Aging, Funny Happenings, My Friends, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

When A Situation Presents Itself, I Always Say Take Advantage

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Earlier this week I arraigned a lunch date with two high school friends, Sam Hall and Ronald Mayfield, from high school. They were good friends back in Marble Falls, but hadn’t seen each other since, which was about 50 years. We established that 11:30 AM at County Line on the Lake would be the place and time. I was passing near one of our projects where my middle son, Ron Jr was at. I thought it would be nice if he could join us, to get a flavor of what old time friendships are like. He jumped in an we … Continue reading When A Situation Presents Itself, I Always Say Take Advantage

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Nelson Took A Tumble

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We were on a project in the early 70s between 12th and 32nd St, installing new water and wastewater lines all up and down I-35. We were moving water and wastewater lines for an expansion of Interstate 35. It was one of the most difficult projects I have ever been involved in. Nelson Lewis had a very sharp mind and could figure out these difficult jobs and how best to make everything work. Nelson was a great person to study under and learn the business from. I will always be thankful that I got my start working for him. Most … Continue reading Nelson Took A Tumble

Kenny Lewis, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

I Grew Up Wearing Cowboy Boots

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When I was much younger I wore cowboy boots everyday. I seldom wore anything else. Even back in high school. When my first taste of prosperity came along I bought not just boots, I bought boots made from the most exotic leather I could find. Cost was no object. Ostrich, Kangaroo, Elk Hide, snake of several varieties. But Elephant Ear was what I preferred. They were the most rugged and didn’t need to be polished. They were meant to have a dull finish. Ostrich was very durable as well. I even had a pair made from the leg of ostriches. … Continue reading I Grew Up Wearing Cowboy Boots

Amazing Things, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Aged Bourbon

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I have told many people before that I lost all taste for bourbon after drinking a fifth and a pint of Old Crow in about 30 minutes one time, and eventually woke up in jail the next day. But that was when I was 16 years old. I just never could stand the smell, much less the taste of it after that. That was well over 50 years ago. I have several bottles that have been in the top of a cabinet, leftover from when the popular thing to do was hand out whiskey as gifts at Christmas time, in … Continue reading Aged Bourbon

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, My Sons1 Comment

We Raised A House Full Of Pretty Good Boys

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Raising five sons, we had relatively few major “situations” with any of them. Well excluding automobile mishaps. But even with those, they just tore up cars and never got hurt or hurt anyone else, so except for the high insurance premiums for many years we came out fairly well unscathed. We didn’t have any bad bouts of them drinking or drugging and getting too much out of hand. Of course they now tell us that there was a lot we didn’t know about. Of course there were things that I knew they did that I never even brought up to … Continue reading We Raised A House Full Of Pretty Good Boys

The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Don’t Ever Talk Down To Your Crew When You Are In The Underground Utility Business

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There was a contractor that was laying a deep wastewater line around on the East Side of San Antonio. It was deep in the ground. The owner of the company would come to the job every few days and express his displeasure with the progress. No matter how many joints of pipe the crew installed, the boss man would complain. Finally the crew decided that every time he came out and tore them a new one, they would leave a few gaskets out of the next pipes they laid. When they finally got to the end of the line and … Continue reading Don’t Ever Talk Down To Your Crew When You Are In The Underground Utility Business

Crazy Times, My Sons, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

It Was Perhaps The Worst Purchase I Ever Made

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It all came about because 38 years ago today, September 27, 1982 we welcomed our twins sons into our lives. We knew things would change so in an attempt to get things in order, in went down to the dealership and bought a new GMC Suburban. It was a beautiful thing. It had been the sales managers demonstrator so I was able to strike a good deal on it. It was a medium blue on the top and bottom with the center portion a dark midnight blue. Part of the paint scheme in those days was to have some wide … Continue reading It Was Perhaps The Worst Purchase I Ever Made

Crazy Times, My Friends, The Construction Biz, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Loaning Out My Jeep

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There was a fellow, seemed like a nice guy that worked for one of my competitors. I’d see him at bid openings, but never really knew him. After working for that other company for a while, he decided to go in business. Bob knew I had started out on a shoestring so he came to me to get some advise. I gave him all the pointers I could think of. I felt it a compliment that the guy came to me. So we became kind of buddy’s. I wasn’t really looking for additional competition, but I was okay that his … Continue reading Loaning Out My Jeep

Aging, Amazing Things, Funny Happenings, Grandchildren, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

The Girls and Their Music

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I never had the chance to be around teenage girls, since I was a teenager myself. Well except the ones my 5 boys managed to drag to the house with them as they got old enough to date. When I started getting granddaughters, (Holly now a couple of years out of college & Emma started her second year of college last month) the two older ones got old enough to really start getting into music and needing me to take them places, I was in for a real treat. I learned to cope with their music by buying albums they … Continue reading The Girls and Their Music

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Construction Biz, The Early Days2 Comments

Eavesdropping Through The Motel Wall

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Back in the late 70s, we decided to bid on a project for the City of Laredo. I usually traveled to these out of town destinations alone, while Kenny kept an eye on things back at home. But this time he accompanied me on the long road south. We left really early in the morning so we could look at the job site conditions and see what kind of productions we could expect. We checked into a Holiday Inn Motel in Laredo to finish up on a bid that would be turned in later that afternoon. We were staying over … Continue reading Eavesdropping Through The Motel Wall