Vague ramblings of a distracted Surveyor!

Odds & Sods - the ideas which haven't (or haven't yet) evolved into blogs!


The Law of Diminshing Returns - Many months ago I started a list of possible blog subjects, and this was one of them.  Unfortunately I have no idea what this might have meant.  Clearly a moment of clarity, or inspiration, whilst waiting from my daughter to come out of ballet listening to the inane chatting of mothers waiting for their daughters.  However on Friday I was back sitting in the cloakroom listening to the chatter when inspiration hit again..... The law of diminishing returns - at what point will the level of detail you are providing out weigh the time spent in obtaining that information.  Case in point, we spent hours breaking out way into this site, and gained the grand total of 15 points - was it really worth it?  The client seemed impressed so I guess it was worth it, but in hindsight a level top and bottom would have given the same result - but you never know what you might find buried in undergrowth.


All in a name - having spent an excessive amount of time on construction sites over the years you hear a wide variety of terms to connect to different industries.  Carpenters generally respond to Chippie, Electricians are Sparkies, Bricklayers are the Brickies, Plasterers are Spreads.  Now I'm stumped any ideas for Plumbers, Engineers or Surveyors??  Try and kept it polite.


Then & Now - When I first started in this career a mobile phone was something the MD had but no one else could get close to, life was so much quieter and days were more productive.  Now everyone has a mobile phone, and are willing to use it far to easily.  I may be getting old but there was a time when you have to solve your own problems on site, now the first step is to phone the office!.....this might turn into a full on moaning blog one day about changes in the industry since my first day!  This idea only came as a result of a day in Petham (Canterbury) which appears to be a mobile phone black spot or heaven.

Surveyors Claim to Fame - Surely there must be more references to Surveyors in popular culture through the music, movies, TV & books.  I can think of only a few, and some of those are only passing moments:-

1. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill (Hugh Grant) - OK they were Cartographers but lets not split hairs here!  Haven't seem it myself though, but perhaps I should have!
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Harrison Ford) - There was even an earlier theodolite in the hands of Indiana Jones, but again not a Surveyor.
3. Seven Years in Tibet (Brad Pitt) - Again that early theodolite was out again
4. The English Patient (Ralph Finnes)
5. Far & Away (Tom Cruise) - land prospecting in America
6. The Great Escape (Nigel Stock) - Wouldn't have got far in that tunnel without one!
7. The X-Files (David Duchovney) - Vague recollections of an episode from my youth, ok very vague!

I'm sure there are more films, but perhaps people could enlighten me!

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