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
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.
I completely agree.
ReplyDeleteI love Chiefing!
I do all my own field work.
I think more RLS's should. You actually see and recover what you will be holding for your basis. Walking a site or blasting a section on a quad.... It is awsome. Doing the field work yourself is the best way. It is even nicer now that the weather has cooled off a bit.
One of the awsome things about doing the field work myself is..... I have seen almost all the wild life there is in Arizona. I have chased a badger at Coolidge airport! That was fun! I have seen an owl in a barn in Arlington with an 8' wing span, and Eagles with babies on the silo stairway on the same site, I have seen bob cats and mountain lions, coyotes, skunks, etc.... (lots of snakes too)
With the economy being down I do not get the large Section surveys I have done in the past. (like the 7,000 acres in Kingman...) But the other stuff is ok too.
I have worked in an office and have even tried to go back.
I can't stand being inside anymore. It is the field or nothing for me. It is the freedom from the office and the grind. I typically will not even answer the phone when I am in the field. Not only is it fun to "mark your territory" but is fun to shoot at stuff too. There is nothing like a job way out in the sticks. In Kingman I was walking in the hills in a thunderstorm in teaming rain and lightning was striking the ground less than 200 feet from me. Being a chief is like going on a hike in the woods everyday. It keeps you fit too! I know many a friend with a desk job and an extra 80 pounds!
Rich Waage
Waage Surveying, Inc.
www.waagesurveying.com