Category: On The Job

Construction, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Early Days2 Comments

A Case of Limestone Poisoning ?

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Sometime in 1973 we were doing a project for the new I-35 expansion in downtown Austin. It was a crazy, difficult project with old pipes running underground every which way. We had one place that we were excavating about 40 deep and then bored underneath I-35 for about 250 feet to run a new wastewater line. In those days the road bores were done where water was mixed with the limestone rock cuttings that were being excavated. It was called Wet Bore Method as opposed to now most all road bores are done using the Dry Bore Method. Wet Boring … Continue reading A Case of Limestone Poisoning ?

Crazy Times, My Friends, On The Job, The Construction BizLeave a comment

A Hunting Trip To Utah

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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

Crazy Times, On The JobLeave a comment

The Strange Case Of The OSHA Inspections

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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

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, On The JobLeave a comment

A Cat On His Shoulder !

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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 !

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, On The Job, The Construction Biz3 Comments

Glenn and the Hat

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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

My Friends, On The JobLeave a comment

My Friend Dave

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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

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Early Days2 Comments

$$$$I Could Never Pass Up Tools Laying In The Road

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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

Crazy Times, On The JobLeave a comment

An Unfortunate Situation

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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

Construction, Crazy Times, Meeting New People, On The JobLeave a comment

The Nichols Brothers and how the magic of Facebook helped to write their full story

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Back in the 70s we had a band of brothers that came to work for us. They were hardworking, honest to a fault it seems like and a little bit crazy. When I say “honest to a fault”, I mean that they gave you a better days work than maybe they should have, as in it seemed like they were killing themselves to be sure you knew they were earning their pay. Larry, Richard and Conner were their names. Larry was a little older than me, Richard was about my age and Conner was a bit younger. It was easy … Continue reading The Nichols Brothers and how the magic of Facebook helped to write their full story