The Morning I Vapor Locked And Thought I Was Dying

I’ve only had this happen once and that was aplenty, thank you very much. The reason I referred to a vapor lock, that is an old term we seldom hear any longer. When I was a kid, It was a common occurrence. That’s when a gasoline line on an old vehicle would become too hot, usually because it wasn’t insulated from the heat of the exhaust. The gasoline would turn into vapor, stopping the flow of liquified gas. The engine would die and leave you stranded. There were a couple of remedies. You could sit for awhile until it cooled … Continue reading The Morning I Vapor Locked And Thought I Was Dying

Not Every Land Deal Will Make You Money

This is the story of a piece of land I got up in Dallas one time, to settle a debt. Here goes: These real estate deals can be crazy. Outfit owed me about $300k on an apartment project in Houston in the 1990s.I put a lien on it and waited about 2 years.They wanted to sell the project so they had to square with me.They had 21 acres in south Dallas they gave me in trade for releasing the lien. How can I go wrong owning 21 acres in Dallas, with I-35 frontage? Except when I sold it about a … Continue reading Not Every Land Deal Will Make You Money

The Fire

Ruby Waggoner was my dad’s mother. She and my grandfather had divorced when Cecil was very young. He was raised by his dad, Theron and a host of aunts, uncles and his grandparents. Ruby Lee, Grannie Ruby or Grannie was a big part of our life going up. She lived in Austin and visited her often. She was one funny old gal that laughed a lot and made the rest of us laugh. Any time after I was grown and had projects around North Austin, I’d stop by even if for just a few minutes. One day she and I … Continue reading The Fire

Could I Have Just Found Peter Pan?

I just drove into a vacant piece of property that I sold to LCRA the year before. Actually I was taking a shortcut to my office. As I drove to an area that few people drive to any more there was a young lady that had parked her Prius in the middle of the road. It took her a few moments to discover that she wasn’t alone. As I set watching she was running and leaping with her hands outreached. It all looked very graceful. After a bit she looked around and saw me, and came back to move her … Continue reading Could I Have Just Found Peter Pan?

How About Some Highway Talk, To Get The Morning Going.

One time when we were talking about borrow or bar ditches and crowns in the road, those terms are critical that make roadways safe during rainy conditions. That reminded me of another road building term. When you hear about the amount of super in a curve, (which I guarantee most of you never have) that actually is short for Superelevation. That is how much slope there is in a curve or how much tilt there is. If you notice racetracks have varying degrees of slope, depending on the speed that will be used during a race. A highway curve is … Continue reading How About Some Highway Talk, To Get The Morning Going.