September 10, 2025 • 34 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time, time, time, time, luck and load. So
Michael Varry Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I was sent a post on the Facebook by a
footpo who said, this is your kind of story. And
it was a post by a fellow named Larry McDougall,
and it was talking about being a cop, why he
went back to being a cop. And Larry McDougall has
(00:49):
been around the political world in Houston Harris County for years.
He was general counsel for the Republican Park Fort Member
Republican Party. He's held various positions. He was a state
bar of Texas president I believe, or one of the
senior officers statewide. And he's a guy that if you're
(01:11):
around the political process, you know his name. We're not
close friends, but a lot of people I know their
name and I see their name keep popping up. So
the guy sends me this email says, you know, somebody
curates a piece for me and tells me why I
would find it interesting. I'm going to take the time
to read it. So it was a post from Larry
McDougal on his Facebook page and it went as follows.
(01:33):
I am frequently asked why with my background did I
take a job as a patrolman with the Multon Police Department,
So allow me to answer this. I want to save
one more life before I get called home. I've performed
CPR seven times now I have two saves. This guy's
like a modern day Mojo. He's like our dentist. He's
(01:57):
like Guy Lewis out just saving people at that Astro's
game and in Spirity Suite with a triple pump. I've
pulled people out of a burning car.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I have.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Sorry, I've pulled people out of a burning home as well,
and I've stopped the bleeding until ems arrived. Well, you
ain't done nothing. I've caught a rapist in the act.
I've pulled men off their wives when they were beating them,
and a few wives off their husbands. My brother used
to say when he get called to a domestic disturbance,
you just never know which one's beating us not out
(02:33):
of the other one. And he said, you've never seen
a wife who loves her husband more. Then you show
up and they're in a fight and she's hit him,
and then he hits her back, so she calls the
cops because she knows she wins, and they show up
and she slaps him around a little to try to
bait him into hitting her one more time, and he
(02:54):
won't do it, and then finally he can't stand it
and he knocks her out. Bunches are real hard. My
brother say, you know you lock him, you cuff him,
and you start to don't take my husband. He's all
I got. Witness said, you called me here to take him.
It's a dirty business man. Woo man. I have pulled
(03:18):
men off their wives when they were beating them. In
a few wives off their husbands. You see that. You'll
see these wives beating their husband. I mean, you got
to get them out of there. I have found lost children.
I cannot remember how many thieves, robbers, and burglars I've caught. Unfortunately,
I've had people dye in my arms, but at least
they did not die alone. I want to do it
(03:41):
one more time while I still can. And the police
department always gets there first. That's why we call the
fire department second responders. The police fire rivalry is one
of the funniest things in the world. They both go
at each other. Second. I love the community of molten
I've been Popo there for six months now and I
have yet to have a single person be rude or
(04:01):
disrespectful to me. I spend much of my day just
waving and waving back, visiting with people when I'm on patrol.
It's a clean, friendly, rural Texas community, almost like being
taken back to the past. And I probably shouldn't publicize them,
but many of the residents do not lock their doors
because they don't have to live in fear. But why
(04:21):
I'm alting This is where the answer gets a little
more complicated. But it's the popo. It's not the funding
or the pay, but the officers who make up the department.
So he went through this whole thing, and here's a
guy who practices law does these different things, and had
been I looked him up and had been a law
enforcement officer earlier in his life and kind of feels
(04:48):
this desire to go back and do something. You know,
people used to make fun of the Walmart greeterer when
they still had greets. I always felt like that was
the wrong thing to do, because there's two reasons somebody
becomes a Walmart reader. Number One, they really need the money.
Because it's always old guys. Remember old guys and old
(05:09):
women and for those of you too young to remember,
you'd walk into Walmart and they would be a greeter.
They'd be wearing the little blue jacket and they would
literally greet you pleasantly and be real sweet and if
you needed something, that directs you toward that aisle. But
they were there because they were a smile as the
face and the front of a cold, soulless corporation full
(05:32):
of a bunch of cheap commodities from China. There were
two reasons somebody was doing that. Number one, they needed
the money, in which case, why are you making fun
of an old person that, instead of going on welfare
is getting out there working, Because a lot of them
were old, and that was part of the charms. They
were so old. Why are you making fun of somebody
that's having to bust their ass late in life but
(05:53):
is doing it. Or Number two, they were doing it
because they were bored at home and inner acting with
you was actually a highlight of their day. Now, I'm
not saying this fellow Larry McDougall was figuring out Walmart
reader or police officer, but I think there's people all
over the country that are sitting at home board and oh,
(06:16):
I'll get the email, Michael, nobody wants to hire us
no more? If we're old, that's bull you're on. Indeed,
don't give me excuses. I hate the excuses. How do
you know nobody wants to hire you? Well, you know
you can just tell or I applied for three jobs
and I didn't get them. Well, yeah, there's also a
twenty three year old that didn't get him. What why
(06:37):
didn't he get it? If you want, if you have
skills to offer, if you have skills to offer, an
experience and a good heart and a willingness, and you're
not crippled, although sometimes even for crippled, depending on john,
communities need you. I loved this story. I loved this
story so much. I was so glad he posted. I
(06:59):
hope it was a few more law enforcement officers out
to go out and work in Fayette County and Moulton.
And he's our guest, Larry McDougall, welcome to the program.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
For having me.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I love your post. What's going through your mind when
you make this post? Where are you sitting? What made
you say I got to do this?
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Well? I get a lot of you know, having been
a lawyer and had a successful law practice. A lot
of people ask me, why would you give that up,
retire from your law practice and then go be a
police officer. And I've always been a police officer at heart.
I started in law enforcement when I was nineteen, and
I actually, even though I was a lawyer, I stayed
(07:46):
active in law enforcement until twenty eighteen, when I decided
it was probably time for me to retire. But I
missed it. And what I miss is helping people. I mean,
it's being a police officer. You're there in their most
immediate time of crisis, and we have an opportunity as
police officers to help people really like no other. And
(08:08):
I missed that, And that's one of the reasons Ripple
I went back.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Hold on. You know Wayne Stanfield of Carol James Fan,
He went back to He sent me a picture in
his uniform strapping young Buck in his uniform. Yeah, man,
where's the uniform? Well we know that about show. I
get the police reference. Very clever, well done. But sometimes
(08:36):
if I send people photos of that, I've taken of
them with no context, no meaning, just like, Okay, Michael,
that's kind of weird. That's a photo for me from
nine years ago. And if they'll say okay, and I
never respond leave them wondering like what was he thinking? Hum?
