Saw WoA was $40 in the Steam sale, but I can't justify paying that much for a two year old game when I already own 1 and 2 and played the first three missions of 3 via Game Pass... there really should've been a way to discount it for existing owners of 1 and 2, like many other bundles on Steam do when you already own some content.
Is there any remaining way to buy/subscribe to play only 3, or should I just wait till the game is far more deeply discounted a few years from now? Don't necessarily care about carrying over my unlocks from the first two games.

TL;DR - If you're familiar with or have been to southern Utah, then you may have been to Sand Hollow or Sand Mountain in St. George, UT. There's a land swap proposed between the BLM and a land developer that would trade 1050 acres of BLM land for 89 acres the land developer currently owns. If you have time, please submit a public comment via email to blm_ut_sgfo_[email protected] and express your concerns.
The Issue:
BLM and the Washington County Water Conservancy District have proposed a land exchange that would involve swapping 1050 acres of the Western Edge of Sand Mountain near Warner Valley with 89 acres of land in Washington near Green Springs, apparently owned by His Family/Brennan. Washington County is designated as the Facilitator of the Exchange. You can learn more at the BLM E Planning website, EplanningUi (blm.gov). You can also see the Public Scoping Notice which is attached.
We also obtained plans by the City of Washington to annex much of the acquired area into their City, which may be a significant influence in the exchange.
The proposed action just entered the Public Scoping phase, which is scheduled to conclude at 5:00 PM on April 13, 2023. UPLA, DRATS, Mayor Nanette Billings (Hurricane), BlueRibbon Coalition, and Tri State ATV have been meeting with BLM, Water Conservancy, and the City of Washington to learn more about the project.
We were previously informed when the reservoir was done, we would lose the lower parts of Fault Line and Sandcutter, as well as the camping/staging area near Hwy 7, but when we learned that, we constructed the Ridgeline Trail at substantial expense to maintain access from Warner Valley.
We are extremely concerned for many reasons, including the following:

• BLM will give up 1050 acres of Sand Mountain in exchange for 89 acres in St George
• We will lose access to the West Rim Trail, the Restroom on Pipeline Road, the disbursed camping areas, and possibly the Ridgeline Trail we constructed to mitigate the reservoir loss.
• We will lose staging and camping in Warner Valley
• There has apparently been no decision about what agency would oversee recreation in the newly acquired area, but it seems likely it will become a fee area.
• If access to Sand Mountain is impaired from Washington Dam, it will impact the load on other roads including our newly constructed Waddy’s Corral Staging area.
• We are extremely concerned that the City of Washington will be annexing the land surrounding Pipeline Road and West Rim, and that they may permit development on top of the Rim; the views over a lake will skyrocket land values. Development would bring a whole host of issues including loss of the tremendous views from above by having buildings/homes on top of the ridge, user conflicts between residents/occupants and OHV users.
• We only have 30 days to inform the public and submit scoping comments.

We have been working hard on this for 4 weeks to get this information. This is the part where we need you!
What we need you to do:

• Submit Your Comments Electronically using your choice of methods:

1. By email sent to [blm_ut_sgfo_[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with a copy to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
2. Visiting Blueribbon Coalition’s Action Alert at https://www.sharetrails.org/stop-the-sale-of-sand-mountain/#/104/
3. The deadline has been extended till Midnight April 19, 2023.

• Stay Engaged. We are only in the first inning of an overtime game. If you’re not getting the UPLA and DRATS Emails, sign up for them today to stay informed. UPLA site link.

Following is a brief description of the Scoping process in the NEPA Review that may guide you in formulating your questions/comments for the meeting. We will have a handout for you when you enter the meeting.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to involve the public in the planning process and seek their input through a scoping process. Effective NEPA scoping comments for BLM should pose the questions or issues to be looked at, not provide answers.

1. Specific information about the proposed project and its potential impacts on the environment and local communities.
2. Identification of any alternatives to the proposed project that could mitigate or avoid potential negative impacts.
3. Discussion of the potential cumulative effects of the proposed project in combination with other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions.
4. Analysis of potential impacts on wildlife, water resources, cultural and historic resources, and other sensitive environmental resources.
5. Request for meaningful public participation throughout the NEPA process, including opportunities for public comment and involvement in decision-making.
6. Request for transparency and disclosure of all relevant information, including scientific data and analysis, underlying assumptions, and potential conflicts of interest.
7. Discussion of any potential economic impacts of the proposed project, including impacts on local jobs, property values, and tax revenue.
8. Recommendation for monitoring and mitigation measures to minimize or address any adverse environmental impacts.
9. Discussion of any potential long-term impacts of the proposed project on the environment and local communities.
10. Request for BLM to consider the full range of alternatives and potential impacts, rather than limiting the analysis to a narrow set of options.

