Category: Amazing Things

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

It Took Me Weeks To Figure Out Why She Was Upset.

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Not long after we married in 1971, I came home with Madeline a brand new 1972 Dodge Demon automobile. It was an absolute beauty. White with a White Pearlescent Vinyl Top and Snowy White Interior. Very sporty but not in a hot rod sort of way. More in a very hot, young chick sort of way. That baby had all the beauty and innocents that my new wife had. My Dad had gone with me to Austin’s Dependable Dodge on I-35 between St. John’s & US 183, to buy it. I needed him to drive my pickup back. What better … Continue reading It Took Me Weeks To Figure Out Why She Was Upset.

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, My Friends, The Early Days, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Making Of A Short Documentary

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This is a Post that I made on this date February 7, 2018. We are six years and a million miles from here now. Several years ago my grandson Nathan came to me and ask for help with a school project. Nathan graduated last year and this happened when he was about 9 or 10 so yes, it’s been awhile. He needed to do a report about something historic. Since we owned the old Bertram Drug Store at that time and I’d researched the history of that building, I suggested that be the topic. A short time before that I … Continue reading The Making Of A Short Documentary

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Kenny LewisLeave a comment

Hunting at the Cinco Loma (A fine story by Kenny Lewis – from February 2015)

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Back in the 90s we searched various ranches for the best hunts available in South Texas. We had gotten to know Dusty Davis who owned the Cinco Loma Ranch between Batesville and La Pryor. It was not a large ranch (2500 acres), but with high quality deer. This ranch was along Highway 57 on the way to Eagle Pass and surrounded on 3 sides by a large ranch called the West Wind. Larry Martin owned it and was a very successful business man from Houston who had sold his Waste Company for millions of dollars to the nationally known Waste … Continue reading Hunting at the Cinco Loma (A fine story by Kenny Lewis – from February 2015)

Amazing Things, Cowboys & Rodeo, Crazy Times, My Friends, Past Angora Chronicles StoriesLeave a comment

OVER THE HUMP

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This is a story that was written by Carol Chapman for the February 1995 issue of Texas Monthly. It is a story about Howdy Fowler (yes our own Angora Chronicles Friend – Howdy Fowler aka Tejas Redd) “Howdy told me once that this adventure is the single greatest highlight of his life and to have it captured on the pages of Texas Monthly – Don’t get much better than that”. Now Here Is The Texas Monthly Story: THE REAL REASON THAT camels are called ships of the desert is that riding them can make you seasick, declares cowboy evangelist Howdy … Continue reading OVER THE HUMP

Amazing Things, Another Daily Happening, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Sideboards

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When I ran across the post below about the Bois D’arc tree, it conjured up a memory from more than 60 years ago. We were living down on the creek out of Jollyville. Cec, our dad bought a 3/4 Chevrolet Pickup. It had been a Texas Highway Department truck in its first life. So it was yellow with the huge logo sanded off the doors. Later on he even painted it green. Not a green anyone else on earth would have chosen for a pickup truck. It was something of a mint green, but not a true mint green. It … Continue reading The Sideboards

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

It’s Funny How Things Happen

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Last night at Kenny’s viewing at the funeral home a good Ol Boy reminded me something. Let me start from the beginning to tell you the whole story from start to finish. I went out to Lakeway in the late 1970s and bid on a project. When I prepared the bid it came out to somewhere around $325,000. I called my bonding company and told them that the bid was going to exceed the amount I originally told them. At that time they were limiting me to a maximum size job of $300,000. I couldn’t convince them to raise my … Continue reading It’s Funny How Things Happen

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

Sometimes A Mistake Can End Up Being A Good Thing

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I was talking to a fellow, Ray, tonight at Kenny’s visitation at the funeral home. We, being Kenny & I, first met Ray well over 30 years ago. Kenny and Ray became very good friends, just about since they first met. I pretty much traveled in different circles afterwards that didn’t afford me the opportunity to be as closely connected, but I would see Ray occasionally. Ray worked for a very successful apartment builder and developer. Our meeting was on the first project that his company built in Austin. It was a time when I wasn’t very busy and I … Continue reading Sometimes A Mistake Can End Up Being A Good Thing

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

Cell Phones On The Cheap

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After the prosperous years of the 80s came the real estate bust of the late 80s and early 90s. Kenny, Coy and I (of double tailed quarter fame) were teamed up again doing work together. The days of mobile phones had given way to pagers and pay phones. Mobile phones were very expensive in the early days. My average phone bill in the 80s was $1,000 – $1,200 per month. That wasn’t for the whole company, that was just me. I stayed on the phone constantly, conducting business and doing a fair share of BSing. Those costs just weren’t in … Continue reading Cell Phones On The Cheap

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

EXCAVATING FOR A NEW BANK BUILDING

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Back in 1978, I think it was, my company contracted to excavate for the new Capitol National Bank. It was the largest job that of that type that Lewis Contractors had ever taken on. Considering it was excavating 30′ deep a full block square downtown Austin from 7th to 8th St. between Guadalupe and Lavaca and it was solid limestone rock it had its challenges. The only real way to accomplish a project like that was to blast. If I remember correctly, we did it in around 60 days. Considering the equipment we had to work with in those days, … Continue reading EXCAVATING FOR A NEW BANK BUILDING

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Past Angora Chronicles StoriesLeave a comment

Chuck Norris definitely wears Kenny Lewis pajamas

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Back when Kenny had his place in Mexico, his son Kody brought a friend from Tennessee, Tom Brostowin, to hunt several times. On one trip Tom brought another fellow with him that was a New York Stockbroker type. Kenny dropped the two of them off at a big double stand for the morning hunt and then continued on. Kenny came back by little later to find them both sitting on the ground at the bottom on the stand. When ask why they weren’t up in the stand they told him there was a huge wasp nest in there. Following are … Continue reading Chuck Norris definitely wears Kenny Lewis pajamas