I wonder why he sent me that?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Is?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
That?
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Was that?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
On this day? What is? But it's just that I
was scrolling through looking for a photo, came across it
and sent it. So when I send my wife photos,
and you know, thirty six years, I got a lot
of photos of her, So I'll send a photo of
her out gardening, I'll send that and then I'll send
a link to that song. And she still doesn't get it.
(09:17):
She didn't grow up here. That's lost on her, and
so she shoes go, oh there was a song? Did
you mean to send that? Because a lot of times
I send things to the wrong person? Did you mean
to send that song to me? Which one? You sent
a picture of me gardening? I don't know why you
was that? What happened? You don't acknowledge? And then there
(09:38):
was a song? Oh no, no, that was for someone else.
Don't no, don't worry. Larry McDougall posted that how old
were you, Larry?
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Sixty seven?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Sixty seven? So tell me about the day you call?
Is is the Chief Daniel Byer? Yes, that's HP who
is the chief of Moulton.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Daniel Bayer.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Oh it is Daniel Byer. Okay, So, uh, when you
when you decide that you want to do this, do
you call him? Do you walk in the door? How
does that work? Well?
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Actually that they've been kind of hitting me up for
a while because I bought a retirement home outside of Moulton.
And uh, I give you the kind of long story.
Short is I had a good guy with a gun
murder case that I tried where I walked the good
guy out with a not guilty, told my wife that
was the icing on the cake with a cherry on top.
(10:42):
And then I showed up a couple of days later
in Daniel's office and said, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
How about that? And so what does that? What'd that
process look like?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
I had to get my t COL license back up
to speed. There was classes I had to take. I
had to take a physical and it's sixty s and
I passed it. And I had to take a psychological
and then I had to do a little bit of
training and get me back up to speed. And now
they've turned me loose.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So how how long had it been since you'd been
in a patrol car? When you went back out there.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I retired from law enforcement from the Columbia Brazoria School
District in June of eighteen, and it'd been missing it
ever since. I mean, it's your brother could probably tell you.
It's once you're out there and you become part of it,
it gets in your blood.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
You know. Larry, my brother, qualified for retirement at I
think he had thirty years when he was fifty two,
let's say, and he qualified for his full retirement. His
needs were simple. He, you know, every five years would
get a four f one fifty. That was his big indulgence.
He had a few acres out in the country in
(12:01):
Harper where he had a little fifth wheel he'd placed
out there. He didn't buy new clothes, he didn't. He
had a home he had built. It was very modest.
I mean, he lived very lean. So he didn't have
a lot of expenses. So he could retire so he
wouldn't have to deal with this. He'd been a patrol officer,
he'd been swat, he'd been undercover. He'd done a lot
(12:24):
of stuff that I think takes its toll on a body.
And we talked about on a mind, and so he
was so eager to retire, and he retired in six
months and his wife said, you got to go back
to work. You're miserable, Like how many episodes of Sanford
Center are you going to watch? And so he did.
He went back to work and his last job, I
(12:44):
noticed that you posted about how much you loved the
community of Molton. His last job was Vider Police Department
because a guy that he had gone through the academy
with thirty two years earlier was now the chief of
police Invider. And he said he called him and said, Chris,
why don't you come back to work? And he called
(13:05):
me one day and he said, Michael, it makes me
almost want to cry. He wasn't a crier. He said,
I stopped to eat my lunch and I can't pay
for my lunch. I get up to the counter and
they say, somebody paid for it already, or we're paying
for it. He said, I've never been treated like this.
He was Jefferson County alose years. I've never been treated
like this. The people of are the nicest people in
(13:25):
the world.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
So it's nice if that's Molten, that's out as a
Malton people appreciate us in those small communities like that.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Are you working to they like us?
Speaker 4 (13:35):
They? Well, I'm off today. I don't come back until
next weekend.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
So do you have a spot. It's kind of the
cops spot used to be Burton Cafe for cops in
in Uh, you know, outside of Brenham. Back when I
had a place out there, a lot of cops would
go to Burton Cafe. But do you have a place
in Molton where you go?
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Not?
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Well? Home my wife for forty seven years. When I
need to take a break, I go spend time with her.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Good for you forty seven years and you're sixty seven.
So you were eighteen when you met her like I
was with my wife. Uh?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Yep, met her of Wharton Junior College.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
How about that? How about that? That is? That is fantastic?
Did wait? Ramon, you're not part of this. Ramone's dad
went to Wharton Junior College. I'm not not sure why
we're bringing that up right now. Did you used to
live on Maryland Street in Rosenberg?
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I did?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Uh? And your son Larry Jr. Is a lawyer?
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yes he is.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And your friends with Ray Stephanie's dad.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
He's a big Stefanie.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
He's a big landowner. I can't remember Stephanie's maiden name. Well,
his son in law, Cody Johnson's a good friend of
mine and he sent me a message.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
I know Cody Johns you're talking to Ray More.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, how would you describe Cody? Yes, and this is
not judgment, but if a guy had if a guy
was on the run, you'd he'd just broken into a
place and you were way away from your car. But
you were calling in and you were describing Cody Johnson
to dispatch, how would you describe him?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Big?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
How big?
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Cody Johnson grew up down the street from me. Yeah,
and uh, I mean when I was a kid. But
you know, he when he was a kid, and I
was the Rosenberg Fire Department for a while, and so
was his dad. So I've watched him grow up.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
He's a good dude. Yeah, that's all my best friends.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Oh he's well then you know he's crazy too. Not
crazy in a bad way, crazy in a funny way.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Well that's debatabook. Uh, let me ask you about let
me you know, you're not a young man anymore. My
brother used to say, I'm a better cop as an
old man than a young man because I make better decisions.
And I don't try to create drama or aggression or
a fight or conflict. I try to I try to
deflect it. When I was younger, I thought it was
(15:57):
mad enough to defeat it. Now I realize you don't
want to do that. How are you a better cop now?
At sixty seven?
Speaker 4 (16:07):
I think things out more and as you get older.
I mean when I was young, we would just go
bareling into something, and I've learned to talk my way
out of it. I've learned how to better defuse situations
and truth. You know, being a lawyer is kind of
cool because I could give people legal advice right there
(16:29):
on the side when they need it.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Hold on just a moment, learn mcdoogle is there, and
it's fifteen. It's not law, it's not just law enforcement.