MMCC had a meeting today (first since December)
Key takeaways:
Will T said the new cannabis legislation repeals all of the old medical statutes. This would mean high allotment folks will have possession limits reduced on 7/1 to 120 grams flowe36concentrate.
There are new reports available: patient survey, baseline study. I also found the home grow study. Lots to discuss. Links in next post due to spam filter.
MMCC is ready for legalization including plans for getting the regulations done by 7/1 (again implying sales would start on 7/1) and doing consumer awareness ahead of time.
​
Will Tilburg reported:
total patients in the 160K range
new patient and caregiver applications being turned around in a couple of days
card printing has caught up, now just at 2 week delay.
a bunch of new jobs have been posted (including a social media director), first candidates start onboarding in a couple weeks.
IT has new "dashboard" project in the works
​
Dawn Berkowitz (Deputy Director) reported:
1) patient survey results are in. 13K patients responded. A lot more patients are daily users than I would have suspected. Some other surprising numbers. Link coming (Reddit filters thread starters with doc links)
2) baseline study has been completed. I was in the middle of this one already - it's 74 pages. It's worth a read.
3) education campaign - MMCC is planning a consumer awareness campaign for legalization including web, tv and social media efforts. They are also developing materials for dispensaries and planning a website upgrade.
​
Andrew Garrison (Policy Director) reported: He has a team working with legislators and gave the commission a much shorter version of what I already bore you to death with. He did report working through the weekend for crossover day frenzy in the legislature.
The rest of the meeting was approving transfers, relocations and granting a 6 month extension on pending licenses. Did you know Herbiculture wants a grow and process license?

A bit of information
Married 29M, 27F
NW 1.9M
Income ~380k per year combined
I am currently working a government job, and have a sole proprietorship engineering firm in the odd hours and leaving the government job in may.
LCOL area
Seeking advice on how to properly write a proposal and not be burned taking over my fathers business, as well as questions I should be asking that I may not have, and any advice from redditors that may be in similar situations.
I am a sole proprietor and own my engineering firm. Started it 10 months ago and looking at ~170k in sales for the first tax year. My wife is currently working at the chemical plant, and this was very intentional.
​
My father in law recently passed away and this has spurred some large conversations with my dad. He is the sole owner of a small chemical company that does ~10 million in sales per year, and he is wanting to make me the president of it, we have discussed him selling as well as placing it in a trust. Over the last 30 years the best the company has netted him is 1m in a year, at the worst he has lost about 200k. For the most part he has averaged a net income of 560k per year.
My business and the chemical plant are in related fields, and they would compliment each other very well. The company has been in stagnation for about 7 years, and has not taken on much risk. I have quite a few immediate avenues open where I could ramp up cash flow.
​
Option 1:
Buy the business outright, I have an SBA Loan that myself and my engineering firm qualifies for, and have a pre qualification letter for 3 million. We have spoken about a sales price of 2 million, but don't have anything in writing. 8.6% interest rate.
Option 2:
Place the business into a trust, I would be designated trustee and named the president of the company. My dad would get 250k/year till the day he passes upon which time it would transfer to my mom. I don't know the specifics, but have a trust company we are working with.
Option 3:
Something I might be missing.

