New Beginnings

If you were in the ready mix concrete business in 1999 and you operated the business like you should have, you made good money that year. The market remained strong and demand continued to grow throughout the year, prices held firm and the year end bottom line reflected a nice corporate profit. In May of 1998 I was promoted to Vice President of Operations and now as a member of the management staff I was eligible for a profit bonus and the bonus that year was a very nice bump. I knew to never plan on a bonus and go into debt expecting it each year as they were never a sure thing, so we put some in savings, planned a family vacation, and had a swimming pool put in.  After the tornado hit Jarrell Texas in May of 1997 that took the life of 27 people, I bought and had an underground storm cellar installed. The next year I had concrete poured for sidewalks around the house, a driveway pad and I built the carport shown here. The picture below was taken in the fall of 1999. I did a lot of...

 I originally wrote the following short story back in 2007 after I read an article in the local news paper about a story writing contest sponsored by the North Central Texas College. There were few rules and the contest was open to anyone that wanted to enter. I used some of the experience from my 2006 adventure trip to Ireland as the catalyst of my story. I won no prize nor any recognition but it was fun to just sit and creatively write. This was my first attempt at writing a fictional short story and I titled it The Real Treasure Quest. I did a final check of all of my paper work and my passport as I left for DFW International Airport early that morning knowing I had to change planes at JFK in New York City with a long layover before proceeding on to Ireland. It was a nice smooth overnight flight from JFK landing at the Shannon Airport at dawn the next morning. This was the first time I had been to Ireland and was excited and ready to get started on my adventure as soon as I ca...

Redi-Mix sold to a newly formed publicly traded company in 2006 shortly before the US economy began to falter in 2007. The parent company was poorly managed at the corporate level in Houston and they had grown very quickly with several large acquisitions across the country that left them drowning in debt. After several downsizing events including many layoffs they filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. A couple of months prior to this they eliminated my Vice President position in 2009 after working at the same place for over 28 years. With the national economy in such bad condition virtually all new construction had stalled and nobody in this industry was hiring a guy like me in my early 50s. With one son in college, one still in high school and too young to retire, I had to start over and search for a new career.    From late 2010 mid 2015  I worked for a crude oil trucking company owned by a Canadian firm, Gibson Energy with its US headquarters in Mesquite Te...

 We moved to the very small and very rural community of Callisburg Texas from Irving in the summer of 1969 after I completed the 6th grade. We had lived in Irving since moving from the Oak Cliff area of south Dallas during the Christmas holiday break of 1963, when I was in the 1st grade. I had lots of friends there and didn't like the idea of moving away, but that was the plan my parents had after buying 45 acres in Callisburg from Gene Westbrook earlier that year. My Dad was working in Denton at the time and was driving about 45 minutes north for work. My Mom was working at a Dallas newspaper and would soon be working at the Denton newspaper and they would both be driving about an hour south for work. Over the previous several months we spent many weeks looking at mobile homes and floor plans to find the one that would serve as our new home in the country.  They wanted a custom built home and  found the manufacturer they liked and we took a quick weekend trip to the fact...

 If you read my post Episode #16 about my trip to New Zealand, you know one day of that adventure was dedicated to a 40 mile bicycle ride. I was a bit apprehensive about being able to do that, so I started training about 8 months before that event. During the training and preparation I remembered how much I enjoyed riding a bicycle as a kid. When I was younger before I started driving and I wanted to go to a friend's house on the weekend or during the summer my choices were to walk or ride a bike. Living in the country from about age 12, my friends lived a long way away with the closest being a little over 3 miles and others that were about 8 miles away and  it took too long to walk so I put a lot miles on a Schwinn Stingray.  After the New Zealand trip, I continued to ride because I simply enjoyed it and it's so much easier on my knees, ankles and hips than running as exercise. In early August of 2005 I had a small cyst on my chest and went to see my doctor about it who ...

Crystal River is accurately named, as you can see in the picture I took below, the water is as crystal clear as it is cold in early February.  During my many years working in the concrete industry I had opportunity to attend industrial trade shows that would occur annually and I went several times with Redi-Mix, NBR, and Hope Concrete. For a number of years these shows would alternate venues between Las Vegas and Orlando. The last time it was held in Orlando was in 1999 and my buddy Tom Muscle and I were there. After that, the show was permanently located at the Las Vegas Convention Center and still is today. Whether in Las Vegas or Orlando, it was a BIG show, with lots and lots of walking involved. Though it is a five day event, you could see the products and vendors you wanted to see in about 3 full days for most people. Tom and I were not most people.  We would study the massive floor plans of the convention center then devise a plan to see the vendors we wanted to visit an...