Category: My Friends

Aging, Funny Happenings, My Friends, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

When A Situation Presents Itself, I Always Say Take Advantage

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Earlier this week I arraigned a lunch date with two high school friends, Sam Hall and Ronald Mayfield, from high school. They were good friends back in Marble Falls, but hadn’t seen each other since, which was about 50 years. We established that 11:30 AM at County Line on the Lake would be the place and time. I was passing near one of our projects where my middle son, Ron Jr was at. I thought it would be nice if he could join us, to get a flavor of what old time friendships are like. He jumped in an we … Continue reading When A Situation Presents Itself, I Always Say Take Advantage

Crazy Times, My Friends, The Construction Biz, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Loaning Out My Jeep

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There was a fellow, seemed like a nice guy that worked for one of my competitors. I’d see him at bid openings, but never really knew him. After working for that other company for a while, he decided to go in business. Bob knew I had started out on a shoestring so he came to me to get some advise. I gave him all the pointers I could think of. I felt it a compliment that the guy came to me. So we became kind of buddy’s. I wasn’t really looking for additional competition, but I was okay that his … Continue reading Loaning Out My Jeep

Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, My FriendsLeave a comment

Making A Case For Eavesdropping

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It happened on the steps on the church house. Several of us were lingering outside the building after church one day. As I spoke with one elderly gentleman, two of our other members where close by having a conversation about a potential land dispute, with one of these fellows being an attorney and the other one owning a parcel of land. It seemed that the landowner was having difficulties with TxDot over what was a very tiny parcel of land. Several years before TxDot was expanding one of their highways and through right of eminent domain had taken this man’s … Continue reading Making A Case For Eavesdropping

Meeting New People, My Friends, Thoughts and Musings5 Comments

If I Had It To Do All Over Again

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I often contemplate the words of that title. It’s almost like asking “What Is The Meaning Of Life“. What I really think is I wouldn’t change all that much for my own benefit. I would probably go at things at a little slower pace, in an attempt to make things easier on my now aging bones. I could always say that I should have spent less and saved more, but perhaps that was always a motivating force to continue to forge ahead. What I think about a lot are the missed opportunities to spend more time friends and loved ones. … Continue reading If I Had It To Do All Over Again

Crazy Times, My Friends, The Early Days, The Jollyville YearsLeave a comment

Beer Company Sponsorships

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Back in the 50s and on into to 60s the different beer companies would hire bands to promote their product. A local Austin band, Jesse James and All The Boys was one that Pearl Beer Sponsored. Pearl also had another band, Adolph Hofner and the Pearl Wranglers that was more widely recognized than the James band. I used to hear radio promotions for Adolph Hofner, mostly playing in San Antonio, on up into the 70s. I mention Jesse (William Howard “Jesse”) James because he used to come to our house “On The Creek” just out of Jollyville. He was a … Continue reading Beer Company Sponsorships

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

Dink Wrote Me A Check

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George Lester McDuff was a fiery little fellow. Everyone called him Dink and he always had a story to tell. He had the ability to make me laugh. He could make anyone laugh. I first met Dink in 1963, when I was just a kid. He and my dad worked for the same utility construction company. Dink ran the roadboring division. Roadboring is where a horizontal hole is drilled under a roadway or railroad track a then pipe is installed. It was dirty work with mud knee deep and oil and grease everywhere. But everyday Dink showed up in starched … Continue reading Dink Wrote Me A Check

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

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

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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

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

J.P. and the Tires

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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

Aging, Amazing Things, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., My Friends, Thoughts and Musings17 Comments

Let Me Tell You About John And About Friendship

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John and I had many parallels in our lives. We both arrived in Marble Falls the same year, in the 8th grade. We both graduated five years later, in May of 1970, as did each of our future wives. All four of us were merely 19 years old when we married; both couples have been married every since. John went to college and I went straight on to work after high school. Very soon we each were in business. Therefore, neither of us really worked for anyone after just a short time, spending our whole lives in business for ourselves. … Continue reading Let Me Tell You About John And About Friendship

My Friends, No Place Like Bertram, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Pecan Pralines (the sugary kind, not the gooey ones)

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I used to go to church with an elderly lady, that shall remain nameless. She “played” a huge role in the church, our organist/pianist for over 50 years, and was a very long term member. She became widowed along the way. With losing her husband, the level of cantankerousness got worse and worse. For whatever reason when she would get mad and quit the church, I would be able to go spend a little time with her and get her to come back. She saw me as a more independent arbiter than the pastor or others at the church. The … Continue reading Pecan Pralines (the sugary kind, not the gooey ones)