I liked the idea of working outside, using my body and my mind together. I haven't been disappointed! Land surveying can be very physical work, but there is a strong intellectual and technological component as well.

It's easy to be hard on ourselves, but the important thing is to turn a mistake into a learning experience.

Learning how to weigh evidence and fairly re-establish a boundary can be as much an art as a science.

I think that people can get caught up in the "gee-whiz" technology of surveying, which is constantly changing, and forget about the legal aspects and the professional responsibility that surveyors bear - something that hasn't changed much at all in hundreds of years.

When I got my commission, other land surveyors told me to ask for advice from my peers when I was struggling with something.

Legal land surveyors are few and far between and can find themselves in demand.

People sometimes are under the impression that finding their property corners should cost as much as changing their oil or blowing out their sprinklers. What they don't realize is that land surveyors are required to stand behind their work for the rest of their lives.