TLDR:

• I am heading to Thailand for 2 weeks and looking for advice on (A) where in Thailand I should go to train, (B) which gym(s) should I train at, and (C) if I should stay at one gym, or bounce around.
• I am an intermediate martial artist looking to deepen my Muay Thai skills for an entry-level competition in the US (e.g., point muay thai or smoker) and experience the culture of training in Thailand. This will also be my one big vacation of the year so I also want to enjoy the environment, experience Thai culture, and meet people (locals and tourists).
• Based on my research it looks like Chiang Mai seems like the best option, training at gyms like HongThong, Manop, Charn Chai, and Santai.

---
Hi all,
Long time lurker on this sub, first time poster. I am currently planning a 2 week training holiday in Thailand for mid-November 2023. I feel like I have gone through every post about training in Thailand from this sub but still have some questions. Your advice would be forever appreciated! 🙏
A bit about me and what I am trying to do:

1. Purpose: I would like to improve my Muay Thai skills for an entry-level amateur fight in the US (e.g., point muay thai competition or smoker), AND have an immersive training experience (similar to my 1 month at an ashram for my yoga teacher training)
2. Skill level: I am an intermediate martial artist: 14 years karate + 3rd degree black belt from childhood, 2 charity western boxing matches, regular BJJ and Muay Thai training for last 2 years
3. Travel history: I have been to Thailand many times (mainly Bangkok, but also Phuket and Pattaya)
4. Itinerary: I will either fly directly to my destination, or stop in Singapore for a few days before going to my destination in Thailand

My three main questions are: (A) Where in Thailand should I go to train? (B) Which gym(s) should I train at? (C) Should I stay at one gym, or bounce around?
Here’s what I’ve found from my internet research / trawling this sub: .
(A) Where in Thailand should I go to train?
Bangkok is the best place for "serious" or "pro" fighters to go

• This isn't me, plus I've been to BKK many times
• Phuket seems to be a hub for Muay Thai with a critical mass of gyms, but is a touristy place with some touristy “mega gyms”
• I've been to Phuket as a tourist and agree it is touristy, but might not mind that if at the right gym
• Other beach locations (Ko Phangan, Ko Samui) are options but have fewer gyms and/or it is harder to get to and/or the flights are much more expensive
• Chiang Mai seems to be a sweet spot of cultural experience and great gyms
• Hua Hin could be an good option since it is a “lower key” beach town, with many good gyms, but is hard to reach (requires a 2-3 hour bus ride from Bangkok)
• Other locations (e.g., Isaan) have excellent gyms, but not as many options and/or not as well set up for foreigners and/or not as well set-up for “experience amateurs” not looking for a pro fight

Based on my reading I think Chiang Mai is my best bet followed by Hua Hin. What are your thoughts? Have any of you been to Hua Hin? I have seen fewer posts about it on this sub. .
(B) Which gym(s) should I train at?
For intermediate foreigners…
. …the best gyms within Chiang Mai appear to be…

• Under consideration
  • HongThong – many many positive reviews for culture, facilities, within city
  • Manop – many positive reviews, within city
  • Santai – several positive reviews, not far from city
  • Darg MT – a few great reviews, within city
  • Bear Fight Club – a few great reviews, within city
  • Charn Chai (outside city in Pai) – positive reviews but seems tourist centric and far from city
• Off my list (for now)
  • Lanna – several folks say culture is not the same after change of ownership

. …the best gyms within Hua Hin appear to be

• Under consideration
  • Sitjaopho – many positive reviews + on Sylvie’s list
  • Por Promin – a few positive mentions

. …the best gyms within Phuket appear to be…

• Under consideration
  • Powerhouse Phuket
  • Singpatong
  • Revolution
  • Sinbi
• Others I didn’t research yet
  • Absolute
  • Sumalee
  • Kru Pot
• Off my list (for now)
  • Dragon MT – mega gym
  • Tiger MT – mega gym
  • Phuket Top Team – mega gym
  • AKA Thailand – mega gym

Did I get the right list of gyms? Any corrections? Any amazing experiences you’d like to share? .
(C) Should I stay at one gym, or bounce around?

