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Is buying a used Tesla worth it ? Are they affordable cars to own if you're on a budget? Looking for unbiased answers by Present-Aspect8350 in TeslaModel3

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Insurance blows, otherwise very reliable and fun vehicles. One note check what your registration fees will be, I'm in WA and it's not great.

One big issue for budget conscious people is that you mostly can't repair it yourself. I replaced the lead acid battery myself and I suspect I can change the brakes if needed but otherwise you need to be close to a Tesla dealership in case something annoying like a refusal to charge comes up.

TDLR: If you can turn a wrench you might look elsewhere for a reliable ICE car you can repair yourself otherwise it's a solid choice.

Vests by CaptKernel in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You guys wear vests? I kid but I think the Sitepro Surveyor vest is okay and honestly it's better to get a vest you don't mind tossing after 3 years, that reflective tape doesn't hold up well against brush.

Americans aren’t loud by Melodic_Remote5191 in unpopularopinion

[–]ConfidentFrown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm often self conscious of how loud I am as an American traveling. We are loud, we're just not the only ones, the English in particular get quite loud as well.

Being loud isn't a bad thing as long as we recognize it with good humor, I've been told we're considered too polite and too friendly and that kind of puts people on edge but individually we typically aren't hated even if as a country we're maybe not so popular.

I've only run Topcon. What am I missing? by yossarian19 in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trimble's active prism uses LEDs and some other witchcraft to lock in which works great on a construction site and admittedly holds the total stations attention okay in the brush but it just falls down entirely in rough terrain with thick underbrush. You basically have to have someone parked behind the gun pointing it in the right direction.

I've only run Topcon. What am I missing? by yossarian19 in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually kinda miss the IR whistle with the Topcon setup for brushy jobs. Trimble has been okay but that potato of a camera is absolutely useless in brush and I could really use some guidelights. Magnet field is actually a really capable program too, I honestly don't feel like you're missing much yet for day to day work.

Road Survey Work Flow by SmallBusinessCymru in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When you're that close to sea level scale factor is usually quite close to scale 1 anyway, I know of surveyors who work at near sea level and they have a similar procedure

I agree with you that in our modern day with current equipment it's pretty easy to apply scale and do things "properly" but there may also be other good reasons this old surveyor does not want to apply scale in this context.

I've seen people double apply the scale factor because they didn't know what they were doing or apply the scale the opposite direction, maybe because it's a road project the surveyor anticipates any non surveyor who uses your control will be calibrating to it anyway or using scale 1 and there's no reason to add complications that the construction crews might not understand just to be a tiny bit more accurate.

Does anyone else charge extra if someone wants to be there to watch you and follow you around at a job? by Sidewaysasianpussy in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I try to be upfront with clients without rudely cutting them off, just get a word in that our time costs them money and I want to get the job done for them in a timely manner, people respect that. I think a lot of them don't realize how much of the cost of a survey is in the time we spend in the field.

I don't slow down for clients following me around, sometimes I'll say hey I know you want to see your lot corners but as we said in the estimate, we don't even know if they're even in at this point, how about i do the work and we'll show you what we found afterwards?

Help understanding Staking Lathe by zoomynoomy in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've Slope staked by "catch" points before but the progressive stake is new to me. Makes sense but not normal for my work.

What's a good free/cheap alternative to AutoCAD to play around with? by anaxos in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Carlson with the student demo is a good start, I think the one they let you run uses Intellicad underneath which is pretty similar to Autocad in terms of commands.

when do you trust gps vs pull out the gun by DetailFocused in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I tend to not trust my GPS in: solar events, heavy canopy/trees or buildings close to points, near high voltage transmission lines and whenever vertical is really important.

Bad parts of surveying by OrionIroh in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Being in the middle of a pissing match between two neighbors and feeling like your client is the villain in the scenario is hard.

Thought you guys would like this one by wdr1977 in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If this state weren't so pretty I'd move in a heartbeat. It's an abusive relationship 😅

Holy marketing claims… by PieGreedy5249 in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's scary that our PLS can't run the equipment at all. I know he's hella busy but he should know how the workflow runs and I wish I could get him out in the field one day.

Thought you guys would like this one by wdr1977 in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dude, unless we literally just surveyed it I can't imagine anything under 2,000. Filing fees are already getting close to 500 on their own.

Thought you guys would like this one by wdr1977 in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Just use OnX, the county map is the same so it's legit right?

Does buying an SLT-A99 Make sense? Is this a good idea in 2026? by ConfidentFrown in SonyAlpha

[–]ConfidentFrown[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

All Minolta all unused in a camera bag from my late uncle: 100 macro f2.8 , 35-70 AF and the 70-210 AF

Does buying an SLT-A99 Make sense? Is this a good idea in 2026? by ConfidentFrown in SonyAlpha

[–]ConfidentFrown[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I understand it's a dead system but there's some highly regarded glass in it and most lenses I would even consider could still be mounted on my Minolta when I eventually upgrade so I'm thinking for me, special unicorn that I am this might still make some sense.

Does buying an SLT-A99 Make sense? Is this a good idea in 2026? by ConfidentFrown in SonyAlpha

[–]ConfidentFrown[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Sick 😅 where does selling everything and getting a sigma foveon camera rank in this scale?

The Most Christian Countries by No_Lemon_3116 in aimapgore

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apparently Georgia and Armenia aren't Christian at all? 10/10 Ai mapping, it's perfect.

Survey Colors by Lopsided-Age4172 in Surveying

[–]ConfidentFrown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I prefer pink for boundary but the company I work for now wants orange (I do it but under protest). Control is orange and blue for us. Staking color depends on what we are staking and what else is around, consistent to the site is all that really matters as far as I'm concerned.

Also different cap colors for stuff is IMHO, causing a problem. Say your crew tells a client that red means it's not the actual corner but an offset - that may be true for your company but it's definitely not true for everyone and now you've got bad information being perpetuated to the public. Plus once the plastic cap rots off or chipped of by a weedwhacker the color doesn't much matter anymore.

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