Category: On The Job

Amazing Things, On The Job, The Construction BizLeave a comment

The Techno-Redneck or Gadget Man

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Over the past 30 years I have adopted two nicknames. I like each equally. It all started back in the mid 90s when mobile phones were becoming more widely popular and affordable. I always thought I wanted to newest thing out so when a new gadget hit the market I tried to be the first to have it. I usually had a string of employees that were more than willing to take my hand me downs. I didn’t feel too bad about buying the new cutting edge devices because I was convinced that being in the forefront could help one … Continue reading The Techno-Redneck or Gadget Man

On The Job, The Construction BizLeave a comment

Cell Phones On The Cheap

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After the prosperous years of the 80s came the real estate bust of the late 80s and early 90s. Kenny, Coy (of double tailed quarter fame) and I were once again teamed up again doing work together. The days of mobile phones had given way to pagers and pay phones. Mobile phones were very expensive in the early days. My average phone bill in the 80s was $1,000 – $1,200 per month. That wasn’t for the whole company, that was just me. I stayed on the phone constantly, conducting business and doing a fair share of BS’ing. Those costs just … Continue reading Cell Phones On The Cheap

Amazing Things, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., On The JobLeave a comment

What Is A Good Wage To Pay A Feller?

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The talk goes on and on about what the minimum wage should be. It is commonly referred to now as a living wage. This is not going to be a commentary on that issue. The first minimum wage I read was $.25 per hour back in the 30’s. When I entered the workforce in the early 70’s I think it was around $1.60 per hr. Graduating high school in 1970, left me bouncing around doing several jobs for the first few months. I had an independent streak going, so I didn’t stay tied down to any one thing for very … Continue reading What Is A Good Wage To Pay A Feller?

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early Days

My Wildest Trucking Story

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Being raised up around trucks and owning many during my working career, I’ve had many memorable trucking experiences. There are none that compare to this two and half days. I was driving a truck for Nelson Lewis hauling equipment around the state, in the winter of 1970-1971. I was 18 years old. I had worked on a job-site in Burnet all day, but needed to be in Port Lavaca the following morning. There was an Inley Excavator (or a Trackhoe as we called them back then) there that needed to go up to Lake Jackson, further up the coast toward … Continue reading My Wildest Trucking Story

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, On The Job2 Comments

It Wasn’t Me

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(this story happened in the early 2000s) Kenny has always had a lot of company pride. He likes all of his machines and trucks looking good and clean. Everything needs to be ship-shape in Kenny Lewis’s world. He enjoys having his company name on jackets and caps. He spends a lot of advertising bucks and it pays off for him. I see people wearing them often, putting the “CCI” out in the public. Kenny and I had an arraignment for about a decade that lasted until 2003. We pooled resources and CCI was the name that was in the forefront … Continue reading It Wasn’t Me

Crazy Times, On The JobLeave a comment

Helicopter Hog Hunting

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The wild hog problem is one that without witnessing it you cannot imagine the damage to the land, fences and property that these out of control creatures create. So to help control this problem, helicopters with shooters armed with shotguns, loaded with buckshot are used. The shooters hangout of windows of small 2 person helicopters with the pilot carefully positioning you over a herd of ferrel hogs, allowing you to blast away killing as many as possible before they take up refuse in the brush. My brother Kenny, and avid hunter had a relationship with a huge south Texas ranch … Continue reading Helicopter Hog Hunting

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, On The Job, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Young Detectives

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Our dad was working for an old time contractor by the name of Holland Page, installing a new wastewater system all around the town of Gatesville. The year was probably 1963. That summer we went there part of the time to spend with him. He had an apartment rented. They had a guy working previously that was trying to make an insurance claim for a back injury that supposedly happened on the job. Cec, my dad, knew that wasn’t possible because “the guy had been too lazy to pickup anything“. After talking to various people around town, this fellow had … Continue reading The Young Detectives

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, On The Job, The Construction BizLeave a comment

Rosalinda

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John has been good friend of mine for a very long time. After the following story we have remained friends, which is surprising. This took place back in the late 1980s. We were working on a big project in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. It was a really tough job in one of the roughest areas of one the most crime ridden cities at that time. Everything was a disaster. We had to keep a sense of humor about it, keep the mood light or we couldn’t have endured. We both lived back in Austin so frequently flew on … Continue reading Rosalinda

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Construction Biz, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Then and Now

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I graduated from high school in May 1970. By the fall of 70 I went to work in the underground utility industry. I believe I was earning around $3.00 per hour. Considering the minimum wage back then was $1.60, I was doing pretty well. A top operator was paid $3.75 per hour. By late spring of 1972, I had learned enough about the business, plus what I had picked up being around trucks and machinery my whole life, I subcontracted my first water line installation project in Burnet, Texas. I had a crew of 4 or 5 people including myself. … Continue reading Then and Now

Construction, Crazy Times, On The JobLeave a comment

The Devastation Caused By Zebra Mussels

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Seeing a recent kvue article (link below) about the growing Zebra Mussel problem in several area lakes brought back memories from the winter of 2011-2012 when our company was awarded a large contract to clean up a water line up on the northern border of Texas at Lake Texoma. That was the first recognized Zebra Mussel infestation to reach Texas. Our contract was comprised of building appurtenances that allowed a huge rubber pig (a large cylindrical apparatus with an abrasive coating) that could be inserted in the lake end of an eleven mile six foot diameter water line. This would … Continue reading The Devastation Caused By Zebra Mussels