Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

Old Man Cardwell

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When we were young, preteen years for me, we went all over Smithwick horseback. Mostly it was Kenny, Jimmy Palmer, Glenn Lewis and me, but sometimes others in the community joined in. Everett and Maude Jackson had the little store beside the road just below the cemetery. The store had really limited fare. Mostly snacks and soda pops. I don’t remember them having very many perishables. Maybe a little stuff in a small refrigerator. For sure there were soda crackers and Vienna Sausages. Across the highway from the store and down the creek a little ways was a little shack … Continue reading Old Man Cardwell

The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Bureaucratic Red Tape

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Several years ago we contracted with a developer and the City of Georgetown to install a large wastewater line that paralleled the South San Gabriel River heading west out of Georgetown. The project was extremely challenging. It was for a 36″ diameter pipe, that was at depths between 35′ to 40′ deep in solid rock for the whole length of approximately 7 miles. The first property we crossed was still owned by the Wolf Family, hence the naming of Wolf Ranch Shopping Complex at Hwy 29 at I-35. I knew one of the Wolf family members and made it through … Continue reading Bureaucratic Red Tape

Amazing Things, Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

Leona May Purcell Lewis

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She was known by many names. Leona, Nonie, Aunt Nonie, Maw-Maw, which turned into Maw-Maw Nonie to Kenny and me somewhere along the way. She had a nickname that her Daddy called her by. She and I spent a lifetime of me asking her what it was and her telling me I’d never find out. In her later years I was talking to one of her sisters and posed a question in such a way that she blurted out the name. When I got back to her, I called her by that name. She was surprised that I’d found out. … Continue reading Leona May Purcell Lewis

Funny Happenings, Smithwick3 Comments

The Many Uses For WD 40

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This story originates down at Cec’s Fishing Camp in Smithwick and was told by my oldest son, Matthew. There was always some gem dandy’s around that place. Matt, as a teenager, always enjoyed getting away to go up and get an education of one kind or the other. An old gal came out of her trailer one day and said the best smelling thing she could think of was WD 40. She used it for perfume and deodorant because she loved the smell so much. If you stayed down on the lake for days at a time and you weren’t … Continue reading The Many Uses For WD 40

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

Customer Testimonial – Ex 1200 Hitachi Excavators

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The Hitachi Dealer ask if I would mind endorsing their machines. They were the first ones of that size they had sold. They said they would send someone out to interview me. I thought fine. I assumed an interview would be something like – ask me a question and I would answer it to the best of my ability. A camera person showed up on the job, stuck a microphone in my face and said “tell us about your project and the EX 1200 Excavators. I did the best I could, given that I had not even thought about what … Continue reading Customer Testimonial – Ex 1200 Hitachi Excavators

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis2 Comments

Yee-Haaaaw

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In the early days of the Austin Rodeo moving to the new facility at the Travis County Expo Center in the Mid 1980s, Kenny had been very involved and was a “Founder“. A lot of the contractors in town volunteered a lot of time and money to that effort. I was not quite as involved. In fact, I just pretty much rode in on my brother’s coat-tails and enjoyed all the fun of the annual stock show and rodeo. He was very generous with tickets and the like. One night he and I decided to take my 3 older boys … Continue reading Yee-Haaaaw

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

A Sudden Stop

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Back in the 70s and early 80s, after Kenny returned from his stint in the Army, he came to work with us. Most of the crazier things that ever happened was during that time period. It was customary that he and I would load up every few days and ride the jobs. We often had eight or ten projects going on, all over the Austin area. One day we met up out on the north end of town and he climbed in with me. I had a new 1980 Buick Riveria. We were driving through a project, The Cliffs Over … Continue reading A Sudden Stop

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, The Construction Biz, The Early Days1 Comment

Another Rock Blasting Story

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During the first 15 years of my contracting career most trenches in rock were blasted, before good productive and dependable rock trenchers were developed. We had one crew that their primary job was drilling and shooting (term we used for blasting) rock. We were building a new subdivision right behind the Bannockburn Baptist Church (it wasn’t there then) on Brodie at McCarty Ln. in the Southwest part of Austin, Texas. All was going real good on that project. Don the crew foreman and our ace blaster was short handed, so he hired an old hippie that happened by. The old … Continue reading Another Rock Blasting Story

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Construction Biz2 Comments

An Unfortunate Incident While Blasting Rock

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Back in 1975 we were putting in wastewater lines to serve newly incorporated areas of Austin that had previously been on septic tanks. This was up in the area around North Lamar between Rutland Dr. & Braker Ln. One of the lines followed a creek that crosses Sagebrush Ln. about a block west of N. Lamar. Just before it reached the next street which was Neans Dr., it came up out of the creek and headed out into the streets as it continued on south. This meant it ran in an easement between two houses. It was a very narrow … Continue reading An Unfortunate Incident While Blasting Rock

Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

The Morning The Challenger Blew Up

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January 28, 1986 I stopped by my Grannie Ruby’s house that morning. The house was hot. Now I don’t remember that, precisely. But I know it was, because it always was. She had a gas space heater in the living room, not far from her chair. She was fairly frugal, so natural gas must have been cheap. She used a lot of gas. Seldom did I make it up to north Austin without stopping by. She watched The Price is Right or was it Lets Make a Deal. Those shows were always interchangeable in my mind. It’s possible she watched … Continue reading The Morning The Challenger Blew Up