Category: The Construction Biz

In and Around Austin, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

There Are Certain Things You Just Don’t Want To Know

lewisotr

Early in my construction career I was involved in a project in west Austin, on West 5th St. That project is seared in my memory, even though it happened almost 50 years ago, around 1973. We were relocating a bunch of utilities lines, that needed to be moved so MoPac could be constructed. There were many things that happened during the course of that project. They aren’t that important at this moment. Several years and a million miles later, we did a second project in the same area of Austin. That project was providing drainage for a new building, a … Continue reading There Are Certain Things You Just Don’t Want To Know

Crazy Times, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

The Winfield Escapades and the Changing Times

lewisotr

This story consists of several previously written stories, all woven together to give better clarity of what happened when Winfield entered my life in the early 1980s. When I write a book about my life, Winfield will surely make up a long chapter in it. Therefore the following is written with a book in mind. When I think back on my life, business and personally, I don’t think anyone made a more lasting impression on me than did Winfield. He and I were just casual friends when we were growing up. Since we grew up in a small town, being … Continue reading The Winfield Escapades and the Changing Times

Amazing Things, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Nothing Says Class Like A Nice Hood Ornament

lewisotr

Seen on a “64” Chevy Pickup in Liberty Hill a while back. Quite a few years ago I had a fellow that worked for me. In fact he still works for me and has since he was just a kid, in the late 70s. Heck we were all kids back then. Manual is of Mexican descent and he like many of those fellows, didn’t mind adding a bit of class to their vehicles. I guess in today’s terms, it would be called bling. Manual had a fairly nice Chevy pickup and one day he showed up to work with a … Continue reading Nothing Says Class Like A Nice Hood Ornament

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, My Friends, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Pete and the Boulder Busters

lewisotr

Times have changed a lot in the 50 years that I’ve been in the construction business. The only economical way to excavate rock for installing underground utilities in the first 10 years was blasting with dynamite. It tapered off over the next decades to where that method is rarely even used today. We blasted up and down streets in very congested areas. In my first 4 or 5 years there wasn’t even a city permit required in Austin to transport and use explosives. Anyone dealing with the City of Austin now, would find that hard to believe. Now you need … Continue reading Pete and the Boulder Busters

Amazing Things, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Borrowing Money

lewisotr

Gaston Kenna was his given names, but he always went by the initials G.K. I first got to know G.K. in 1973 when Dink (from another of my stories – okay a few of my stories) and I were teamed up doing projects together. GK was hired by my cousin Nelson, whom I already had a long working history with. G.K. had worked for a wealthy businessman in Rockdale for many years. A drinking problem had been the cause of him needing to seek employment with Nelson. A few years later G.K. became my traveling accountant / sidekick / office … Continue reading Borrowing Money

Crazy Times, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

More About G.K.

lewisotr

I wrote about my drunken accountant a while back. “GK, My Accountant With A Drinking Problem”. GK may have been an old drunk, but I had a real fondness for him. Following is a story about the evening goings on for the crew when we were up building a 24” water line in Stephens County. Our office for the Stephens County project was in a small town of Ivan. Actually Ivan wasn’t a town. It was a beer joint and then our little office building. We were on a party line with the Kate’s Place.Ms. Kate was like our answering … Continue reading More About G.K.

Construction, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

GK, My Accountant With A Drinking Problem

lewisotr

Gk was my accountant for several years. I’ve mentioned him in a couple of my previous stories. I mostly called him Worley, his last name. GK was so fast on a desk calculator, you’d think the keys were going to fly off. By the time I got to know him, he was pretty much an old drunk. He would shake a lot. But when he would sit down and had a pen in his hand that man had the nicest handwriting of any person I’ve ever known. He had gone to a business school when he was young. He could … Continue reading GK, My Accountant With A Drinking Problem

Crazy Times, The Construction Biz2 Comments

Ridiculous Things People Ask You To Do

lewisotr

One time years ago we were working beside North Lamar out just north of Rundberg Lane. A few blocks south of our job site 2 cars got together in a pretty bad crash. Attorneys got involved and started suing everyone they could think of. I’m not sure how our name got involved but it did and we were named in a lawsuit. I turned it over to the insurance company. Several months or even years past when an attorney called me to get a statement. She had almost worn me completely out when I told her that I would send … Continue reading Ridiculous Things People Ask You To Do

Crazy Times, The Construction Biz1 Comment

The Ugly Phone Call

lewisotr

I was sitting in the office one morning and had received several solicitation calls. I was busy and was fed up with all nonsense calls when the phone rang again. It was an area code I didn’t recognize at all. I picked that phone and the guy said “Hello Ron, This is Dave out here in New Jersey”. I launched into a complete tirade about how sick I was of getting these $:;@/”:?!)$ phone calls, and to never call here again. He had sounded just like the several other telephone salesmen I’d already heard from. He said “no, no I’m … Continue reading The Ugly Phone Call

Aging, Amazing Things, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings9 Comments

Espinosa

lewisotr

This is a story I wrote 4 years ago, in Oct. 2017. It tells of a typical love/hate between two men, of which I’m a part of. It’s hard to believe that it’s now been this long since I’ve seen my old friend. I decided to check with his daughter Rose this morning to see how her parents are doing. Remarkably they are still living out that life they have lived for so many years, almost 70 years. I vowed to go see them soon and I will do that. Within just a few months of me starting into the … Continue reading Espinosa