Nicole Tasker Woods

This has double meaning. On one hand, it is the name of a lizard/skink type creature that lives in the water. I can not say what else it is or looks like because frankly it is disgusting (by now you should all know how I feel about this kind of stuff). If you want to know more, just Google “mudpuppy” and see what pops up. I seriously grossed myself out by doing so and will never do it again. What I was trying to find was a site for the Mud Puppy mud cleaning machine that well drillers use (see picture here).

My Dad and his brother, my Uncle Dan, own a well drilling business in New Hampshire so I hear about all of this stuff that I would have no idea existed if it was not part of the family business. From what I have read and what my Dad has told me, the Mud Puppy (forever to be a machine, not that slimy grossness of a creature) cleans mud so that pipe can be put in the ground to assist the drilling of a well. The slogan reads: “Recycles the Mud and Dumps the Crud” and apparently this saves money because a clean hold means a clean site (or so I’ve heard). But my Dad and Uncle Dan must have their drilling system down to a science—mud and all—because they do not own a Mud Puppy. But I absolutely love the logo, it is totally sweet:

Being in the water well business has its perks. Like being able to work outside every single day (no matter what the weather conditions may be) and step/sit/crawl in the dirt and mud all day (your wife has to hose you down before you can enter the house). Another perk is the water well exhibition shows hosted in various parts of the country throughout the year. These days, I like the one in Vegas when I can meet up with my folks in the City of Sin. But no matter where it is, there are always a ton of vendors (pump manufacturers, well-drillers, contractors) all there to get their business name in circulation or display a new invention or service they offer. When I was little, I remember my parents coming home at night after being at the show all day long with bags full of the best swag (hey, I’m a well driller’s daughter from a tiny town in NH, this stuff was exciting!). Different companies’ names was on all of the stuff like Frisbees, pens/pencils, bouncy balls, t-shirts, hats, stuffed animals, etc.

There was a well show last weekend and I know my folks are always on the look-out for some cool crap they can send me. Well, this time they hit the jackpot! My dad found a hat with the Mud Puppy logo on it and sent it to me, I was so stoked. I called him on his cell when he was on his drive home from a job site and when he answered I yelled, “Mud Puppy!” He knew it was me and just laughed. Now it is this thing my Dad and I will say to each other when we talk on the phone, and it really has no meaning at all to anyone but us. And we totally crack up every time we say it. I love the way it sounds, it just rolls of the tongue. Go ahead, say it, you know you want to…Mud Puppy.