Hey, Look.... An update!

Took a little time this afternoon to put together a little update. This should keep the blog police off my back for a few days!

Around the Office:
Busy, busy, busy….
There is a lot of marketing going on around here including SOQ’s, proposals, phone calls, lunches, etc. We are working hard putting together new marketing materials including information regarding the new scanner. There will be 2 of us attending a 3 day course in government contracting that spans this weekend. The main purpose of these classes is to help us better serve our public sector clients and to better market to this sector. Then, the first week of March, I’m sending a couple of my senior guys down to California for a 5 day training course for the scanner and associated software. This is some pretty intense training and should give us the technical edge needed to compete in the scanning market. This training should also help us to become more efficient in performing and processing scans. We have a new office Tech that is starting on the 3rd of March. Forrest is an LSIT and will be directly in charge of managing the field crews and helping in the field when needed. We are really looking forward to the added depth of knowledge and extra help with the office load.

Leica ScanStation 2

Cool! What else can you say when referencing a piece of equipment that gives you a 3-D scanned image of a site collecting data at a rate of approximately 50,000 points per second! We did an ALTA/Design Topo of a site in Kirkland using the scanner with astounding results. Accuracy levels are every bit as tight as expected with independent redundancy checks meeting or beating stated accuracies. Here’s a cute little image of the scan we did in Kirkland. I like!

Upcoming Projects of Note:
Nothing huge but some interesting stuff none the less. We’ll be up at Oak Harbor to do some mapping for the Marina which will include extensive bathymetry and adjacent upland topographic mapping. One of our crews is headed over to Kennewick to do an ALTA/Design survey next week. This will be another opportunity to use our High Definition Laser Scanner, especially since one of the adjoining streets is highway 395…. Talk about busy streets! We’ve got a small wetland/fish habitat mapping project to get started on up in Skagit County. This survey will include the mapping of a slough and some high detail mapping of a bridge and flood control structures, more scanning. On top of this we have a couple of construction layout projects and a scattering of small surveys. All in all, things are looking pretty good for only the first week in February.

Marathon Training:
5 weeks in and all is going well. Last week was a nearly 40 mile week with a 14 mile long run. I spent a good amount of time working on speed including some intervals and hill work. Roughly 135 miles for the month of January. Worked pretty hard leading up to that mileage and was definitely feeling the fatigue. This week is a recovery week with only about 20 miles scheduled. I’ll spend more time on strength training this week and keep the runs shorter and slower. Next week’s long run is a scheduled 16 miler…. Long runs will start hurting soon. Once I get in the 18+ mile range I find the long runs get far more mental (and boring).
Weight loss has been a tough proposition. Not sure what is going on with the body but I feel like I’m running a calorie deficit but not losing any weight? I have to be careful not to cut the calories too much during the heavy mileage weeks otherwise energy levels will crash and the chance of injury goes up. Still want to lose that weight though! 13 weeks to go….. Boston or bust, baby!

Play Time:

Got the GS wheels back from Woody. That hurt a little more than expected. He was unable to save the front rim so he ended up using the hub and spokes off the destroyed wheel and replaced just the rim. Still saved a couple hundred dollars over a new setup and it's still stronger. New header is headed my way. I was going to just upgrade the entire exhaust but I got such a good deal on the new header that I decided to just save the money for other endeavors. I still need to get those new Ohlins installed but that will have to wait until next week. As long as they are on the bike before March 12 I'll be fine.

My annual trip to J-Tree in SoCal has been turned into a combined motorcycle/climbing adventure. I'm going to take about 10 days to do the trip leaving 2 to 3 days for climbing in the park. I'm just looking forward to actually seeing the sun and feeling warm!

Until next time....

Cheers!

It's the Economy.....

Oh.....

.... and I thought we were just having trouble staying busy. Yep, it's a little slow at the PGS Office. Oh, don't get me wrong, we're holding our own and keeping the crews going. It's just that we like having a bit of a backlog of work. I know, we shouldn't be greedy, but I have a tendency to stress a little when I start worrying about my guys missing work.

Things really are going nicely and I believe that some decent projects will be kicking loose soon. I guess I'm just venting a little of my stress on the ol' keyboard. We are just now finishing up a nice 35 acre topography project over on the Kitsap Penninsula. We did get to put together our first complete project using the high definition laser scanner. That was fun and interesting and I'll be putting together a write up soon on that experience. The February training class that was supposed to be going on this week got cancelled. The next available class will be the first week of March and I've got 2 guys scheduled for the 5 days of training down in California. I'm looking forward to having a more intimate knowledge of how the software works. We get by just fine with it but I know that we will be able to be more efficient once the guys are trained.

