Amazing Things, My Friends, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Just Imagine My Surprise

lewisotr

I haven’t been posting much lately. Call it being tired and worn out. Or I could blame it on a bout of COVID 19 back in March and then a pinched nerve and in my neck and left shoulder. All the above hasn’t made be feel all that much liking getting out and doing things and writing about them. Before I go on, let me tell you I’m also not all that pleased with FaceBook and how they have treated many of us. Therefore doing business with a business that is 180° from where I am on about 99.99% of … Continue reading Just Imagine My Surprise

Marble Falls and the Area Around it., Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

When My Dad Passed On

lewisotr

My Dad did a lot of things throughout his life that I was very proud of him far. He was a very generous guy. He really would give you the shirt off his back. He’d even pull his pants off and hand them to you on Main Street, if he thought there was a good reason for doing so. He really didn’t care what anyone thought. “They can just kiss my ass“, was the attitude he went through life with. To just say he did things his own way just doesn’t seem adequate. He took it to a whole new … Continue reading When My Dad Passed On

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

The Machine That Developed A Mind Of Its Own

lewisotr

Back in 1973, we were doing a project out in the Northwest Hills Area of Austin. We had just acquired a new C14 Hein Werner Excavator, much like the one below. To make it travel the 2 shorter levers (with the black grips) in the picture below would be pushed forward or back depending on the direction you wanted to travel. Of course only pushing or pulling one lever would cause the machine to turn. If you were traveling for a far distance they could be snapped in, so you didn’t have to hold them. At the end of the … Continue reading The Machine That Developed A Mind Of Its Own

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Wilson’s Story

lewisotr

Wilson was a child born probably in the early 1960s. There were siblings I remember hearing, but I’m unsure how they faired in life. Wilson ended up at the Austin State School. A ward of the state. My Granny Ruby worked there for many years in 60s and 70s and maybe even a little in the early 80s. She took a special interest in Wilson. No one every came to see him, so see took him under her wing. It was easy to tell that Wilson never really developed physically or mentally, but he had a sweet disposition about him. … Continue reading Wilson’s Story

Amazing Things, The History of TexasLeave a comment

Don’t Mess With Texas

lewisotr

Believe it or not, Texas had an even worse roadway litter problem a few decades ago than we do now. This is what typical roadways looked like back in the 1960s & 1970s. This was along RM 2222 as it winds down the hill to Bull Creek. This from Texas Highways Magaine The history of one of the most successful ad campaigns ever https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don’t_Mess_with_Texas A Smithsonian Magazine Article about the very famous anti-litter campaign. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/trashy-beginnings-dont-mess-texas-180962490/ It guess it’s not just a Texas problem. When traveling through New Mexico we saw billboards concerning their Highway Litter Problem. Evidently they used the … Continue reading Don’t Mess With Texas

Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early DaysLeave a comment

My Wife Always Tells Me To Pace Myself

lewisotr

(The following story was written in November 2014, when The Angora Chronicles was but a few months old) My problem is when I think of something I have to get busy with it then and there or I may never get it done. It’s that way with writing stories. When something pops in my head, I need to get it written or I may never think of it again. That may be the reason that in just a few months time I’ve written about everything that’s happened to me and around me in a whole life time. If I had … Continue reading My Wife Always Tells Me To Pace Myself

My Friends, On The JobLeave a comment

My Friend Dave

lewisotr

I first got to know Dave in 1972. He was a successful underground utility contractor and very well respected in the business. His office was located in Lubbock. My first subcontract was working for him installing water lines in Burnet, Texas. It was actually more complicated than that. I was a sub to another sub that subcontracted to Dave’s company. That happens in our business a lot. Ok if you aren’t too confused I’ll continue. Throughout the 1970s I worked with Dave several times. He had an enormous capacity for numbers. I learned a lot from him. There came a … Continue reading My Friend Dave

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, The Early DaysLeave a comment

$$$$The Day The Lewis Brothers Became A Little Intimidated

lewisotr

I’ve been searching for the right way to tell this story and there just doesn’t seem like a real right way. While spending time a while back with Kenny, he asked if I’d ever gotten around to telling it. So here goes. One day while driving through Marble Falls, we encountered 2 very big, very black, very tough looking fellows in their 1960s something Cadillac Pimpmobile. We were at the red light at US 281 and FM 1431. This was about 1969 or 1970. Kenny and I have differing memories when it comes to how this all began, but the … Continue reading $$$$The Day The Lewis Brothers Became A Little Intimidated

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Early Days2 Comments

$$$$I Could Never Pass Up Tools Laying In The Road

lewisotr

It always amazes me how often I used to find tools, like wrenches, hammers, screw drivers and the like laying on the road when I was traveling so much. I always accused my careless mechanic Paul of being the one that lost most of them. Almost any day I could drive out of the yard and find something Paul had left laying under the hood or on the bumper that would fall off. Of course he wasn’t too worried about it as long as I had charge accounts at all the parts houses in Austin. Perhaps Paul’s carelessness fed my … Continue reading $$$$I Could Never Pass Up Tools Laying In The Road

Another Daily Happening, Cecil Lewis, My Friends, Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

@@@My Own Take On Funerals

lewisotr

I don’t want this to sound morbid, but I have attended so many funerals that I’ve almost developed a classifying system for them. There are the personal ones, that you have to attend. Those are family and very close friends. They are mostly sad affairs. Seldom are we ready to lose those people. While they are sad, there can be moments of joy mixed in. There are the ones that are children and there is never a way to put a happy face on that. Those are always sad, heart wrenching affairs. They haven’t got to experience nearly enough of … Continue reading @@@My Own Take On Funerals