Our Engagement, Part V, Opening a New Shop and Visiting with Dr. Bud

Besides everything else that was going on, Dad wanted to open a second shop in North Austin. Dad owned Leroy Carlson Auto Glass and Trim. I worked for him. We had moved over to 700 South Lamar in 1969. We did a lot of dealer work. Two of our biggest customers were Charles Maund Olds-Cadillac and Bill Munday Pontiac. Dad had known Charles Maund for years. A good friend of ours, Ed Wright, was the service manager at Bill Munday. Glenn Borkland ran the body shop at Bill Munday.

Dad had found out that these two dealers were moving their locations to Hwy 183 and North Lamar. He wanted to follow them out there. So it was decided that we would open a shop in North Austin. Dad found a location at 183 and Lamar, on the northeast corner. That was about the edge of town in 1976, but it was growing rapidly.

Well now, I got engaged, was going to have an immediate family, had a couple of funerals and I was going to open the shop, May 1, 1976, about two weeks after I was married. I was really getting stressed out. We had to build tables for the sewing machines, windshield racks and many other things had to be done. I was 23 years old and getting older by the day.

I even had a wreck while I was sitting still. I was trying to turn left onto West 6th Street and was looking for an opening. I never saw the lady, but she was pulling out of the U.T. married student housing across from me. She was going down the street that I was on. The parking lot for the married student housing wasn’t exactly in line with the street that I was turning from. Well, she came across at an angle and clipped my front bumper. Didn’t hurt my Blazer, but put a pretty good crease in her left rear quarter panel.

She jumped out and started hollering at me for running into her. She was hysterical. I am not good with hysterical women. She was crying and crying about her car. She kept on blaming me and I hadn’t moved. I just couldn’t get this lady to quiet down or shut up and I was being very nice. The cops finally got there and took statements from both of us. When the cop asked me what happened, I just told him that I hit her. She finally shut up. My insurance paid for the damage and I was able to get away from this woman.

Sometime in these few months, I started having chest pains. It hurt when I breathed. I am telling you this because I had to go see, Dr. Bud Dryden before I got married. In those days, you had to have a test for VD before you could get a marriage license. I went to see Dr. Bud and instead of going to an examination room, he put me in his office. This man had brought me into this world (that’s another story) and he was just sitting there talking to me about most everything. He congratulated me on getting married.

He signed the statement that I didn’t have VD and was sending me on my way. I stopped and said, “Doctor, I am having some chest pains”. To show you why I was scared of the man, he said; “ Oh g-damn it, your ok, get the hell out of here and go back to work”. I obeyed him and left.

That wasn’t the end of those chest pains, but that ends the stories about our engagement.

The most fitting video of today is by Jackson Browne. Here is, "Doctor My Eyes".




Tomorrow: The Honeymoon and the bright lights of Galvestion