Pundits have proclaimed for years that our society has peaked, and subsequent generations will have it harder than the one before. Everything is…
Author: Carl C. de Baca, PS
Creation Myth
No offense to accountants but do you suppose that, at professional conferences attended by accountants, that a typical icebreaker goes, “So Bob, how…
Terminus
Well, it is February, and like all of you, (suuure…), my thoughts go straight to the Roman god of boundaries and boundary markers….
Rising From the Ashes
A power line fell early on the morning of Aug. 8, 2023, sparking a fire in overgrown brush near the edge of the historic…
Is it Intelligent to Attack the Artificial?
Artificial sweeteners—sounded good in theory, but now they are thought to be bad for us. Faux meat—real yecch. The synthesizer versus the electric…
Bad Backsights: A Matter of Degrees
It seems like the fastest way to get into a vigorous debate, if not an outright argument, with your fellow surveyor is to…
Bad Backsights: Freedom of Speech—What Does It Mean?
The First Amendment to the US Constitution enshrines the Freedom of Speech, along with the Freedom of Religion, right to assemble peaceably and…
Psychic Surveying
I used to listen to Art Bell’s Coast to Coast radio show when driving across the desert at night. His shows were full…
Bad Backsights: Spring Interrogatory
There are always more questions than answers. This seems to be a universal law and it certainly holds true in my experience. Every…
Bad Backsights: Estates Sales & Moonlighting
Last month Laurie and I were driving through Carmichael or maybe it was Fair Oaks, on the way into Sacramento when…