Rhody

The closest run in I had was back in 2000 looking for a benchmark near Daytona. It turns out that it was in the Right-of-way really close to someone’s house. After we found a good reading with our locator we started digging, and that’s when a really ancient lady was escorted ( what I mean by escorted is that she couldn’t walk every well at all ) by her seemingly mute husband. She then proceeded to yell at me for digging up her yard, and asking who gave me permission to do this, who she could call and all that such. My co-worker at the time was quite the smart a** and instead of being polite and explaining everything to her, he just told her it was Governor Bush that gave us permission, and she could always call the police and they would explain that what we were doing was legal! A far stretch from the truth I know, but it is a state statute for surveyors, so I guess technically it is the Gov. that gives us permission. Well she did call the cops, and after hearing what we were up to, with specific reference to the statute governing our activity they let us take our shot and cover the hole up quite nicely. I still always hate it when the cops are called, but I’d rather have that than having a gun drawn on me. You really need to look out for that in some real country areas! That and electric fences are never fun, especially when the owner is watching you and turns it on as your on top of the fence!!!

I have been in the survey field for about 7 years now, and never have I found such a helpful website. I have found this website to be of great help in my field. It’s extremely helpful now that I’m an office manager who is responsible for giving my crew accurate and helpful information on where to find a benchmark at. The ability to check and see who has found, or not found, a mark in the past makes it easier to get my crews to the correct location. I've even used the great programs available for download to get full NGS datasheets to import into google earth for a decent arial map of the area! Now all I have to do is find a good way for documenting when my crews find their benchmarks, and log it on the site. I'm also curious how many other surveyors use this website, especially any in the florida area, because it would be great to share any information around! It's a greate hobby for everyone out there to find these benchmarks, but your hobby helps me with my job, and for that thanks!

I'd agree with what everyone else has said, it's not considered cheating at all. I’ve been surveying in Fl for about 7 years now and I don’t believe I’ve never used GPS to find one of the hundreds of benchmarks I’ve come across. In fact I like the challenge of following some of the old directions.