Surveyors of the Future

I have been pondering the future of surveying as of late and am wondering what we need to do as a group to make this an appealing profession for those bright eyed non jaded youngsters of America.

Question: Would you recommend that your children become a surveyor?

My Answer: Hell no!!

So what is the answer from my readers? Please chime in.

So there in lies my dilemma. When I am asked by a young person if I would recommend this as a profession what do I say? Really, if I would not recommend it to my kids how could I in good conscience tell someone else's kid to do it?

Do I tell them the truth?
That surveying is a great job as long as you work under the shield of the government or a big company.
And further be even more honest and tell them that it is an absolutely horrible business to be in.

How does one explain the truth to an enthused youngster without kicking the wind completely out of their sails? A great job but terrible business? Seems to be a contradiction.

How does one explain the difference between the surveying biz and the customer service biz?

Personally I am in the customer service business and surveying just happens to be the professional service that I provide. I get a lot of work from people that have previously used surveyors that have bad customer service.

So fellow surveyors, what say you on this topic?? Please step up with some input.

Make it a great week!

New Board Rules

I have been reading the new board rules and I will tell you right now that I like them.

I had some questions and asked the powers that be and got some great answers and feedback.

It was instantly clear that I need to slow down and be more thorough when reading things such as the rules that govern my profession.

Now I want to take a moment to thank the people that worked on updating these rules.

This is an extremely tough job as it effects each and everyone one of us in the surveying world.

Can you imagine the shit these guys have gotten through this process? How about the endless yammering by the non progressive numb nuts'zzzz?

I call that the not want to do anything but be the first to bitch syndrome.
So if you did not help, shut the fuck up. (Myself included).

Surveying is a profession where things do change. The fundamentals are the same but with technology comes change and staying on top of the rules needs to happen.

I am unsure how often they come up for review but I personally recommend that it get done more often.

So hey everyone, lets give some big ups to the people that stepped to the plate and put their valuable time and energy into something that is so important to us as professionals.

I am sure we will be better for it even with the small changes being proposed.

Peace out surveyors and make it a great week.

GDAC Issue

OK. I have raved for years about how I think GDAC is the greatest research tool I have ever seen.

I continue to say this today, however I found a problem.

The southwest corner of Section 4, Township 2 North, Range 4 East is noted on GDAC as an aluminum cap.

I have been to this corner several times and it has always been a 5/8" rebar with a smashed cap.

Big deal it checks and fits well with everything around it.

I have been working on a lot that the description commences on that corner then runs north 580 feet +/-. Actually every lot around there does the same thing.

Me being the diligent monkey that I am I shoot the section corner and go north 580 feet and what do I find? I find an aluminum cap stamped section corner.

Now here is my question:

What kind of crack was the crew chief smoking when he went to cap that rebar?

This person actually had to walk about a quarter of a mile and 200 vertical feet to cap a point that is no where near the proper location to which that cap belongs.

Now here is another kicker. That 580' point is called out on the GDAC interactive map and hits awesome for xyz.

Things like this are always a chuckle.

Thanks erroneous crew chief for the good belly laugh!!

This is honestly the first time I have ever found a real problem with any GDAC info.

Keep up the great work MCDOT.

Make it a great week surveyors.

Board Rules

Ever so often I do a quick scan through the Board Rules just to blow the cob webs out of the brain pan.

Every time I read them I think to myself, fair enough but one of them just rubs me the wrong way.

It is section 14, E, 2b, and regarding descriptions and it states as follows.

"All controlling monuments, noting their physical description, and whether found,
 set or replaced."

Now why in the hell would I do that?

In my opinion if a monument has another number on it I found it and if it has mine on it I either set it or found it.

At the end of the day if a monument has my number on it I own the responsibility, who really cares if I set or found it. Also if I am calling out other monuments in my description I still own the responsibility.

If I would change something about these rules that would be the one.

I am curious how many of you actually make those notations in a perfectly good description? All it does is clutter it up for the layman and also I believe it will create ambiguity for some green horn that still has a hard time properly writing one.

I would love to hear some thoughts on this one.

Peace out surveyors, make it a great week.

Dollar Value and what not

I have just not been into blogging lately but today I have been inspired.

I was telling a friend of mine that I was waiting for my new website to be built and then I was going to blog away because it would then be embedded in the site. However as most things go this is taking longer than expected to get built.

On to the topic.

I always chuckle inside when someone calls me says something like " It's an old street" "The lot is a rectangle" "Everything should just work because" etc, because they are trying to let me know up front that their particular job is easy and I should be able to do it for a minimal bust obviously intrusive cost.

I had a guy the other day tell me that his lot measures to the millimeter and I should be able to follow it just as close.

I have been estimating projects lately like they should be. I have broken the tip off of the pencil and am sending out real time professional rates.

I would love to see the look on some of these super cheap Mofo's faces when they get my estimate. Tire kickers is what I call them.

I have always marveled at how it is almost impossible for the Land Surveyor to explain dollar value to a client when all the client cares about is what they own which I am unable to legally tell them anyway. I make this statement in regards to boundary surveys.

The average client only understands cheap. They see us roll onto the site, look around for a while with a stick that has a disc on top, leave flagging and then disappear only to later receive a pdf file and an invoice.

I understand their angst. I really do. Hell I'd be pissed.

So herein lies the big question.

How do we intelligently explain the dollar value of flagging and paper to the client?

It's hard. I always explain it in time. Time seems to be the one common thing that everyone understands.
Before I even hang up with a client on the phone I am emphatic about how time consuming a project will be and the estimate goes out appropriately to follow.
It's true, surveys take a lot of time that we need to be compensated for in a professional manor.