I hope everyone is enjoying the LONG - COLD winter that we have been having. This could also have something to do with the general slowdown in our industry. Maybe? Ya' think? I don't think I've ever been so eager to get away from the winter weather here. Usually much more temperate. The mountains won't be accessible until late in the summer due to the snow pack that's piled up. Our usual spring river work will probably be delayed this year due to heavy river flows from the melt off. Of course this could require additional mapping for flood prevention. Gotta' look at the bright side.

I'll try to take the time to put together a more complete update later in the week.

Cheers all!

Let's Talk About Something Different

So.... How do you turn a beautiful, $20K bike like this:

Into something more like this?

By riding 900 miles of roads that look like this:

And spending way to much time with the bike in this position:

But it does give you the opportunity to experience the Oregon desert in ways that few ever get to experience such as this:

The above referenced bike is the renowned BMW R1200GS Adventure and the centerpiece of an unnecessarily large collection of bikes (Those of you who know me; yes, I have a problem....).  The trip was along the Oregon Back Country Discovery Route from Walla Walla, WA to Cave Lake, CA almost entirely on dirt that was undertaken last September.  A very exciting and fun trip to say the least but.... if anyone asks if you can do the trip on a big GS say "yes, but expect to be frustrated by the size and weight of the bike and expect to sustain some fairly expensive damage."

At least most of the damage was superficial and cosmetic but since I needed to instal the new Ohlins suspension I thought it would be a good time to get the bike back in order and fix all of the damage sustained on the trip.  First that needed to be taken care of was the wheels that were no longer true (or round) so off to Woody's Wheel Works in Denver for a complete rebuild.  Next was to replace the engine armor with a more substantial (and less dented) version from Ernie:

This setup should protect the headers much better than the stock skid plate did.  Now, while the old armor is removed and the wheels are off the bike I'm going to do the suspension upgrade.  I'm installing the fully adjustable Ohlins designed specifically for the adventure model GS.  This should give me better on-road and off-road performance and ride characteristics.  I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to replace the dented headers or just try pulling the dents out.... we'll have to wait and see how well the dented areas are hidden by the new skid plate.

The next time I do a trip as serious as this one in the back country I'll take the right tool:

Much lighter and designed more specifically for off-road.

Have fun and be safe out there!

Cheers!

What is a Datum?

So what exactly is a datum? If you look in the textbooks, the official definition is:

"A geodetic datum is any numerical or geometrical quantity or set of such quantities that serves as a reference or base for other quantities." (James R. Smith, 1997, Introduction to Geodesy, page 83)

This definition basically says that datums are references. References are simply the "starting points" from which measurements are taken. A reference can be as simple as giving a friend directions to your house by saying, "I live across the street from Bob's house." These directions use "Bob's house" as their reference or datum point. Note that these directions will only make sense to someone who understands your reference: someone who didn't know where "Bob's house" was would still have no idea where you lived.

In surveying a datum is very similar to the above example: simply a point of reference. Oh, if only it were that simple....

The introduction of GPS and GIS has made this one of the most complicated issues dealt with on a regular basis by surveyors. Local jurisdictions including cities, counties, states, utility districts, etc. all require surveys to be referenced to a given datum. The problem arises in that they don't all have the same datum requirements and there are just so many to choose from. Throw on top of that different datum requirements from the multitude of federal agencies we provide surveys for and you begin to understand the confusion that can arise when the word datum is spoken.

Here is just a partial list of datums we work with on a regular basis:

First is the Horizontal datums.

1. North American Datum (NAD) of 1927
2. North American Datum (NAD) of 1983; This one is even more complicated because of continuing adjustments over the years so you get NAD83/86, NAD83/91, NAD83/97, and so on.
3. High Accuracy Reference Network (HARN) and High Precision Geodetic Network (HPGN)
4. And, of course, the always fun "Assumed"

We also have the added complication of having 2 zones within our State Plane Coordinate System. A North and South Zone that cuts through the State from west to east at about Tacoma.


Now we move on to the Vertical datums which are even more complicated and convoluted.

1. National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929
2. North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988
3. National Geodetic Survey Geoid-96
4. USACE Ballard Locks Datum
5. Tidal Datums (varies across the state along tidal shorelines)
6. And, again, "Assumed"

With GPS it gets even more complicated as you begin dealing with geoids, ellipsoids, and earth surfaces. I think another picture is the best way to get this idea across in as few words as possible:

Hopefully you get at least a concept of what we are dealing with whenever we are asked to provide our mapping on datum and why this just triggers us asking the inevitable question: What datum?

Until next time,

Cheers!

Be Careful Out There!

Yep! It's winter in the Puget Sound. Be careful on them roads. We've been seeing a lot of unnecessary accidents caused by people being a bit too confident on surfaces that don't warrant it. Oh, and PLEASE watch out for the guys who make their living working along our roadways.

