yesterday and there I am bigger than life.

I have to tell you that it didn't sting near as much as I thought it would.

So for all of you reading this if you ever get turned into the BTR, a slap on the hand, a fine and being published is not the end of the world. You'll be fine.

Like my first business mentor always used to say "if you don't mess things up ever so often then you aren't doing anything".

I stand by this philosophy. What the hell, none of us are perfect and we are all stubborn at times.

Oh well, forget that, it's over. Let's talk about something good.

As I mentioned it is the weekend boys and girls. It's time to shut em off and crack open a cold one (if that's your thing).

Whatever your thing is enjoy it as much as you can. It will all be there on Monday when you get back to do it again.

I predict that we are all going to start seeing a lot more work start rolling in over the next few months, so get ready!! (I'm starting to see a big upward trend in several areas).

Big thanks to everyone that made comments this week. You people are awesome.

I really like hearing what you have to say. Opinions and being open minded enough to listen make for a well rounded person.

Tune in next week for more awesome posts.

I have one that is kind of sketchy that will get some opinions out of you.

Later

Bobcat

A comment by Waage reminded me of a hair raising crew chief thing that happened to me a few years ago.

I was doing a topo on a lot that had a rise from the curb and then dropped off the other side.

I was dropping over the rise when I noticed a head wall. Kind of an unusual place for one in the middle of a lot so I figured I better get it.

As I approached the head wall something gray started walking away from me and then all of a sudden stopped and turned to look at me and there I was no more than 10 feet from a Bobcat staring into his or her eyes.

Needless to say it scared the ^%&^%& out me.

I instantly froze and realized that if I had to fight this awesome creature that could climb me in .002 seconds I was totally screwed. All I had was the gps, a pocket tape and a lock blade knife somewhere in my pocket.

So I did what I thought was most sensible at the moment and said "Hello there big kitty cat" and started to back away slowly while continuing to watch this cat watch me. (I'm real good at memorizing my steps so I can walk backward in the weeds pretty well).

After a few seconds the cat figured that I of little threat and turned walked away stopping every 20 feet or so to check me out.

I only backed up about 25 feet and stopped and watched that cat slowly leave.

Notice I said watched? The thing that got me the most was the fact that I could not hear it walking through the brush as it left.

Truly the most quiet scare the crap out me experience I have ever had in the desert.

I wonder if the cat stopped somewhere and watched the silly human walk around with the stick for an hour or so???

Best Job in Surveying

So there I am this morning out in the Agua Fria River looking for a monument. I of course walked right to it thanks to our GDAC boys.
The wind was blowing a little, it was quiet and I have to say that I was really enjoying myself although I eventually was staking grade for the bottom of a pit with dump trucks and loaders all around, it was still awesome.
I have always told my employees that the best job in surveying is being a crew chief. Now I am sure some of you may disagree but here is my point.
Being a crew chief signifies freedom. Yes you have to get work done and answer to someone but this job is unlike any other.
Given certain circumstances a crew chief can hit golf balls, pee where he wants, spit anytime, hurl profanities, see all kinds of wild life, actually recon a site, enjoy the fact that every site is different (unless you are a perpetual hub pounder), the list goes on.
I was on 3 different sites today, 1 in the river bottom, 1 along

El Mirage Road

and 1 in North Scottsdale. Every job was different and had a different purpose.
Now if I was sitting here in office and had never been to those jobs they would all look similar except for shape and size and doc's.
So here it is. Because I actually went to the jobs they now have a life of their own, Although, I will be doing a lot of mapping now.

The Results of Survey-Feedback-Other stuff

I want to thank all of you that actually commented on the ROS topic.

DD, whoever you are. You are the man. Thank you very much for actually saying something with substance. I can tell it was well thought out. It had common sense and depth.

Let's hear it for DD!!!!

If any of you did not read the ROS comments, please do so.

That said, I know that a lot of you have opinions just itching to come out. So come on!! Step up to the plate and blurt it out.

We have been given a unique opportunity as surveyors to literally rebuild our profession. All the bad apples are gone and it's only the good guys that are left. This is one good side effect of a down turn.

It all starts with people that are unafraid to get out of the box and actually communicate.

Professionalism Part 1 – Dress Code

Professional as defined by Blacks Law Dictionary

“A person who belongs to a learned profession or whose occupation requires a high level of training and proficiency.”

As most of you know I was brought before a board review committee earlier this year as I spoke about in a previous post. During that post I mentioned and over zealous government guy.

What I failed to mention is that this particular gentlemen was the best dressed surveyor I have ever seen.

If memory serves correct he had on either a brown or olive green suit. Nice, the latter of which I personally own.

Now what I want to point out is because of the way he was dressed, I took him to be the most professional man in the room (which may or may not be the case) but that is how I perceived it. The utmost of professional appearance.

Here comes the polar opposite.

By far the most talented surveyor I have ever had in my employ was a total dump of a human being. He was so good at surveying that I actually related him to a savant.

Problem: His wardrobe consisted of sweat shorts and wife beaters and contrary to his up bringing (his mom was an English teacher) his grammar was so bad it was inconceivable.

His skill was great, but as a business owner there was no way I could let him deal with clients, send him to a job site at someone’s home or represent in anyway except from behind the scenes.

It became a sore spot that he was being held back even though his skill was so awesome. (I did pay him very well but he wanted more.) Many times I tried to tell him that if he straightened himself up as far as looks and dress I could promote him easier. He refused to listen.

I had another kid working for me that was tattooed from collar bone to tip of toe. Now this kid was smart. He always wore pants and long sleeves. He figured that while he was walking art, how he would be perceived was important.

He also had great grammar, was personable and knew a lot less about surveying than the first guy I mentioned, but I would send him anywhere.

Discrimination??? Oh hell yes!!!!!

I am a discriminating employer. My employees are an extension of me and my business and will only put those who look and speak well in front of people.

I personally belong to a couple of organizations where I represent as a Land Surveyor. When I attend I usually go business casual, but there are certain times when the suit is required (I am going to take a moment to say that when I am wearing a suit and if I was in the same room as said suited government guy, I would be the best dressedJ).

Going back to the first guy I mentioned I am going to point something out. While wearing great clothes in the field is not possible it is possible to look good.

If a crew chief with a bunch of face piercings wearing cut offs and a t shirt with a pot leaf on it rolls onto a job site what is the client going to think?? He is going to say to himself I am paying $XXX and hour for this, why?

If surveyors want to make more money we have to enforce a code of looks. Perception is a real thing. If we look better, people will have an easier time paying a higher hourly rate.

Screw being politically correct.

An attorney is usually in suit and tie. They charge and average of $350 an hour (mine do anyway) and they always get paid without question.

Now the big question. How come we can’t bill $350 an hour? We should be able to. Our profession is one of the most important on earth.

Thoughts??