gallagher papers 17
frank...@hotmail.com
Recommendations fIELD gRAPHICS
fIELD gRAPHICS is my Vision .. a field survey party chief with a career
beginning with the Legal Survey Section of the Department of Highways
in April 4 1964 and ending with the City of Toronto August 31 2004.
In between I have provided my experience to the private sector Ontario
Land Surveyors-beginning with Yates & Yates ,Edwards & Gunn
,J.D.Barnes,Unwin ,Murphy & Esten ,Wheelers(R.B.LEE) ,W.Fenton O.L.S.
40 years
D.H.O. 4 years to make Technician 1,Legal
Surveys. Party Chief (Management
Position)
M.T.O. 6 Party Chief (including 6 months
drafting training)
Private sector 14 Party Chief
W Fenton O.L.S. 2 Office Manager & Field Supervisor
City of Toronto 14 Party Chief
I have enjoyed these years to the fullest as I have used all the
benifits that Land Surveying has to offer.There have been a few times
when I considered trying another career due to the hopelessness for
promotion and a salary based on quality and production.
But I got over it,because I can not imagine a better job than land
surveying ...when you apply yourself.
I have seen a lot of hopeless cases in this business and the main
reason is twofold.
The chicken or the
egg ?
Though It may not matter which came first, It will be my pleasure to
purvey
I will respond with a question ..would you rather golf or land survey?
If surveying is a chore... why not put it off til tomor ?
So lookout people or should I say fore.
For those who do not get it ...let me say just a little more
The idea of golf is to do.. just one better than the day before
It is the achievement that is your reward it did not matter the cost
But when you come to work just for the buck
One day you awake and you have lost
Yes ..It is true..you are ..shit out of luck
If you are proud that the union allowed you to play
Think again..look behind you ..what have you done
Your days are over and the world no better
For many it is just a waiting game
Thinking surely you are the senior of wasted years
You must be due for a position of gain
It does not matter if you see yourself here
The fact is that you are and it is the fault of the chicken
It is good that we have one to blame
You are the egg and alas have been laid
I met a person when I worked in Scarborough
He spent a lot of time with me and a good guy B
Me and B never knew the purpose for... he
Was it to slow us down ...we did not see
He was wise without me knowing it
I thought for sure that he was very inept
To my dismay he was right ...in one way
For he would say and although never tried it
It won't matter how hard you work
And how competent you may be
I will never get it
For he has seniority
With this in mind..I see the reason why
No man can easily be selected
Because the competence and caring of the minority
Would be defeated by the majority seniority.
I try to make things fun ..but it is time to clearly state that in this
instance it was the chicken which came first because the field staff
with exception are the byproduct of a fowl ...make that foul ..and I
certainly.. by no means make reference to the goose that laid the
golden egg.It would be fair to say that the system had laid the rotten
egg .
I have suggested to management on many occasion that the most powerful
tool a Surveyor can have is a well educated field staff applying their
knowledge to the deed that needs doing.
I do not mean staff with a photographic mind with an astronomical
formal education.. although every Party Chief should have one on their
crew for many reasons... immediate access to a library for one.
What I do mean is that he should be capable of following rules and
direction with the capacity to understand the purpose for the daily
escapades of digging for monuments and the science involved with the
gathering of data.
The basic information is now available in my writings fIELD gRAPHICS.
At this moment I can attest to the fact that an instrument person can
competently gather evidence under the guidelines of fIELD gRAPHICS
because there is a plan in place and the objective is known.Training
time will be as little as one month to put in place the procedure as
presently identified.
This is just the beginning and even though I type two fingered I
suspect that I will have the next
phase in place shortly and before demand.
There is a lot to learn and the men who have the disadvantage of not
having the formal education of an Ontario Land Surveyor will be a
little more difficult to train.They do not have the advantage of
applying their knowledge on a 2D surface model of the
swamps,forests,hill n dale which does not reveal where the huge dogs
and the evidence they leave behind may be.Instead they have the
unfortunate knowledge that there is no carrot or what ever to learn and
be a significant in this new environment of fIELD gRAPHICS.They know
they are destined to be outside,no matter the weather, to know and do
what ever be needed,the Party Chief of the not too distant future,could
be a force to be reckoned with.And the byproduct will more than trickle
through the office.
The man with the higher degrees will not stay in the field for long for
he is needed inside and his papers have a way of scooping the better
jobs.For that reason alone we need him dearly in the field for evidence
mentioned immediately above.
The field guys do not have the advantage to know that there is a place
for them when he excels and begins to operate in a capacity which will
lighten the load of management.
I have a structural level in mind which would allow for one new
position which I have mentioned before.This would be field operations
manager.A non OLS position.In laymen terms,he must have an excellent
understanding of the laws and rules pertinent to Legal Surveying with
hands on experience with AutoCad(Softdesk)among others and an excellent
understanding of the theory and use of electronic survey equipment.An
excellent understanding of the horizontal control
network and the computations involved are of extreme importance and a
must as are all of the above plus this person must have shown an above
average interest though there was nowhere to go.For this man will exel
in the new methods of gathering Legal Survey Data with a desire to
accomplish unprecedented goals to the extreme benefits of the City
...for those will be his rewards.These are reward enough but a perk or
two would not be snubbed.
My druthers
I could and would appreciate that position after retirement to get the
ball rolling and perhaps oversee a job or five of JWs for he is the man
that you will need to take the field staff into the future.
Perhaps if things went right, Jim would be rewarded tokenly
For past extra efforts and his new drive
Which I guarantee .
Will be beyond all our comprehensions
Of what can be achieved
This would set the stage for a lot of happee.
I would apreciate the opportunity to oversee Mike B ,your new Party
Chief (who I recommend highly to replace me.)He is quite familiar with
the program I am introducing and well versed in the laws pertinent to
Legal surveying.He has been acting Party Chief for several months now
and has provided excellent returns.He is very familiar with the HP48
hooked up to a Leica and is able to download files using TDS Survey
Link and is familiar with AutoCad (Softdesk).In fact as I
write he is at home playing with AutuCad on a computer I provided him
with.As they say.. a mind is a terrible thing to waste.Mike has shown
me the qualities that I would expect of a much more experienced Party
Chief and I can not emphasize enough ..the roll that he would play in
the future if you adopt my plan or even if not.
Wally once said that he visioned our Department to be the Pearl in this
industry.
It is my belief that the City perimeter is the shell that we surveyors
will pry open in quest of this Pearl.
However,If when we are done ..and no Pearl, fear not ,for this was the
carrot which polished this diamond in the rough..to a jewel ...crystal
clear.
fg
copies of the attached response were hand delivered to
Bruce McPherson O.L.S.
Bruce Brouwer O.L.S.
Bob Mountjoy O.L.S
Dan Quinlan OLS
Pat Suppa O.L.S
Ron Karpiel O.L.S.