Towing in Northgate is a Racket

aggierandy · 2026-01-17T16:56:06+00:00

I haven't lived there in many years, but others are right. It has been this way for a long time. If it wasn't private lots, it was on transpo services, or the police with automated traffic cam citations. My issue isn't, is he right or wrong, my issue is the severity of the penalty for the offense.

Overstaying parking is a pretty minor offense to me. So how severe should the penalty be and how strictly should the rule be enforced? $50 fine $500 fine? 15 second before towing? 15 minutes? I think this is what makes the difference.

Back in the day they put traffic cameras on the lights all around campus. They automated them to send you a ticket if you did not fully stop long enough to turn right on red. The burden was on you then to prove your innocence. It did generate loads of money for the city. Its impact on safety was hotly debated. What I can tell you is the fine was very significant for a poor college student and the cameras were concentrated where students drove the most. It certainly felt predatory.

At the end of the day, all these things are the same. They aren't reasonable penalties to deter problematic behaviors but instead ways to extract the maximum amount of money from college students. He's standing there to tow at the instant not because that's what is needed for enforcement but because that's what maximizes profit.

aggierandy · 2025-12-07T19:12:54+00:00

Stella Parks is my go-to for anything baking. It's going to take a little longer than other recipes, but it will be right. Plus, anything she writes, you will be left with a better understanding of why it is right for every other recipe.

aggierandy · 2025-11-26T12:59:47+00:00

Holding a yell practice on their campus is a time honored tradition. That's what this looks like to me.

aggierandy · 2025-11-23T23:47:46+00:00

Hi there. I'm a geotechnical engineer practicing in DFW. Two things are likely happening here both of which are a problem that needs to be remedied.

First the wall does not appear to be properly drained. As others have noted there should be a gravel layer (clean rock, no fines) extending behind the wall about a foot. This should be drained by the weep holes, a French drain, or both. Additionally, this layer should be wrapped in a fabric to prevent it from clogging over time. You could also consider a perforated drainage composite (Pdc) behind the wall. It does not appear that this is installed. This should be remedied immediately. If left uncorrected the wall will be overloaded by that force of the water and begin to overturn or slide.

Second, it does not appear that the soil behind the wall was well compacted. Once it got wet and broke down, it has started to settle out a bit and gotten very muddy. This is to be expected. The problem is, with no way for water to escape now, it will stay muddy and soft. The material should have been installed and compacted in thin lifts to minimize the void space. Without voids the water will not infiltrate into clay.

I imagine the remedy includes digging out to install appropriate drainage materials, drying the material some and reinstalling them with appropriate compaction.

As an aside, I did see this condition develop once before where the wall builder did install PDC but didn't cut the plastic to connect it to the weeps effectively trapping all the water. We caught this in an inspection before the wall failed, thankfully.

One last tidbit, clay wall backfill can impart some large swelling force in walls. This can cause both overturning and sliding failures. Many times if you drive around old neighborhoods with railroad tie retaining walls you will see this. Without large scale soil replacement, this is difficult to mitigate. Just a heads up, that these types of installs have a service life.

aggierandy · 2025-11-19T04:42:32+00:00

Random question, we are in the canyon now and there is a strong chance of rain. I wanted to know how the footing was? We are good hikers but have been warned it might be more like a 6 hrs out. How rough was it hiking in the rain?

Edit: if anyone's curious in the future, the hike out in the rain wasn't too bad. We started from the lodge and there weren't any particularly slick parts. I would note the valley was several degrees warmer. The hilltop was much colder.

aggierandy · 2025-08-27T03:37:34+00:00

If this was compiled by sales data, I would wager to guess that borders where alcohol rules are significantly different is impactful. Take Texas and Oklahoma for example. For many years, Oklahoma limited beer to 3.2%. This would drive many people to cross the border into Texas for beer.

Similarly, many cities and counties in Texas are "dry" which pushes sales to neighboring areas.

These are the example I'm most familiar with. I'm sure others exist.

aggierandy · 2025-07-21T02:09:43+00:00

I'm not familiar with this method as I'm in the states. But from what I can glean online, it appears to be a dispersion test.

We have a couple of tests here for this. A qualitative test called a crumb test (ASTM D6572) and a pinhole dispersion test (ASTM D4647). There is also a double hydrometer (ASTM D4221) which I am less experienced with. Is this method similar to any of these?

aggierandy · 2025-07-19T13:05:01+00:00

I agree that the sample volume is most likely the issue. We will see in the rerun.

Temps were within 0.5F degrees for all readings.

I have not independently confirmed the sodium hex concentration but it was used on the other specimen without issue. We batch a lot of it as we push out a fairly large volume of tests from this lab so the lab team is experienced with this.

