In October this year, I called on drillers in northwestern Pennsylvania, many of them rotary and cable-tool drillers. Most of the rotary drillers are the younger generation. I was surprised at how many cable-tool drillers there are in this part of Pennsylvania.

A hardhat primarily is to protect a person from being injured ... Wearing a hardhat also signifies that the person’s personal safety is important to him. Many people dislike wearing a hardhat; I don’t understand why.

In the 1960s, I delivered new and used drilling machines around the United States for George E. Failing Co. and other manufacturers.

In 1966, in Adel, Ga., our company, then known as Cutter & Dad Drilling Co., was the first drilling contractor to rotary drill shallow wells in South Georgia.…We also were the first drillers to use PVC pipe as well casing.

Bess and I recently returned home to Oklahoma to attend the Marshall School alumni function.

At 72 or 73 (I’m not sure), my memory is pretty good, but my sorting ability sometimes is a problem.

Well drillers often are called on to do everything from getting animals out of dug wells, to recovering stolen car dealers’ keys from wells, to pumping out flooded basements. Sometimes, the requests are almost unbelievable.

I met Floyd Sensenig while attending the annual Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association Exposition (www.roughandtumble.org) near Kinzers, Pa., in 2006. Floyd, his son and his employees were drilling a

This month, Porky recalls a move from Oklahoma to Georgia, and the adventures that ensued.

This story may be a little late in the season, but I thought people would enjoy hearing about Porky and Bess’ Christmas.