But I think it's a great example. You know, if
you start looking around or a way to give back.
(16:54):
You start with the high minded idea that you're going
to do something for other people, but you find out
you're doing it for yourself. When people say thank you
for doing this or that for that person. I am
very honest when I say anything I do that is
perceived as nice as completely utterly one hundred percent selfish.
(17:17):
I feel better about myself if I do something for
someone else. We all do. It's not wrong with that,
it's a good thing. We should encourage people that you
will feel better when you do for other people. We
should stop with this nonsense of oh I'm a saint,
(17:38):
I find no I derive no joy from this. I
do it absolutely joylessly, because if I got any joy
out of it, it wouldn't be noble. No. Learn to
incentivize the behaviors you want in society and you'll get
more of that, Believe it or not. Larry McDougall is
(17:58):
getting more out of this than the community is, and
they're having a ball with it because now he wakes
up in the morning and he's needed, he's wanted, he's appreciated.
Everything's fresh again. The last day you were a cop
is not nearly as fun as the first day back
after you've been away. That's what my brother told me.
(18:20):
Everything that I was tired of, bored of, sick of.
After thirty years, I realized, oh I'm good at this.
I enjoy this. It's just fun. Larry McDowell, Larry Yess, Michael, Yes, Michael,
(18:40):
has there been a moment since you came back that
you have for a second regretted it.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
No, I really haven't. It's my wife thinks I'm probably
a little nutty because I love being out there. I
love being on the streets. I love meeting, talking and
helping people. And You're one hundred percent right, is a
selfish thing. But it's it's selfish because it gives me
a feeling of purpose of self worth and that's what
(19:07):
I get out of it when I'm out there helping people.
You know, as a police officer, it's just a part
time spot that I have. I worked maybe six to
seven days a month. We work twelve hour shifts and
just like Wayne Stanfield doesn't too there at Moulton, and
it's it, you know, it gives you that feeling that
you have. I mean, I hope I instill that in
(19:28):
my kids because my three daughters all became teachers and
two of them are now principles and the other one
went back to the church and from public school and
it's teaching at a Catholic school. So and they get
that too, you know, when they're doing it as teachers,
you get that feeling that you've accomplished something, you've done
(19:49):
something good, and it's almost like a drug.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
It is it is. It's the same reaction, it's the
same feelings, it's the same awesomeness. So did you tell
me where isn't there a Molten cafe? Where do you
stop and eat? Most days if you're on duty, I
actually go home? Oh you said you That's what I
was trying to remember what you said it with. But
there is a Molten cafe.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Not a Molten cafe. We have Klazels, which is the steakhouse,
which is really nice. You're not going to find a
better cheeseburger in Texas than Brian's, which is like a
little dairy queen there. Uh. There is a little taco
stand in Molten. It's a little trailer right by the
railroad tracks. It's got the best crispy tacos you've ever ate.
(20:37):
And then we have a Mexican restaurant in town. And
that's it. I mean, that's all we have in Molten
as far as eating place.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
There's no cafe type deal where you can get breakfast, lunch, dinner,
simple food. Come for food.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
There's Alleys Barbecue that serves a breakfast and they're pretty good.
I mean, it's it's a breakfast lunch, but they're not
open in the evenings. No, the it's we really don't
have that much in Molten as far as places to
eat out and uh. But again, I take my time away.
(21:12):
I come home, sit down with a wife, tell her
what's going on, We talk, gossip.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Whatever does make sam she cooks something.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
She's check, she cooks.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I've always said check women. They don't cook for health,
they cook for flavor. They make comfort food.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah. I like that.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Well, I love this story. I just wanted to share
this story quickly. I got a message from Carol James
with the picture of Wayne Stanfield in his uniform and
he's going back and done this. I'm not saying that
folks at sixty seven on to get back on the
gang unit at HPD, but I am saying that we
all have gifts and why let them. You know, there's
(21:59):
a certain frustrat to the idea that you know your
skills are not being used anymore. Somebody wants those skills. Now,
it might not be the first person to whom you
offer them. It might not, but somebody wants your skills
out there. Somebody could use your skills, and you would
feel wonderful putting them to use. And that you know,
(22:22):
not everybody is the big city cop you see on TV.
There might be a little position out in little Molten
that would like somebody to come out there and take
care of the little old ladies. But here's our tribute
to the cops, Paul Harvey style.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
A policeman is a composite of what all men are,
I guess, a mingling of saint and center, dust and
deity called statistics wave the fan over stinkers underscore instances
of dishonesty and brutality because they are news. What that
really means is that they are exceptional. They are unusual.
They are not commonplace. Buried under the fraud is the fact,
(22:56):
And the fact is the less than one half of
one percent of policemen misfit that uniform. And that is
a better average than you'd find among clergymen. What is
a policeman? He, of all men, is at once the
most needed and the most wanted, A strangely nameless creature
who is served to his face and pig or worse
(23:17):
behind his back. He must be such a diplomat that
he can settle differences between individuals, so that each will
think he won. But if a policeman is neat, he's conceited.
If he's careless, he's a bum. If he's pleasant, he's
a flirt. If he's not, he's a grouch. He must
make instant decisions, which would require months for a lawyer.
But if he hurries, he's careless. If he's delivered, he's lazy.
(23:39):
He must be first to an accident, infallible with the diagnosis.
He must be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, ty splints,
and above all, be sure the victim goes home without
a limp or expect to be sued. The police officer
must know every gun draw on the run and hit
where it doesn't hurt. He must be able to whip
two men twice his size and half his age without
damaging his uniform and without being brutal. If you hit him,
(24:03):
he's a coward. If he hits you, he's a bully.
A policeman must know everything and not tell. He must
know where all of the sin is and not partake.
The policeman from a single human hair. Must be able
to describe the crime, the weatmon the criminal, and tell
you where the criminal is hiding. But if he catches
the criminal, he's lucky. If he doesn't, he's a dunce.
(24:26):
If he gets promoted, he has political pull. If he doesn't,
he's a dullard. The policeman must chase bum leads to
a dead end, stake out ten nights to tag one
witness who saw it happen, but refuses to remember. He
runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache to
build a case against some felon who will get dealed
out by a shameless shamous or an honorable who isn't honorable.