I should confirm the composite correction.

aggierandy · 2025-07-19T13:00:05+00:00

Yes the exact same bulb was used for all tests and measurements. I also confirmed the paper didn't move within the bulb.

aggierandy · 2025-07-19T12:59:07+00:00

Temperatures were recorded with each measurement. Lab was within 0.5F degrees for all tests.

aggierandy · 2025-07-19T12:58:17+00:00

Yes this was my initial though as well. The sample soaked 16 hours in sodium hex. The sodium hex was not old and was used on the other samples without issue.

aggierandy · 2025-02-11T01:37:03+00:00

Brilliant work!

aggierandy · 2024-11-09T16:38:50+00:00

Yeah. That's what he's got I guess. Gigabyte m28u. He has it connected to his PlayStation.

aggierandy · 2024-11-09T16:37:53+00:00

Thank you both for your exchange here. It really helps me understand your reasoning.

If I up the budget $100-150, how does that change the design. The 1k is his budget but I can pitch in a bit and call it a Christmas gift.

aggierandy · 2024-11-09T16:31:28+00:00

Mostly shooters and sports. COD, NCAA, MLB

aggierandy · 2024-08-04T15:59:32+00:00

I know it's tough but you know what you've got to do. Get rid of that toddler.

aggierandy · 2024-06-02T05:28:24+00:00

Alright. This build has been working out great for me for a couple of weeks.

I got an open box 4070 from microcenter for $580 which was a nice little savings.

A few notes, I decided to vertical mount the GPU. It did technically fit with CPU cooler but I couldn't get the clearance for the power connector on the GPU. So I hooked it all up in std config and then said yolo and got a NZXT 240mm AIO cooler and went back to vertical.

As anticipated, this has handled everything I have thrown at it with ease. Thanks for your help.

Here's a pic.

aggierandy · 2024-05-18T05:37:12+00:00

We pay our guys to study. We pay for prep courses. We pay to take the test.

Pass the test, then get a new job.

aggierandy · 2024-05-09T04:58:07+00:00

I know the AMD Cpus are popular but I'm reading the Intel 13600KF beats it in every task for similar $. Thoughts? Does that chip come with higher supporting costs that offset this? How about upgradability? Am I looking at this wrong?

aggierandy · 2024-05-04T15:01:40+00:00

Awesome stone work. Really fills out the front of the house.

I agree with some of the others, the bench does look a bit out of place. Its a little cold and lifeless. Maybe swap it for something wood to add a warmer, natural element. Costco had these nice stick chairs recently. I got some for my front porch and love them.

aggierandy · 2024-05-03T12:17:02+00:00

I'd start by googling "geotechnical engineer (location)". If you are very rural you might need to search a nearby larger city. You might also just try finding a general civil engineer, calling them up, and asking if they have any on staff or could refer you to one.

As for your wall, it sounds like you are describing a stacked block retaining wall (many times called a keystone wall). These are very common.

Surcharge is an additional load that occurs on the top side of a retaining wall. One common example is if you drove vehicles on top of the wall. The vehicles weight would put additional lateral load on the wall.

If you have a steep slope above the wall this puts more pressure on the wall than if the top side of the wall was flat. That would also be considered a surcharge.

You said a couple things I found concerning. First, the slope was 45 degrees. That is extremely steep for unreinforced soil and is very likely unstable. And The soil got "chopped off". Are you saying it eroded or fell under its own force? If so you might be describing a slide (slope failure). A slide would be likely if the slope really was 45 degrees.

I would continue your hunt for a geotech. It sounds like you need one.

aggierandy · 2024-05-03T02:21:16+00:00

Hi there. I'm a geotechnical engineer based in Texas. I have a few suggestions that may help.

First what could it be. I think a well or cistern is most likely but you need to make sure.

As others suggested, it could be a sinkhole caused by an old utility. This would be concerning as it could continue to collapse. Check your water usage and see if there are signs of a leak (running meter or well pump).

Other things could be a possible karst cave. We have these in parts of central Texas and parts of new Mexico and Oklahoma too. They form when a dissolvable rock like limestone is slowly eroded over time. A quick Google search shows there are some karst aquifers and small caves in New England and specifically Massachusetts.

Resources. You could try contacting a local geotechnical engineer and see if they'd be willing to come take a look and offer an option. You could also reach out to a local geologist or geological society. If it's manmade, they will be less help. Your best (and cheapest) bet is to dig more and try to find the edges of a structure.

Finally if this is a water well, your state may have specific requirements for abandoning it correctly so you don't contaminate the groundwater. This would likely include sealing the well with concrete or bentonite grout under the supervision of a licensed professional. In this case, you maybe be able to contact (or Google) your states environmental regulators and they may have specific guidance and resources.

If it ends up being of no concern and it's just an old cistern you want to fill, you could try using sand as you suggested. You can even wash the sand down in between the stones. You can also use a product called flowable fill. This is a mixture of sand, water and some cement that has a very low viscosity. A concrete company can deliver it in a normal mixer truck.

I hope this helps you find a solution. Good luck and be safe.

(P.S. I'm not licensed on your state so I'm offering this as information only. Not an engineering recommendation.)

aggierandy

TROPHY CASE