Once when Madeline and I were newly married we decided to go to Six Flags in Arlington. I was somewhat familiar with the area so I figured I could drive right to our hotel without looking at a map. I admit that once we got close I became slightly disoriented. I may have driven in a circle for a moment. It was late and Madeline wanted me to stop and ask for directions, which wasn’t something I would have ever done. I had her busy looking at a roadmap while I drove. Finally, exasperated she said “pull in here and … Continue reading Men Never Stop To Ask For Directions, or at least that’s the reputation that follows them around.

When we were younger, much younger, several couples and our children all went to Lake Tahoe for a little get away. I wasn’t an accomplished skier when we got there. To tell you the truth I’d never had a pair of snow skis on. Several in our group had never skied either, including my wife and my brother, so they enrolled in Ski School. One couple with us were accomplished skiers. John and Belinda Kemper made it sound easy. So rather than waste time with ski school I got my equipment on and headed to the top of the mountain. … Continue reading Snow Skiing – Ronnie Lewis Style

Dink would drift back through Austin occasionally, always calling to meet up for coffee. When we would meet there were tales of mining for gold in Alaska or diamonds in South Africa. He was living a life of adventure. He built a machine that they would sink to the bottom of the sea floor and excavate soil and rocks, operating it remotely. The hard materials he excavated would be pumped to barges, then processed looking for diamonds. He had a good mind for building contraptions. I saw pictures of this machine but I have no idea if it really worked. … Continue reading The Check That Dink Wrote Me

I’ve always liked keeping up with who’s where and what old friends are up to. Once the internet came along I started doing skip tracing. I became able to hone my skills and can find out more than I should about almost anyone. But you just have to be careful how you use it. Once I had a son that was dating a young lady. The first time I met her and she told me where she was from, I said oh, do you happen to know John Smith and his wife Suzy (not their real names). They were her … Continue reading Investigating People

Dink would come through Austin and borrow money for a venture or a vehicle to drive until his boat would come in. I was always needing to contact him. Dink was always headed off to Alaska to mine gold one time and then off to Africa to mine for diamonds the next time. Another time when he made a little remote controlled oil gobbler that would go out into the water and clean up oil spills. Yes this was different than the containment diaper to strap onto barges and ship that I’ve previously written about. It’s not that Dink wasn’t … Continue reading I Would Be Considered Dink’s Stalker In Today’s Terms