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Crystal City, a small south Texas town was known for two things. It was where the once famous La Raza Unita Political Party was born and … Continue reading Working Down At The Spinach Capital Of The World
Back in the days, mid 1980s, when I had the energy to trek up and down mountains hunting deer I went off to Utah with few others to hunt for the big one. We were supposed to spent five days up there and not a one of us ever got a shot off. Of course it was the worst spell of rain to ever hit that area. It was however one of the greatest adventures that any of us had ever been on. This trip happened right in the middle of the double tailed quarter episode that I’ve written about … Continue reading A Hunting Trip To Utah
We were involved in a very high profile construction project in Austin, the north extension of Loop One. This was during a time span between 2005-2007. We were a subcontractor relocating various water and wastewater lines to allow for the highway expansion. All eyes were on us, as we were working for a consortium comprised of two large highway contractors, with oversight by TxDot, The Tollway Authority and City of Austin. Our work is always under scrutiny, due to the dangers involved in digging deep trenches, but this project had many extremely difficult circumstances with traffic congestion being one of … Continue reading The Strange Case Of The OSHA Inspections
Once a fellow called me to come to his office and talk about a big project he was getting ready to build. I’m not sure how he came across our name. When I got there his secretary took me into a conference room. In a few minutes the dude came in carry a big fluffy furry cat and set it down on the table. Then the cat jumped from the table to his shoulder. We conducted the whole meeting with me looking across the table at a guy with a big furry cat on his shoulder. We didn’t make a … Continue reading A Cat On His Shoulder !
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 Leona (or Nonie) his stepmother and a host of aunts, uncles and his grandparents. Ruby Lee or Granny Ruby as I called her was still a big part of our life growing up. She lived in Austin and we visited 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 her house … Continue reading The Fire
If you grew up in Marble Falls, you knew Glenn. If you ever passed through Marble Falls you may have encountered Glenn Lewis. His was a real cowboy, doing ranch work most of his life. You always hear it said, that ol boy was born a hundred years too late. In Glenn’s case, there was never a truer cliché ever used. He was rugged, both inside and out. As a young man you would seldom see him that he wasn’t riding a horse or didn’t have one in a trailer behind an old pickup. He was 5 years older than … Continue reading Glenn and the Hat
I first got to know Dave in 1972. He was a successful underground utility contractor and very well respected in the business. His office was located in Lubbock. My first subcontract was working for him installing water lines in Burnet, Texas. It was actually more complicated than that. I was a sub to another sub that subcontracted to Dave’s company. That happens in our business a lot. Ok if you aren’t too confused I’ll continue. Throughout the 1970s I worked with Dave several times. He had an enormous capacity for numbers. I learned a lot from him. There came a … Continue reading My Friend Dave
It always amazes me how often I used to find tools, like wrenches, hammers, screw drivers and the like laying on the road when I was traveling so much. 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. Perhaps Paul’s carelessness fed my … Continue reading $$$$I Could Never Pass Up Tools Laying In The Road
It was not long after I graduated high school that Cecil, my dad, hired on one of his trucks to haul equipment with an old Austin trucking firm. I was the driver that went with the truck. Charlie Evans had spent many years in the heavy haul business in Austin and branched out and opened up a second yard down in San Antonio. Business was expected to be pretty good there so I ended up being based out of that yard, which was on the east side out on I-10, near WW White Blvd. I stayed in a fairly dated … Continue reading An Unfortunate Situation
Sometime in the earlier part in the mid 1980’s, I contracted to run the underground utilities (water, wastewater & drainage) for the New Brackenridge Apartments that were being built. The project involved the tearing down of the old wooden buildings that had far outlived their normal life. Then the site was prepared and prefabbed concrete modules built by the HB Zachery Company In San Antonio were brought in and stacked together like toy building blocks. It was a new building concept. The Zachery Company had just finished building the Palacio Del Rio, a high rise hotel on the San Antonio … Continue reading Replacing The Old Brackenridge Apartments On Lake Austin Blvd.
Angora Chronicles 