(24:50):
The policeman must be a minister, a social worker, a diplomat,
a tough guy, and a gentleman. And of course he'll
have to be a genius, because he'll have to feed
a f family on a policeman's salary.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
The star top, Brad, we'll suppose your eyes and drink
(25:30):
me and going on a.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Truth through history.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
I want to see society day.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
And we'll go back when time's young, and you learn
the tuggar up the gun. He'd be six feet on
the way when the mountains closed about his side, and
the rivers hill the mine's pride. It was a year
forty nine in those days and not gone it didn't
(25:58):
wish as line from the Cowboys, And I'm on to
go time traveling through Texas, Whandy.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
I want to go time traveling through Texas, Wendy, I
won't to be then.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Read the air and see all I can.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
See in my Texas time traveling machine.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
The state of Texas is the greatest in the Union.
We're lucky to call it home. For nine years it
was its own nation, and throughout history it's held a
special place in the hearts of all Americans. We're gonna
celebrate texas great history today. Now here's your host, Michael Barry.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Oh it's a little Texas Time edition. What did I
ever goof on this one? Oh, I'm not about to
tell you. I'll tell you all air. Okay, tell you now,
but not for on air. Take us off are okay.
I don't know why I was thinking that Molton was
near round Top. I don't know why I cannot I
(27:12):
must have been. What must have happened is I was
in round Top and you know, you know, on those
country roads sometimes they'll say, you know, Beaumont, this direction, Well,
you're not anywhere near Beaumont. That's just if you went
to want to go to Beaumont, be that direction and
just be a few hours. If I was to say
that on the air, I'd have to how come you
(27:33):
think Molten near bon near near round Top? Mot ain't
nowhere near round Top. I've been living here my whole life.
I know I made a mistake, is the point I've
been living here. Ain't not an einting close. You got
to cross over right ten, you gotta go up Barning.
I got it. I hit your area of expertise. I huh,
what is it? Forty five miles that this? No, But
(27:56):
here's the deal. I was thinking of Molten like near Warrington,
you know, at the most Fayetteville. I didn't. I was
thinking of, uh, what's uh Windale or something like that,
and you know, if not Carmeene and you know, kind
of the same same deal. And I don't know where.
(28:19):
I don't know why. I thought that I've seen a
sign or something when I was out there that said Molten.
And I kind of remember it. When you go into
into round Top off two ninety to eighty seven, you
(28:44):
take is that two eighty seven? Do you remember? And
you go down and if you go kind of if
you're going southwest from there, So you go round Top
and then Warrington and then uh, what's the next Uh
two thirty seven? Did I say two eighty seven? Two
thirty seven? Yeah, just two thirty seven cut off? Yeah,
(29:05):
and then you go Warrington and then somewhere right around
there if you turn to there's a sign if you
turn to the right, and I'm trying to think of
what the name of the darned community is, but there's
a sign that if you go to the right, Uh, Valhalla.
It's Valhalla. Maybe I was thinking of Maybe I was
thinking Molten was near Valhalla. But I looked during the
(29:29):
break and I took a screenshot of where it is.
It's it's not anywhere near there. It's i Ten. You
know why I saw that? You know what I'm confusing.
We had a place in Carmen, which is two ninety
just passed round Top cutoff, and uh, we had a
(29:51):
place in Welder, And I'm conflating the drives to those
two places, which is some of the happiest times in
my life. I'm conflating those two drives because when you're
going to Welder, I believe there's a molten cut off
at about Flatonia, and I think I must have been
thinking that that molten cutoff went north on ten toward Roundtop,
(30:15):
because truth be told, ninety nine times out of one
hundred that I've gone to Roundtop, I've gone the two
to ninety route. So if I end up over on
ten going up to Roundtop, I can get confused, real
real easy. I don't. I just that route is not
natural to me. But let's see, I just looked it up.
So it's I tend there's a shell station right there,
(30:38):
and then you take ninety five south and then you
go into looks like you got molten. You got old molten, Molten,
Barsville Cemetery, Burkett Cemetery. Now you wonder why I'm saying
the names of places that nobody's gonna know, because there's
one person out there that's gonna email me, Michael, my
(31:00):
grand did he built that cemetery? Guaranteed it happens every
time you got the smith unit over there, you're not
really a small town unless you got a prison unit nearby.
That's the sign that really you got to Shiner, Hillsdale Guesthouse,
Hanyak Industries. You got prah Over there. That's how you
(31:21):
know there's a bunch of checks around there. You got
prah Over there, Ingle, Platonia, Armstrong, Kominsky, Witting, breslau Henk House, Shiner.
You know what's funny when you go to small towns,
there's always some family there and they owned the bank.
And by Houston standards, they're not rich, right, that means
(31:44):
they could afford a house in sugar Land. But by
this was before all the rich Houstonians started moving out there.
But back in the day, there wasn't any money in
these small towns. So there'd be one family in the
little town that had all the money. So they would
buy up all the four closed homes because nobody would
be a bit against them. They might have the bank,
(32:05):
and they might have the car dealership, and they might
name the church after them, I mean, and you know
they they would be the patrons of the of the
theater and also the Homecoming Queen competition and the fair
Queen competition for for FFA, and there'd be that one
name and everything I have their name on it, and
(32:29):
a lot it's just true in a lot of little
towns and they'll have their name on it and the
other people that were the families I grew up in,
the plant worker, the you know whatever, the hand out
at the ranch. That boy that name, when that name
was mentioned, that was Jock Ewing. By god, I mean
that was that was it. You remember in Roadhouse Brad,
(32:51):
the guy that ran the town, and he went in
and he torched Red's parts supply because Red wouldn't pay
the omerta to him. There's always that in a small town,
and they'll have a name, and in an area like this,
it'll be you know, some Czech name or some German name.
And I'm just picking one out of a thing. I'm
(33:12):
not picking on the Komenskis. But there will be the Komenskis.
And you know, when Isaakill you ask mister Kaminsky over you,
you you bind your p's and q's around him. He
owns a bank. Someday you're gonna want to know him,
you know, make sure you say hello to him. You
might be able to go to work for him one day,
to go to school. You might be able to go
to work for him. And there will always be that
(33:32):
one family like that, and everything in town will be
named for them. It's true. No, I've nothing wrong with it.
That's it's not good or bad, it's the way it is.
You hope they're civic minded and not just arrogant, because
they'll give you know, I was reading an article the
other day about used to if you had great wealth
(33:55):
the Vanderbilts, Jay Pierport, Morgan, you would it was a
sign of great strength and character that you would endow
universities and foundations and these things. Now they go, you
know what, what does what does besos do? Oh? Well,
I want to fly into space with my mistress.