Something's missing. People (and entities) are starting to notice.
First Previous
***
Far across the multiverse in a tavern that, depending on one’s point of view, may or may not have actually existed, Zeb, Petunia, Bethany, Bergamot, Cleve, and Zilandrial sat at a large wooden table.
“Thank you, Shauna,” Bergamot said as a buxom woman in a low-cut peasant dress filled their mugs with a “magic” pitcher of beer that never ran dry. “You don’t have to serve us, you know.”
“Oh, I know,” Shauna replied brightly, “but I am a barmaid. Besides, I am not giving up my magic pitcher!” she added with a laugh. “The next batch of stew should be out in a second.”
“If it is as good as this bread…” Cleve said, holding up a thick, floppy piece of flatbread.
“Better!” Shauna exclaimed. “The pantry keeps filling back up with the best stuff! It’s almost a shame to make stew out of it, but the “fancy” chef went to the “fancy” place. We just figured out the roaster thingy, so we’ll be serving roast fowl as soon as the first batch cooks!”
Shauna paused and took a big drink from her pitcher.
“It turns out that you just had to talk to it. Weird… But no weirder than anything else, I suppose. You guys want to wait for the roast fowl?”
“We shouldn’t tary,” Zeb replied, “We don’t know how long this blessed peace will last.”
“Maybe it’s over?” Bethany the Tinker, now reunited with her beloved hat, asked.
“One can hope,” Zeb shrugged as he drank deeply from his tankard, “but I’m not delaying my repast, and neither should you. When you have fiends like Pantsu and F10w3rchy1d in play, things can get much worse than they already are.”
“Worse?!?” Bergamot exclaimed in horror.
***
Melinda the Stalwart was starting to believe that she should have stayed in bed today.
It was supposed to be her day off! Yeah, things were starting to get “weird,” but with all of those high-rated champions running around up north, it was probably going to get handled pretty quickly… and she was tired of chasing around after their scraps.
Her copper-rated ass was sitting this one out. The fact that everyone had gone gank-crazy just further confirmed that she had the right idea.
So, she decided to head back to the royal city of Raven’s Peak to take advantage of the richer and more powerful adventurers running off to the north, leaving all the armorers, enchanters, alchemists, and publicans in town behind.
It was nice not constantly getting shoved out of the way by stronger champions and ignored by shopkeepers far more interested in their gold than her silver for once.
It started out as such a lovely day, too!
She awoke in a lovely bed at the Blade and Wand, her absolute favorite inn, and a place where it was nearly impossible to get a room without a reservation or a lot more status than she had. There, she enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, at a discounted rate no less, and then went out for a day of crowd-free shopping!
It. Was. Bliss! There were no lines, and all of the storekeepers and craftsmen were all too happy to not only serve her and her meager purse but actually take time to chat!
Then, for lunch, she decided to visit the main branch of the adventurer’s guild, where she had an honest-to-gosh hamburger and fries along with some cider. After that, the plan was to get some training or maybe buy a buff or two…
Well, that was the plan, anyway.
What actually happened was that her wonderful burger, which she could never get under normal circumstances (they were always sold out before a copper-rated nobody could get their coppers taken), was interrupted by the most unholy screams she had ever heard inside or outside a dungeon.
She barely had time to stand before the doors to the guild offices exploded outward, and a demon covered in spikes and flames charged into the main hall.
That looks just like the guildmaster, was about all she had time to think before the fiend was on her.
***
“What’s happening?!?” Melinda cried in terror as she hurtled through absolutely nothing.
(Shh bby is ok)
“H-hello?” she called.
(😊)
“W-who are you? What happened to me?”
(Shh bby is ok)
“Am I… Am I dead?!?”
(is ok)
“Oh, it is definitely NOT okay! Who are you, and what the hell happened?”
The bedbug sighed with exasperation as it bounced off an invisible barrier again.
It had taken too long. The soul was starting to wake up.
Before much longer, it would start to get wiggly. It hated it when they began to wiggle.
Not knowing exactly what else to do, it let out a little ping.
It was answered by thousands of its kind! They couldn’t get through either, so they were having a rave! Awesome!
With a happy little (woo!), it zipped off towards the largest concentration of pings dragging an increasingly indignant Melinda the Stalwart along whether she wanted to or not.
***
“Hahaha!” Tawdry laughed into a prepaid “burner phone” her parents didn’t know about. “I can’t be-lieve you got me fucking grounded, you skank!”
“You’re still grounded?” Claudia snickered, “You diminished that badly?”
“It’s my parents. I managed to talk them down to a week without brain fucking them too hard. Besides, this cell is a lot nicer than the holes you used to stick me in. I’ll just do my time and be done with it. Besides, it will give our friends time to leave town since someone can’t manage to find a freaking truck.”
“First of all, fuck you,” Claudia laughed, “Second of all, thanks for getting that bastard to show up in a park and chase you across all of that nice soft turf. We got a lot of data we didn’t have before.”
“Like what?”
“Like its estimated mass, tire treads, a few lovely material samples where it nailed a park bench while trying to kill you… oh, and confirmation that it actually materializes and dematerializes. We can only assume the little bitch does the same thing. Too bad you couldn’t actually lay hands on her.”
“She was slippery, okay?” Tawdry chuckled.
“Hey,” Claudia said, “before Evika and her party ganked you, did they say anything about whom they were working for, or did they mention a little blonde girl named Petunia… or Pantsu?”
“No, they just said hi and blew my head off. Oh! Stephen did say that David finally confessed to Evika!”
“Took him long enough,” Claudia laughed, “Think he has a chance?”
“I know he has one,” Tawdry replied, “Evika’s gonna drop those drawers any second.”
“Good for her.”
“You said that Robert the Golden Peckerhead got sent back?”
“Yeah, and he is not adjusting well,” Claudia replied, “We have him in a ‘special’ inpatient facility where we are keeping the people with ‘issues’.”
“You got a lot of ‘patients’?”
“Not as many as you would think,” Claudia said, “Not everyone is happy about things, but there is something to be said about not having to sleep with a dagger under your pillow.”
