Reflections on the 2016 South Atlantic Jubilee

Crowds gather in the hallway of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on June 17 before the South Atlantic Jubilee ribbon cutting and official opening of the tradeshow. Source: Jeremy Verdusco

The exposition was great for those of you that missed the recent South Atlantic Well Drillers Jubilee in Myrtle Beach, S.C. It was well presented by Kim Barclay and her executive staff, as well as the SAWDJ directors. I want to thank the sponsors of the breakfast, Preferred Pump and Pentair, and of the Worth Pickard Family Picnic Dinner, Franklin Electric, DSI and (for the beverages) Gould’s Water Technology. The exposition was back to what we experienced in the years past. There were several new suppliers and few that were no longer there. We have been attending the SAWDJ almost since its inception. I urge you to make plans to attend next year.

An update on Piglet’s travels: His recent travel was to Nigeria for a religious group. He was there for over 30 days and it didn’t go well. In that time, the group didn’t have the proper drill or supplies to case and complete even one well. The truck clutch was slipping and needed to be replaced. However, Piglet managed to drive the drill to the jobsite. The drill engine failed and had to be replaced.

Piglet finally gave up and returned to home base. Except for this one, all of his developing countries projects have been successful.

A bit of humor: Being a white American, Piglet was consistently stopped by the Nigerian police. They would ask him, “What do you have for me?” (Of course they wanted money.) Piglet would reply, “I have nothing for you. Maybe if you would stop standing in front of my truck I would have something for you.” The policeman would reply, “If you don’t stop, I’ll shoot your tires.” Piglet would just laugh and say to the policeman, “But you have no bullets. You know what we call a policeman that stands in front of a car in the USA? Speedbump.”

Note: If you have an opportunity to go to almost any developing country, whether paid or free, I urge you to do so. Just be sure to have a valid passport, a visa (if required), required inoculations (for that country), and prepaid round trip airfare and lodging.

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