It's that time, time, time, time, luck and load. So
Michael Varry Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I was sent a post on the Facebook by a
footpo who said, this is your kind of story. And
it was a post by a fellow named Larry McDougall,
and it was talking about being a cop, why he
went back to being a cop. And Larry McDougall has
(00:49):
been around the political world in Houston Harris County for years.
He was general counsel for the Republican Park Fort Member
Republican Party. He's held various positions. He was a state
bar of Texas president I believe, or one of the
senior officers statewide. And he's a guy that if you're
(01:11):
around the political process, you know his name. We're not
close friends, but a lot of people I know their
name and I see their name keep popping up. So
the guy sends me this email says, you know, somebody
curates a piece for me and tells me why I
would find it interesting. I'm going to take the time
to read it. So it was a post from Larry
McDougal on his Facebook page and it went as follows.
(01:33):
I am frequently asked why with my background did I
take a job as a patrolman with the Multon Police Department,
So allow me to answer this. I want to save
one more life before I get called home. I've performed
CPR seven times now I have two saves. This guy's
like a modern day Mojo. He's like our dentist. He's
(01:57):
like Guy Lewis out just saving people at that Astro's
game and in Spirity Suite with a triple pump. I've
pulled people out of a burning car.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I have.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Sorry, I've pulled people out of a burning home as well,
and I've stopped the bleeding until ems arrived. Well, you
ain't done nothing. I've caught a rapist in the act.
I've pulled men off their wives when they were beating them,
and a few wives off their husbands. My brother used
to say when he get called to a domestic disturbance,
you just never know which one's beating us not out
(02:33):
of the other one. And he said, you've never seen
a wife who loves her husband more. Then you show
up and they're in a fight and she's hit him,
and then he hits her back, so she calls the
cops because she knows she wins, and they show up
and she slaps him around a little to try to
bait him into hitting her one more time, and he
(02:54):
won't do it, and then finally he can't stand it
and he knocks her out. Bunches are real hard. My
brother say, you know you lock him, you cuff him,
and you start to don't take my husband. He's all
I got. Witness said, you called me here to take him.
It's a dirty business man. Woo man. I have pulled
(03:18):
men off their wives when they were beating them. In
a few wives off their husbands. You see that. You'll
see these wives beating their husband. I mean, you got
to get them out of there. I have found lost children.
I cannot remember how many thieves, robbers, and burglars I've caught. Unfortunately,
I've had people dye in my arms, but at least
they did not die alone. I want to do it
(03:41):
one more time while I still can. And the police
department always gets there first. That's why we call the
fire department second responders. The police fire rivalry is one
of the funniest things in the world. They both go
at each other. Second. I love the community of molten
I've been Popo there for six months now and I
have yet to have a single person be rude or
(04:01):
disrespectful to me. I spend much of my day just
waving and waving back, visiting with people when I'm on patrol.
It's a clean, friendly, rural Texas community, almost like being
taken back to the past. And I probably shouldn't publicize them,
but many of the residents do not lock their doors
because they don't have to live in fear. But why
(04:21):
I'm alting This is where the answer gets a little
more complicated. But it's the popo. It's not the funding
or the pay, but the officers who make up the department.
So he went through this whole thing, and here's a
guy who practices law does these different things, and had
been I looked him up and had been a law
enforcement officer earlier in his life and kind of feels
(04:48):
this desire to go back and do something. You know,
people used to make fun of the Walmart greeterer when
they still had greets. I always felt like that was
the wrong thing to do, because there's two reasons somebody
becomes a Walmart reader. Number One, they really need the money.
Because it's always old guys. Remember old guys and old
(05:09):
women and for those of you too young to remember,
you'd walk into Walmart and they would be a greeter.
They'd be wearing the little blue jacket and they would
literally greet you pleasantly and be real sweet and if
you needed something, that directs you toward that aisle. But
they were there because they were a smile as the
face and the front of a cold, soulless corporation full
(05:32):
of a bunch of cheap commodities from China. There were
two reasons somebody was doing that. Number one, they needed
the money, in which case, why are you making fun
of an old person that, instead of going on welfare
is getting out there working, Because a lot of them
were old, and that was part of the charms. They
were so old. Why are you making fun of somebody
that's having to bust their ass late in life but
(05:53):
is doing it. Or Number two, they were doing it
because they were bored at home and inner acting with
you was actually a highlight of their day. Now, I'm
not saying this fellow Larry McDougall was figuring out Walmart
reader or police officer, but I think there's people all
over the country that are sitting at home board and oh,
(06:16):
I'll get the email, Michael, nobody wants to hire us
no more? If we're old, that's bull you're on. Indeed,
don't give me excuses. I hate the excuses. How do
you know nobody wants to hire you? Well, you know
you can just tell or I applied for three jobs
and I didn't get them. Well, yeah, there's also a
twenty three year old that didn't get him. What why
(06:37):
didn't he get it? If you want, if you have
skills to offer, if you have skills to offer, an
experience and a good heart and a willingness, and you're
not crippled, although sometimes even for crippled, depending on john,
communities need you. I loved this story. I loved this
story so much. I was so glad he posted. I
(06:59):
hope it was a few more law enforcement officers out
to go out and work in Fayette County and Moulton.
And he's our guest, Larry McDougall, welcome to the program.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
For having me.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I love your post. What's going through your mind when
you make this post? Where are you sitting? What made
you say I got to do this?
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Well? I get a lot of you know, having been
a lawyer and had a successful law practice. A lot
of people ask me, why would you give that up,
retire from your law practice and then go be a
police officer. And I've always been a police officer at heart.
I started in law enforcement when I was nineteen, and
I actually, even though I was a lawyer, I stayed
(07:46):
active in law enforcement until twenty eighteen, when I decided
it was probably time for me to retire. But I
missed it. And what I miss is helping people. I mean,
it's being a police officer. You're there in their most
immediate time of crisis, and we have an opportunity as
police officers to help people really like no other. And
(08:08):
I missed that, And that's one of the reasons Ripple
I went back.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Hold on. You know Wayne Stanfield of Carol James Fan,
He went back to He sent me a picture in
his uniform strapping young Buck in his uniform. Yeah, man,
where's the uniform? Well we know that about show. I
get the police reference. Very clever, well done. But sometimes
(08:36):
if I send people photos of that, I've taken of
them with no context, no meaning, just like, Okay, Michael,
that's kind of weird. That's a photo for me from
nine years ago. And if they'll say okay, and I
never respond leave them wondering like what was he thinking? Hum?