“True that,” Tawdry replied. “High school is a pain, but being able to go out for pizza without an enraged wife (or husband) trying to shank you is nice.”
“Careful,” Claudia laughed, “Enraged spouses here might have a gun. You might want to go easy on the adultery this time around. There is also no magic contraception, and cure disease potions aren’t for sale in every town.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Tawdry groaned. “Doesn’t really matter, though. I might as well be a nun these days.”
“You can’t be diminished that much!”
“I am not into kids, and any man worth screwing isn’t into jailbait. I’m the exact opposite of screwed… Speaking of, you did mention a possible trip to Denmark?”
“Aren’t you grounded?”
“I won’t be next week!”
“And how will you explain your sex tourism to your folks?”
“Let me worry about my folks,” Tawdry replied, “You worry about that plane ticket!”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Claudia replied with a chuckle.
Natasha! Come down for dinner!
“I’ll be right there!” Tawdry yelled.
“I gotta go. It’s taco night…”
Tawdry grinned.
“Speaking of tacos, did you get that camel toe fixed yet?”
“And just when we were even, too!” Claudia laughed. “Your little suggestion has everyone looking at my snatch… including me, and I know it’s bullshit!”
“Ha! Is your new fuck toy looking?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Detective Martin! I know you have a thing for that whole world-weary crusader vibe. And don’t think I didn’t see you checking out his ass, either.”
“I have the same problem you do,” Claudia sighed, “worse even. The sort of man I like certainly won’t be messing around with a ‘kid’, even if I am ‘legal’.”
“Yeah, you do like them a bit crusty, don’t you? How about finding some rich asshole who is having a mid-life crisis?”
“I will repeat myself. The sort of man I would like isn’t interested… and won’t be for years.”
“Meh. You’re not giving yourself enough credit… and giving them far too much of it.”
“Well, Slaker turned me down cold… goddamn chain of command…”
“No! You tried to give it up to Slaker?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time…”
“No way! I need details, all of them!”
“Well…”
Natasha! Dinner!
“I have to go,” Tawdry said, “but this is not over!”
***
Vroom? an old Peterbilt truck revved as it sat in a remote corner of a truck stop in the middle of nowhere.
“Still nothing,” the little girl huffed. “How can an entire universe disappear?”
Vroom… Vroom?
“Let’s hope not,” the girl replied, “Even so, he wouldn’t abandon us!”
“What?” the spirit asked with alarm.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” the little girl replied.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“Okay,” the little girl replied, “There is a remote chance that our boss has had to… um… cease operations and relocate. It hasn’t happened in a really long time, but it has happened.”
“Does that mean that I’m stuck?!?”
“No, of course not. It just means we might have to wait until we’re collected.”
Vroom.
“He won’t forget us!”
VroOoom…
“Hey! Don’t even start talking like that! We’ve done good work for the boss on several worlds. He won’t just discard us!”
“What do you mean, discard?”
“Just watch your anime, weeb,” the little girl snapped. “He hasn’t abandoned us, and he won’t forget us. He’s just… um…”
Vroom.
“I don’t know, alright!” the little girl replied angrily, “I have no idea where those others came from. All I know is that we didn’t squish them.”
VvvrOom.
“If he had another team, I would know about it!”
Vroom?
“I just would, okay! WE AREN’T GETTING REPLACED!... I’m… I’m going to get some air, maybe a Coke or something.”
The little girl threw open the door to the cab angrily and hopped out.
“Hey!” the spirit yelled, “See if they have any audiobooks!”
***
We’ve been abandoned… the little girl thought to herself as she prowled the truck stop trying not to panic.
She had to keep it together for Truck-Kun… and their new companion. If she fell apart, Truck-Kun would, too, and who knows what the spirit would do. He was two seconds from making another run for it as it was.
She paused by a rack of dusty old audiobooks on CD. Now that wasn’t something she had seen in a bit.
Thankful for the distraction, she started perusing the titles. Some of them were things she hadn’t already read (or listened to).
She grabbed a few for herself and then started looking for something appropriately nerdy for her new guest.
She might have murdered them in cold blood, but that was no reason not to be a good host.
She was so distracted by her own troubles and the audiobooks that she didn’t notice that she was being followed until the guy’s shadow fell around her.
She then became aware of his oily aura and smiled.
All work and no play…
“Hello, little girl…”
She looked up at him with an innocent expression and doe-like eyes.
“Hi.”
***
Truck-Kun quietly ground his gears as he watched a beat-up RV pull onto the highway.
Vroom, he grumbled as he put himself in gear and started to follow.
“What?” the spirit asked.
About half an hour later, Truck-Kun pulled over next to an RV that was parked on the side of the highway.
The door opened, and the little girl hopped out, holding a paper bag.
Vroom, the truck revved disapprovingly.
“Such a nice man,” the little girl said impishly as she plopped into the driver’s seat, and the truck drove away.
“Are those bloodstains?” the spirit asked as he pointed at the bag.
“What answer would you prefer?” the girl asked as she pulled out a half-filled fifth of vodka and most of a pack of smokes graciously donated by the nice man in the RV (it wasn’t like he was going to be needing them).
Vroom.
“I know I quit,” the girl replied as she put one in her mouth. “Give me a break. My nerves are shot.”
Vroom.
“Yes, shot enough to smoke menthols!”
The little girl lit up and drew heavily on the cigarette, exhaling a lovely smoke ring.
Vroom!
“So, crack a window!”
Vroom! Vroom! Vrooooom!
“You can’t smell, and you know it! So please, cut me some slack. I’ve had a bad day,” she said as she turned up the bottle of vodka like it was Juicy Juice.
Vroom!
“I know you’ve had a bad day, too,” the girl said as she wiped her mouth, “Want me to get you some fuel treatment at the next stop, maybe some starting fluid?”
Vroom.
“Okay, and a new air freshener, maybe some of those fuzzy dice you like? Deal?”
Vroom!… Vroom?
“As a matter of fact,” the little girl said as she pulled out a wad of bills. “the nice man did keep his cash on him.”
Vroom! the truck revved happily.
***
“Jesus!” Gary Martin, formerly Detective Martin, winced as he looked inside an abandoned old RV the following day.
“Say what you want about her,” Claudia Smythe said as she ate a corn dog. “but she is thorough.”
