Category: Amazing Things

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., My Friends, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

I Just Had A Winfield Memory Pop Up In My Head

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Not long before Winfield’s death, I was in Houston and met him for lunch near his downtown office. He had not yet been disbarred for getting busted with drugs. He was making plans to come to Austin and open a practice. The rules about Attorney’s had changed allowing television advertising. Houston was saturated with those commercials but it hadn’t so much made it’s way to Austin. He was sure that him investing in a great advertising campaign would put him on the map post haste. He certainly had the line of BS to go a long way. Maybe had things … Continue reading I Just Had A Winfield Memory Pop Up In My Head

Amazing Things, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Did Your Mother In Law Ever Gift You Anything Like This ?

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Back several years ago I had a friend that was the Director or the American Quarter Horse Association. She had seen our Company BBQ Trailer that we had put together and wanted to know if I’d sell it to her to auction off at their Annual Meeting that was taking place out at Los Angeles, California. It looked pretty good back in the day, but it had been pulled many miles and would need a makeover before it would have been suitable to send. Besides, that would have left us without a trailer to drag around to job sites to … Continue reading Did Your Mother In Law Ever Gift You Anything Like This ?

Aging, Amazing Things, Another Daily Happening, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Taking The Bait or Not

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This was written around 5 years ago. I stumbled across it earlier so I thought I’d repeat it now, as we are approaching our 50th year of marriage which is next month. When You Know You’ve Been Married Too Long (or maybe just the right amount of time) Madeline and I got away for the weekend. She has booked us a cabin on the Frio River. It’s wonderful, peaceful and very relaxing. Last night we ventured down the river a ways to the little town of Concan. We each had the special, a very ample serving of catfish and all … Continue reading Taking The Bait or Not

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Runaway Tractor

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We always had a problem with trucks, cars and machinery taking off and rolling away when we parked it at our house. Most of the time it worked out without being a real disaster. We didn’t live on top of a hill exactly, but the ground wasn’t level either. Which was good and bad. Bad if the brakes weren’t set good, but good when the battery was down on a vehicle and you needed to roll it to get it started. Once I started to town, forgot something and came back. Forgetting to set the parking brake and in a … Continue reading The Runaway Tractor

Amazing Things, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

It Was A Day, Not So Unlike Today – October 6, 1971

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I got off work up in Burnet where I’d been shooting dynamite all day, so we could lay sanitary sewer lines all around town. I had to make sure I didn’t run the track drill any that day, because I couldn’t afford to get as dirty as doing that would get me. Big Jimmy Palmer stayed up ahead drilling. I hit the road to Austin as soon as I could. I wasn’t as clean as I needed to be, but I knew I could shower at my sweethearts place before our big date night. But no way I’d be able … Continue reading It Was A Day, Not So Unlike Today – October 6, 1971

Amazing Things, My Friends, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Just Imagine My Surprise

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I haven’t been posting much lately. Call it being tired and worn out. Or I could blame it on a bout of COVID 19 back in March and then a pinched nerve and in my neck and left shoulder. All the above hasn’t made be feel all that much liking getting out and doing things and writing about them. Before I go on, let me tell you I’m also not all that pleased with FaceBook and how they have treated many of us. Therefore doing business with a business that is 180° from where I am on about 99.99% of … Continue reading Just Imagine My Surprise

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Wilson’s Story

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Wilson was a child born probably in the early 1960s. There were siblings I remember hearing, but I’m unsure how they faired in life. Wilson ended up at the Austin State School. A ward of the state. My Granny Ruby worked there for many years in 60s and 70s and maybe even a little in the early 80s. She took a special interest in Wilson. No one every came to see him, so see took him under her wing. It was easy to tell that Wilson never really developed physically or mentally, but he had a sweet disposition about him. … Continue reading Wilson’s Story

Amazing Things, The History of TexasLeave a comment

Don’t Mess With Texas

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Believe it or not, Texas had an even worse roadway litter problem a few decades ago than we do now. This is what typical roadways looked like back in the 1960s & 1970s. This was along RM 2222 as it winds down the hill to Bull Creek. This from Texas Highways Magaine The history of one of the most successful ad campaigns ever https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don’t_Mess_with_Texas A Smithsonian Magazine Article about the very famous anti-litter campaign. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/trashy-beginnings-dont-mess-texas-180962490/ It guess it’s not just a Texas problem. When traveling through New Mexico we saw billboards concerning their Highway Litter Problem. Evidently they used the … Continue reading Don’t Mess With Texas

Amazing Things, My Family, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

My Mother

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This story was written back on my mother’s birthday, January 18, 2015. So as you read this just know that my mother would be 88 now. I didn’t rewrite it or even feel like editing it to bring it up to today’s date. I guess that comes from laziness or perhaps because I just don’t want to change it. This is the story of my mother. Bonnie Gay would have been 82 today. She grew up poor, in a very large family. She was the 8th out of 11 children. Her father died when she 9 years old. She married … Continue reading My Mother

Amazing Things, Old Dog - New Trick, Thoughts and Musings5 Comments

I Love Technology

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I got ahold of the computer thing pretty early on, I guess it was 1985. We had bought the kids a Commodore I think a year or 2 before that. It was a box you hooked up to the TV for playing games and learning aids. We set it up on Madeline’s sewing machine cabinet using a spare TV we had for the monitor. It didn’t take long for one of the boys to turn a box of straight pins over on the keyboard and fried the whole thing. But in 1985 I started working with a Compaq Portable Computer … Continue reading I Love Technology