I wonder why he sent me that?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Is?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
That?
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Was that?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
On this day? What is? But it's just that I
was scrolling through looking for a photo, came across it
and sent it. So when I send my wife photos,
and you know, thirty six years, I got a lot
of photos of her, So I'll send a photo of
her out gardening, I'll send that and then I'll send
a link to that song. And she still doesn't get it.
(09:17):
She didn't grow up here. That's lost on her, and
so she shoes go, oh there was a song? Did
you mean to send that? Because a lot of times
I send things to the wrong person? Did you mean
to send that song to me? Which one? You sent
a picture of me gardening? I don't know why you
was that? What happened? You don't acknowledge? And then there
(09:38):
was a song? Oh no, no, that was for someone else.
Don't no, don't worry. Larry McDougall posted that how old
were you, Larry?
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Sixty seven?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Sixty seven? So tell me about the day you call?
Is is the Chief Daniel Byer? Yes, that's HP who
is the chief of Moulton.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Daniel Bayer.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Oh it is Daniel Byer. Okay, So, uh, when you
when you decide that you want to do this, do
you call him? Do you walk in the door? How
does that work? Well?
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Actually that they've been kind of hitting me up for
a while because I bought a retirement home outside of Moulton.
And uh, I give you the kind of long story.
Short is I had a good guy with a gun
murder case that I tried where I walked the good
guy out with a not guilty, told my wife that
was the icing on the cake with a cherry on top.
(10:42):
And then I showed up a couple of days later
in Daniel's office and said, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
How about that? And so what does that? What'd that
process look like?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
I had to get my t COL license back up
to speed. There was classes I had to take. I
had to take a physical and it's sixty s and
I passed it. And I had to take a psychological
and then I had to do a little bit of
training and get me back up to speed. And now
they've turned me loose.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So how how long had it been since you'd been
in a patrol car? When you went back out there.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I retired from law enforcement from the Columbia Brazoria School
District in June of eighteen, and it'd been missing it
ever since. I mean, it's your brother could probably tell you.
It's once you're out there and you become part of it,
it gets in your blood.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
You know. Larry, my brother, qualified for retirement at I
think he had thirty years when he was fifty two,
let's say, and he qualified for his full retirement. His
needs were simple. He, you know, every five years would
get a four f one fifty. That was his big indulgence.
He had a few acres out in the country in
(12:01):
Harper where he had a little fifth wheel he'd placed
out there. He didn't buy new clothes, he didn't. He
had a home he had built. It was very modest.
I mean, he lived very lean. So he didn't have
a lot of expenses. So he could retire so he
wouldn't have to deal with this. He'd been a patrol officer,
he'd been swat, he'd been undercover. He'd done a lot
(12:24):
of stuff that I think takes its toll on a body.
And we talked about on a mind, and so he
was so eager to retire, and he retired in six
months and his wife said, you got to go back
to work. You're miserable, Like how many episodes of Sanford
Center are you going to watch? And so he did.
He went back to work and his last job, I
(12:44):
noticed that you posted about how much you loved the
community of Molton. His last job was Vider Police Department
because a guy that he had gone through the academy
with thirty two years earlier was now the chief of
police Invider. And he said he called him and said, Chris,
why don't you come back to work? And he called
(13:05):
me one day and he said, Michael, it makes me
almost want to cry. He wasn't a crier. He said,
I stopped to eat my lunch and I can't pay
for my lunch. I get up to the counter and
they say, somebody paid for it already, or we're paying
for it. He said, I've never been treated like this.
He was Jefferson County alose years. I've never been treated
like this. The people of are the nicest people in
(13:25):
the world.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
So it's nice if that's Molten, that's out as a
Malton people appreciate us in those small communities like that.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Are you working to they like us?
Speaker 4 (13:35):
They? Well, I'm off today. I don't come back until
next weekend.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
So do you have a spot. It's kind of the
cops spot used to be Burton Cafe for cops in
in Uh, you know, outside of Brenham. Back when I
had a place out there, a lot of cops would
go to Burton Cafe. But do you have a place
in Molton where you go?
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Not?
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Well? Home my wife for forty seven years. When I
need to take a break, I go spend time with her.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Good for you forty seven years and you're sixty seven.
So you were eighteen when you met her like I
was with my wife. Uh?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Yep, met her of Wharton Junior College.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
How about that? How about that? That is? That is fantastic?
Did wait? Ramon, you're not part of this. Ramone's dad
went to Wharton Junior College. I'm not not sure why
we're bringing that up right now. Did you used to
live on Maryland Street in Rosenberg?
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I did?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Uh? And your son Larry Jr. Is a lawyer?
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yes he is.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And your friends with Ray Stephanie's dad.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
He's a big Stefanie.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
He's a big landowner. I can't remember Stephanie's maiden name. Well,
his son in law, Cody Johnson's a good friend of
mine and he sent me a message.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
I know Cody Johns you're talking to Ray More.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, how would you describe Cody? Yes, and this is
not judgment, but if a guy had if a guy
was on the run, you'd he'd just broken into a
place and you were way away from your car. But
you were calling in and you were describing Cody Johnson
to dispatch, how would you describe him?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Big?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
How big?
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Cody Johnson grew up down the street from me. Yeah,
and uh, I mean when I was a kid. But
you know, he when he was a kid, and I
was the Rosenberg Fire Department for a while, and so
was his dad. So I've watched him grow up.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
He's a good dude. Yeah, that's all my best friends.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Oh he's well then you know he's crazy too. Not
crazy in a bad way, crazy in a funny way.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Well that's debatabook. Uh, let me ask you about let
me you know, you're not a young man anymore. My
brother used to say, I'm a better cop as an
old man than a young man because I make better decisions.
And I don't try to create drama or aggression or
a fight or conflict. I try to I try to
deflect it. When I was younger, I thought it was
(15:57):
mad enough to defeat it. Now I realize you don't
want to do that. How are you a better cop now?
At sixty seven?
Speaker 4 (16:07):
I think things out more and as you get older.
I mean when I was young, we would just go
bareling into something, and I've learned to talk my way
out of it. I've learned how to better defuse situations
and truth. You know, being a lawyer is kind of
cool because I could give people legal advice right there
(16:29):
on the side when they need it.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Hold on just a moment, learn mcdoogle is there, and
it's fifteen. It's not law, it's not just law enforcement.
