minds of mush?
1. illegal aliens who think that they can bribe the USA.
2. anyone who would consider this mindless nonsense worthy of consideration.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Migrant group demands Trump either let them in or pay them each $50G to turn around: report
Migrant group demands Trump either let them in or pay them each $50G to turn around: report | Fox News
minds of mush?
1. illegal aliens who think that they can bribe the USA.
2. anyone who would consider this mindless nonsense worthy of consideration.
minds of mush?
1. illegal aliens who think that they can bribe the USA.
2. anyone who would consider this mindless nonsense worthy of consideration.
Saturday, December 8, 2018
trump (the pot) calls tillerson (the kettle) black
Trump calls Rex Tillerson 'dumb as a rock' - CNN Video
trade wars, stock market, global warming, border mess, collusion, corruption, alienates allies, liar, abrasive, womanizer, draft dodger, ...
what a man!
what a dope!
trade wars, stock market, global warming, border mess, collusion, corruption, alienates allies, liar, abrasive, womanizer, draft dodger, ...
what a man!
what a dope!
Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Virginia jury finds James Fields guilty of first-degree murder in Charlottesville car attack
James Fields convicted of first-degree murder in Charlottesville car attack
The jury will reconvene Monday to determine a sentence. Under the law, jurors can recommend from 20 years to life in prison for the murder charge, and additional time for every malicious wounding charge. The sentencing hearing could take two days.
Fields is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of separate federal hate crime charges. No trial has been scheduled for those charges yet, however.
The jury will reconvene Monday to determine a sentence. Under the law, jurors can recommend from 20 years to life in prison for the murder charge, and additional time for every malicious wounding charge. The sentencing hearing could take two days.
Fields is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of separate federal hate crime charges. No trial has been scheduled for those charges yet, however.
image by Rodney Dunning
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."--NOT in shenandoah county, virginia.
bring it on, bowman. let's go to court. let the public decide who the victims here are. lawbreaker toothman? shenandoah county? us? ruffner? citizens of shenandoah county? citizens of the commonwealth of virginia? citizens beyond shenandoah county, virginia?
briefly, here are the facts:
1. when we purchased our house, unbeknown to us, the builder had not graded our lot per the approved grading plan and R401.3 of the virginia building code.
2. months later, after heavy rains, I found standing water in our crawl space.
3. as heavy rains continued over the next few months, the amount of water in our crawl space grew.
4. at some point I mentioned to our duplex "roofmate" that there was standing water in our crawl space.
5. our roofmate contacted the shenandoah county building inspection and code enforcement department.
6. the shenandoah county building official and an inspector with the building inspection and code enforcement department met with our roofmate.
7. after their meeting (neither me nor my wife were present; I was not home at the time) our roofmate asked my wife if the county inspector could inspect our crawl space. Jenny called me, and we agreed.
8. afterwards the building official told us "if there's a code violation then the builder will have to fix it."
9. the following day, the building official met with our roofmate and said that there was no code violaion, explaining that she didn't qualify under section 19.2-8 of the virginia code.
10. on june 30 I sent mark griffey (shenandoah county building official) an email entitled "formal complaint, building code violation". I pointed out that R401.3 had been violated. I also pointed out that we were eligible under section 19.2-8 to submit this code violation complaint. finally, I said: "Should you reject my formal complaint, then I request a meeting at county offices with you and other county personnel or outside consultants involved in the decision not to issue a notice of violation of the building code to the builder for this violation."
11. griffey told me in an email that he was sending a notice of violation to the builder.
12. griffey didn't send a notice of violation to the builder. when I asked him to explain why, he said that "they" had decided to "reach out" to the builder.
13. some time later, locations of underground utilities were marked and the builder brought 2 large rolls of flexible plastic pipe and placed them behind our house. I contacted griffey and asked what was going on.
14. on july 26 griffey sent an email entitled "updated drawing".
15. on july 30 I replied to griffey's email with 13 specific comments plus general comments regarding the unsuitability of the plan. griffey did not respond to my comments.
16. on aug. 7, sept. 14, dec. 3 and dec. 4 jordan bowman, shenandoah county attorney, sent threatening letters to me and my wife.
