Category: Crazy Times

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, On The Job, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Borrowing Money On Your Word And A Handshake

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Early in my contracting career, G.K. became my accountant, sidekick and office guy. His marriage had failed due to his drinking and other circumstances, so he was free to move around the state doing projects with me. Something that I was able to easily do too. Madeline and I were fairly portable. We went to Huntsville, Houston and eventually we ended up in Brackenridge, Tx. We only had one child, a baby – Matthew, when in December 1976 an opportunity came along to go do the largest project I had ever undertaken. It was in Stephens County, Texas. It was … Continue reading Borrowing Money On Your Word And A Handshake

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Meeting New People1 Comment

My Austin Road Rage Incident

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Austin traffic must get on everyone’s nerves that ever drives in it, even in the early 2000s. One day when leaving a business down on Riverside Drive, I heading up north on I-35 right in the middle of afternoon rush hour traffic. When it was time to merge into traffic at the on ramp there was a guy in a big jacked up Ford Pickup that was determined that he wasn’t going to let me in. I was in a position to see him in my mirror. Every time a car would pull forward he made sure to keep the … Continue reading My Austin Road Rage Incident

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, The Construction Biz4 Comments

It Wasn’t Me !!

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Kenny has always had a lot of company pride. He likes all of his machines looking good and clean. Everything needs to be ship-shape in the world of Kenny Lewis. He enjoys having his company name on jackets and caps. He spends a lot of advertising bucks and it pays off for him. You could see people wearing them often around town, putting the CCI out in the public. Kenny and I had an arraignment for about a decade that lasted until 2003. We pooled resources and CCI was the name that was in the forefront of the business. Advertising … Continue reading It Wasn’t Me !!

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

The Life Of A Utility Contractor

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I’ve been broke and I’ve been moderately successful – each thing several times. Failure is only a really bad thing if it takes you down and keeps you there. Falling on hard times can be a character builder like nothing else. Once you’ve found success and experience failure, it makes a good person try even harder to find those good times and to not repeat the same mistakes. I started out in the construction business back in 1972, a few months before I turned 20 years old. I had nothing but a new wife and a good work ethic. I … Continue reading The Life Of A Utility Contractor

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

The Fortune Teller

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If a fortune teller tells you something, maybe you should listen. We traveled from Marble Falls to San Antonio for our 1970 senior trip. Whoopee, that was a dandy trip of less than a hundred miles, after putting in 12 hard years. Late in the afternoon we ended up by Breckenridge Park at an amusement park and arcade. Several of us, Madeline included, which is now my wife of over 49 years, decided to go to a fortune teller. When it was my turn she read my palms or something and said ” one day you will write a book”. … Continue reading The Fortune Teller

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

Forward Thinking

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Some of you may know that back in the 1980s, John Kemper, a group of businessmen and investors and myself developed Gateway, a 96 acre tract of land, south of the river in Marble Falls. It was originally part of the Michel Ranch. What you may not know is during the planning of that development we made a pitch to TxDot for us to give a ROW through the property for new northbound lanes from Max Starcke Dam Road to the south end of the river bridge. That would then have allowed the current highway to only be used for … Continue reading Forward Thinking

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

GTE Telephone Switching Building

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This story was originally written back in 2015. So another 6 years have come and gone with this saga. Back in 1977 GTE was updating the phone lines down Smithwick way. They made a deal with us to lease a small plot of ground to put an switching building on. The property where this building is located is on a 7 AC tract that I had owned for several years. Cec made the deal and I told him to just cash the check when it came in, which was easy enough for him to do back in those days. The … Continue reading GTE Telephone Switching Building

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, SmithwickLeave a comment

Cecil Lewis Had A Dark Side

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Cec got crosswise with the phone company. He didn’t like the way they did what they wanted, when they wanted. The phones never worked right. The phones hummed, crackled or didn’t work at all. When he couldn’t get any satisfaction out of them on an issue it made him mad. So he went up the highway, I think by the Bowles Place where the big phone cable came out of the ground and went overhead where it had been to rocky to trench. He took a hypodermic needle (probably the one he shot my toes up with to cut out … Continue reading Cecil Lewis Had A Dark Side

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Kenny Lewis, My Friends, The Construction BizLeave a comment

He Got On That Harley And They Rode Away

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There were a couple of brothers sitting around visiting a few years ago. I’m not sure how or why it came up, but they were discussing a fellow contractor with whom they had know most of their lives. The younger brother said “did you hear about Ol Dan (not his actual name). I’m not sure his company will be around much longer. It seems he’s gone middle crazy. He bought a new Harley and left his wife. Last time the guys at his shop saw him he was headed out west on that motorcycle with a large breasted blond on … Continue reading He Got On That Harley And They Rode Away

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Is There Really Anything To A Dream?

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I originally wrote this story back in October, 2015. Yesterday there was the post about not telling about a bad dream until after breakfast. Not knowing whether that applies to all dreams, I got up and had a bowl of Raisin Bran, just to keep it on the safe side. When I we lived in Dripping Springs in the 1985-1991 timeframe I, along with my sons were all baptized one Sunday morning by Rev. Grady Roe. It was about this time of year in 1985. I had only given myself over to going to church real sparingly up to that … Continue reading Is There Really Anything To A Dream?