But I think it's a great example. You know, if
you start looking around or a way to give back.
(16:54):
You start with the high minded idea that you're going
to do something for other people, but you find out
you're doing it for yourself. When people say thank you
for doing this or that for that person. I am
very honest when I say anything I do that is
perceived as nice as completely utterly one hundred percent selfish.
(17:17):
I feel better about myself if I do something for
someone else. We all do. It's not wrong with that,
it's a good thing. We should encourage people that you
will feel better when you do for other people. We
should stop with this nonsense of oh I'm a saint,
(17:38):
I find no I derive no joy from this. I
do it absolutely joylessly, because if I got any joy
out of it, it wouldn't be noble. No. Learn to
incentivize the behaviors you want in society and you'll get
more of that, Believe it or not. Larry McDougall is
(17:58):
getting more out of this than the community is, and
they're having a ball with it because now he wakes
up in the morning and he's needed, he's wanted, he's appreciated.
Everything's fresh again. The last day you were a cop
is not nearly as fun as the first day back
after you've been away. That's what my brother told me.
(18:20):
Everything that I was tired of, bored of, sick of.
After thirty years, I realized, oh I'm good at this.
I enjoy this. It's just fun. Larry McDowell, Larry Yess, Michael, Yes, Michael,
(18:40):
has there been a moment since you came back that
you have for a second regretted it.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
No, I really haven't. It's my wife thinks I'm probably
a little nutty because I love being out there. I
love being on the streets. I love meeting, talking and
helping people. And You're one hundred percent right, is a
selfish thing. But it's it's selfish because it gives me
a feeling of purpose of self worth and that's what
(19:07):
I get out of it when I'm out there helping people.
You know, as a police officer, it's just a part
time spot that I have. I worked maybe six to
seven days a month. We work twelve hour shifts and
just like Wayne Stanfield doesn't too there at Moulton, and
it's it, you know, it gives you that feeling that
you have. I mean, I hope I instill that in
(19:28):
my kids because my three daughters all became teachers and
two of them are now principles and the other one
went back to the church and from public school and
it's teaching at a Catholic school. So and they get
that too, you know, when they're doing it as teachers,
you get that feeling that you've accomplished something, you've done
(19:49):
something good, and it's almost like a drug.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
It is it is. It's the same reaction, it's the
same feelings, it's the same awesomeness. So did you tell
me where isn't there a Molten cafe? Where do you
stop and eat? Most days if you're on duty, I
actually go home? Oh you said you That's what I
was trying to remember what you said it with. But
there is a Molten cafe.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Not a Molten cafe. We have Klazels, which is the steakhouse,
which is really nice. You're not going to find a
better cheeseburger in Texas than Brian's, which is like a
little dairy queen there. Uh. There is a little taco
stand in Molten. It's a little trailer right by the
railroad tracks. It's got the best crispy tacos you've ever ate.
(20:37):
And then we have a Mexican restaurant in town. And
that's it. I mean, that's all we have in Molten
as far as eating place.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
There's no cafe type deal where you can get breakfast, lunch, dinner,
simple food. Come for food.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
There's Alleys Barbecue that serves a breakfast and they're pretty good.
I mean, it's it's a breakfast lunch, but they're not
open in the evenings. No, the it's we really don't
have that much in Molten as far as places to
eat out and uh. But again, I take my time away.
(21:12):
I come home, sit down with a wife, tell her
what's going on, We talk, gossip.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Whatever does make sam she cooks something.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
She's check, she cooks.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I've always said check women. They don't cook for health,
they cook for flavor. They make comfort food.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah. I like that.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Well, I love this story. I just wanted to share
this story quickly. I got a message from Carol James
with the picture of Wayne Stanfield in his uniform and
he's going back and done this. I'm not saying that
folks at sixty seven on to get back on the
gang unit at HPD, but I am saying that we
all have gifts and why let them. You know, there's
(21:59):
a certain frustrat to the idea that you know your
skills are not being used anymore. Somebody wants those skills. Now,
it might not be the first person to whom you
offer them. It might not, but somebody wants your skills
out there. Somebody could use your skills, and you would
feel wonderful putting them to use. And that you know,
(22:22):
not everybody is the big city cop you see on TV.
There might be a little position out in little Molten
that would like somebody to come out there and take
care of the little old ladies. But here's our tribute
to the cops, Paul Harvey style.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
A policeman is a composite of what all men are,
I guess, a mingling of saint and center, dust and
deity called statistics wave the fan over stinkers underscore instances
of dishonesty and brutality because they are news. What that
really means is that they are exceptional. They are unusual.
They are not commonplace. Buried under the fraud is the fact,
(22:56):
And the fact is the less than one half of
one percent of policemen misfit that uniform. And that is
a better average than you'd find among clergymen. What is
a policeman? He, of all men, is at once the
most needed and the most wanted, A strangely nameless creature
who is served to his face and pig or worse
(23:17):
behind his back. He must be such a diplomat that
he can settle differences between individuals, so that each will
think he won. But if a policeman is neat, he's conceited.
If he's careless, he's a bum. If he's pleasant, he's
a flirt. If he's not, he's a grouch. He must
make instant decisions, which would require months for a lawyer.
But if he hurries, he's careless. If he's delivered, he's lazy.
(23:39):
He must be first to an accident, infallible with the diagnosis.
He must be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, ty splints,
and above all, be sure the victim goes home without
a limp or expect to be sued. The police officer
must know every gun draw on the run and hit
where it doesn't hurt. He must be able to whip
two men twice his size and half his age without
damaging his uniform and without being brutal. If you hit him,
(24:03):
he's a coward. If he hits you, he's a bully.
A policeman must know everything and not tell. He must
know where all of the sin is and not partake.
The policeman from a single human hair. Must be able
to describe the crime, the weatmon the criminal, and tell
you where the criminal is hiding. But if he catches
the criminal, he's lucky. If he doesn't, he's a dunce.
(24:26):
If he gets promoted, he has political pull. If he doesn't,
he's a dullard. The policeman must chase bum leads to
a dead end, stake out ten nights to tag one
witness who saw it happen, but refuses to remember. He
runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache to
build a case against some felon who will get dealed
out by a shameless shamous or an honorable who isn't honorable.
