I finally got back to work, after spending most of the summer at home with my bride, Lottie. She had some health issues and I was worried, so I spooled up and went to Georgia for the summer. Funny thing is, the weather was perfect up here, but way too hot there. Now, I’m back, and fall is here. It seems a little later this year. Last year, the first freeze was Sept. 15; this year, it’s October already and still fly-season. But it’s coming. I went today and got a bunch of gear to winterize my new trailer: heated water lines and sewer lines, skirting, etc. I figure if I don’t do it now, I’ll be on a job when the weather turns and come back to a frozen shack. I’d like to avoid that, ‘cause I spent last winter in a dry camp with no water or sewer, and I can tell ya that a porta-john is not fun at 20 below. Froze my nether regions to the seat once. Not the kind of place to take a book, but that’s another story.
In the ’70s, after drilling and pushing tools for a few years, I had every roughneck’s dream. Every roughneck I ever met wants to be a fisherman. They see him sit in his truck, making pretty good money, and they trip pipe. That’s gotta be better, right? Sometimes, but not always.
In the 1950s, I was involved in oil drilling gas in southeastern Kansas. Much of the free-flowing, 28 gravity (thick) oil had diminished to one to three barrels per day. Hence came secondary recovery!
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reinforced the current trend of natural gas-powered equipment when it granted certification to two of GE’s Waukesha engines for mobile, non-road applications: the L7044, a 1,680-horsepower, 1,200 kW 12-cylinder engine, and the smaller 5794, a 1,380 horsepower, 1,000 kW 12-cylinder engine.
Vermeer hosted U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker at the company’s Pella, Iowa, facility as part of the secretary’s nationwide tour. Pritzker is seeking input from businesses on how best to foster job growth in the United States.
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