Category: Crazy Times

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early DaysLeave a comment

MQ and the Hog Buyer

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I had only limited contact with MQ when I was a kid. I went to school with his son Winfield, but I was like many other Burnet County people, that just didn’t go around him. The first time I remember seeing MQ was during a hog buying episode when he bought a pen full of hogs from Brown Parker. Brown was my dads best friend and kept hogs at our place, down at the old place where my grandparents had once lived. MQ was a major hog raiser back in the 60s and 70s. While trying to load out the … Continue reading MQ and the Hog Buyer

Crazy TimesLeave a comment

Who remembers the name William Lee Bergstrom ? He was commonly known as The Suitcase Man or The Phantom Gambler.

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Back in the high flying prosperous years of the 80s, me and several fellow contractors had a great propensity to head to Vegas a way to often. So when the William Lee Bergstrom situation came about, I was right in the middle of watching and reading about it unfolding. Following is the Wikipedia version of what transpired: Bergstrom was born in Austin, Texas and attended Austin High School graduating in 1969. He attended UT, but dropped out in 1974. His brother Alan Bergstrom described their childhood as marred. Their parents were divorced and Bill constantly desired the respect and affection … Continue reading Who remembers the name William Lee Bergstrom ? He was commonly known as The Suitcase Man or The Phantom Gambler.

Construction, Crazy Times, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Watch Out What You Say, You Never Know When It Will Come Back And Bite You In The Rear End

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One time we laid a 48″ waterline up through a neighborhood in Northwest Austin, a real high dollar part of town called Cat Mountain. Our line started at RM 2222 and continued to the top of the mountain on Mt. Bonnell Blvd and various other streets to reach its terminus. Mt. Bonnell – Cat Mountain Project It was really a picture perfect project that kept us busy for most of a year. When we reach the termination point on that job, another contractor, a competitor, was picking up where we left off. This competitor was a friendly one. We had … Continue reading Watch Out What You Say, You Never Know When It Will Come Back And Bite You In The Rear End

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Fire

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Madeline was going through a bunch of old stuff in her cedar chest a while back and she ran across this newspaper clipping of a piece of construction equipment we had one time that caught fire. I wrote a story about this incident long ago. In fact it is even in The Angora Chronicles book. Just don’t want anyone thinking I exaggerated the “degree” to which the fire was. This photo shows it so well. The Story About The Fire: Ruby Waggoner was my dad’s mother. She and my grandfather had divorced when Cecil was very young. He was raised … Continue reading The Fire

Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Auto Theft From Giesecke’s Supermarket (or was it HEB by that time)

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I worked at the Luther – McDuff Chevrolet Dealership my senior year of high school. Others that worked there were: Cecil Rhoades – Manager and car salesman extraordinaire. JC Copeland – A very nice, rotund old fellow – a lifelong car salesman type. John Miller – The most genteel person I’d ever met, and a life long MF resident. Everyone trusted John. Karen Schaefer – a pretty young red head that my brother had dated in high school and had married not long before this incident. We were all sitting in the office one day when several police cars arrived. … Continue reading The Auto Theft From Giesecke’s Supermarket (or was it HEB by that time)

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early DaysLeave a comment

More About Jester Blvd.

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We had just finished getting the entire length of the boulevard built from bottom to top, the base was laid and tested, the curbs were all in, all we needed to do was put the asphalt down when the Memorial Day Flood of 1981 hit Austin. During the course of that one night and day, the torrents of water that came down, coupled with the extreme steep grades, we saw 3500 tons of limestone flex-base disappear from that hill. To give you an idea of how much that is, it took 150 large 18 wheeler loads to replace it. In … Continue reading More About Jester Blvd.

Crazy Times, The History of TexasLeave a comment

BEVO was “What’s For Dinner”

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Nostalgia: When Bevo was barbecue, and other trials of Texas’ most famous longhorn By Jim Weber Jim Weber runs the college football and men’s basketball site LostLettermen.com. This week, he looks at the early trials of Bevo, introduced to Texas on Thanksgiving 1916, ahead of Thursday night’s rivalry showdown between the Longhorns and Texas A&M in Austin. There isn’t a fan base more proud of its school or more in love with its mascot than the faithful from the University of Texas. Longhorn fans stay true to their school by traveling en masse to road games, decking themselves head to … Continue reading BEVO was “What’s For Dinner”

Crazy Times, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Sometimes Keeping Your Mouth Shut Is A Good Thing

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Years ago we were on a cruise in the Bahamas. One stop allowed us a day of sightseeing and gambling. I was in a casino playing blackjack. The dealer and another player were talking sports, mostly football. At some point the topic changed and Mr. Knowitall was telling the dealer all about Wimbledon and why this one had dominated and why this other one should think about retiring. I instantly thought, hey we are playing blackjack here, deal the cards a little faster. Who cares about tennis. But I never said anything. A few minutes later the subject went back … Continue reading Sometimes Keeping Your Mouth Shut Is A Good Thing

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, The History of TexasLeave a comment

Fasten Your Seatbelt

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I once was passing my neighbors weekend place out of Dripping Springs and saw he was there. It was a weekday and I realized he being a state employee, probably had the day off. It was Texas Independence Day. When I pulled up he came outside and we visited a few minutes, then he said, “why don’t we drive into town a buy a 6 pack of Lone Star Beer and drive over to the lookout and sit a spell and enjoy the afternoon”. I had nothing going on so that’s what we did. Amazing conversation, I’ll get into another … Continue reading Fasten Your Seatbelt

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Meeting New People, Old Dog - New TrickLeave a comment

Rubbing Shoulders With Eva Longoria

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During a rant earlier on my Political Speak Group I related the following true story. I didn’t repost it in its entirety due to my desire to not politicize this group. But you can gather I have a very different view of life than she does. Now for the story: And to think – I once found myself rubbing shoulders with this bimbo. “Yes, the Ronbo here rubbed shoulders with Eva Longoria”. I was invited to sit on the floor at a SA Spurs game in the owners seats at courtside. Eva and Tony Parker were an item at the … Continue reading Rubbing Shoulders With Eva Longoria