TreatyOak

Questions for the professionals. My neighbor priced his home last year at $4.25M. My business partner, (who is a real estate agent on the side), says it's worth around $2.5M. He pulled it down after 3/4 of a year and has it back on at $3.95. How dangerous is it to overvalue the price of your home when selling? Do buyers really care how long a house has been on the market? Does it help you to pull a house that's been on the market for a long time, then re-list it? Is it wise to try to hold out for some really wealthy person who doesn't care about price to fall In love with it? Thanks,

Totally. Did they really think that spending all that time bonding over that stupid bonfire was making a difference in the world?

Yes, to clarify, that was an actual letter sent to the president of Texas A&M following the collapse. As if continuing that idiotic, destructive waste of time would somehow mean those 12 people who died (and the 27 injured, some losing limbs) didn't "die in vain." That inconsiderate moron can go fuck himself. Young people died for absolutely no good reason whatsoever and families were ruined.

I didn't live in Texas at the time, so I've been reading about the bonfire tragedy this week due to all the posts here. I can honestly say that the bonfire event and the subsequent tragedy is the most stupid, pointless and Aggy thing of all time. I have to revisit the quote from one of the participants. The criminal negligence and lack of adult-level decision making of this event is astounding. How did the school get off so easy? “I believe this is a tragedy that no amount of foresight or no amount of prevention or no amount of anything could have stopped, prevented or even told us what was coming."

Here are more observations from the Texas Monthly article followed by a very Aggie quote from one of the idiots who worked on the stack: The ground sloped. The area on which Bonfire was built dropped one to two feet toward the southeast — the direction in which the stack fell. The stack was overloaded on the uphill side. Several witness statements included this observation. Students standing on top of the tiers noted that the extra logs on the west side left less room for walking than was available on the opposite side. The stack was top-heavy. The partially completed structure had already exceeded the university’s 55-foot height limit by 4 feet, with two more tiers and 16 feet left to go. The stack was “loose.” The center pole was flawed. A day before the collapse, a crane hit a crosstie — a piece of lumber that was nailed to the pole to help guide logs — and sent a jolt through the stack that was noticeable to students. “I believe this is a tragedy that no amount of foresight or no amount of prevention or no amount of anything could have stopped, prevented or even told us what was coming." The article is really good and I assume has been published here previously, but here it is again.

This actual quote was published in the 2000 Texas Monthly magazine story following the collapse of the bonfire: “It is not the Aggie spirit to accept defeat. We do not wish to have these fine Aggies who have given their lives to have died in vain. AGGIE BONFIRE MUST CONTINUE AND DAMN THE TORPEDOES. . . . there must be a continuation of Aggie Bonfires, even if it doesn’t seem wise.” An Aggie Dad

This is the funniest, most messed-up thing I've heard in quite some time. I can't stop laughing. We need to get this in front of Aggy. A banner at the upcoming game would be nice. Who's in?

Watched this very good documentary on YouTube: A few points. Didn't realize this happened at night. Drinking on the job, working round the clock and unqualified, unsupervised management. What could go wrong? Other collapses have happened but luckily, no one was on the structure at the time. Aggies are dumb.

Of course I don't have the whole story, but does the esteemed engineering professor Loren D. Lutes come across as a bit of a wuss? So according to Lutes, "many structural engineering faculty members are well aware of Teddy's unsuccessful attempt to have the design of the stack altered," and there is a "general agreement" among A&M engineers that the design is "unstable." So he bravely pens a letter to president Ray Bowen AFTER the tragedy. Got it. Way to go, Lutes. Way to step and save the day.

I know I post a lot of stupid stuffer here to get laughs, but this is going to be serious post. I'm really, really scared of Texas A&M. They are back with a new energy and determination. They've won championships with players from small towns before. They could very well do it again. And now, they are discussing bringing the bonfire BACK ON CAMPUS. We simply don't have the traditions to combat this kind of commitment. And even worse, THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED THE PREVIOUS MISTAKES SO ANY BONFIRE BUILT ON CAMPUS WILL HAVE POLES DRILLED INTO THE GROUND. Consider this current post from Texags: "The reason stack fell, started circa 95,96. I commented to the wife in 97, something is not right! Stack was falling every year in less than 15 minutes. In 97 98? It fell before the war hymn was over! What happend? Bonfire has center pole. You are supposed to go out about 6 feet and drop another 12 mini center poles 5 feet deep. Go out another 5 feet drop 20 center poles, and continue. When stack is done it has 80 poles 5 feet in the ground. It physically cannot really fall over if the thing is anywherer remotely close to balanced. Circa 95 that stopped happening. There were zero poles in the ground in 99." That's right. They solved it. The National Championship is coming home to College Station.

Are there any articles documenting this? I would like to read it.

Thank heavens it isn't dated-looking at all.

Did you mention RT? He’s ass, my dude.

I don't appreciate you coming here and calling us morons. Dumb fucks is more appropriate.

Master storyteller Flemlo Raps looks at the life of Vince. It's a very sympathetic profile. Part 2 comes out next week.

There’s a lot of people w expertise in this thread and I’ve learned a lot. From my untrained perspective, it seems the most high-end properties are relatively unaffected by the downturn in sales prices. All the reductions are really hitting the mid-level inventory. Can someone corroborate this or tell me if this is wrong?

Rodney Terry as coach is death by a thousand cuts. He's good enough to keep the program in a positive place, but not good enough at coaching or attracting talent to make the team a true contender. He's a perfect corporate CEO, as he will keep his job by offending the least number of people possible, but not visionary enough to make a real impact. I can see him here for decades.

Oh, thanks heavens it happened at 4:41 am. Whew! I thought it was at 5:40 am. That would have looked much worse. Now his draft stock won't be affected at all!

1. Very cool that you are a lawyer. That is impressive. 2.Just my wishful thinking. In an ideal world, 100% of of people who are impaired would find a way to get alternative transportation to get home, but sadly, we have a lot of really stupid and selfish people in this world.

100%?

This is brilliant. Thanks so very much. Very simple and smart.