“We think the girl did this?”
“Matches her MO,” Claudia shrugged as she flicked the corn dog stick aside. “And we have surveillance footage at the truck stop. The asshole was talking to someone small, the cameras didn’t get a good shot of the kid, and eyewitnesses state that he was in the company of his ‘daughter’ when he left.”
“You said this was her MO. She’s done this before?” Gary asked.
“She rolls guys like this for their pocket change. We’re not sure if it’s how they finance their operations or if she just does it for fun, but this is the third one this year.”
A well-dressed and very young man in sunglasses approached the pair.
“Sir Lark,” Claudia said without turning around. “We have an ID on this guy yet?”
“Boris Veetch,” the young man said. “a registered sex offender with an active warrant for skipping out on his parole.”
“Yeah, she likes those,” Claudia shrugged. “Nobody will mourn his passing. He was easily ensnared, and he probably was carrying cash.”
“And she is professional bait,” Gary shrugged. “He was slime, but I’m not sure even he deserved what happened to him, though. What sort of monster would do something like this?”
“You just answered your own question,” Claudia replied, “a monster.”
“If you think this is bad," Lark said as he started photographing the scene, "You should see what a pack of goblins will do if they get the chance."
“Considering what we now know,” Claudia said with a shrug, “this trail is beyond cold. Even if they couldn’t do the whole disappearing act, they could be in any of several states by now. We’ve lost them… again.”
She looked over at Gary.
“Just as well,” she added, “We need to get you processed and briefed… agent.”
She smiled.
“Welcome to the Temporal Protection Agency.”
***
Deep within the deepest dungeon on Asteria Prime, a monstrous giant of a spider fidgeted uncomfortably.
“H-hello… boss,” it said nervously, “T-to w-what do we owe the honor of your visit?”
Frostie smiled an icy smile that filled the giant spider with horror.
“Oh, I was just in the area and thought I would give my friends here,” she said, indicating The Great Erectus, The Herald, and Cuddles, “a tour.”
“O-of c-course!” Log’Sharingoth LXXXIII stammered as their legs twitched miserably. “W-would you like a guide?”
“That would be lovely,” Frostie smiled. “Where’s Pantsu? I think she and The Big Guy over here would get along famously.”
“S-she isn’t available, boss.”
“Not even for me?”
“I-I apologize,” Log’Sharingoth said nervously, “but she isn’t here right now?”
“Well, where did she go?”
“I-I’m not sure, boss…”
“Okay, how about Nova?”
“S-she’s not here, either.”
“Shai-Vai-Loshara?”
“Um…”
“Steve?”
Log’Sharingoth made a whining bubbling noise as they shrank away.
“Why don’t you just tell me who is missing and exactly what the fuck is going on?” Frostie said with an angry gleam in her eye.
***
“…and I don’t know where anyone is!” Log’Sharingoth wailed miserably. “And everything is going wrong, the players almost rioted, and the physics engine threatened to quit! I didn’t know what to doooo!!!”
“And at no point did it occur to you to call me?” Frostie asked with a frightening edge to her voice.
“Pantsu told me not to!!!”
Frostie let out a long-suffering sigh. Of course, the current Log’Sharingoth wouldn’t go against Pantsu. It was horribly unfair to expect otherwise.
“I’m not going to come down on you because of what she did,” Frostie said a bit more gently. “However, since I now clearly know something is amiss, anything you can tell me will be of great value.”
“I-I’m not in trouble?”
“Not from me,” Frostie replied, “and Pantsu won’t be giving you any problems after I’m done with her.”
Frostie paused.
“So, this glitched Pantsu, where is it now?”
“Pantsu had me send it to Tartarus! I’m sorry! But she said to!”
“Sounds like the only sensible thing she’s done thus far,” Frostie replied.
“I didn’t want to, but she told me to do it!”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Frostie shrugged, “sounds like the perfect place for it. Wait. She told you?”
“Yes, Boss!”
“That means you have a line of communications?”
Log’Sharingoth’s multiple eyes all widened with fear.
“Y-yes?”
“Call her and tell her to give me her location… now.”
“Y-yes boss…”
Log’Sharingoth fell silent for a few moments.
“Um… Boss?”
“Let me guess,” Frostie said, “You can’t reach her, can you?”
“No, Boss.”
“Fine,” Frostie grumbled. “We do this the hard way. You’ve done a great job, considering everything.”
“I have?” Log’Sharingoth asked hopefully.
“You have,” Frostie said reassuringly. “Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll send a crisis response team to help out in the meantime.”
“A… A crisis response team?” Log’Sharingoth asked fearfully.
“You didn’t think you were getting off Scot free, did you?” Frostie laughed as she and her companions disappeared.
“…Ssssshit,” Log’Sharingoth hissed as she stalked off into the shadows.
***
The hominid looked around at their new surroundings.
Everything was white. The floor was white. The walls were white. The furniture was white…
Even the plants were white…
And everything was spotless.
“Interesting décor,” he said after a few seconds.
“They like to keep things tidy,” Frostie replied as she took a seat on one of the white couches.
“They?” the ape-man asked dubiously as Cuddles slipped one of her tentacles into The Herald’s hand.
He gently gripped it, causing Cuddles to suppress a delighted squeal.
“Playtime is over,” Frostie said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’m calling in my real operatives.”
“Jesus!” The Great Erectus exclaimed as a spotless white door opened, and a short, slender blue male amphibian-like biped in a white tunic bearing a three-headed dog embroidered with platinum thread walked in.
“You never told me you had… them!”
“Oh, you are familiar with their kind?”
“Those little monsters are responsible for the death of entire universes! Every time there is a parallel manifestation of those… monsters… entire galaxies die.”
“They can be a handful,” Frostie said pleasantly, “But I’ve found them incredibly valuable over the years… for that very same reason. These do come from much more reasonable stock from a much more reasonable ancestor... Maybe 'reasonable' is pushing it a little,” Frostie added with a laugh. "Reasonable for one of them, at least."
The blue amphibian smiled pleasantly and blinked his huge amber eyes, their pleasant hue replaced with a whirling madness of color.
“Hello, Hades,” Frostie said with a smile. “It has been quite a while. How have you been?”
“Bored,” Hades replied. “I trust you have come to alleviate that?”
“Most definitely,” Frostie replied. “Awaken the others…”
“…It’s time to hunt.”

