Thank Pat for sending on this email--sad but true

What about American exceptionalism? When you need a solution, you send for an American company who has the expertise. Do our leaders give credit where due? NO NO NO.

Wonder why?


Far be it for an American President to publicly congratulate (let alone even mention) AMERICAN ingenuity and AMERICAN PRIVATE ENTERPRISE for the miracle
rescue of the Chilean Miners.

Schramm Inc.quot;sans-serif"; color: black;"> of West Chester , Pennsylvania built the drills and equipment used to reach the trapped miners.


Center Rock Company, also from Pennsylvania , built the drill bits used to reach the miners.

UPS, the US shipping company, delivered the 13-ton drilling equipment from Pennsylvania to Chile in less than 48 hours.

Crews from Layne Christensen Company of Wichita Kansas and its subsidiary Geotec Boyles Bros. worked the drills and machinery to locate and reach the miners and then enlarge the holes to rescue them.

Jeff Hart of Denver Colorado was called off his job drilling water wells for the U.S. Army's forward operating bases in Afghanistan to lead the drilling crew that reached the miners.

Atlas Copco Construction Mining Company of Milwaukee , Wisconsin provided consulting on how to make drilling equipment from different sources work together under differing pressure specifications.

Aries Central California Video of Fresno California designed the special cameras that were lowered nearly a mile into the ground sending back video of the miners.

Zephyr Technologies of Annapolis Maryland , made the remote monitors of vital signs that miners wore during their ascent.

NASA Engineers designed the " Phoenix " capsule that miners would be brought to the surface in, and provided medical consulting, special diets and spandex suits to maintain miners' blood pressure as they were brought back to the surface.

Oh, and Canadian-based Precision Drilling Corp. and South-African company Murray & Roberts, drilled backup rescue shafts in case the American rig failed. Which it didn't.
And in the same mailing, this from another friend:
Below a few points of general interest regarding the recent rescue in Chile .
While the White House may not believe in American exceptionalism, I'm thinking there's a whole bunch of people in Chile that would agree.

Regarding the mine rescue, did you know:

The guy that designed the rescue module was a NASA Engineer?

The Drill was made by Schramm Inc. from Pennsylvania .

The Drill Bits were made by Center Rock, Inc. located in Berlin , Pennsylvania .

The lead driller Jeff Hart and his team are from Denver , Colorado . They are on loan from the US Military in Afghanistan where they are drilling water wells for our Forward Operating Bases.

He spent the next 33 days on his feet, operating the drill that finally provided a way out Saturday for 33 trapped miners. "You have to feel through your feet what the drill is doing; it's a vibration you get so that you know what's happening," explained Hart.

Hart was called in from Afghanistan, "simply because he's the best" at drilling larger holes with the T130's wide-diameter drill bits, Stefanic said.

Standing before the levers, pressure meters and gauges on the T130's control panel, Hart and the rest of the team faced many challenges in drilling the shaft. At one point, the drill struck a metal support beam in the poorly mapped mine, shattering its hammers. Fresh equipment had to be flown in from the United States and progress was delayed for days as powerful magnets were lowered to pull out the pieces.

The mine's veins of gold and copper ran through quartzite with a high level of abrasive silica, rock so tough that it took all their expertise to keep the drill's hammers from curving off in unwanted directions. "It was horrible," said Center Rock President Brandon Fisher, exhausted after hardly sleeping during the effort.

Fisher, Stefanic and Hart called it the most difficult hole they had ever drilled, because of the lives at stake.

"If you're drilling for oil and you lose the hole, it's different. This time there's people down below," Stefanic said.

"We ruined some bits, worked through the problems as a team, and broke through," Hart said. "I'm very happy now."

Miners' relatives crowded around Hart on Saturday, hugging and posing for pictures with him as he walked down from the rescue operation into the tent camp where families had anxiously followed his work.

"He's become the hero of the day," said Dayana Olivares, whose friend Carlos Bugueno is one of the miners stuck below.

In a different day and age, Jeff Hart would be the most famous American in our country right now. He would be honored at the White House. Schoolchildren would learn of his skill and heroism. But because Jeff Hart works in an industry currently being demonized by (insert name for the clowns currently running our country) more people in Chile will celebrate this symbol of American greatness than in America itself.



Where were the Chinese, Russians, French, Iranians, or any of the big mouths I hear sounding off nearly every day ?

Thoughts about a friend

Loosing a friend

Loosing a friend is never easy. There are times of death or a change in geographic location that will permanently affect a friendship. I need to discuss the loss of a friendship through misunderstanding. It hurts deeply and will for some time. I still tear up when I think about the loss.
A few weeks ago there was an open house and I was not supposed to attend. At the last minute I received a phone call from the individual who was asked to “handle it.” He wanted me to be there so I made arrangements to attend.
The day of the event the friend (I have now lost) and I talked on the phone. We talked about the upcoming event in detail. I do not remember the conversation. I wish I could.
The event came and all went well. The individual who was holding the meeting could not attend and sent his assistant. Time passed.
Several attempts were made to talk to this individual in the following weeks. Many excuses were made not to talk to me. Finally after two weeks, I asked the question what was wrong.
To summarize: I was told that I had attended the function and intentionally chose not to include the party.
I have never heard such anger from this individual.
I would never intentionally hurt any individual.
The facts are that I was not in charge of the function or the guest list.
I was told another individual would take care of the session. Later that week, that party called me and asked me to help out. I did not know if others were called and I did not ask.

I am sorry for the hurt I have caused this individual. It hurts. However I have learned a lesson. The individual should have listen to the whole story and not jumped to a conclusion. My friendship was shallow. If the individual knew me well, the accusation would not make sense. Those who know me well know I would never intentionally hurt another human being.
The reason I am writing this is to get the message out to all readers. Please remember friendship is a two way street. Please watch out for the potholes.