Professional Land Surveyor Update and News

Today I wanted to talk with you about this site and a few changes that I have in the works. While nothing that I’m proposing to do is either earth shattering or overly revolutionary, I thought that in giving you a heads up you would, therefore, not be surprised. I’d also be very interested in getting your feedback, too.

Getting Off-track to Get On-Track

First, though, a related but slightly off topic story: You see, there is a small urban town center near where I live (as is most everything), that at one time was a booming retail center when the mills where industrious and before the advent of the “Mall”. This area had a busy main street that at some point was turned into a one-way system with a return feeder road that looped around the backside of the main street storefronts. This created a big one-way loop to travel through this town center with easy access to parking behind the existing retail stores.

I’m not exactly sure when the main street was turned into a one-way street, but it had been that way as long as I can remember. I bring this up because I want to make a point about how we look at things and how we handle change. For all of my “adult life”, let’s at least say my life from getting my driver’s license on, my perception of this town’s main street has been from one vantage point; that of driving into town from one direction and from one direction only. A couple of years ago that all changed when the powers that be returned the town’s main street traffic flow back to a two-way street. Now you can enter the town from the other side and travel down the main street in the opposite direction than when it was only a one-way street.

We Are Creatures of Habit

After years of doing things a certain way, being able to do it differently offers an insight into how we are creatures of habit and how gaining a new perspective can give you an entirely new outlook on something ( is that too Yogi Berra-ish). By a strange coincidence I happened to be going through that town center on the day they opened it up to two-way traffic (some warnings and signage might have been nice). Travelling up the main street, in the direction that I had been doing so for years, I got a really funny feeling when cars parked on the left side of the street were facing me, and then got very alert when I realized cars were also driving towards me. Luckily I wasn’t all the way to the left (there were always two lanes even when it was a one-way street) and quickly became aware of the new street lines painted to make two lanes of opposite traveling vehicles.

Even with the change being implemented for a couple of years now, just the other day I went through this town center the “wrong way” and it still just doesn’t’ feel comfortable, or right. But, when I do this, I am just amazed at how different this town center now seems to me. Driving through it “backwards” gives me a completely new perspective and appreciation for this once bustling retail center (which is trying to make a comeback). Change, it turns out, challenges us to remove our blinders and see things in a new light and opens up new opportunities for improvements (at least that’s what the store owners are hoping for).

Let’s Embrace Change!

The changes I am working on for this website are no different. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback about the layout and design of this site, so I have been reluctant to change it. I am, however, working on adding new and exciting features to this site which makes it a great time for an update. Driving through that town the other day gave me the push I needed to embrace change and implement the projects that I’ve been working on for this site.

So, in the upcoming weeks I’ll be making updates to the look and feel of this site and doing some “soft” rollouts of the new features. The look of the site, while different, will still be very similar to what it has been. If I had to sum up the proposed changes I would say that the new design and layout will be a clean and minimal design with an emphasis on content delivery and functionality.

Because of the technical and design requirements for these proposed changes, you will see continual improvements over the next few weeks. I’m sure there will be bumps in the road, so please bear with me. And, please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or complaints that you have, as I publish this site not for me, but for you!