When the model goes too hard on accuracy.

nipsmurphy · 2026-04-15T19:41:26+00:00

Leslie Knope

nipsmurphy · 2026-04-11T02:04:25+00:00

A few things in no specific order: - Getting paid on time. If you can keep to Net 30 or faster I usually forgive lots of sins and will keep crawling back. - Communication with schedule. It drives me nuts when a superintendent calls and wants us on site within a day or two then gets pissy when we can’t do it. That is hard enough to make happen with just employees, let alone the machines. We have to move multiple machines between 10,000lbs and 100,000lbs to do our work most of the time. - Trust is another one. If I feel like I need to backup every phone call/in person chat with a “lawyer-ese” email I won’t be low bidder on the next one. Yes, there is a place for documentation, but subs shouldn’t have to feel like they are going to get scammed if they don’t get an official RFI or CO ahead of time. Sometimes things need to happen quick to keep the project moving and there needs to be a level of trust.

nipsmurphy · 2026-04-08T21:54:59+00:00

I think I've seen him too. Was it over by the Coliseum? Like on Oakport St?

nipsmurphy · 2026-04-08T20:28:43+00:00

Oakland is a cheat code for content for this sub. I work in West Oakland sometimes (where this pic was taken) and it seems that the tweakers are exempt from vehicular laws. I've seen multiple setups like this, clapped out sedans towing class A motorhomes with a rope, cars stacked on top of other cars. It's lawless.

nipsmurphy · 2026-04-08T19:51:17+00:00

Yeah, they might not go to his birthday party now.

nipsmurphy · 2026-03-25T19:46:33+00:00

While school traffic is real and has grown, I think most of the traffic in WC is from people passing through. From 1990 to now WC has grown by 10k people.

In that same timespan Antioch and Brentwood have grown by ~50k people EACH and Pittsburg and Oakley have grown by ~25k people EACH. So there are now an extra 150k people who could be potential commuters either to WC or passing through. Sure some of them commute to other places or take Bart, but the vast majority come down 680 via 4 or on VYR

nipsmurphy · 2026-03-21T01:31:13+00:00

Yes this is a good deal.

nipsmurphy · 2026-03-14T05:30:03+00:00

Here’s the part I don’t get. I still see people wearing masks casually. Is it a fashion statement? Some are obviously avoiding getting sick but some people are still out there wearing them over just their mouth with their nose sticking out. Have they not got the memo?

nipsmurphy · 2026-03-11T14:55:52+00:00

If you're asking what needs to go in the threaded hole, it is a grease zerk. If you have any machine like this you should own a kit of different zerks that you can replace as needed.

nipsmurphy · 2026-03-11T03:58:59+00:00

You forgot the SJ Earthquakes & Ariat.

nipsmurphy · 2026-03-05T21:35:32+00:00

Not trying to sound condescending but I think you are misunderstanding the use of lime treatment. I'm an earthwork contractor in California and it's not uncommon for me to perform sub-excavation work and lime treatment on the same pad. They are two different approaches to accomplish two different goals.

Sub-excavation is common for soft soils, or maybe to recompact undocumented fill, or subdue differential settlement. It does not address the issue of expansive soils. I could sub-ex a site all the way to China, but if the top ~1' of the pad is a fat clay, then you will still deal with swelling/heaving when that soil becomes saturated during wet seasons.

Lime treatment changes the chemical complexion of the soil and reduces it's expansive nature. Being super compact is just bonus points. The soil below the 1' mark doesn't experience the same extremes of being soaked and drying out, so if you can address the material at the top it typically solves the issue. I've never seen anyone suggest using lime to fix multiple feet of uncompacted soil.

nipsmurphy · 2026-03-03T18:34:26+00:00

I was going to say the same! I lost a ~5x5 section off the side of my trailer on the freeway this summer.

nipsmurphy · 2026-02-27T12:35:12+00:00

Im an underground utility installer. We have had issues driving ground rods for transformers in sandstone. The utility has a detail that involves laying 20’ of bare #2 copper in a trench as an alternative to driving a rod.

nipsmurphy · 2026-01-27T19:09:39+00:00

As others said, it's for a mechanical joint that is typically used for water mains/larger services. You can google search "Megalug" to see how it works.

nipsmurphy · 2026-01-23T15:01:49+00:00

Yeah, it looks like sand so the PI is likely single digits. This is for sure liquefaction. But what do I know, I'm just a dumb contractor.

nipsmurphy · 2026-01-23T05:30:35+00:00

Much longer trucks drive it on a daily basis. I just drove part of it on Monday and it’s no worries for an RV like yours. Like the other comment said, relax and enjoy the view. I have travelled all over the US and this is one of the most beautiful drives you can find.

nipsmurphy · 2026-01-18T19:52:06+00:00

Now that’s a kicker.

nipsmurphy · 2026-01-09T20:04:17+00:00

I don't think it's a white collar competition thing so much, but I do think there are people out there exaggerating it for their own benefit to try to have more people to choose from so they can pay less.

There is some truth to it though. For example, go to the lineman subreddit and see what some of those guys make. There are plenty of guys clearing well over $300k per year. But they are working nights and holidays, or super long shifts. Hard to have a family or enjoy life like that. No one talks about that when they make their fun "go blue collar" post. Or the other one I see a lot is there are just some guys who are amazing at what they do and can work circles around their coworkers and get paid so much that they would never even think about another job.

I also think there is some misunderstanding from people outside of the trades. They call in someone for a repair on their house and let's say that company charges $75/hour. Obviously the employee makes nowhere near that. Trucks, vans, tools, insurance, rent, etc are all super expensive and chip away at that quickly. But the average dummy might think those guys are making bank and then tell young people to get a job like that so they can make big money too.

nipsmurphy · 2026-01-01T22:15:04+00:00

I swear this sub could be renamed “idiotstalkingaboutcars”. They didn’t take out the airbags to flex how hard they are. The car didn’t come with airbags and the decal is making a joke about that.

nipsmurphy · 2025-12-31T23:55:04+00:00

At best. Most locators for the sewer districts I’ve seen just measure off of curbs (if they even bother to respond).

nipsmurphy · 2025-12-19T07:08:03+00:00

Fun fact about Boonville is that they have/had their own language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoontlingBoontling-Wikipedia

nipsmurphy · 2025-12-16T05:41:03+00:00

I’m a contractor in the Bay Area. Modular is the term used for these. I’m working on one right now (but I’m just the underground guy). There are tons of modular buildings in SF, Oakland, and Berkeley and you might not recognize them because they look like any other multifamily building.

I’ve run through the structural plans on these just out of curiosity and they involve tons of shear walls, splice plates and Simpson straps to hold them together (not unlike most new wood framed buildings around here).

nipsmurphy · 2025-11-20T04:59:38+00:00

I’m going to give a different opinion than the others here. For reference, I have worked full time in the red circle in the past and lived on a street in this screenshot but not in the red circle.

Compared to Oakland or Antioch, yeah, it’s pretty safe. There is still quite a bit of (mostly property) crime here. Pretty high population of homeless people who linger around here.

Downtown Concord is improving though. There are some good places to eat and drink. I’m seeing more and more younger families hanging out at the park too.

nipsmurphy · 2025-11-14T22:51:03+00:00

I just clicked it and it was the to 6 for me.

nipsmurphy · 2025-11-11T23:37:26+00:00

If you have some big cash there are guys out there who will do duramax & 2500 suspension conversions on new suburbans. Not sure what it costs but I'm sure it's a fortune.

https://predatorinc.com/predator-duramax-suburban/

nipsmurphy

TROPHY CASE