Category: Crazy Times

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

Paul Could Fix Anything

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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

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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

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

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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

Crazy Times, Old Dog - New Trick, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

How Could I Always Be So Lucky ?

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I had to make a trip up to my North Texas Ranch yesterday. It appears the people that own the places all around me seem to be ganging up and deciding everything is always my fault. The wild hogs are terrorizing everyone and everything. On top of that coyotes are very prevalent and seem to have everyone in the area scared out of their wits. I’m not sure why it’s my fault, but I guess since I’m the largest landowner anywhere nearby, they think I’m the one that needs to take care of the problem. I ignored them for awhile … Continue reading How Could I Always Be So Lucky ?

Crazy Times, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Acupuncture

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In between surgeries on the cervical portion of my spine, there have been three now, I went to an Acupuncturist in San Antonio hoping to get relief. Kenny had been to him several times and it hadn’t killed him, so I figured I was as tough as he is. I’m not sure if this feller was Chinese or Korean or something else from that part of the world. His name is Hou Chi Dung. As side note, he has a son the does it too, and he has an American first name, maybe it’s Jimmy and he changed his last … Continue reading Acupuncture

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, The Construction Biz, The Early DaysLeave a comment

A 1980 Buick Riviera Was A Great Looking Car

lewisotr

I bought a new Riviera in the fall of 1979. I was going to use it mostly for road trips. It drove so good and looked even better, that I found it hard to park it and get back in a pickup. One day I picked up Kenny so we could make a run around town and see how everything looked. We did that pretty often back in those days. We drove through a subdivision we were building out on RM 2222, overlooking Lake Austin. All the utilities had been completed on that project and we dressing up the sub … Continue reading A 1980 Buick Riviera Was A Great Looking Car

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Hudson Hornet

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I’ve told a story about the old couple, Minnie and Charlie Campbell showing up in Smithwick back in the 60s. Charlie was a Studebaker man. He always claimed he would never drive anything but a Studebaker. He and Minnie drove off one day and when they came back a few days later he had bought Minnie a car and it wasn’t a Studebaker. It was a very clean 1951 Hudson Hornet. The picture below shows what it looked like. He messed with it and never could make it run right so he parked it out under a tree and it … Continue reading The Hudson Hornet

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, The Construction BizLeave a comment

The Banker Up In The Deer Stand In South Texas

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Kenny had a nice deer lease about mid ways between Laredo and Freer for a few years in the 1980s. One weekend he took took several bankers and other businessmen from Austin for a hunt. I wasn’t there but my best guess is there was a lot of drinking going on. Early Saturday morning he had one of his cohorts take a one the bankers to the tallest stand on the place. After getting the hunter up in the stand, he drove off in a jeep with a high rack on it. Not paying attention the high rack caught one … Continue reading The Banker Up In The Deer Stand In South Texas

Crazy Times, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Never A Broken Bone

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I’ve told about everything that has ever happened in my life. Almost. Every near miss and a few direct hits. Miraculously I’ve never had a broken bone. In my story about going for the Army draft physical I told about crushing my foot. There were no bone fractures. The bones had what Dr. Allen called radial cracks, I think. There were bones that had longitudinal cracks but nothing fractured, if that makes sense. He bandaged my foot but no cast. That was when I was 18 or 19. Then when I was in my 30s I started having a pain … Continue reading Never A Broken Bone