Stupidest/screwiest place you had to locate in

[advanceMan]

just wondering where the dumbest place anyone had to locate was. I worked for some private guys once doing pipeline/plant/lease site/private scanning/sweeping. That work is intensely boring. Haven't heard from too many of those locators on this site, most of you are 1 call. They typically think they're smarter.
We had to do the three way pass method in a movie theatre. It was the dumbest job I ever did. I stood there holding the box thinking "this is stupid" while the other guy vainly attempted to get a good inductive signal on anything. i think he was making it up half the time with his falling apart 810. (took a job some yrs back with a private co, held my tongue, and the box for a year before i quit. Knew what i was getting into beforehand.) i've also had to use a tiger torch in the pouring rain to locate water tees off the main for bell holing in B.C. another stupid story.

I was just wondering AUL, if you'd be kind enough to answer, i know you're an upstate NY locator, and from what I've read you're not too fond of "The Big Apple", but have you located there? i'm interested in that city. Do you have to watch out for C.H.U.D.'s and toilet gators?

[big boots mcghee]

I once had the pleasure of doing a private locate for a school where they wanted the roof located. Yeah, you read that right. They paid to have us locate their private electric lines that ran just below the roof. The school was going to reconstruct their roof and didn't want to damage any of the "underground" utilities. No prints, very few access points, no one who really knew what ran where - it all added up to be an awesomely retarded locate.

[AULupstate]

Actually advance I am an ALL over Locator. Seattle, Chicago, Ft. Meyers (FLA.), Philadephia as well as Up State NY (Watertown, Syracuse and Albany). I go where the work is. Right now that does happen to be NYC and Long Island. The only reason I'm not that fond of the place is too many people, too much traffic and living there costs WAY too much money. A shity studio (one room) apartment ranges from $1,000 to $1,500 depending on where you look (check it out on Craigslist if you want to see what you get for that amount of money).

I'm doing private locates now not one call. I like the private side better (even though you do end up doing stupid shit but you do stupid shit for one call and make less money) because I actually have the TIME to do a good locate from start to finish. Not 5 minutes for a 3 way and bang on to the next one.

NYC has good food, alot to see and do but my dislike for the place stems from things other than not liking it it just because. There is a whole different dynamic when your a resident of Upstate NY as opposed to a resident of NYC. Tax issues, State Politics, Others perception of 'New Yorkers'. Things like when NYC thrives Upstate suffers, when NYC is not doing so well Upstate suffers. Power plants built in Upstate do NOTHING to help that area with finacial relief with cheaper power, it gets dumped into the grid to go to NYC. This is a FACT, Same power company in Upstate (National Grid) supplies power to Long Island. My electric bill up there over the winter AVERAGED $600 a month, down here (same company mind you) $150 in an ALL ELECTRIC APARTMENT! Does that make ANY SENSE???

Sorry to go on a rant there but at least it gives some background information on my dislikes.

One call in NYC no I have never done it nor do I want to. Private Locating yes I have and hope I get to keep doing fro a long time.

[yahoo]

i located in a black carbon plant before...a private

[justanotherlocator]

I was once asked to locate an abandoned cemetary. Apparently a wind farm company bought some land and then learned there may have been a cemetary there years ago. Thought we could find anything underground. Referred them to a company using GPR.

[Mke]

I'm a self admitted stupid private locator. I've done Retarded locates before.....Such as, utility locates inside a utility tunnel. I once charged 12hrs for 15min of locate time.... I had to be pulled up a logging road to the top of a ridge in 6ft deep snow for a test pit. Because the snow was so deep.. it took that long to go up the mountain and back down. As AUL stated though.... we got paid real well for doing stupid locates.

Mke

[advanceMan]

Those are all funny situations, especially the roof and the cemetary. AUL your job sounds kind of exciting. I'm from kingston, ont originally and am familiar with rochester, watertown, been to syracuse long time ago, Alberta is boring as shit.

[Utilitrack]

I used to work in the SUE industry and was part of a team that had to map out the Water treatment plant in Baltimore called Montibello. I was the newb, so I had to crawl up all of rhe concrete overflow pipes to bring the trace wire up to the overflow tower. I had never known I was claustrophobic until that time being 6'4" and going up 36" or 40" pipe did not compute especially when there were nasty eels kicking around.

[AULupstate]

Well advance, I'm REAL REAL familiar with Kingston. Every weekend, The Princess Street Crawl after a couple of hours at Shakers just in case my guys and I struck out on the local female population.

[DavidDodd]

I'm training some guys at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg TN in a couple weeks. Hoping for a liquid gratuity.

[RD_Wrangler]

I'm training some guys at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg TN in a couple weeks. Hoping for a liquid gratuity.

Whoah!!! You need any help??!?!!?!?

[AULupstate]

I heard they don't give out samples because it's a 'dry' county?

[beyond help]

I'll volunteer to help

[sprayandpray]

Now just what kind of training is going on?

[advanceMan]

Yah, i'm interested too David, what kind of training are you doing there? Utilitrack, that sounds like it seriously sucked! AUL, PRINCESS STREET...Holy shit does that bring back memories!