Category: Thoughts and Musings

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, The History of Texas, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Bump Gates

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Probably Nothing Banged Up More Pickups Than The Bump Gate. Being a Hill Country Boy, I never got much practice using a Bump Gate. They are mostly something from West and South Texas. I’ve heard of lots of calamities with city slickers and Yankees trying to use them. Either running into them at full speed to not going through them fast enough. Not to even talk about pulling to long a trailer through one. I think it’s probably something you need to watch a pro operate them a few times before you decide to do it yourself. I guess they … Continue reading Bump Gates

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Socks Jackson’s Prize Paint Filly

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Socks loved paint horses. He had a colt that he was prouder of than anything you could imagine. I’m not sure why this colt was so important to him, but everyone that came along would be shown the little paint filly. Glenn being the expert horseman wanted to handle the colt a little so they went back and got the mother and baby. The mare had a halter and lead rope on so they lead her out in front of the house into the parking lot. Glenn Lewis was a teenager probably around 13 or 14, so I would have … Continue reading Socks Jackson’s Prize Paint Filly

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Sid & Fay

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When Madeline and I married we moved into a trailer house (we called it a mobile home – but it was a trailer house, I’m pretty sure). It was in Sherwood Shores but I guess if we lived there today it is called Granite Shoals. Our place was pretty spacious, for a young couple just starting out. Our next door neighbors were Sid and Fay. They were retired and lived there and we had a small pond in the backyard. Sid and Fay lived in a very small older trailer, but it was immaculate. Everything was pretty and neat. After … Continue reading Sid & Fay

The History of Texas, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Pickup Bumper Advertising (long as the buyer would go along with it)

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Dealerships around the state ordered pickup trucks without rear bumpers. D & D Bumper Works in Seguin, Texas made very sturdy steel bumpers with the dealership name and location stamped in and highlighted with paint. That became a rolling advertisement for the dealership. There were perhaps other companies that offered this service, but D & D was the ones that seemed to be most widely used. Continue reading Pickup Bumper Advertising (long as the buyer would go along with it)

Crazy Times, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Yes, I Do Sometimes Get My Panties In Wad

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In this day of the Internet, when is clipping a picture from somewhere else and using it permissible? I have spend considerable time understanding how Copyright law works and I’m not sure I have the brain power to ever completely understand it. What is considered Fair Use. Is it a right or a defense? Blah blah blah. (I’m not really into debating any attorneys on here regarding this subject, because I could really care less, except looking at this in a practical sense) This all comes about due to a story that was put on here once upon a time … Continue reading Yes, I Do Sometimes Get My Panties In Wad

Aging, Crazy Times, No Place Like Bertram, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

My Love Affair With Donkeys

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The Afternoon I Went On A Donkey Buying Spree. Right after we moved to our place in Bertram, I decided we needed to get some guard donkeys. I inquired around and found a women down the road a piece had three Jenny’s and a Jack she wanted to sell. Being green to buying such animals, I went to see her and ended up making a deal for the whole bunch. Of course I paid about double the going rate. I’m not even going to tell you what I paid. It’s been about 27 years ago that I made that transaction, … Continue reading My Love Affair With Donkeys

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Granny Ruby Loved To Laugh

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I called her Granny or Ruby Lee. Either was fine with her. She lived in north central Austin on a short street, just off of Burnet Road in the 5500 block. As an adult running around Austin in the construction business if I was close to her neighborhood I would drop in. That is if I had time to kill. There were no short visits with her. She always had a lot to say. The only thing that would stop most of the talking was when the Price is Right came on. How anyone could live in a house that … Continue reading Granny Ruby Loved To Laugh

Amazing Things, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings5 Comments

An Amazing Seamstress

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I always knew my Grandmother, Leona Purcell Lewis (Nonie or Aunt Nonie to many) was a great seamstress, but I guess I didn’t know how early in her life she had that talent. In 1933 she made this wedding dress for her little sister Amanda “Mandy” Purcell Lewis. Leona was but 22 years old at the time she sewed this wedding dress. She was raised on a farm in the community of High Grove, Bastrop County, Texas and had no formal training. It was surely a gift of God and being raised up in a hard working family. I’ve been … Continue reading An Amazing Seamstress

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

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

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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