The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

From Smudge Pots to Blinking Barricade Warning Lights

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We were talking about smudge pots a while back. It got me to thinking about these old things and how when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s I would go with my dad out on jobs, many times at night. I would go stand next to one of the diesel burning things on a cold night, to stay warm. In typical kid fashion I wasn’t afraid of getting dirty, so the black smoke and soot would be all over me, but it made me feel like a “working man”. This is my recollection of how we started … Continue reading From Smudge Pots to Blinking Barricade Warning Lights

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, My Friends, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

My Old Friend Fred

lewisotr

Fred was an old bachelor and had served his country in World War 2. He had traveled the state helping to build bridges in his younger days. When I got to know him he was in his late 70’s, maybe even early 80’s. I met Fred through Woody, my old accountant. Woody’s wife Lucy had a sister that lived in College Station Texas. Her name was Josie. Josie and Fred dated. Fred had retired and lived out on his sizable farm out east of Bryan near the little town of Kurten. He mostly just tended to his cows and would … Continue reading My Old Friend Fred

Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., My Friends, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Things That Young Men Do

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A while back I was reminded of a happening by my long time friend Clay Simmons. He, Kenny and I were making a mad dash from somewhere to Marble Falls by way of Hwy 281 north, with Kenny behind the wheel. What the hurry was escapes me, but we were always in a hurry. When we approached the railroad tracks north of town the pickup sputtered as it started to run out of gas. Having a fleet of dump trucks we commonly had a barrel of gasoline tied off on the back with a pump in it, to rescue a … Continue reading The Things That Young Men Do

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

The Intricacies Of Spinal Surgery

lewisotr

The last time my spine surgeon worked on my neck problem, he just took a loop of wire (2010) and went around the plate and screws (2005) from the previous job he did. He put a fancy little twist on that wire. It doesn’t look like he’d be very good at fence work, but it’s lasted for the past 11 years. It appears something is haywire (that’s a pun I used there) up there again. Going back up to get another round of MRI’s done tomorrow and see what’s happening in there now. Then off to see the surgeon next … Continue reading The Intricacies Of Spinal Surgery

Aging, Another Daily Happening, Meeting New People, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

This Is My Life

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Last night a fellow put out a plea for help on a FB Group I belong to. When it rains he gets water in his house. I was willing to help him or at least go by and see what it would take to remedy his situation. So I messaged him. This is how that went. Well I admit I didn’t send him a complete resumé with an introductory letter. It seemed fairly straightforward. I would have thought that this fellow may have seen that I wasn’t trying to do him harm. It’s like everything about my life is on … Continue reading This Is My Life

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

We Have It Pretty Good, All Things Considered

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I was thinking about the different times we find ourselves in today. If people are ever worrying about where their next meal is coming from, there is always someway to make another meal. Below is an article from Mother Earth News that ran back in 1970 (wow, over 50 years ago) that tells a little about how our ancestors made the land work for them. Old-Time Methods of Preserving Food Victor A. Croley shares old-time methods of drying and preserving food from pioneer days that can still be used today. By Victor A. CroleyNovember/December 1970 Mid-continent pioneers were mainly English, … Continue reading We Have It Pretty Good, All Things Considered

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, My Family, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Showing Off Our New Set Of Unbreakable Dishes

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Many years ago Madeline bought a new set of dishes. We hadn’t seen married all that long, but were beginning to have kids. It was Corel Ware. It was a good idea with the kids to get something that we wouldn’t be breaking every time we turned around. It was a good investment. My father in law came to visit. We were showing him the new dishes, when I flung one over in the floor to demonstrate how they were unbreakable. Well it just shattered into a thousand pieces . That’s when Madeline explained to me they weren’t unbreakable, they … Continue reading Showing Off Our New Set Of Unbreakable Dishes

Crazy Times, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings

The Fire Alarms

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Within a year of Madeline and I marrying we had lived in a big mobile home, then moved next door to a little trailer house (rented from an old couple that meddled) and in an old motel in Burnet (because there was nowhere else to rent). Actually that all happened in the first 10 month of our marriage. Then we rented a mobile home in a Mobile Home Park in Oak Hill, in the western edge of Austin on Texas 71. When answering a knock on the door one evening we found a fellow there that had good news for … Continue reading The Fire Alarms

Crazy Times, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Rolling Back Odometers

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In an earlier story I told about working during my senior year of high school at an Auto Dealership. I was in the Distributive Education Program, allowing me to spend the afternoon actually working on a job where I made money. For my job I moved cars around, cleaned up cars, took out the trash and vacuumed the floors in the offices. I did pretty much anything that was needed to be done. I drove cars around to keep the battery’s charged up. My most important job was rolling back odometers. That was a common practice in those days. If … Continue reading Rolling Back Odometers

Amazing Things, Meeting New People2 Comments

The Little Actress

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Not long after we moved to Bertram, a new pastor was sent to the Methodist Church. He and his wife were very lovely people. They had arrived here after spending time in Goldthwaite, Texas. While there they had become acquainted with a young couple that had a young daughter and twin sons that were toddlers. One time the little girl came to spend a few days with them in Bertram. They brought her over to our place see the donkeys and the lambs. I was heading down to feed the catfish in our pond so she wanted to go. I … Continue reading The Little Actress