Surveying this time of the year can always be a bit more challenging but the guys are all doing a great job and staying safe. Of course, it does take longer to get to the projects when road conditions are poor and production drops. But all of this is to be expected and we just continuously look for creative ways to keep efficiencies up.

16 weeks! I am now back into full training mode for my next marathon. I'm going to try once again to Boston Qualify at the Vancouver BC marathon on May 4th. One of the percs of getting older is the qualifying time keeps getting higher. I now have to complete 26.2 miles in 3:30 minutes or 8 minutes per mile. Portland was close, 3:38, and I felt amazingly well in the final miles so it should be a doable goal. Of course, I would also like to lose an additional 10 pounds to help me reach that 3:30 goal a little easier. The good thing about running really long distances is that it hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse! :-)

Cheers to All!

2008, It's Official!

It has to be 2008 because I get corrected every time I write the date as '07.

This is a very busy time of the year for me. Between getting books and accounts in order and delivered to the accountant and getting everything put together for the employees for their taxes and doing employee performance reviews and reviewing company wide processes to look for any performance improvements we can make across the board, it's a little hard to take care of the little things, like keeping a blog updated for example.

Speaking of performance reviews, I'm once again reminded of why we are so successful. I have surrounded myself with a bunch of over achievers.

My little list:

1. Survey Director: Licensed in every known state in the US.... well, that is if you only know 5 of 'em. Jeremiah Dixon only wished he had known as much about surveying as this dude does. A real coach when it comes to managing people.
2. Senior Project Manager: Acquired his professional license at barely 30 years old. One of the most client based service oriented guys I have ever met. Give him a computer and some I's and O's and he'll have a map of something whipped out in no time.
3. Junior Project Manager: Every now and then you run into someone who just makes you say wow. Wow! This dude just got his Land Surveyor in Training certification this past summer. If you ever need anything, even if you don't know what that "anything" is, this guy will get it done. I don't think I have ever met anyone that was more intuitive.
4. Senior Field Techs: Creative! We give these dudes some maps, a few blurted instructions, and say "get 'er done" and, I'll be damn, they do just that. Me: Map that cliff... SFTs: how? Me: I don't know! SFTs: No worries, we'll figure it out.
5. The Rest: Dedicated to the cause and overwhelmingly accommodating.

All of this talent and we are adding yet another! This is a young Land Surveyor in Training from the Spokane area. He will give us some more depth in the technical arena especially pertaining to field crew direction. He will be able to spend more time training crews and give us more senior guys the chance to do more mentoring. He will be an exciting addition to the team.

On to other news:

This week we will do our first project using the new High Definition Mapping scanning instrument. We are pretty darn excited about how this project will go and plan on using the data and subsequent maps to educate our clients in the capabilities of this instrument. It will be a good opportunity to produce some really good marketing materials. Stay tuned.

The crews have been hard at work performing ALTA surveys, pipeline mapping, and topography for a proposed development, along with a scattering of miscellaneous small survey projects. We are expecting another good year but things have slowed down a little bit for us, as is to be expected right after the holidays, and I am hitting the marketing trail pretty hard so if you get a call from me you know the drill "PGS IS the best!"

Cheers!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all!

Wow, a new year beginning already.  '07 went by in a flash and was successful in so many ways both on a personal and professional level.  It's hard to believe that we are now in our 7th year of business here at PGS.  I would like to thank all of our Clients, Associates, Vendors, and friends for helping to make '07 another year of growth with many successful projects completed and new relationships developed.

Highlights from the  year;

Personal:

• Joshua Tree in Feb.  Desert climbing at it's best.  A good place to spend time with a great friend.
• Vancouver Marathon in May.  Lots of suffering.  3:42.
• Swiftsure Race in May.  Fast sailboats, big ocean swells, and good friends.
• Moto GP at Laguna Seca in July.  Faster motorcycles with fearless riders.  A week of motorcycles with my son.
• Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route in Sept.  Dirt, rocks, large bike, lots of broken pieces.  A week spent with some of the best people on earth.
• Portland Marathon in Oct.  Shared with a brother, best of times.  3:38
• Maui in Nov.  Celebrating 29 years with my very best friend.  Love you Sue!

Professional:

• Unbelievable depth and growth within our team.
• I'm beginning to place more and more trust in my team and giving them more control of operations.
• Won an on-call professional services contract with a major Federal agency.
• Developed many new relationships with some wonderful firms.  Big thanks for all the work.
• Continued to build relationships with Associate firms allowing for sharing of resources.
• Wow, some really cool projects located in some really neat locations.
• A new piece of equipment putting us at the very top of the technology curve.
• The BEST employees in the world!!!  Thanks guys!

We are all looking forward to another year of success and continued growth.  I really do appreciate all of you that have played a part in my life and wish nothing but the best for all of you in '08.

Cheers!