(24:50):
The policeman must be a minister, a social worker, a diplomat,
a tough guy, and a gentleman. And of course he'll
have to be a genius, because he'll have to feed
a f family on a policeman's salary.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
The star top, Brad, we'll suppose your eyes and drink
(25:30):
me and going on a.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Truth through history.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
I want to see society day.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
And we'll go back when time's young, and you learn
the tuggar up the gun. He'd be six feet on
the way when the mountains closed about his side, and
the rivers hill the mine's pride. It was a year
forty nine in those days and not gone it didn't
(25:58):
wish as line from the Cowboys, And I'm on to
go time traveling through Texas, Whandy.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
I want to go time traveling through Texas, Wendy, I
won't to be then.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Read the air and see all I can.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
See in my Texas time traveling machine.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
The state of Texas is the greatest in the Union.
We're lucky to call it home. For nine years it
was its own nation, and throughout history it's held a
special place in the hearts of all Americans. We're gonna
celebrate texas great history today. Now here's your host, Michael Barry.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Oh it's a little Texas Time edition. What did I
ever goof on this one? Oh, I'm not about to
tell you. I'll tell you all air. Okay, tell you now,
but not for on air. Take us off are okay.
I don't know why I was thinking that Molton was
near round Top. I don't know why I cannot I
(27:12):
must have been. What must have happened is I was
in round Top and you know, you know, on those
country roads sometimes they'll say, you know, Beaumont, this direction, Well,
you're not anywhere near Beaumont. That's just if you went
to want to go to Beaumont, be that direction and
just be a few hours. If I was to say
that on the air, I'd have to how come you
(27:33):
think Molten near bon near near round Top? Mot ain't
nowhere near round Top. I've been living here my whole life.
I know I made a mistake, is the point I've
been living here. Ain't not an einting close. You got
to cross over right ten, you gotta go up Barning.
I got it. I hit your area of expertise. I huh,
what is it? Forty five miles that this? No, But
(27:56):
here's the deal. I was thinking of Molten like near Warrington,
you know, at the most Fayetteville. I didn't. I was
thinking of, uh, what's uh Windale or something like that,
and you know, if not Carmeene and you know, kind
of the same same deal. And I don't know where.
(28:19):
I don't know why. I thought that I've seen a
sign or something when I was out there that said Molten.
And I kind of remember it. When you go into
into round Top off two ninety to eighty seven, you
(28:44):
take is that two eighty seven? Do you remember? And
you go down and if you go kind of if
you're going southwest from there, So you go round Top
and then Warrington and then uh, what's the next Uh
two thirty seven? Did I say two eighty seven? Two
thirty seven? Yeah, just two thirty seven cut off? Yeah,
(29:05):
and then you go Warrington and then somewhere right around
there if you turn to there's a sign if you
turn to the right, and I'm trying to think of
what the name of the darned community is, but there's
a sign that if you go to the right, Uh, Valhalla.
It's Valhalla. Maybe I was thinking of Maybe I was
thinking Molten was near Valhalla. But I looked during the
(29:29):
break and I took a screenshot of where it is.
It's it's not anywhere near there. It's i Ten. You
know why I saw that? You know what I'm confusing.
We had a place in Carmen, which is two ninety
just passed round Top cutoff, and uh, we had a
(29:51):
place in Welder, And I'm conflating the drives to those
two places, which is some of the happiest times in
my life. I'm conflating those two drives because when you're
going to Welder, I believe there's a molten cut off
at about Flatonia, and I think I must have been
thinking that that molten cutoff went north on ten toward Roundtop,
(30:15):
because truth be told, ninety nine times out of one
hundred that I've gone to Roundtop, I've gone the two
to ninety route. So if I end up over on
ten going up to Roundtop, I can get confused, real
real easy. I don't. I just that route is not
natural to me. But let's see, I just looked it up.
So it's I tend there's a shell station right there,
(30:38):
and then you take ninety five south and then you
go into looks like you got molten. You got old molten, Molten,
Barsville Cemetery, Burkett Cemetery. Now you wonder why I'm saying
the names of places that nobody's gonna know, because there's
one person out there that's gonna email me, Michael, my
(31:00):
grand did he built that cemetery? Guaranteed it happens every
time you got the smith unit over there, you're not
really a small town unless you got a prison unit nearby.
That's the sign that really you got to Shiner, Hillsdale Guesthouse,
Hanyak Industries. You got prah Over there. That's how you
(31:21):
know there's a bunch of checks around there. You got
prah Over there, Ingle, Platonia, Armstrong, Kominsky, Witting, breslau Henk House, Shiner.
You know what's funny when you go to small towns,
there's always some family there and they owned the bank.
And by Houston standards, they're not rich, right, that means
(31:44):
they could afford a house in sugar Land. But by
this was before all the rich Houstonians started moving out there.
But back in the day, there wasn't any money in
these small towns. So there'd be one family in the
little town that had all the money. So they would
buy up all the four closed homes because nobody would
be a bit against them. They might have the bank,
(32:05):
and they might have the car dealership, and they might
name the church after them, I mean, and you know
they they would be the patrons of the of the
theater and also the Homecoming Queen competition and the fair
Queen competition for for FFA, and there'd be that one
name and everything I have their name on it, and
(32:29):
a lot it's just true in a lot of little
towns and they'll have their name on it and the
other people that were the families I grew up in,
the plant worker, the you know whatever, the hand out
at the ranch. That boy that name, when that name
was mentioned, that was Jock Ewing. By god, I mean
that was that was it. You remember in Roadhouse Brad,
(32:51):
the guy that ran the town, and he went in
and he torched Red's parts supply because Red wouldn't pay
the omerta to him. There's always that in a small town,
and they'll have a name, and in an area like this,
it'll be you know, some Czech name or some German name.
And I'm just picking one out of a thing. I'm
(33:12):
not picking on the Komenskis. But there will be the Komenskis.
And you know, when Isaakill you ask mister Kaminsky over you,
you you bind your p's and q's around him. He
owns a bank. Someday you're gonna want to know him,
you know, make sure you say hello to him. You
might be able to go to work for him one day,
to go to school. You might be able to go
to work for him. And there will always be that
(33:32):
one family like that, and everything in town will be
named for them. It's true. No, I've nothing wrong with it.
That's it's not good or bad, it's the way it is.
You hope they're civic minded and not just arrogant, because
they'll give you know, I was reading an article the
other day about used to if you had great wealth
(33:55):
the Vanderbilts, Jay Pierport, Morgan, you would it was a
sign of great strength and character that you would endow
universities and foundations and these things. Now they go, you
know what, what does what does besos do? Oh? Well,
I want to fly into space with my mistress.
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