Category: Crazy Times

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, My Friends, The Early DaysLeave a comment

I Would Be Considered Dink’s Stalker In Today’s Terms

lewisotr

Dink McDuff was one of my best friends in my earliest days in the contracting business. I had know him since about 1963 or 64. He and my Dad had worked for the same company, doing underground utility construction. I thought he was the funniest person I’d ever met. Being about 12 years old upon our first encounter, it didn’t take much to impress me. After going into business at 19 years old our paths crossed and it didn’t take long for us to have some sort of a partnership. It wasn’t an enduring sort of deal, so within a … Continue reading I Would Be Considered Dink’s Stalker In Today’s Terms

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Construction Biz1 Comment

Hiring The New Office Guy

lewisotr

Many years ago I had lost my office person to a better opportunity in Houston for him. I knew of this young man that I thought would be a perfect replacement. This fellow was very good with radio’s. In fact he had been trained in electronic repair. He was a HAM Radio Operator. That would come in handy, because back then when most all of our dispatching was done with 2-way radios. We had just started using computers in the business and Joe was already getting into computers himself. This fellow was very orderly and organized like no one I’d … Continue reading Hiring The New Office Guy

Construction, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, The Construction Biz2 Comments

I Could Never Pass Up Tools Laying In The Road

lewisotr

It always amazed me how often I used to find tools, like wrenches, hammers, screw drivers and the like laying on the road when I was traveling from place to place. I always accused my careless mechanic Paul of being the one that lost most of them. Almost any day I could drive out of the yard and find something Paul had left laying under the hood or on the bumper that would fall off. Of course he wasn’t too worried about it as long as I had charge accounts at all the parts houses in Austin. Paul’s carelessness fed … Continue reading I Could Never Pass Up Tools Laying In The Road

Crazy Times, The Construction Biz3 Comments

Some Days It Goes From Bad To Worse (June 2020)

lewisotr

The day seemed bad when you can only see a little bit of the Cab and Blade on a D-8 showing. Then you bring in a Cat 349 Excavator to dig it out. Now there are 2 truck loads of crane mats, a Cat 385 and 4 more D-8 winch dozers on the way to rescue this mess. Well they got it all worked out and have moved right along since June 2020 – Tesla Gigafactory https://www.torquenews.com/14335/tesla-austin-texas-stunning-giga-factory-aerial-footage/amp Concept Drawing of Finished Building Continue reading Some Days It Goes From Bad To Worse (June 2020)

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick1 Comment

Cec and the CB Radio Craze

lewisotr

Back in the early 1970s CB Radios were the biggest thing going. No one got into CB’s more than Cecil Lewis. It didn’t matter what it took in the way of equipment to have the latest and greatest he would buy it. He was on a buying frenzy like I had never seen Cec go on before. He was a mostly a very frugal person. Not stingy at all. He would give a stranger anything he had and a friend, well the sky was the limit. But the CB Age saw him putting up a tall tower at his house. … Continue reading Cec and the CB Radio Craze

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, My Friends, Smithwick, The Early Days5 Comments

J.P. and the Tires

lewisotr

The junk yard as we called it, was a five acre field up the hill that we didn’t cultivate and out of sight of our house. It was on our land, but was operated by Hugh Hampton. He would bring wrecked cars in and strip them down for usable car parts then scrap the remaining pieces. One day a 63 (may have been a 64) Chevy Impala was brought in that had been in a wreck and was pretty much totaled. It had belong to a schoolmate, Jerry Ford. It had a really nice set of wide ovals on the … Continue reading J.P. and the Tires

Crazy Times, Kenny LewisLeave a comment

Making A Trip Down I-35 With Kenny Lewis

lewisotr

I made a lame attempt at telling this story just after it happened. I don’t think I did justice to it, possible for fear that something might come along a bite my brother in the rear end and I didn’t need to be on a witness stand trying to explain myself. But since a couple of years or more has passed, I’m going to make another run at it. Kenny asked if I’d like to ride with him up south of Dallas to look at a piece of machinery that he was contemplating buying. I thought we would enjoy the … Continue reading Making A Trip Down I-35 With Kenny Lewis

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Kenny Lewis, On The Job, The Construction Biz, The Early Days3 Comments

Tumbleweed Hill

lewisotr

Kenny had only been out of the Army for a short time. He was working for the company. I had a 1976 Chevy 4 Wheel Drive Pickup that I handed down to him. We had a project installing a new waterline that extended from near Mesa Dr, along Far West Blvd. The line would end near FM 2222 and Bull Creek Rd. This was Kenny’s project to oversee. We were for the first time living a role reversal, where I was his boss. I made an early morning drive by to check the progress and didn’t see Kenny anywhere, even … Continue reading Tumbleweed Hill

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days4 Comments

Ingrown Toenails

lewisotr

As a teenager I was plagued with ingrown toenails. They came and went. One day as I complained about the pain, probably using it as an excuse to get out of work, my dad had heard enough. “Come here boy, I am gonna fix those toes of your” As I set in the kitchen floor, he brought out a syringe that we had recently used while castrating hogs. It had the largest and coarsest needle you can even imagine. He had the same medicine we had used for deadening the hogs. He loaded that syringe full of it and as … Continue reading Ingrown Toenails

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

What Didn’t Kill Us, Made Us Stronger

lewisotr

Was online texting back and forth this morning with my little sister/cousin Jan Beaver. We grew up to be parents that jerked our kids up and hauled them to the doctor every time they had a snotty nose. I guess we were making up for the lack of us going to the doctor when we were kids. Jan told of climbing up on the cabinet next to the stove top where Bonnie Gay was making Mustang Grape Jelly and turned the pan over, spilling it all over her arms. She grabbed her up and ran cold water on it and … Continue reading What Didn’t Kill Us, Made Us Stronger