This is a peer review; that being said:
I am a 3rd generation land surveyor (you might say l have a genetic pre-disposition). I surveyed a long career (1966-2020). l had great "foundational surveyors' principles" instilled into me from 12 years old forward. The first lesson, in 1966: taping through heavy underbrush back to a distant boundary corner location (in rugged terrain), using an obsolete "dip needle"~ l called back to my father, John G.R. Clegg, RCE 9077 (dual-licensure), "l've got two 'readings'; what do l do?" The comeback,"Expose what you do and give me numbers". l uncovered a reputable engineer's iron monument "OK, and the other?" 15 minutes later, "It's RCE 5476"~"we're using the second one."
We based the survey, cursorily, on what my father had initiated from, yet then LOCKING-ONTO the Iron Pipe "RCE 5476"
At the end of the day, he explained:
"If you're going to follow in this line of work; you have to KNOW who does good work". [if my dad had a crystal ball, he would have said, "at the turn of the 21st century, a surveyor will appear that will 'carry this profession forward'~ his name will be: Bryan G. Taylor, LS 7551"
IN SAN MATEO COUNTY:
From the late 19th into the 20th century it was Geo. S. Kneese, RCE
from 1936-1992 it was Edwin H. Smith, RCE 5476
John (my dad), and me (Roger J. Clegg) were good solid surveyors, yet:
Ed Smith & Bryan Taylor (w/ wife Lilian assisting): 1) perform consistent due diligence 2) keep an eye on the clients' costs 3) cross-check and use finely-tuned judgement (in coming-up with tricky boundary resolutions) 4) fully comprehend & follow "the rules-of-construction" in performing LEGAL survey practices.
l have watched, in awe, as humble Bryan consulted w/ the crusty-salts in his early days, bounced back from a sour partnership practice, catapulting him and his wife, Lilian Lee, into the #1 spot of being the "GO-TO" Surveying firm for the mid-peninsula. 15 years ago, the buzz down at the SMCo's department-of-public-works, Surveying Division: "It's a Bryan Taylor map~there's no ambiguity, and all the pertinent information is shown clearly."
I'd teasingly labeled Bryan, "the San Mateo County Crown Prince of Surveying", yet he is truly, and fully, "The 21st Century King of Boundary Surveys in SMCo" long-live-the-King; l've 'hung-up-my-plumb-bob'; cancer, and being old; yielding to the near-perfection that is
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