The identity of the "mystery plumber" whose homemade design for a new containment cap may have helped to finally stanch the Gulf oil spill geyser emerged Saturday.
His name is Joe Caldart, a married, 40-something blue-collar guy with five kids and three hound dogs living in St. Francis, Kan. Mr. Caldart has 907 Facebook friends. He likes the band Rednecks & Red Dirt, watches "Family Guy," and cites the 1978 Burt Reynolds flick "Hooper" as one of his favorites.
No, I'm not going with the "Joe the Plumber" jokes.. Wizbang and others are having too much fun at that one.
To me, its' much more fun to laugh at the "blue ribbon commissions" and the 'all-knowing energy czar" (or whatever he is...) Mr. Chu, and all the PhD's who spent ages working on this when this gentleman said he sent his proposal "over a month" ago.
Caldart, who first started plumbing as a teenager, says he originally sent BP three sketches depicting a flange and plug design similar to those used in high-pressure hotel plumbing on May 25th. At that point, he says he was told by BP that they were not working on stopping the leak, but simply capturing the oil.
Of course, i got to include my favorite paragraph from the article:
"I was thinking, well, if [Hollywood celebrities] Kevin Costner and James Cameron were having problems getting through, as famous as they are, I didn't have a chance," Caldart says in an interview. "A lot of people had a negative reaction to it and basically said, 'You're a plumber, plumbers don't know anything about science. If scientists with PhDs and all that can't fix it, then how can you?'"
That folks is what we say is "Can-Do Good ol' American know-how!" and it came from an "average Joe" (no pun intended). He didn't listen to the naysayers, and went through with it and came through with flying colors!
Of course, BP is trying to protect themselves (obviously) with their stupid CYA comments afterwards:
Last week, BP spokesmen contacted by the Monitor said they did not know whether the then-unknown plumber's designs made it into the final cap design, but noted that it was likely the work was already underway.
On the other hand, BP spokesman Mark Salt noted, "I'm sure we've used bits and pieces of suggestions [from the outside] and have picked things out that could be used going forward."
But hell, the guy didn't appear to ask for money or even to be famous. He just stepped up when government officials and (even super overpaid engineers) didn't/couldn't.
Congratulations Mr. Caldart, while BP and the govt may not officially appreciate what you've done, I can say that if this cap holds and works over the full term, then everyone on the Gulf of Mexico shores will forever appreciate it.
Move over pencil-pushers, and let the blue-collar guys do what they do best!
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