If you get a chance to take any class from Dr. Elgin, do it. He changed the entire direction of my career almost 30 years ago. I suspect thst is true for most with Missouri roots..
@thebionicman Oh yeah...When I was coming of age in Surveying my mentor told me, "Every time you see Dr. Elgin at a conference you make sure you introduce yourself and talk with him". I followed that suggestion. Today he knows who I am, I email with him fairly regularly, he has spoken at the St. Louis Chapter meeting often, and as of today I accepted a teaching position (part time) with his partner in crime Dr. Paiva.
Dr. Elgin is clearly a legend in the surveying profession and regardless of where you practice one can gain a lot of knowledge from him. He is full of stories and has probably been there and done that.
Funny story.....I was surveying on the side of a local road in St. Louis about 8 years ago and low and behold Dr. Elgin drove by. I yelled, "Hey that's Dr. Elgin"! He has his window down and heard me. He stopped right on the side of the road and walked back to us. This was before he knew me personally but we still ended up talking for about 30 minutes on the side of the road about surveying and idiot drivers.
If it was 30 minutes he must have been in a hurry. Dr. Paiva is another good one. Congrats on the position.
Well, the verdict from the retest came in.
I passed.
There's no point in anyone taking that test without buying Dick Elgin's book and working all the problems. I did and I still wasn't confident that I passed.
Missouri makes 8. Mississippi is next on the hit list.
Congratulations. Going in reverse alphabetical order I bet. Start with Tennessee and work towards Alaska.
@tommy-young Congratulations! I told you that book was was the golden ticket! Welcome aboard. If you don't have Arkansas and interested I'd take it ASAP. The two states are kissing cousins and the test are damn near the same. Get it while it's fresh in your mind.
Nice Avatar.
@stlsurveyor I've thought of taking Arkansas, but that's just not a state we do much work in. At some point I'm going to have to throw my hands up and say "No mas". Missouri makes 8 states.
The avatar is about as edgy as I can get, haha.
@tommy-young yeah 8 is a lot. I have 6 and it takes a concerted effort to keep it all straight.
@stlsurveyor It would have been 9, but the commies in charge of Florida's continuing education beat me down, and I let that one go.
Then you would have gained one of my great-great grandfathers. But, then, he might have done in my great-grandfather on a different side of the family (Ohio)---or vice versa--so I wouldn't be here to make this comment.
Somehow the great-grandfather from southern Illinois (which tended not to agree with upstate Illinois) did not serve. I'm not sure but I think he may have lost a brother or two regardless of which side they joined.
Congratulations.
I am working through that book now to become familiar with the problems. I have a few yrs to wait though before taking it.
Any suggestions on additional study material?
@jbw Obviously you need the state rules and regulations, but I don't think you need to buy anything other than Dr. Elgin's book.
The avatar is about as edgy as I can get, haha.
Yes
I have 6 and it takes a concerted effort to keep it all straight.
Same here with five.
