This Had My Head Spinning

Woke up early this morning. Had a Facebook friend request from a fellow that I don’t actually know. I had heard the name before. We have 42 friends in common. So what’s the harm of agreeing to be his FB Friend. I was going through this fellows profile, much like I do just about every time I obtain a new friend. As I went down, carefully reading his various credentials I saw something that really looked suspect. We both had the same AIM identifier. For those that aren’t old Internet Dinosaurs, like myself, that stands for AOL-Instant-Messager. Lewisotr was my … Continue reading This Had My Head Spinning

Dink Wrote Me A Check

George Lester McDuff was a fiery little fellow. Everyone called him Dink and he always had a story to tell. He had the ability to make me laugh no matter what the occasion. He could make anyone laugh. I first met Dink in 1963, when I was just a kid. He and my dad worked for the same utility construction company. Dink ranch the roadboring division. Roadboring is where a hole is drilled under a roadway or railroad track and then pipe is installed. It was dirty work with mud knee deep and oil and grease everywhere. But everyday Dink … Continue reading Dink Wrote Me A Check

The Cushman Scooter

I once had a Cushman Scooter like the one below, except it was painted gray. it had the little jump seat on the rear, just like this one. Most scooters like that just had a single seat. I can’t remember where it came from, but as I recall it didn’t run when I got it. But I tinkered with it and got it going. Smithwick probably wasn’t the best place to have a motor scooter like this. It didn’t have much ground clearance and would bottom out on a terrace in the field or drag on a rock laying in … Continue reading The Cushman Scooter

Going To Get Our Motorcycle License

Houy and I were just a little over a month difference in age, with him being born in July and me in August. That made important happenings in our early lives coincide. While I can’t remember whether we went together to get our drivers license. But we did go get our motorcycle endorsement together. He had a new 350 Honda that we took it took on. We were 14 years old. Tommy had been riding for awhile, so it was easy for him to ride along doing as the officer instructed while following behind. I will never understand how I … Continue reading Going To Get Our Motorcycle License

The Rio Motel and Club – Austin, Texas.

I knew about The Rio because in the mid 1970s several of us that were working on the I-35 expansion from Airport Blvd up to US 290. We used to go there and drink coffee and eat breakfast or lunch sometimes. I was surprised when I opened the Austin Statesman newspaper one day to find out that The Rio had become really famous in the history of Austin. There was a club there also, but I never remember going to it. But there were several notable Austin people found it to be a great meeting place. There was a well … Continue reading The Rio Motel and Club – Austin, Texas.

The Texas Prison Rodeo

The Texas Prison Rodeo At Huntsville was a favorite of many from 1931 until 1986 when it was discontinued. A good article by Jesse Sublett – April 2012 for Texas Monthly Magazine Prison Rodeo Gone, but Not Forgotten Another piece of Texas history was razed in mid-January when bulldozers unceremoniously demolished the prison rodeo arena in Huntsville, but the memory of the event rides on. With barely a peep from preservationists, another piece of Texas history was razed in mid-January as bulldozers unceremoniously demolished the prison rodeo arena in Huntsville. The brick-and-concrete building, which hadn’t held a prison rodeo since … Continue reading The Texas Prison Rodeo

A Trip To See The Doctor

A few years ago, my wife and I were getting ready to leave for a trip of a lifetime. A trip that I was really excited about. We were flying up to Calgary Canada and getting on a train to spend the next few days traveling west to Vancouver. Train moved along during the daytime, stopping at night, allowing us to sleep in nice hotel rooms. Once we got to Vancouver, we spent a day or so there then boarded a cruise ship for a trip up to Alaska, to see the amazing sights and then back again, where we … Continue reading A Trip To See The Doctor

Ain’t No Need To Talk Down To Me !

Back around 45 years ago I had a project in Austin and was waiting for John Harlan and his boys to finish another road bore (that’s the process of drilling a hole underneath a highway to installed a pipe so you don’t impede traffic) then come to mine. I was driving down Ben White Blvd and looked over and spotted John standing there beside the highway so I turned around and went back to check with him about when he’d be to my job. It was a very customary to do. Everyone wasn’t walking around with a cell phone in … Continue reading Ain’t No Need To Talk Down To Me !