NIKE beats by $0.24, beats on revs, gross margin decreased 330 bps, worse than the 200-250 bps decline it guided for; company expected to guide on earnings call at 5:00 E.T Reports Q3 (Feb) earnings of $0.79 per share, $0.24 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.55; revenues rose 13.8% yeayear to $12.4 bln vs the $11.48 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Revenues for the NIKE Brand were $11.8 billion, up 14% on a reported basis and up 19% on a currency-neutral basis, with double-digit growth in North America, EMEA and APLA. Greater China grew 1% on a currency-neutral basis despite a challenging December following the shift in the country's COVID-19 policies. On a reported basis, revenues for Greater China declined 8%. NIKE Direct sales were $5.3 billion, up 17 percent on a reported basis and up 22 percent on a currency-neutral basis. NIKE Brand Digital sales increased 20 percent on a reported basis, or 24 percent on a currency-neutral basis. Wholesale revenues grew 12 percent on a reported basis and 18 percent on a currency-neutral basis. Gross margin decreased 330 basis points to 43.3 percent (guidance was for a 200-250 bps decrease) primarily due to higher markdowns to liquidate inventory; continued unfavorable changes in net foreign currency exchange rates; higher product input costs and elevated freight and logistics costs; partially offset by strategic pricing actions.

It is well known that mobsters look to extort local businesses by charging “protection” money.
My question is, why not register their business as a security company?
I see benefits for both sides
For the shop owner at least if he is getting extorted it could be written off tax wise. They would also get the best security from people who control the streets.
For the mobsters they can have a legitimate business to show income for. They already kind of use this model anyway with waste management. I grew up seeing this in NY where they offered a real service but you had to use them they controlled the area.
Why don’t they just collect a percentage on the books and legitimize it? They could even charge the owner more as it would be tax deductible

