The Beginning

I came up with the idea of starting a blog a while back, but never got 'a round tuit'. So when the new year landed and the prospect of a few months without work loomed I was inspired to make a start on it. Of course, as soon as I make a start then 4 jobs come in on the same day, and luckily I was able to juggle the balls so they landed next to each other in a line. So I will be flitting back and forth between Europe and the UK providing consultancy at job start up, mobilisation and training for the next 4 weeks or there abouts. Given this I should define some terms of reference for the blog. The 'Bathymetric Blundering' is purely a reference to the mistakes I make during the course of my work. As I see it you learn from your mistakes, so with 12 years surveying with intoferometric sonars I should have a fair amount of expertise to impart. It is amazing though how many new mistakes are there to be found. People ask me how to set about doing things, wanting a definitive answer for all situations. I am still searching for that definitive answer and experience means that you usually spot your 'blunders' early enough so no damage, physical or ethereal, is done. So I will try and list troublesome survey situations, problematic hardware and general survey frustrations in this column in case anyone out there is listening/reading, but mainly as an aide memoir to myself. Hopefully it will encourage me to also start a technical support page on my main website, www.bythymetry.com.
Given that I travel alot in my work; the USA, Nigeria and China were some of the more farther flung destinations last year; the rantings here may also be in the form of a travelogue, the frustrations of a weary traveler.
Another love of mine is gadgetry, things that should make your life easier. My current obsession is with communications, trying to get cheap reliable phone contact for myself and clients delivered wherever I am. I have a number of things I am trying out at the moment which I will report on as I see how effective they are and how much they have cost me. But much like surveying, there seems not to be one single solution.
So thats about it for the moment, all I have to do now is not forget about the blog and keep it updated. A test of maintaining internet access from wherever I am posted.
Bye for now.