17. on aug. 14, at our expense, we contracted to have a waterproof slope installed on our property consistent with the approved grading plan and R401.3.
18. there's mold in our crawl space.
19. the floor and duct insulation in our crawl space were saturated and ruined by the flooding.
20. R408.3.1 requires: "Exposed earth is covered with a continuous Class I vapor retarder. Joints of the vapor retarder shall overlap by 6 inches (152 mm) and shall be sealed or taped." the loose sheets of moisture barrier in our crawl space were neither sealed nor taped.
21. R408.5 requires: "The under-floor grade shall be cleaned of all vegetation and organic material. All wood forms used for placing concrete shall be removed before a building is occupied or used for any purpose. All construction materials shall be removed before a building is occupied or used for any purpose." paper, cardboard, leaves, pieces of wood, conduit, air duct hangers, fasteners, brick, concrete, insulation, and other construction debris litter our crawl space.
22. there are other defects in our house that result from bad science and poor construction and inspection. e.g., MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head
what is not known
- how did the water get in our crawl space?
- if our lot had been graded according to the approved grading plan and R401.3, then would our crawl space have flooded?
- maybe. the answer to this question will never be known.
- will our crawl space dry out with drier weather?
- maybe. time will tell. given the amount of water in our crawl space, it will likely take many months of warm, dry weather to dry the space out.
- is the water in our roofmate's crawl space connected with the flooding in ours?
- maybe. however, I've inspected our crawl space many times and I've never seen any standing water within 6 to 8 feet from our common wall.
- if the water in our roofmate's crawl space is connected to the flooding in ours, then how much water is coming from our crawl space and how much is coming from other sources?
- IMHO, this is indeterminable. I do know that the ground in the front and the rear of our roofmate's house slopes towards the foundation walls. IMHO, this is where the water in our roofmate's crawl space comes from.
finally:
- why has shenandoah county steadfastly defended lawbreaking builder alan toothman construction, inc.?
- why does the county attorney continue to harass us with threatening letters? (we're in our seventies.)
- why did the county refuse to meet with us as I requested (#10 above)?
- why didn't the county reply to my comments on the unsuitability of the toothman "fix" (#14 & 15)?
- toothman's and shenandoah county's "fix" does not comply with R401.3. R401.3 requires:
- "R401.3 Drainage. Surface drainage shall be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard to the dwelling unit. Lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. The grade shall fall a minimum of six inches (152 mm) within the first 10 feet (3048 mm)."
- "Exception: Where lot lines, walls, slopes or other physical barriers prohibit six inches (152 mm) of fall within 10 feet (3048 mm), drains or swales shall be constructed to ensure drainage away from the structure. Impervious surfaces within 10 feet (3048 mm) of the building foundation shall be sloped a minimum of 2.0% away from the building."
- the "Exception" applies only "where lot lines, walls, slopes or other physical barriers prohibit six inches of fall within 10 feet". No such prohibition exists, as shown on the approved grading plan for our lot.
- toothman's and shenandoah county's interpretation of the exception in R401.3 as being an "either/or" situation is incorrect. The exception only applies if the ground can't be sloped away from foundation walls for 10 feet. As the approved grading plan shows, this is not the case with our lot.
it doesn't pass the smell test--either toothman is jim jones and bowman and griffey are drinking the kool-aid, or something worse is going on.
- we own the property, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.
- I have a degree in civil engineering, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.
- I held licenses to practice civil engineering in Virginia and several other states, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.
- I have over 40 years' experience in civil engineering and construction, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.
citizens of shenandoah county, virginia and elsewhere:
- you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
- you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
- you deserve county and state government that defends you--not lawbreaking builders
➤ SPEAK OUT
➤ SPREAD THE WORD
➤ VOTE virginia
shenandoah county
building inspection
code enforcement
mark griffey
attorney
jordan bowman
conrad helsley
alan toothman construction, inc.
