Land Surveying

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W.C. Dean

Puritan Board Sophomore
One of the greatest trials I have had in my life is a lack of knowing what I want to do as a career. My passions for different subjects change almost monthly (although lately it has seemed to calmed down a bit) and thus I could hardly judge what I wanted to do as a man because it would probably change. The few subjects that have been consistently interesting to me are American political history, theology, and cartography. Just recently, I have considered what I can actually do as a career with a passion for maps, and now I am looking into land surveying. Can any of you offer any knowledge on this subject? I have been looking specifically at county surveying as I have always wanted to serve whatever local community I find myself in, and do not want to have to travel for work. Any advice would be kindly welcomed.
 
One of the greatest trials I have had in my life is a lack of knowing what I want to do as a career. My passions for different subjects change almost monthly (although lately it has seemed to calmed down a bit) and thus I could hardly judge what I wanted to do as a man because it would probably change.

This was my dilemma when I was young. I ended up joining the military and getting a bit of life under my belt while learning a trade (MOS) and taking college classes when able with tuition assistance. If able this might be a route you may want to consider.
 
Can any of you offer any knowledge on this subject? I have been looking specifically at county surveying as I have always wanted to serve whatever local community I find myself in, and do not want to have to travel for work. Any advice would be kindly welcomed.

Surveying is a high tech industry. We are construction estimators, and even we are getting into drone surveys. It's all GPS nowadays.
Why the county rather than independent? You may get some security if you stick to it until you are too old to work anymore, but you will never make any serious money. If you have any entrepreneur blood in at all in your veins, go up the ranks in private industry. You will learn a lot more and learn faster than in typical government positions. I waited till I was 39 to start my business ( walshestimating.com ). I should have started sooner. When you start making a lot of money and have more free time, you can help the local governments more than you could just working for them.

That's been my experience.

Ed

Here are my house and property. This is not an image. It was gathered by drone as a GPS point cloud then rendered and colorized. It's far from perfect. My son was just fooling around one day.

snapshot00.png
 
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Surveying is a high tech industry. We are construction estimators, and even we are getting into drone surveys. It's all GPS nowadays.
Why the county rather than independent? You may get some security if you stick to it until you are too old to work anymore, but you will never make any serious money. If you have any entrepreneur blood in at all in your veins, go up the ranks in private industry. You will learn a lot more and learn faster than in typical government positions. I waited till I was 39 to start my business ( walshestimating.com ). I should have started sooner. When you start making a lot of money and have more free time, you can help the local governments more than you could just working for them.

That's been my experience.

Ed

Here are my house and property. This is not an image. It was gathered by drone as a GPS point cloud then rendered and colorized. It's far from perfect. My son was just fooling around one day.
Why didn’t you tell us you had a giant replica of Homer Simpson’s donut in your front yard!

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don't buy that is his estate. I know a holodeck program when I see it. Enter!

The donut is a pool with a leaf-covered pool cover in the winter. But, like Homer's donut, it is sweet. I dive into it every day at about 3:00 a.m. I kid you not.
 
As I have researched it the more it seems technology based. I am not sure if it is for me. I still have much to research though. As for working for the county, I think very locally, and I have for a time felt a desire to serve whatever county I live in. I do not believe I am called to be an elected official, but I do think local government work may be in my future.
 
Even if it is all GPS, you will still have to learn cartography, which is a fascinating science. People around here still survey with transits and theodolites, and any course on it will hopefully touch on those, since you'll never understand what the GPS is doing without a good understanding of how cartography works and its history.
If you go for it, I think surveying would be a great career. It's a skilled job that can't be outsourced to India or China.
 
As I have researched it the more it seems technology based. I am not sure if it is for me. I still have much to research though. As for working for the county, I think very locally, and I have for a time felt a desire to serve whatever county I live in. I do not believe I am called to be an elected official, but I do think local government work may be in my future.
Are you shying away from anything technical? I was going to mention perhaps look into Civil Engineering. This is a broad discipline that covers many different functions to include building/structure designs, road design, water resources (designing water channels, detention basins, etc.), soil analysis, waste water treatment. There are of course lots of opportunities as a civil engineer to work for the government if that’s what you want to do... (though I’d agree with Ed, I’d suggest working in the private sector - you could always contract with the government as a private engineer).
 
I am not shying away from technology but I would prefer a job with more time outside. I actually wrote Andrew Myers (Virginia Huguenot) because he knows about cartography and the like, and he said if I wanted to do that, getting trained in systems like GIS is a good idea.
 
I have to ask... why are you diving into your pool at 3 am every day?

For years I have gotten up at about 2:30-3:00 a.m. every morning of every day 365 days a year for my devotions which last until about 7:30 a.m. Even on vacation--even when sick. I miss probably 3 days per year. It is my heaven on earth time. Just the usual stuff. E.g., Bible reading and study, (I read commentaries cover to cover) singing the Psalms, prayer, and worship. I never set an alarm anymore. It is not a duty to me anymore.
 
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Outdoors.....you could be in the worlds most controversial occupation...law enforcement.
 
What time do you go to bed?

Right around 8:00 p.m. Sometimes a little later, but not much. I get about halfway through Tucker, then I've had it.

EDIT: But, I should add, that even if I have to be up late I still get up at the same time. Even if it means little or even no sleep.
I have to. I have that great of a need. Life is hard for me without a serious daily dose of God. I had to learn the hard way. I spent about 40 years failing to live a consistent Christian life. I just seem to have more need for fellowship with the God who loves me than most do.

Ed
 
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Right around 8:00 p.m. Sometimes a little later, but not much. I get about halfway through Tucker, then I've had it.

EDIT: But, I should add, that even if I have to be up late I still get up at the same time. Even if it means little or even no sleep.
I have to. I have that great of a need. Life is hard for me without a serious daily dose of God. I had to learn the hard way. I spent about 40 years failing to live a consistent Christian life. I just seem to have more need for fellowship with the God who loves me than most do.

Ed
For years, I simply could not get myself to read the Bible or any theological books. I knew I should and tried to motivate myself, but just couldn't bring myself to squeezing in the time... Then a few years ago, something finally clicked and suddenly everything took a back seat to studying God's word. At first it was a struggle to study in the evenings with my wife and children (or at that time just one baby) demanding attention. So I started waking up at 4:30 and dedicated that time through around 7ish to Bible study - plus listening to the Bible on CD in my car during my commute to work (another ~40 mins). Every morning was a delight and every evening going to bed was filled with excitement to wake up the next morning to God's word.

My wife got pretty agitated however when I started going to bed earlier around 8:30... Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 7 is no joke! So I tried operating on <7 hours of sleep for a couple years. Eventually, I got really tired of being tired all the time. Plus I wondered how effectively I was retaining knowledge from my study - my memory seemed to slip more and I felt less effective at work.

So I recently stopped setting my alarm clock and now wake up naturally around 5-6. It's been a little discouraging not getting to read as much in the mornings, but I do feel a lot better and effective. One of the worst parts of working remotely from home the past couple months was missing my Bible listening time during the work commutes. I truly felt deprived.

Bottom line, I know what you're saying and feel the same way too. It's a privilege to go to bed every night looking forward to spending time with God and his word the next morning!
 
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