08/30/2025
Plumb Bob. My boss gave this to me when I was 19 or 20 maybe 17; it's been a long time!. I'm 51 now. I remember his plumb bob when it was pristine............I thought about my bosses plum bob and how beat up it was: It was full in nicks, scratches, and dents. I wondered how he could have a tool so beat up.............I "jested at scares that never felt a wound" - WS. How little I know about life then and what it meant to work hard and do it while guns are pointed at your head (sometimes litterally)! Now I look at my plumb bob. I've had it for over 30 years now and see so many d***s, dents, and scratches. Nothing is so hubris as my youth and judgement.
I paid my dues. Years of fieldwork digging for monuments, some 5’ down below the surface. Dropping the plumb bob on the ground. Using it to scratch out a LS # on a pipe tag. Hammering a lath............holding my breath to keep it still while the crew chief got a "0" on my plumb bob. Deer fly bits, heat, and rattle snakes. Almost got ran over by an angrey mortorist, amost got into a fight with contractors, dealing with angry neighbors, clients, and attachs on my integrity. Bob was with by my side on my adventurs. He has scares on his face, and so do I. Untold stories for each dent, and scratch over the decades. Pyramids were built with the secrete life of plumb bobs. They were burried with the sands of time never to tell their stories. It was the bronze age after all............
I'm going to buy some of these for the next generation. I'm afraid they won't show their wear and tear..............I wonder how many of them will get dents an scratches on their plumb bobs? How will the next generation value a hard days work in the field????
Will their plumb bob have scars on their face or will it all be "faith and Peter Pan advice"? Is their life all “channel 13 and sesame street”? If you want a legacy to pass on, it means putting in the hard times also. It's not all sipping coffee while breaking down a section. Endless weekends trying to figure out a difficult boundary to have some undisturbed time from the ringing phone………….the plumb bob tells my story. Hats off to the field guys who have paid their dues and to the owners who have scares on their face to show how they “made it”!
I can still show up and find a section corner or a bearing tree............but someday that won't be the case. I see alot of maps with "could not set because it was "too brush" or "heavey traffic" and wonder what has happed? There was a time when you had to be armed to set GLO corners. Right or wrong, they had the fortitude to do the job. Will we ever see plub bobs beaten up like mine again?? I think mine is in better condition than what I rember my bosses being. Each one has it's own story.
