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

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, SmithwickLeave a comment

The Fruit Basket

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Growing up in Smithwick, I knew just about everyone that ever came through there.After getting out of school and getting married, I left for Austin and would get back up there every few weeks. But things were changing faster than I could keep up with. The 227 acres that Kenny and I grew up on started being sold off in small tracts. While it’s no secret we didn’t really like it that Cec was selling it off, it wasn’t our choice. He had inherited the property from his Dad in 1958, when our Grandfather, Theron, passed away. But it appeared … Continue reading The Fruit Basket

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

J.P. and the Tires

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I’ve told a story about the snake victim that was working up in the wrecking yard. The junk yard is what we called it, was a 5 acre abandoned field up the hill and out of sight of our house. It was on our land, but was operated by Hugh Hampton. He would bring wrecked cars in and strip them down for usable car parts then scrap the remaining pieces. One day a “63” or it may have been a “64” Chevy Impala was brought in that had been in a wreck and was pretty much totaled. It had belong … Continue reading J.P. and the Tires

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Kenny LewisLeave a comment

Cec And His Home Brew Recipe (As Told By Kenny Lewis)

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Cec was one of the men in the fifties that was plagued with stomach ulcers, which seemed to be fairly common in those days or at least much more than now. His diet consisted of raw eggs, raw oysters, milk and crackers and certainly no alcohol. Even with his best attempt at the home remedy cure, the situation worsened until finally in the middle of the night he had to be rushed to the hospital and emergency surgery to remove a portion of his stomach. It was the cure he had needed for a long time. Thankfully he was back … Continue reading Cec And His Home Brew Recipe (As Told By Kenny Lewis)

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Rattlesnake Bite Victim

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Cec allowed an old fellow from Marble Falls to establish a wrecking yard on a little patch of ground on our property. Old Man Hugh Hampton was as nice of a fellow as I ever met, and a very hard worker. He was honest as the day was long. (Whatever that saying is suppose to mean) Hugh had a fellow working for him up in the junk yard pulling usable parts off of cars. It was in the summertime, because Kenny and I were both at the house. I’m betting we had stopped by to grab a bite to eat. … Continue reading The Rattlesnake Bite Victim

Cecil Lewis, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Four Wrecks All Happened Within Minutes

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It was the Friday afternoon of opening weekend of deer season, in 1968. The calamities started when Kenny, in a Ford Falcon, pulled out from the Gulf Station in Marble Falls. He and his squeeze at the time, Karen, were going to head northbound. I think Kenny was paying more attention to the redhead sitting next to him than he was to the heavy traffic, as he got t-boned by a Houston attorney that was up to go hunting. The attorneys car was a brand new Oldmobile 98 with 250 miles on it. No one was hurt seriously, but both … Continue reading Four Wrecks All Happened Within Minutes

Crazy Times, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Wreck At The South End Of The Marble Falls Bridge

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It was just coming light and as I came down the hill I spun and couple of turns in that ole “63” short wheelbased Chevrolet pickup and smacked the guardrail right on the end of the bridge. I was more than likely going too fast for the conditions. Let me back up there, I was going to fast. Early one Sunday morning with it raining and the road slick, I had taken Kenny out to the Pure Stone Quarry to pick up a dump truck. I would have been 14 or 15 years old. George Becker was standing in the … Continue reading The Wreck At The South End Of The Marble Falls Bridge

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Wooden Pallets

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After graduation several of us gathered at the Scott Place down at Doublehorn. Winfield had been out of high school for a year and was home after finishing his first year at LSU. His folks were away, so it was an ideal place for a party. Knowing I had stuff to do the next day I had the presence of mind to leave the party before daylight and head to Smithwick. I was scheduled to go to San Antonio and pick up a load. I was over on the Eastside of San Antonio by mid morning sitting at a huge … Continue reading The Wooden Pallets

Crazy Times1 Comment

Never A Broken Bone

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Hey folks, can we make this about me for just one minute. I’ve told about everything that has ever happened in my life. Almost. Every near miss and every clear hit. Miraculously I’ve never had a broken bone. In my story about going for the Army draft physical I told about crushing my foot. There we no bone fractures. The bones had what Dr. Allen called radial cracks, I think. There were bones that had longitudinal cracks but nothing fractured, if that makes sense. He bandaged my foot but no cast. That was when I was 18. Then when I … Continue reading Never A Broken Bone

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, The Construction Biz

We Weren’t Made To Feel Very Welcome In Victoria, Texas

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Back in the late 70’s things were going pretty well for us in the construction business, but had slowed a bit. As things often happen, a miracle job fell out of the sky. A Burnet County fellow had gone off to Houston and was doing well contracting with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. I knew of this guy but mostly just by name. He was a generation ahead of me, about my Dads age. He had been offered an opportunity to bid a project for SWB in Victoria. He didn’t have the manpower nor the proper sized equipment for such an … Continue reading We Weren’t Made To Feel Very Welcome In Victoria, Texas