Category: Amazing Things

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Texas History, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Montopolis, Travis County, Texas

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Correcting The Record: I have been told by a noted Travis County Historian that the photo of The Montopolis Courthouse, Travis County has been found not be the case. There was no such Courthouse at Montopolis. My personal story about the area: I have very fond memories of the Montopolis Area of Austin. I really didn’t know much about the history.My construction office and yard was at 2801 Montopolis Dr. for about a decade back in the 70s & 80s. It was the old homestead that included a stone house, garage apartment behind and a metal shop building farther back. … Continue reading Montopolis, Travis County, Texas

Amazing Things, My Family, My Friends, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Some of Smithwick’s Finest

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This is a post that Mona Gayle Waldrip posted in the very early days of the Angora Chronicles. Let me take a moment to say: “Mona Gayle you are so missed by so many people. Your pictures and your words meant so much to all of us.” I think the little boy out front in the middle was Kenny Jackson. Continue reading Some of Smithwick’s Finest

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, My Friends, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Dink’s Watch

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As a young teenager my friend Dink had a watch that I thought was the neatest thing. It was a Bulova Accutron. Those were the popular watch in the 60s that used a tuning fork instead of spring to keep them in rhythm. Instead of a tick tick tick, they hummed. By the time I was grown and Dink and I were in business together, the watch quit working. He had tried several places to get it repaired and the cost was more than it was worth. I talked him out of it, but I don’t remember the financial arraignment. … Continue reading Dink’s Watch

Amazing Things, Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Things Can Move Slowly At Times

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Trying to work out a little issue with the IRS. I finally got assigned a Tax Payer Advocate to help me figure things out. That was back about this time last year. I can’t call or email her. That just the way things are done. I have to either fax her question and she gets back to me or I can call her, and leave a voice message on her direct number. She has been very good all year about giving me updates on the progress. Of course that’s only one a month, and I need to strive to grab … Continue reading Things Can Move Slowly At Times

Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, Texas History, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Nothing is ever plain or simple in Austin

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The Pfluger Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge is a good example of this. While I considered the cost to be extravagant for a pedestrian bridge, I have grown fond of it over the years. It’s a beautiful addition to the city, especially the way it is lighted, as shown in the wonderful drone shot.Christopher V. ShermanOverAustin.com https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Pfluger_Pedestrian_and_Bicycle_Bridge This is a link to a video I took back in July 2016 from the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/EvCPwLy92QVJWFtv/?mibextid=WC7FNe Continue reading Nothing is ever plain or simple in Austin

Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, Texas History, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

KRUGER’S JEWELERS, Austin, Texas

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An Austin Institution !!!! My wife, Madeline, and I bought our wedding rings from a very young David Kruger, back in the fall of 1971. I’m not for sure, but he may have still been in college, working there part time. He dealt with this very young couple (we had both just turned 19) so nicely. You knew he was meant for the jewelry business ! On November 6, we will have been wearing these rings for 53 years. This article was in a special addition of the Austin American-Statesman March 2, 1986. Current photos of Kruger’s Jewelers Continue reading KRUGER’S JEWELERS, Austin, Texas

Aging, Amazing Things, Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story (and other stories about this old couple)

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This is a story about an old couple that showed up in Smithwick when I was just a kid. One day Minnie and Charlie Campbell arrived in an old Studebaker car. When people around Smithwick said their name, they always left off the “p” and the “b”. It was Charlie and Minnie Camel. I had never heard them mentioned in my 10 or 12 years or so I’d been around at that time in the early part of the 1960s. But that’s not surprising as they weren’t a very remarkable couple, until I got to know them. Then there was … Continue reading Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story (and other stories about this old couple)

Amazing Things, Texas History, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Pearl Beer

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The Emma Koehler Story – Pearl Beer and the Lady That Kept it Afloat. The history of The Pearl Brewery has all the twists of a Hollywood plot—murder, scandal, conflict and triumph, with an unexpected heroine at its center. At the turn of the 20th century, beer brewing was booming in San Antonio until Prohibition (1920–33) threatened to bust the good-time industry. While beer maker after beer maker went broke in dry times, Pearl survived the temperance movement, thanks to the courage of its visionary leader, Emma Koehler. This is her story. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Few could have predicted the fates of … Continue reading Pearl Beer

Amazing Things, The History of Texas13 Comments

White Stone – The Forgotten Little Town

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Back in the 50s and 60s there was a community that I well remember. It was a suburb of Cedar Park. Of course in those days, Cedar Park really wasn’t big enough to have a suburb. Shortly after you turned west on FM 1431 off of US 183 (of course in those days there wasn’t a FM 1431 going east) you would start to see little shanty houses along the highway and out across the railroad track. All the houses were white. Not necessarily painted white, but covered in white dust. The scrub oak trees were all layered with a … Continue reading White Stone – The Forgotten Little Town

Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

The Adventures Of Driving Under-Powered Trucks

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The 60s were a different time than now when it comes to the horse power of trucks. Today our trucks operate in the range of 500 to 600 horsepower. Back then the common range was 180 to 250 HP. We still hauled equally heavy loads over the same roads as today. Trucks were used much longer and maintained must less rigorously than by today’s standards. It was common for when we were hauling a heavy dozer in hillier areas for me to go ahead in a pickup to assist. When we knew there was a grade too steep coming up, … Continue reading The Adventures Of Driving Under-Powered Trucks