I am sure there are times when you can't believe the problems you hear are happening throughout the country on different pieces of equipment. For instance, this past week we talked to people having problems with drilling rig's hydraulic systems, compressors, cooling systems, head assemblies, and people looking for good used rigs at a reasonable price. My wife can't quite figure out why I get so engrossed with these problems, but she hasn't spent most of her life dealing with the drilling public. I have, and, if I wind up totally engrossed in a conversation with someone, she thinks I am crazy. I failed my sanity check the moment I entered the industry. Those of us who try to solve these problems and manage to function without terrorizing anyone else are a pretty strange lot. I am okay with that - as long as I can try to handle one problem at a time - it's when they gang up on me that I unravel.
Yesterday was just such a day. We had a shop full of work, most of the phones ringing - people with erratic operating head motors; noisy hydraulic pumps; compressor lugging down engine speeds; and one individual looking for that special used rig at a "bargain" price. My grandfather once told me, "If you look to buy a gold ring for a dime, usually it's worth only a dime!!" These people look at the world and wonder what the problem is, why no one else seems to see things as they do. These are the people I find particularly hard to deal with.