Category: Crazy Times

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Replacing The Old Brackenridge Apartments On Lake Austin Blvd.

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Sometime in the earlier part in the mid 1980s, I contracted to run the underground utilities (water, wastewater & drainage) for the New Brackenridge Apartments that were being built. The project involved the tearing down of the old wooden buildings that had far outlived their normal life. Then the site was prepared and prefabbed concrete modules built by the HB Zachery Company In San Antonio were brought in and stacked together like toy building blocks. It was a new building concept. The Zachery Company had just finished building the Palacio Del Rio, a high rise hotel on the San Antonio … Continue reading Replacing The Old Brackenridge Apartments On Lake Austin Blvd.

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, The Construction BizLeave a comment

A Case Of Mistaken Identity

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(This happened back in December 2019. And trust me it really happened) Laying in bed at 9:30 PM on a Saturday night, in fact it was tonight, my phone rang. It wasn’t a number I recognized so I passed on answering it. It’s not like I need a warranty policy on my car or a burial policy on myself. A couple of minutes later I received a text from that same number. “Who is this?” “Why did you call my girlfriend?” I had to ask, “Hey who is your girlfriend?” I found out her name is Candice. I tried to … Continue reading A Case Of Mistaken Identity

Another Daily Happening, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Trucking Back In The 1960s

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Hauling things were much different back when I was young. Many ranchers and cowboys had a set of sideboards they’d put on the back of their pickup and then a horse and sometimes two would be loaded in the back. I can remember how unstable a 1/2 ton truck was with that much weight swaying back and forth and the high center of gravity. Many of the old-timers weren’t very accomplished drivers, either. While we did that some I think of something now that seems much more risky. Hauling a JD 450 loader in the back of a 5 yd. … Continue reading Trucking Back In The 1960s

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Throwing A D-7 Dozer Off Of The Trailer

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Kenny and I went down to Turkey Bend and loaded a D-7 Cat Dozer and was headed back to Smithwick. The road was not paved back then, which was probably in 1968. The bar-ditch was usually wet from the springs that flowed out of the rock outcroppings. It was fairly clean without cedar brush back then. Kenny was driving too fast and got too close to the ditch as he came into the corner. This caused the truck and trailer to slam into a 4′ high vertical bank on the right side with great force. This resulted in the truck … Continue reading Throwing A D-7 Dozer Off Of The Trailer

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

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., My Friends, Thoughts and Musings, TravelsLeave a comment

A Thought Occurred To Me Today, Just As It Does Every Time I Leave Out of Llano And Head Up To Brady

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I had graduated from high school shortly before, so this would have been an afternoon in the summer of 1970. I had landed the best gig I thought anyone possibly could. I was getting to drive a cattle truck for the Wenmohs Ranch. Joe Wenmohs only had one cattle truck at the time, a Ford Cabover that was turned up to where it would run with almost anything out on the highways. That tractor was hooked up to a 52’ triple deck Wilson aluminum trailer. That truck primarily ran from the Wenmohs Ranch out by Blue Lake, Llano County, to … Continue reading A Thought Occurred To Me Today, Just As It Does Every Time I Leave Out of Llano And Head Up To Brady

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Trucking A Load Of Roping Steers To California

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Eating In Del Rio I was a 17 year old kid just shortly before I turned 18. I had graduated from high school in May of 1970. This incident happened that summer. Butch Sayers got me to go with him to Marysville, California to deliver a truck load of Corriente Steers (Mexican Roping Steers). We left Marble Falls in the middle of the afternoon and arrived in Del Rio at the stockyards after dark. The trip had been sprung on me suddenly and I didn’t have a chance to eat before we left. I mentioned to Butch a couple of … Continue reading Trucking A Load Of Roping Steers To California

Crazy Times, My Family, My Friends, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Gifts That Kept On Giving

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When I was about 11 or 12 I started collecting cigarette coupons. Benson and Hedges coupons. You could trade them for prizes out of a catalog, just like trading stamps. There were two or three brands that fell under the B&H brand so they all had a little coupon attached to the package, beneath the cellophane cover. Extra rewards came when you bought a carton. Back in the 60s just about every adult that I was around smoked. Socks and Lois Jackson were still married at that time and I spent a lot of time over there with them. Lois … Continue reading Gifts That Kept On Giving

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Learning To Eat Foods You Hate

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When I was about 13 years old, on a hot summer day Cec took me to a John Deere Front End Loader on the top of Taylor Mountain, as we always called it. From up there you could see Marble Falls, because you were up there looking down. It was far into the distance. I was clearing off the brush on several lots and then leveled them up for future building. It was early in the morning when he dropped me and I didn’t think about taking a jug of water. When noon rolled around I had never seen anyone. … Continue reading Learning To Eat Foods You Hate

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Why Did I Think This Would Work ?

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Once or twice a week I go to a place for breakfast. Nothing is cheap anymore. But the menu has biscuits and gravy and for an additional amount you can get sausage crumbles on top. Always feeling that biscuits and gravy (or SOS) is a poor man’s breakfast, I never ordered it because $12 seemed a bit high to me. Of course adding $3 for sausage made it $15. I brought it up to my server a time or two that it seemed to be miss-priced. You can get a full meal deal breakfast for $15 and that’s what I … Continue reading Why Did I Think This Would Work ?