Author: lewisotr

One Hell Of A Guy, If I do say so myself.
Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, The Construction Biz, The Early Days1 Comment

Another Rock Blasting Story

lewisotr

During the first 15 years of my contracting career most trenches in rock were blasted, before good productive and dependable rock trenchers were developed. We had one crew that their primary job was drilling and shooting (term we used for blasting) rock. We were building a new subdivision right behind the Bannockburn Baptist Church (it wasn’t there then) on Brodie at McCarty Ln. in the Southwest part of Austin, Texas. All was going real good on that project. Don the crew foreman and our ace blaster was short handed, so he hired an old hippie that happened by. The old … Continue reading Another Rock Blasting Story

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Construction Biz2 Comments

An Unfortunate Incident While Blasting Rock

lewisotr

Back in 1975 we were putting in wastewater lines to serve newly incorporated areas of Austin that had previously been on septic tanks. This was up in the area around North Lamar between Rutland Dr. & Braker Ln. One of the lines followed a creek that crosses Sagebrush Ln. about a block west of N. Lamar. Just before it reached the next street which was Neans Dr., it came up out of the creek and headed out into the streets as it continued on south. This meant it ran in an easement between two houses. It was a very narrow … Continue reading An Unfortunate Incident While Blasting Rock

Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

The Morning The Challenger Blew Up

lewisotr

January 28, 1986 I stopped by my Grannie Ruby’s house that morning. The house was hot. Now I don’t remember that, precisely. But I know it was, because it always was. She had a gas space heater in the living room, not far from her chair. She was fairly frugal, so natural gas must have been cheap. She used a lot of gas. Seldom did I make it up to north Austin without stopping by. She watched The Price is Right or was it Lets Make a Deal. Those shows were always interchangeable in my mind. It’s possible she watched … Continue reading The Morning The Challenger Blew Up

Crazy Times, Funny HappeningsLeave a comment

The Break-In

lewisotr

I called her Grannie or Ruby Lee. Either was fine with her. She lived in north central Austin on a short street, just off of Burnet Road, up in the 5500 block. As an adult running around Austin in the construction business if I was anywhere close to her neighborhood I would drop in. That is if I had time to kill. There were no short visits with her. She always had a lot to say. The only thing that would stop most of the talking was when the Price is Right came on. I’ll never know how anyone could … Continue reading The Break-In

Another Daily Happening, The Early Days2 Comments

The Pecan X-Ray

lewisotr

My Grannie Ruby was always a target for my practical jokes. Sometime in the late 70s I stopped by her house for a visit. She was just coming inside from picking up pecans. She had several pecan trees in her yard. Every year she would be out there slaving away picking up these pecans. The trees she had kept her supplied with pecans to use throughout the years. She told me how disappointed she was that she wouldn’t have many pecans. She had cracked several already and a large percentage were bad. Bugs or disease had taken a toll on … Continue reading The Pecan X-Ray

Crazy Times, Funny HappeningsLeave a comment

What Works In Texas May Not Work In Other Places

lewisotr

A few years ago several members of the Lewis family traveled to San Diego, California to attend the Marine Recruit Training Graduation of one of our sons. We were staying in a hotel not far from the Marine Base. Some of us walked down to a restaurant a block or so from the hotel to get something to eat. I remember the service not being all that good, especially when it came to paying the bill. Finally I stuck a $100 bill under the check (it was enough to cover the bill and tip) and we left. Most of us … Continue reading What Works In Texas May Not Work In Other Places

The Early Days, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Learning Life’s Lessons

lewisotr

I was probably in the 3rd grade and Kenny was in the 5th. Mr. Henniger was the principal at Pond Springs School at the little three room school we attended in Jollyville. After we ate our lunch each day, Mr. Henniger had a chest type freezer in his office where he kept ice cream bars. If you had a nickel you could buy a ice cream sandwich or a fudgsicle to eat out on the playground. He would go in and we would all line up and watch as he unlocked the freezer with a key on the big key … Continue reading Learning Life’s Lessons

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I Have Decided After Almost 6 Years That It’s Time For A Change

lewisotr

I have found that it’s time for a change with The Angora Chronicles. I don’t see it going away, but I think it would be better if we change the way it is brought to you. So rather than it being in written word form, I am tooling up for it to become a series of audio clips, photos and memes. Of course it will still have titles and brief descriptions of what you will see in the clip, that will be written out. It will be necessary for each of our comments to also be an audio clip. It … Continue reading I Have Decided After Almost 6 Years That It’s Time For A Change

Crazy Times, My FriendsLeave a comment

The Legend of Stallion Estates

lewisotr

This is one of those stories that may take longer to tell than many of you have patience for. I’ll try to be as brief as possible, yet still giving you the essence of what happened. About 10 years ago, I needed to see my spine surgeon in San Antonio. Tommy Houy rode along. He remembered that he had recently spoken to a fellow down that way that had an old Plymouth for sale. Anyone that knows Tommy understands about his affinity for anything MOPAR. He found the guys number and called him as we left San Antonio. They arraigned … Continue reading The Legend of Stallion Estates