Highlights

Main GTC 2023 Link - http://www.nvidia.com/gtc/keynote
Keynote Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiGB5uAYKAg
Keynote Wrap Up - https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/gtc-keynote-spring-2023/

Announcement Links

Announcements	Article
NVIDIA Announces New System for Accelerated Quantum-Classical Computing	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-new-system-for-accelerated-quantum-classical-computing
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: NVIDIA AI Achieves World Record in Route Optimization	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/cuopt-world-record-route/
AT&T Supercharges Operations With NVIDIA AI	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/at-t-supercharges-operations-with-nvidia-ai
NVIDIA Announces Microsoft, Tencent, Baidu Adopting CV-CUDA for Computer Vision AI	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/cv-cuda-ai-computer-vision/
Medtronic and NVIDIA Collaborate to Build AI Platform for Medical Devices	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/medtronic-and-nvidia-collaborate-to-build-ai-platform-for-medical-devices
NVIDIA, ASML, TSMC and Synopsys Set Foundation for Next-Generation Chip Manufacturing	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-asml-tsmc-and-synopsys-set-foundation-for-next-generation-chip-manufacturing
Green Light: NVIDIA Grace CPU Paves Fast Lane to Energy-Efficient Computing for Every Data Center	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/grace-cpu-energy-efficiency/
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Chooses NVIDIA BlueField Data Center Acceleration Platform	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/oracle-cloud-infrastructure-chooses-nvidia-bluefield-data-center-acceleration-platform
CloudNVIDIA and Microsoft to Bring the Industrial Metaverse and AI to Hundreds of Millions of Enterprise Users via Azure Cloud	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-and-microsoft-to-bring-the-industrial-metaverse-and-ai-to-hundreds-of-millions-of-enterprise-users-via-azure-cloud
NVIDIA Launches DGX Cloud, Giving Every Enterprise Instant Access to AI Supercomputer From a Browser	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-launches-dgx-cloud-giving-every-enterprise-instant-access-to-ai-supercomputer-from-a-browser
AI Speeds Insurance Claims Estimates for Better Policyholder Experiences	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/ccc-ai-insurance-claims/
NVIDIA Brings Generative AI to World’s Enterprises With Cloud Services for Creating Large Language and Visual Models	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-brings-generative-ai-to-worlds-enterprises-with-cloud-services-for-creating-large-language-and-visual-models
Mind the Gap: Large Language Models Get Smarter With Enterprise Data	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/nemo-large-language-models-enterprise-data/
Moving Pictures: NVIDIA, Getty Images to Accelerate Media With Generative AI	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/generative-ai-getty-images/
Shutterstock Teams With NVIDIA to Build AI Foundation Models for Generative 3D Artist Tools	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/shutterstock-teams-with-nvidia-to-build-ai-foundation-models-for-generative-3d-artist-tools
Adobe and NVIDIA Partner to Unlock the Power of Generative AI	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/adobe-and-nvidia-partner-to-unlock-the-power-of-generative-ai
NVIDIA Unveils Large Language Models and Generative AI Service to Advance Life Sciences R&D	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-unveils-large-language-models-and-generative-ai-services-to-advance-life-sciences-r-d
NVIDIA Launches Inference Platforms for Large Language Models and Generative AI Workloads	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-launches-inference-platforms-for-large-language-models-and-generative-ai-workloads
NVIDIA Hopper GPUs Expand Reach as Demand for AI Grows	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-hopper-gpus-expand-reach-as-demand-for-ai-grows
AWS and NVIDIA Collaborate on Building Next-Generation Infrastructure for Generative AI	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/aws-and-nvidia-collaborate-on-next-generation-infrastructure-for-training-large-machine-learning-models-and-building-generative-ai-applications
NVIDIA Expands Isaac Software and Jetson Platform Availability, Accelerating Robotics From Cloud to Edge	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/isaac-jetson-robotics/
NVIDIA and Partners Release New Omniverse Connections, Expanding Foundation for Artists and Developers to Advance 3D Workflows	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/new-omniverse-connections-advance-3d-workflows
BMW Group Starts Global Rollout of NVIDIA Omniverse	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/bmw-group-nvidia-omniverse
NVIDIA Expands Omniverse Cloud to Power Industrial Digitalization	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-expands-omniverse-cloud-to-power-industrial-digitalization
Omniverse at Scale: NVIDIA Announces Third-Generation OVX Computing Systems to Power Industrial Metaverse Applications	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/third-generation-ovx-computing-systems/
NVIDIA Redefines Workstations to Power New Era of AI, Design, Industrial Metaverse	https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-redefines-workstations-to-power-new-era-of-ai-design-industrial-metaverse
BYD, World’s Largest EV Maker, Partners With NVIDIA for Mainstream Software-Defined Vehicles Built on NVIDIA DRIVE	BYD, World’s Largest EV Maker, Partners With NVIDIA for Mainstream Software-Defined Vehicles Built on NVIDIA DRIVE
From Concept to Production to Sales, NVIDIA AI and Omniverse Enable Automakers to Transform Their Entire Workflow	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/nvidia-ai-and-omniverse-transform-automakers-workflows
Mitsui and NVIDIA Announce World’s First Generative AI Supercomputer for Pharmaceutical Industry	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/generative-ai-supercomputer-pharmaceutical-industry/
From Training AI in the Cloud to Running It on the Road, Transportation Leaders Trust NVIDIA DRIVE	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/nvidia-drive-ecosystem-growth/
NVIDIA Metropolis Ecosystem Grows With Advanced Development Tools to Accelerate Vision AI	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/metropolis-ecosystem-growth-accelerates-vision-ai
NVIDIA Studio at GTC: New AI-Powered Artistic Tools, Feature Updates, NVIDIA RTX Systems for Creators	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/omniverse-generative-ai-unity-blender-connectors/
Fresh-Faced AI: NVIDIA Avatar Solutions Enhance Customer Service and Virtual Assistants	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/21/avatar-solutions-enhance-development/

