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Crystal City, a small south Texas town was known for two things. It was where the once famous La Raza Unita Political Party was born and … Continue reading When I Did Work At The Spinach Capital Of The World
Back in the late 70’s things were going pretty well for us in the construction business, but had slowed a bit. As things often happen, a miracle job fell out of the sky. A Burnet County fellow had gone off to Houston and was doing well contracting with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. I knew of this guy but mostly just by name. He was a generation ahead of me, about my Dads age. He had been offered an opportunity to bid a project for SWB in Victoria. He didn’t have the manpower nor the proper sized equipment for such an … Continue reading We Weren’t Made To Feel Very Welcome In Victoria, Texas
But I’ll have to say that after going through an old box of papers, I have formed a different opinion of what was normal. These are papers I left behind at Smithwick when I moved on to start the “calmer period in my life”, when I got married, that my mother so carefully archived for me. I look back on my early “growing up years” and think that I was a fairly normal boy. I got into a few things, but nothing much that I was ashamed to admit. The following photograph is a vast array of traffic tickets I … Continue reading Mind You, I’m Not Bragging
We had contracted to install the water, wastewater and storm drainage for the new hospital that was being built just west of South 1st on Ben White. We were getting down to the end of the project. Everything had worked out about as well as we could have hoped for. It was time to hook into the city’s 66″ water main that crossed Ben White and continued south on James Casey Drive. We were required to tap into this large main at night, since it was the major source of water for all of South Austin. We worked through the … Continue reading While Building The South Austin Hospital – Early 1980s
The talk goes on and on about what the minimum wage should be. It is commonly referred to now as a living wage. This is not going to be a commentary on that issue. The first minimum wage I read was $.25 per hour back in the 30’s. When I entered the workforce in the early 70’s I think it was around $1.60 per hr. Graduating high school in 1970, left me bouncing around doing several jobs for the first few months. I had an independent streak going, so I didn’t stay tied down to any one thing for very … Continue reading What Is A Good Wage To Pay A Feller?
Back in 1968 Cec bought a new 1/2 Ford Pickup down at Truck City Ford on Ben White Blvd in Austin. Back in those days pickups hardly ever came with a rear bumper from the factory. They were all installed by the dealer and most of the time in this area they were supplied by D&D Bumper in Seguin, Tx. The dealership name would be imprinted in it, so when you bought a bumper you paid for the privilege of advertising where you bought your truck everywhere you went. There was a brand new thing that he couldn’t do without. … Continue reading Cec And The Spare Tire Rack
Our parents made us aware of danger by telling us the consequences of what would happen if we got to close to something that might hurt us. One was that if you got too close to a Snapping Turtle, it would bite you and not turn loose until lightning struck. That was the case with Cec, when he got in a fight. Ronnie found that out when he embattled Cec and literally pulled his top front two teeth out trying to get his thumb out of his mouth. Dad operated a fishing camp on the family land he had inherited … Continue reading Lackey vs. Lewis (As told by Kenny Lewis)
There are a few things in life that really don’t mix. Being really tough and drinking too much are a good example of this. Cecil Lewis was tough guy and he drank a way more than he should have. Back in 80 – 81 I had contracted to build a new state park and campground area down on the Guadalupe River near the little community of Bergheim not far from Boerne, Texas. When I needed him my dad would help me out on projects. On this job he mostly drove a water truck driver. He never drank while on the … Continue reading He Bit My Thumb
