Where’s the Sewer Rat?

Akkerman Inc. recently purchased the traveling Sewer Rat from the 2009 International No-Show’s annual Education Auction. Mr. Rat was acquired from Pacific Boring of Caruthers, Calif., decked out in a safety vest with matching swim trunks, sunglasses, and flip flops, he was also sporting a “PB” tattoo and navel ring.

Mr. Rat has been around the block a few times in his short history, originally hailing from the City of Reno, Nev. As the story goes, he first surfaced during the 2007 Third Annual Western Society for Trenchless Technology No-Dig Annual Conference. WESTT chairman Dr. Sam Ariaratnam organized a Jeopardy game for exhibitors during the conference reception in which exhibitors created questions and the participant with the most points won a prize. Jan Gould, GISP, of the City of Reno Public Works Sanitary Engineering Department, purchased Mr. Rat at a Halloween store, created his safety vest and presented him to Jeopardy game champion Glenn Boyce. After a year-long visit with Boyce and the folks at Jacobs and Associates of Seattle, he traveled to Grapevine, Texas, and was purchased by Pacific Boring during the education auction.

Mr. Rat is lucky to have arrived in Brownsdale, Minn., during the milder part of the year. To prepare him for the summer and the eventual winter, the company provided him with a suitable Minnesota wardrobe, nourished him with its famous tater-tot hot dish and are currently preparing him for his Akkerman adventures. Dr. Sam Ariaratniam requested that Akkerman give him a name, so the company chose “Mortimer” for such a worldly character.

Look for a complete accounting of Mortimer’s travels in an upcoming edition of Trenchless Technology, his travel blog on www.trenchlesstechnology.com and the Akkerman’s Web site.