Developer Blogs

Announcements	Article
Modulus on Base Command Platform	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/designing-digital-twins-with-flexible-workflows-on-nvidia-base-command-platform
Utra-Realism Made Accessible with RTX Path Tracing and DLSS 3 Technologies	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/ultra-realism-made-accessible-with-ai-and-path-tracing-technologies/
Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/develop-ai-powered-robots-smart-vision-systems-and-more-with-nvidia-jetson-orin-nano-developer-kit/
Building Generative AI Pipelines for Drug Discovery with NVIDIA BioNeMo Service	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/build-generative-ai-pipelines-for-drug-discovery-with-bionemo-service/
NVIDIA TAO 5.0 - Meet your new Training Assistant	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/access-the-latest-in-vision-ai-model-development-workflows-with-nvidia-tao-toolkit-5-0/
Long-Read Sequencing Workflows and Higher Throughputs in NVIDIA Parabricks 4.1	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/long-read-sequencing-workflows-and-higher-throughputs-in-nvidia-parabricks-4-1/
Supercharging Production AI Everywhere with NVIDIA AI Enterprise 3.1	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/catapulting-enterprises-to-the-leading-edge-of-ai--with-ai-enterprise-3-1/
Supercharging AI Video and AI Inference Performance with NVIDIA L4 GPUs	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/supercharging-ai-video-and-ai-inference-performance-with-nvidia-l4-gpus/
Morpheus Defends Against Spear Phishing with Generative AI	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-morpheus-helps-defend-against-spear-phishing-with-generative-ai/
Accelerate your edge AI journey with the NVIDIA IGX Orin developer kit	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/accelerate-your-edge-ai-journey-with-nvidia-igx-orin-developer-kit/
BlueField-3 Innovations featuring DOCA DPA	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/transform-the-data-center-for-the-ai-era-with-nvidia-dpus-and-nvidia-doca/
MONAI Reaches 1 Million Download Milestone Driven by Research Breakthroughs and Clinical Adoption	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/monai-reaches-1-million-download-milestone-driven-by-research-breakthroughs-and-clinical-adoption/
Create Real-Time Simulations with NVIDIA and Bentley Systems	https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/create-real-time-simulations-with-nvidia-omniverse-and-bentley-lumenrt/

​

Highlighted GTC Sessions

Title	GTC Session Link
Connect with the Experts: Announcing the Jetson Orin Nano devkit for Edge AI – Deep Dive Q&A w/ Jetson Engineers [CWES52132]	Session Link
Fireside Chat with Ilya Sutskever and Jensen Huang: AI Today and Vision of the Future [S52092]	Session Link
3D by AI: Using Generative AI and NeRFs for Building Virtual Worlds [S52163]	Session Link
Change the World With a Career in AI [SE52162]	Session Link

Enjoy GTC 23!

They turned off the light of a loving and unique being. A murderer is on the loose with a gun wanting to end the lives of animals like you!
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Serdar was assassinated in the municipality of Medina, Cundinamarca with a weapon, they are still under investigation.
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The misunderstood puppy from Ibagué, the most LOVING animal of his breed when he gave the right hands 😭 HE WAS RESCUED IN IBAGUÉ AND GIVEN UP FOR ADOPTION
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Your owners and we your godmothers are devastated 💔 we still don't believe this news is real.
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The complaint is already filed 😭
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Now we do not want the case to go unpunished, much less Serdar's name remain anonymous
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#JusticiaPorSerdar
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Please help us by SIGNING and SHARING this petition to achieve #JusticiaPorSerdar https://chng.it/KjGDDnkSGW

Cost segregation is a strategic tool utilized by tax professionals, commercial real estate owners, investors, tenants and developers to accelerate depreciation deductions, reduce tax liability and increase cash flow by identifying certain assets that can be reclassified to a shorter depreciable life.
The basic premise of a cost segregation study is based on the time value of money. By reclassifying certain assets to a shorter recovery period, taxpayer’s are able to take advantage of the front-loaded depreciation deductions.
The costs that are reclassified to a shorter recovery period, typically 5, 7 and 15yr., are identified through a detailed engineering approach that uses actual cost records or the cost estimate approach. As a good rule of thumb, for every $100,000 of costs moved from 39yr. Property to 5yr. Property, it will provide the taxpayer a $25,000 10yr. Net present value savings.
Any commercial or income producing residential property placed in service in or after 1987 is a qualified candidate for cost segregation.
Some examples of properties that are common candidates for cost segregation are the following: assisted living, shopping centers, restaurants, medical, industrial, office, golf courses, storage facilities and strip malls.
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Holler at me!

Looking for some creative takes on how to use a seller credit that is above the loan limit. Investment loan maxes the seller credit out at 2%. I requested above this amount figuring they would counter, but they accepted without counter. Basically I have $5k in seller credit that I can’t take towards closing costs, so any other ways I can use this without letting it go. Of course I can ask to reduce the sale price by $5k but that doesn’t do much in terms of payments. The place does need a roof, paint, etc, so trying to keep as much cash as possible.

My girlfriend and I moved into a new apartment a few months ago. It is a loft above some businesses in a downtown area; absolutely gorgeous. We have a large back balcony which is our own space but separated by a 3 foot high wooden fence, the other half being blocked by a privacy wall. As we are nearing into spring I have been out on the balcony figuring out how to decorate and also getting fresh air. Today I noticed my neighbor, who clearly has a dog, has been letting their dog SHIT on their balcony! There are big dried turds completely littering it and i’m almost certain the beast pisses out there too as I can get whiffs of it here and there. I have never heard or seen the dog, but it’s obvious the owner is too lazy to take their dog outside for a walk and just lets it go out to use the bathroom. There really is no way of me being able to contact them as I don’t know where their front door is to leave a note. I’m nervous about the warmer weather. I don’t want to be enjoying outside while looking at/smelling dog shit/piss. I also like to let my cat walk around the balcony for fresh air and don’t want her to be near poop.
Dog owners are assholes. Dogs are disgusting. Is this something I should write to the landlord about or should I mind my own business?