A Note About the Author: Nestor J. Sander
Former Aramco ExPat, Nestor “Sandy” John Sander is 92 years young. In 1939, on his first tour overseas, he shook hands with the King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia and in 1945 he watched De Gaulle and Churchill walk down the Champs Elysées on VE Day.
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2007 ‘Very Old’ Old Timers Luncheon
At noon on Sunday, April 15th,the ‘Very Old’ Old Timers (all in Arabia before 1950) held their annual get together at the well-decorated El Patio Español in San Francisco.
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2006 Old Timer's Luncheon
The eight surviving Aramcon very old “Old Timers” held their annual get-together in San Francisco on Sunday, May 7th at the Spanish restaurant that has replaced the Women’s Athletic Club in Oakland, for the third year running.
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"Old Timers" Gather for Annual Luncheon
On Sunday 24 April, eight old, and I mean very old (all pre-1950), Aramcons
had lunch at a Spanish restaurant in San Francisco.
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The First King of Saudi Arabia
On 1 May 1939, after dinner with him in the new mess hall, I gripped briefly the scarred, long-fingered, sinewy hand of the first king of Saudi Arabia: Abdul Aziz ibn Abdur Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki as Saud.
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Early Exploration: The Structure Drill
In an excerpt from a Dhahran Geoscience Society (DGS) newsletter, Nestor J. Sander explains to us the importance of structure drills in the early oil exploration of the Eastern Province, and why this methodology proved to be
efficient.
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Uhel
When I first heard Uhel he was barking repeatedly, each yap separated by several seconds of silence. “¿Que es esto?” I asked the gardener in my embryonic Spanish.
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Desert Encounter
Eastern Saudi Arabia, al Hasa, was baking under the harassing heat of late summer. The searing sun blazed pitilessly in a pale, whitish sky, cloudless and windless.
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Peaches and Ghee
One Friday morning in the blue-tinted bedroom of our Dhahran
duplex we awakened very early. We planned a picnic, not to Half-Moon Bay where everyone went, but to an artesian pool, a small lake north of Qatif, a seacoast town.
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Lucky Day
Arabs believe that Hadh, Luck, is a gift granted only to a few. It is a trait like courage or intelligence, and is a requirement for successful leadership.
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Standard Oil Bulletin - September 1936
Standard Oil Bulletin - September 1936.
Contributed by: Nestor Sander
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Ad Vita per Aspera
In al Hasa fifty miles inland from the Persian Gulf a small drilling rig was helping to prove the existence of the great En Nala anticline, still the largest single complex of oil fields in the world.
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Reliving a Memory - Excerpts from the Weather and Us
Reliving a Memory is a work based on the 1950 diary of George Blakslee.
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Daily Weather Data - Chart 1
The chart shows the daily weather temperatures in 1950.
Author: Nestor Sander
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Weather Data - Chart 2
The chart shows Average Range In Temperature By Month in 1950.
Author: Nestor Sander
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Theodolite
The theodolite is an instrument that measures vertical and horizontal angles precisely.
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Alidade and Plane Table
The alidade-planetable survey is a means of plotting a traverse as it is made, thus avoiding the likelihood of mathematical blunders and recording errors that arise while working with the theodolite.
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Reconnaissance Flights
On both flights George took notes of wind direction and force, flight altitude, ground speed and direction. The main thrust of his observations was, however, minute by minute notations of the type of terrain.
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Reliving a Memory - Excerpts from Transportation, Communication and Tools
Reliving a Memory is a work based on the 1950 diary of George Blakslee.
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Odometer - Altimeter Traverse
Reliving a Memory is a work based on the 1950 diary of George Blakslee.
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Brunton Pocket Transit
The Brunton Pocket Transit that all geologists know as the 'Brunton' was invented in 1894 by D. W. Brunton, a Canadian mining geologist.
Author: Nestor Sander
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Reliving a Memory - Excerpts from The Animals We Saw
Reliving a Memory is a work based on the 1950 diary of George Blakslee.
Author: Nestor Sander
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Reliving a Memory - Excerpts of Chapter 1
Reliving a Memory is a work based on the 1950 diary of George Blakslee. Qaryat al Fau was known to its residents during the early centuries of the Christian era as Dhat Kahil.
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To Work - Chapter 3
So, Georgia remained in my mother's home when I left for Arabia, this time by air.
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Next Jobs - Chapter 2
Nearly a year went by before the exploratory test, Abqaiq No.1, was ready to spud on this prospect. I spent four long hot months at another wildcat, Abu Hadriya No.1, replacing Ursel Armstrong, (‘Army’).
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Assignment Arabia - Chapter 1
I was given time to prepare for the trip. On 15 November 1938 I boarded the train at the station in Oakland, and waved good-bye to my mother and a few friends who had gathered to see me off.