Friday, November 30, 2018
builder alan toothman + shenandoah county, virginia = poorly engineered and constructed new homes
what do you get with a bad builder and a virginia county that doesn't enforce the building code?
answer: angry homeowners with poorly engineered and constructed new houses.
bad science
1. ground that slopes towards the house, instead of away from the house, as the virginia building code and the approved grading plan require. result: flooded crawl space. https://www.prettypurpledoor.com/yard-grading-how-to-grade-a-yard/ Amy knows this! How come a virginia builder and shenandoah county's building official, shenandoah county building inspectors, and shenandoah county's attorney, who handles building code violations, don't?!? bad science.
2. level roof gutters that overflow and add to the crawl space flooding. how come builder toothman doesn't know Why Gutter Slope is Essential to Your Home? when I asked toothman why all of the roof gutters are level, she said "they're all that way." great!!! all of the roof gutters on toothman's new houses are level!!! bad science
3. flexible plastic pipes connected to downspouts with high and low points and buried outlet ends. how dumb is that?!?
our house came with level roof gutters and 5 downspouts--3 with flexible plastic pipe attached to them and 2 with splash blocks. the outlet ends of 2 of the 3 downspouts with flexible plastic pipe attached were buried.
I notified the builder when rain from one of the downspouts with splash blocks missed the splash block and went into the below ground access well to the crawl space. the builder replaced the splash block with a buried flexible pipe and extended the buried flexible pipe on one of the buried plastic pipes.
later, after a heavy rain, water from the roof backed up in the other pipe with the buried outlet end, backed up in the downspout, and backed up in the level roof gutter such that all of the runoff coming from that section of the roof was overflowing the level roof gutter. it washed out a slope onto my neighbor's driveway. when I told toothman, she said "we would never bury the outlet end". this after toothman had already unburied 1 of the 2 buried outlet ends on our property! talk about dishonest!
roof drainage should flow by gravity, which requires a straight grade--no dips or high points and open outlet ends. water and air trapped in flexible plastic pipes by low and high spots require pressure to flow. when water backs up in downspouts, they leak, and the weight of the stored water can cause downspouts to break away from the house. bad science.
4. holes in the foundation wall: MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head. what?!? bad science.
5. a room where the temperature is ten degrees colder than the thermostat temperature. (the thermostat is located in the hallway 10 ft. from the cold room.) bad science.
poor construction
1. floors with low spots that go BANG! when you walk on them.
2. gutters that leak and a downspout that empties into the below ground, crawl space access door well.
3. a foul odor coming from the bathroom sink.
4. sloppy trim.
shenandoah county, virginia's poor inspection and followup failures
1. during and following construction shenandoah county's building inspectors failed to identify that the ground sloped towards the house instead of away from the house. this is a clear violation of virginia's building code. also, the approved grading plan shows the ground sloping away from the house. in addition to not knowing what the building code requires, apparently the inspectors can't read plans. even so, how can one not see the difference between a hill and a swale?
2. even though shenandoah county's building official told me that the county was going to cite toothman for violating the buiding code, shenandoah county did not. when asked to explain why the county wasn't citing the builder for a building code violation, the building official told me that he chose instead to "reach out" (his words) to toothman. what?!?
3. shenandoah county's attorney, who works for a private law firm in the neighboring county, wrote us threatening letters.
http://mindsofmush.blogspot.com/2018/08/how-shenandoah-co-va-mishandled-clear.html
https://mindsofmush.blogspot.com/2018/09/another-letter-from-jordan-bowman-sigh.html
what?!?
4. it doesn't pass the smell test.
alan toothman construction, inc.
woodstock
virginia
shenandoah county
building official
mark griffey
attorney
jordan bowman
strasburg
conrad helsley
stony pointe
answer: angry homeowners with poorly engineered and constructed new houses.
bad science
1. ground that slopes towards the house, instead of away from the house, as the virginia building code and the approved grading plan require. result: flooded crawl space. https://www.prettypurpledoor.com/yard-grading-how-to-grade-a-yard/ Amy knows this! How come a virginia builder and shenandoah county's building official, shenandoah county building inspectors, and shenandoah county's attorney, who handles building code violations, don't?!? bad science.