As of late I have been getting professional rates and am loving it. The world is opening again and people such as myself can be paid as they should be.


On to the what not.

A couple of weeks back my Hiper had a horrible accident and broke the face plate among other things. It will not take a charge and needed replaced.
I was getting ready to take a quick run up to Prescott at 4am one Friday and noticed that something was just wrong with the GPS. I plugged it in, flipped it on and had 10% power and it went right to zero in a matter of seconds.
Well hell! I called the client and explained what was up and he was happy because he was running short on time and I scheduled one of my awesome contract guys to jump up there the following week.
I then jumped on the phone with Yon from RDO and went over and saw him. He hooked me up with a loaner and got my Hiper into the hospital. The damage was quite extensive and I carry a blanket policy on my equipment and called my insurance agent, told her what happened and she told me that is was a claim and it got filed and paid and Mr. Hiper will return this coming week. Yay!!!

Enough of that, lets talk about some fun stuff.

I am going to kick some major survey ass this week and then jump over to California next week for Fall Break. Fall Break, is a BS hiatus that the school district created for who knows what so I have decided that leaving for a pre-holiday vacation is the most prudent thing I can do. Thank you SUSD!!!

 Surveying will be here when I return.

Wow! What if it wasn't? What would I do with myself? I do think big picture at all times.

Well that's about it for the moment surveyors. I have had a lot of bloggy type stuff boiling and am going to be back into from here on. Until I lose the luster again that is.

Peace out boys and girls, be safe out there and make lots and lots of money!!!

Forward Motion

OK, Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about how I have done business up to now and the important things that need to change.

After taking the seminar I mentioned in the last post I have decided to create a wall between myself and that dreaded word Liability.

Liability is a word that to many surveyors want to absorb and I have always wondered about that. Why??? Why in the world would one want that??

I recently took all of my contracts and map notes and some other doc's to an attorney that specializes in working with surveyors and engineers and have asked him to do a major sprucing of everything.

I want to separate myself as much as possible from liability and paint a very clear picture of the clients responsibility and liability in every engagement.

I also want to make it abundantly clear that I am not a design professional. I have never designed nor will I ever design anything.

One major point I want to be very clear on is the fact that I can never tell a client what they own. That is a matter of title. I am a professional evidence producer and everything I do is merely an opinion and should be verified if they choose to do so.

There a several other points that am having him work on, those are the most prevalent.

I am through taking responsibility for things that a Land Surveyor should not.

On to another topic.

I have made a solid decision to switch to Micro Survey. I am finished with Auto Cad.

I got a call the other day from a really cute girl trying to get me to update to C3D. I politely told her that C3D is a solution for Civil's and design professionals and I have zero use for a program that I will only use 10 percent of.

She was nice and I decided to let her work me up a cost anyway and upon receipt firmly decided to switch software and I gave her a written punch list as to why.

This coming year is going to be a whole new ball game for this kid. I have a new company name, a soon to be released web site, a solid marketing plan in place and a plan for new equipment and most important a forecast that dictates things are becoming normal again.

Peace out surveyors.

Seminar about Title Stuff

Last Friday I took a seminar on Title vs Survey issues and boy am I glad I did.

The content as always was a little dry but I learned a metric shit load about title issues.

The main reason I took the particular seminar is because I am involved in a problem that was created by an RLS that worked for me several years ago and yes of course my name is on the map.

What happened is this. He did a land division and prepared what may or may not be a bunk legal. I am yet to reach a conclusion. All of the line work is perfect etc.

He later amended it but the descriptions remained the same.

The description was recorded, map filed, the monuments were set, walls were built etc. The buyer assumed he was getting an acre.

Long after the RLS was gone from my company they came back for another amendment and I personally did it and inadvertently fixed the descriptions.

Now here is the crazy part. They never got title insurance on anything. The buyer had it but our client never got it because they owned it outright.

Problem: Buyer loses property to bank, a new guy buys it from the bank with the assumption that he is purchasing the property within the walls, he has a title policy.

The new buyer being diligent gets a survey done and discovers that that deed is that of the old split and that the seller had never adopted the second amended. All of the monuments reflect the lot split but the deed does not and now he thinks he owns an additional 1/4 acres.

I received a call from a very cool surveyor telling me what was going on. He said our survey was awesome and all of the monuments hit really well. I explained to him that they obviously never had any title work done, he agreed and I thanked him and waited for my client to call.

Well we all know what happened when the client called. Of course they are thinking this is our fault. I promptly told them that this is a matter of title and the buyers company was responsible.

I will tell you that making an angry person believe that someone as glorious as a title company man could make such a huge mistake is almost impossible.

It sure is fun owning a business!!! Just one hoot and holler after another.

Well we had a meeting. I put my insurance company on notice. We spoke a few more times and I am yet to hear anything else.

What I did tell them is if they decided to try and sue me for any reason the insurance company would sick some big bad wolf of an attorney all over them, he will prove that they were remiss in the issue, he will prove it is in fact a title issue and he will drive their legal fees through the roof and all I will have to do is meet my deductible.

They also threatened to turn me in. I told them they could but it would do them zero good to do so. I am thinking they are of the mindset that kind of thing is public like the ROC and it would in some way hurt my biz because anyone can have a look for marks.

Now these people are very niece and amiable and I hope it stays that way. I told them I would help in anyway that I can but my hands are tied until they sign a release stating that they will not sue me.

We will play the waiting game now. I have a feeling it will all work out to their benefit. That is if they follow proper protocal.