WorldWide Drilling Resource

Through the Back Door! by Jim Kuebelbeck Most of our early experiences in life usually fade into memory over time. Other experiences affect us greatly and are long remembered. Some of our experiences as children forever stay in our memory. Long before I realized I had the abil- ity to sense underground water sources from the surface (as a water dowser), I had a bit of growing up to do, which meant living with two older brothers, who at the time were supposedly a lot smarter than me. To earn extra spend- ing money, my brothers would trap muskrats, weasels, raccoons, and what- ever else would yield extra income. At the time, an old bachelor lived alone in the woods about five miles away, and paid them for anything they trapped. On rare occasions, my brothers would catch a skunk in one of their traps. No matter how much the skunk would stink, this old bachelor would still skin it out and sell the pelt to someone later. To this day, I have no idea who might have bought such a pelt, but my broth- ers didn’t really care, as long as they received 25 or 50 cents for their efforts. One day in late fall on one of their trapping “expeditions” they discovered a large skunk had taken refuge in a cul- vert beneath one of the country roads. Thinking they could earn some extra money from a dead skunk, they came up with what they thought was a great idea. They trapped the skunk by block- ing both ends of the culvert to keep the skunk from escaping. Then, with another one of their brilliant ideas, they devised a plan to drive the skunk out of the cul- vert. One of them would chase it out, while my other brother would shoot it with the .22 caliber rifle they used when hunting squirrels. But how were they to get that skunk out of the culvert? Pure genius! One of them would use a long pole with an oil- soaked rag tied to the end. They would ignite the rag with a match, shove it into one end of the cul- vert, and the skunk would surely choose to make a quick exit out the other end. When they re- t u r n e d h ome t o retrieve a long pole suited for the pur- pose, they asked if I w o u l d l i k e t o accompany them to witness what was ce r t a i n t o be an interesting venture. Hearing about their plan, I readily agreed. Go i ng back wi t h them to witness the event seemed like a good idea at the t ime. I thought i t wise, however, to s t and some d i s - tance away to watch what was certainly going to be a great a f t e r n o o n escapade. They removed the blockage from both ends of the culvert, and my brother Richard volunteered to light the torch and shove it into the culvert while my oldest brother John stood ready on the other end. Everything worked exactly as planned. Exactly as planned, that is, until the old skunk came out of the cul- vert and saw my brother John. He quick- ly decided to do what skunks naturally do when threatened. He sprayed John with the best defense nature had pro- vided. From a distance it looked to me that the air around my brother was filled with a yellow mist, which was followed by some words from John that my dad said we were never to use. It was not a good time for me and Richard to laugh, but laugh we did. Without any second thoughts we all headed for home, with me in the lead, trying to keep as far as possible from the disgusting stench. My mother happened to be outside in the yard at the time, and with the wind at our backs, the strong smell of skunk arrived long before we did. I ran ahead and told my mother John “accidently” got sprayed by a skunk. I left out all the details, of course. “Take off all your clothes right now and stay right where you are,” she yelled to John. John’s eyes were watering so badly he could barely see, but he followed her instructions. What happened next will long be remembered. Never before had I seen someone totally naked washed off with a garden hose in the middle of a yard in broad daylight! To say it was quite amusing to watch would be some- what of an understatement. Using a long stick, all of John’s clothes were imme- diately transported to our farm dump. Needless to say, this particular method of “skunk hunting” was never tried again! The statements and comments in this article are my own and are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . Jim Jim Kuebelbeck may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 29 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2014 Centerline Manufacturing Co. 903-725-6978 903-725-3647 fax ~ Mud pumps for the 21st century ~ www.centerlinemanufacturing.com ~ Centerline mud pumps are getting the job done from Canada to Australia, China to Peru ~ ©WorldWide Drilling Resource, Inc. 2006 Centerline Manufacturing is proud to be your complete stocking source for American Manufacturing mud pump parts!! U.S. Patent #6,769,884 and others pending Monopump models rated: 180 gpm Duplex models rated: 300 gpm Triplex models rated: 450 gpm 500 or 800 psi models available aluminum or iron. ~ The Centerline 7 1/2” x 10” hydraulic drive mono mud pump ~ ~ compact ~ fits on top or under deck ~ pumps the rated flow of a 5” x 6” @ over twice the rated pressure ~ weighs 650 lbs, 1615 lbs less!