2. level roof gutters that overflow and add to the crawl space flooding. how come builder toothman doesn't know Why Gutter Slope is Essential to Your Home? when I asked toothman why all of the roof gutters are level, she said "they're all that way." great!!! all of the roof gutters on toothman's new houses are level!!! bad science
3. flexible plastic pipes connected to downspouts with high and low points and buried outlet ends. how dumb is that?!?
our house came with level roof gutters and 5 downspouts--3 with flexible plastic pipe attached to them and 2 with splash blocks. the outlet ends of 2 of the 3 downspouts with flexible plastic pipe attached were buried.
I notified the builder when rain from one of the downspouts with splash blocks missed the splash block and went into the below ground access well to the crawl space. the builder replaced the splash block with a buried flexible pipe and extended the buried flexible pipe on one of the buried plastic pipes.
later, after a heavy rain, water from the roof backed up in the other pipe with the buried outlet end, backed up in the downspout, and backed up in the level roof gutter such that all of the runoff coming from that section of the roof was overflowing the level roof gutter. it washed out a slope onto my neighbor's driveway. when I told toothman, she said "we would never bury the outlet end". this after toothman had already unburied 1 of the 2 buried outlet ends on our property! talk about dishonest!
roof drainage should flow by gravity, which requires a straight grade--no dips or high points and open outlet ends. water and air trapped in flexible plastic pipes by low and high spots require pressure to flow. when water backs up in downspouts, they leak, and the weight of the stored water can cause downspouts to break away from the house. bad science.
4. holes in the foundation wall: MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head. what?!? bad science.
5. a room where the temperature is ten degrees colder than the thermostat temperature. (the thermostat is located in the hallway 10 ft. from the cold room.) bad science.
poor construction
1. floors with low spots that go BANG! when you walk on them.
2. gutters that leak and a downspout that empties into the below ground, crawl space access door well.
3. a foul odor coming from the bathroom sink.
4. sloppy trim.
shenandoah county, virginia's poor inspection and followup failures
1. during and following construction shenandoah county's building inspectors failed to identify that the ground sloped towards the house instead of away from the house. this is a clear violation of virginia's building code. also, the approved grading plan shows the ground sloping away from the house. in addition to not knowing what the building code requires, apparently the inspectors can't read plans. even so, how can one not see the difference between a hill and a swale?
2. even though shenandoah county's building official told me that the county was going to cite toothman for violating the buiding code, shenandoah county did not. when asked to explain why the county wasn't citing the builder for a building code violation, the building official told me that he chose instead to "reach out" (his words) to toothman. what?!?
3. shenandoah county's attorney, who works for a private law firm in the neighboring county, wrote us threatening letters.
http://mindsofmush.blogspot.com/2018/08/how-shenandoah-co-va-mishandled-clear.html
https://mindsofmush.blogspot.com/2018/09/another-letter-from-jordan-bowman-sigh.html
what?!?
4. it doesn't pass the smell test.
citizens of shenandoah county, virginia and elsewhere:
- you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
- you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
- you deserve county and state government that defends you--not lawbreaking builders
➤ SPEAK OUT
➤ SPREAD THE WORD
➤ VOTE alan toothman construction, inc.
woodstock
virginia
shenandoah county
building official
mark griffey
attorney
jordan bowman
strasburg
conrad helsley
stony pointe
Sunday, November 25, 2018
the future is now! welcome to the DSE (the old USA).
the future is now!
voting for a republican or a democrat is a vote for the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings.
even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their candidates.
nothing will be better for our country.
welcome to the Divided States of Extremism (DSE)--the old USA.
leader of the extreme left
leader of the extreme right
had enough?
who do you trust?
- an extremist?
- an uncompromising, dogmatic ideologue?
- an uncompromising, dogmatic ideologue?
- or a person who may not share all of the views of others, but is willing to work with others for the good of the country?
- or do you trust the republican and democratic parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire extremist PACs that supply candidates for public office?
to fix our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for republican and democratic party candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward.
voting for a republican or a democrat is a vote for the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings.
public domain
in the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican.
even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their candidates.
nothing will be better for our country.
the same goes for biased media--stop patronizing divisive, biased media and they'll go out of business. nothing will be better for the USA.
