Category: Crazy Times

Crazy Times, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Betting on Football

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I was convinced back when I was much younger that no one was unlucky enough to lose 13 out of 15 football games but I proved that theory wrong. The year was 1985. I felt like I didn’t even have to know who was playing and that I could pick almost half of the games correctly. Statistically speaking, just looking at the point spreads. Because I watched a lot of football back then and we all talked football I was sure I knew as much as anyone on the subject. The mid 1980s were prosperous times. Thanksgiving weekend rolled around … Continue reading Betting on Football

Crazy Times, My Sons, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

A Nice Sunday Afternoon Motorcycle Ride

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A few years ago we were doing a project in Brownsville, Texas, a seven hour trip to the south. Being a nice Sunday I decided to ride my Goldwing down. Madeline was coming down later so she was pulling the trailer so I could haul it back home later that week. Ron Jr. was working on that job so he was already down there. He had a motorcycle so I suggested he ride up to Corpus so we could meet for lunch then ride back together. After having lunch we headed out for the 3 hour trip to the valley. … Continue reading A Nice Sunday Afternoon Motorcycle Ride

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

I Felt Kind Of Guilty For Contributing To This Fellow Getting Fired

lewisotr

Alvin was a TxDot employee, the supervisor over all of the survey crews. I first got to know him in the early 70s when we were contracted to work on the I-35 expansion through downtown Austin. TxDot did all the layout in those days and had a bunch of survey crews. Now-a-days they mostly hire it all out I think. In fact they may not even have a survey division. Sometime later, around 1980, Alvin was seeing retirement coming so he started his own surveying company and would go out on weekends and do work. I hired him to do … Continue reading I Felt Kind Of Guilty For Contributing To This Fellow Getting Fired

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Meeting New People, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Dust Up At The Post Office

lewisotr

We were talking about the Post Office on here one time and it made me think of an incident that I got involved in a few years ago at the Bertram Post Office. I walked in one day to transact some business. I found myself behind a young lady being waited on by the Post Mistress herself. The gals mother was driving a truck cross country and found herself out in Ontario, Ca. broke down and in the need of funds. She had left a credit card here at home that she was in desperate need of.Daughter was trying to … Continue reading The Dust Up At The Post Office

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, My Friends, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

And This Fellow Loaned Me, A Complete Stranger $50,000

lewisotr

Back in the Winfield days of my construction career, we found ourselves a bit short of making a payroll one week. Winfield went to his former employer, the owner of a large CPA firm in Austin and asked him to make us a loan. Without any hesitation he agreed to spot us $50,000. His only request was that I come down to his office so we could meet. I met Winfield there and we went in. Without additional fanfare Mr. Simpson called his check writer person’s extension and requested a check. We walked out of that office with a check, … Continue reading And This Fellow Loaned Me, A Complete Stranger $50,000

Crazy Times, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Paul Could Fix Anything

lewisotr

I had a fellow worked for me for a long time. I guess 12 or 14 years. He could fix anything. He came from a family of mechanics. Let me rephrase that sentence above. The could get about anything running again. He never did it in a conventional way. One day he was out away from anything. Five miles to a phone and a lot further to anyone that could help him, when a tire went flat on his pickup. It was a slow leak he’d been neglecting. He made an air up device with a spark plug that he … Continue reading Paul Could Fix Anything

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Kenny LewisLeave a comment

Hunting at the Cinco Loma

lewisotr

Another very fine story from Kenny Lewis Back in the 90’s 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 … Continue reading Hunting at the Cinco Loma

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, SmithwickLeave a comment

Cec and the 3 Card Monte Game

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Back in early 70s Cec had some business to take care of in San Antonio, so he loaded up Bonnie Gay and Nonie and lit out south in Brown Parkers “98” Oldsmobile. With the business out of the way the women folk wanted to go by the Farmer’s Market in downtown San Antonio to get a bunch of fruits and vegetables to take back home. Cec never was much on shopping so he just pulled up on the street and let them out and made the block and parked so he could watch the door for them to come out. … Continue reading Cec and the 3 Card Monte Game

Crazy Times, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

The Turtle Rescuer Girl

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At our family reunion in 2013 my cousin Gerald Kirkland and his daughter Shannon came from Arkansas. After the reunion was over they came to visit Madeline and me in Corpus Christi for a couple of days. To give them a look at the Gulf Coast we drove out to the Padre Island National Seashore to hunt for seashells and look around. It’s a very primitive area where there are few people unlike other areas of the beach on Padre or Mustang Island’s. It was in turtle hatching season. The US Park Service hires college students that they have out … Continue reading The Turtle Rescuer Girl

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My Memorial Day Memory – 1981

lewisotr

Memorial Day is a time for reflection and to honor those Military Person’s that gave the ultimate sacrifice for this wonderful nation. But 40 years ago Memorial Day was marked by devastation to parts of Austin, like nothing some of us had ever lived through. The story below tells my personal experience that day. During the early morning hours parts of Austin received 11 inches of rain in the span of 3 hours. I have no doubt that one of the highest elevations around, Jester Mountain received that much rain or close to it. We were building what is now … Continue reading My Memorial Day Memory – 1981