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PaperclipPerfector  15hr ago (text post)   392 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 14, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Court saga:

  • A municipality has an ordinance requiring a towing company that operates in the municipality to have a storage lot within the municipality.

  • 2013: A towing company with a storage lot in an adjacent municipality sues, arguing that the ordinance violates a state law that requires municipal towing ordinances to be "non-discriminatory and non-exclusionary".

  • 2015: The municipality settles the lawsuit by agreeing to change the ordinance to require a towing company to have a storage facility within five miles (eight kilometers) of the center of the municipality, as the crow flies. (Unfortunately, this lawsuit is too old for any of its documents to be available in the state's online judicial database.)

  • February 2020: A second towing company with a storage lot 5.6 miles (9 kilometers) from the center of the municipality sues, arguing that the new ordinance still violates the state law.

  • October 2020: The trial judge dismisses the lawsuit, finding that the five-mile radius is a reasonable method of ensuring convenience for the municipality's residents.

  • 2022: The appeals panel vacates and remands for further proceedings. The municipality never actually stated on the record its rationale for the five-mile radius (other than that it included the first company), so the judge had no basis to infer a rationale.

  • 2024: The municipality states on the record that the five-mile radius was picked as a "reasonable distance" for the convenience of its residents and police officers. The trial judge rejects the second company's arguments that any radius not measured from the edge of the municipality (which is approximately an 8 mi × 3 mi (13 km × 5 km) rectangle) or along roads is unreasonable, finds the five-mile radius reasonable, and dismisses the lawsuit.

  • 2025: The appeals panel affirms.

Here is an extra-detailed floor plan for a two-story house.

  • Dashed lines: Footings, foundation walls

  • Solid lines: Rooms, drywall, studs, sheathing, continuous insulation, portals, doors, door swings, windows

  • Dotted lines: Roof overhang, gutters

The footings, insulation, and rafters are based on the harsh climate of Fairbanks, Alaska (snow load 67 lb/ft2), and can be reduced in size if the house is built in a warmer location. (The International Residential Code's prescriptive tables top out at 70 lb/ft2, so for anything higher than that an engineered design is required. The highest snow load listed in the International Building Code (for ASCE 7 risk category II, which applies to houses) is 432 lb/ft2 in Whittier, Alaska, which is warmer than Fairbanks but has a wetter climate.)

Fun fact: If you are nostalgic for the days when gamepads were as light as feathers, you may be able to drastically cut down on weight by simply removing the rumble motors! The linked guide instructs you to desolder the wires, but merely cutting them works just as well if you are removing the motors rather than replacing them.

What's with the doors opening into each other?

IMO, it's an obvious way to waste less area on door arcs.

Is this allowed by the fire code? IMO, it's a terrible way to save space, too.

Is this allowed by the fire code?

I see no prohibition in International Residential Code § R318. It does contravene International Building Code § 1010.1.7, but that doesn't apply to houses.

IMO, it's a terrible way to save space, too.

Maybe if you constantly leave doors wide open rather than ajar or closed. I personally do not do that.

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