Monday, November 12, 2018
the bad news: our two-party system of government is broken. the good news: it's easy to fix.
"At this point, the only reason left to support this President, is that he reflects your hateful heart; he shares your contempt of people of color, your hostility toward outsiders, your toxic misogyny, your ignorant bigotry, your feeling of supremacy."
Good People Don't Defend A Bad Man
.jpg)
voting for a republican or a democrat is a vote for the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings.
even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their candidates.
nothing will be better for our country.
Good People Don't Defend A Bad Man
.jpg){kind=link}
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
had enough?
who do you trust?
- a bad man?
- or a good man or woman?
- or do you trust the republican and democratic parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs and supply candidates for public office?
to fix our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for republican and democratic party candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward.
voting for a republican or a democrat is a vote for the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings.
public domain
in the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican.
even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their candidates.
nothing will be better for our country.
the same goes for biased media--stop patronizing divisive, biased media and they'll go out of business. nothing will be better for the USA.
Saturday, November 10, 2018
ludicrous trump
Dictionary
lu·di·crous
lu·di·crous
/ˈlo͞odÉ™krÉ™s/
adjective
so foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing; ridiculous.
"it's ludicrous that I have been fined"
synonyms: absurd, ridiculous, farcical, laughable, risible, preposterous, foolish,
mad, insane, idiotic, stupid, inane, silly, asinine, nonsensical;
" "a ludicrous idea""informalcrazy
had enough?
image by Evan Guest
who do you trust? ludicrous trump? or do you trust the republican and democratic parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs and supply candidates for public office?
to fix our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for republican and democratic party candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward.
voting for a republican or a democrat is a vote for the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings.
public domain
even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their candidates.
nothing will be better for our country.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
shenandoah county virginia fails to cite lawbreaking builder opting instead to write threatening letters to law-abiding homeowners
- file a building code violation with the county building official. include a request for a meeting with county officials if the violation is rejected.
- building official says that he will notify the builder of the violation.
- building official does not issue a notification of violation to the builder.
- the county attorney writes threatening letters to homeowner.
- the meeting that the homeowner requested with county decision makers doesn't happen.
- the end--there is no recourse for the homeowner.
virginia hands over supreme authority for building code violations to county lightweights. shame on you, virginia! where else in the USA does one level of government (local, state or national) or branch of government have supreme authority? overseen by and answerable to no one? answer: nowhere. virginia, you've created a stinking mess.
citizens of shenandoah county, you should know when your county government defends a lawbreaking builder instead of its own law-abiding citizens.
citizens of shenandoah county:
- you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
- you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
- you deserve county and state government that defends you, not lawbreaking builders
➤ SPEAK OUT
➤ SPREAD THE WORD
➤ VOTE
➤ SPREAD THE WORD
➤ VOTE
virginia
shenandoah county building inspection and code enforcement
county attorney
strasburg
stony pointe
alan toothman construction, inc.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
serial creeps
Kremlin.ru [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Voice of America [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
who do you trust?
- mussolini? hitler? putin? trump?
- amoral people?
- or people with similar values to yours?
- or do you trust the republican and democratic parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs and supply candidates for public office?
- or do you trust the republican and democratic parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs and supply candidates for public office?
to fix our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for republican and democratic party candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward.
voting for a republican or a democrat is a vote for the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings.
public domain
even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their candidates.
nothing will be better for our country.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
compendium: shenandoah county, virginia & builder alan toothman construction, inc. don't pass the smell test
citizens of shenandoah county, you should know when your county government defends a lawbreaking builder instead of its own law-abiding citizens.
citizens of shenandoah county:
- you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
- you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
- you deserve county and state government that defends you, not lawbreaking builders
➤ SPEAK OUT
➤ SPREAD THE WORD
➤ VOTE
➤ SPREAD THE WORD
➤ VOTE
virginia
shenandoah county
building inspection and code enforcement
county attorney
strasburg
stony pointe
alan toothman construction, inc.
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