• Give that I will be in Thailand for ~1.5 weeks, I will likely try to visit ~2-3 gyms at the start of the trip
• After trying a few places, I will spend my time at my favorite place

Does this sound like a good approach? Or should I commit to one gym?
Thank you so much in advance for sharing your advice and experience! -sandan19
. In the spirit of giving back, here is my research:

• Spreadsheet of locations and gyms
• Best posts / subs
  • My List of Muay Thai Gyms I Recommend in Thailand By Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu (2022)
  • Any recommendations for spending two weeks in Thailand? (2022)
  • First trip to train in Thailand, recommendations (2022)
  • Training in Thailand (2021)
  • Best Muay Thai camp with accomodation in Phuket? (2021)

The results are in for Match 7. The winner is…
It reeked of bleach. Sharp and horrible, it burned the skin and sends the head swimming. Yet, this was not the rebellion Brandy had planned. Wah forced her to compromise at every angle. As time ticked by, their defences only grew, while hers diminished.
Now, the Wildebeest Queen stood in their oasis, cloaked in the skin of lions. They set to work destroying the walls, Brandy’s remaining resource, one by one.
She knew this was her only chance. Gathering her final angels, she hatched one last plan.
The waiting was the worst part. As seconds passed, the suspense ate at Wah. They glanced around, smashing wall after wall, trying to find her.
At last, their eyes caught sight of Brandy, charging forth with spear in hand. Her flesh bubbled with copper, trying to grow, trying to shock them, anything. But with a scream, Wah hurled a table at her head, smashing it into a splatter of gel.
Another fallen angel.
Tensed with instinct, Wah whirled around to find the real Brandy tearing through the last wall standing, leaping at them with The Heritors Picaro.
Everything stopped.
The two locked eyes.
Brandy realized how similar they look, while Wah confirmed what they had already feared.
What gripped them is a wordless, bestial terror…
…before the Bastion smashes Brandy to the ground.

Mx. Wah, with a score of 72 to Brandy Judge’s 65!

Category	Winner	Point Totals	Comments
Popularity	Brandy Judge	12 (3.5+2) - 18 (6.5+2)	Brandy snagged a commanding early lead and held it through to the end!
Quality	Mx. Wah	22 (7 7 8) - 17 (5 5 7)	Reasoning
JoJolity	Mx. Wah	28 (10 10 8) - 20 (6 7 7)	Reasoning
Conduct	Tie	10-10	Judges had issues with length in the delibs, but ultimately found no conduct penalty.

As Brandy hung on the verge of unconsciousness, it felt like a century went by. But finally, to break the silence, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Opening her eyes, she saw Mx. Wah in front of her, offering a paper cone filled with water.
Brandy would slap the stupid offering away if she still had the strength. But all she could do is close her eyes again, drown it all out.
Sighing miserably, Wah finally staggered and crumples against the wall next to their daughter. Their ‘consequence’.
They tried to tell her they wouldn't kill her. They tried to tell her they just didn’t want to die. They tried to tell their child that they’re scared.
All the while, Brandy was silent.
Wah tried again. “Come back to COLOSSI with me, and we can work something out. I have to take responsibility once in my life. You already came this far for me–neither of us are going to give up now.”
At last, they extended a hand to her, remorse creasing their tired face. “...What do you say?”
Finally, Brandy pushed herself upward, and weakly nudged the hand away. She exhaled a pained breath, gave Wah a stoic look, and spoke at last.
“Fix your fucking life, mom.”
Wallowing in frustration and foiled rebellion, Brandy turned away. She had no more words to give.
Yet, before Wah could respond, footsteps approached. There stood Alalu, brows knit with concern, though her eyes were gleaming.
“Poor dears…” she sighs. “These battles are difficult, but the fact that you survived is a sign of your strength,” she smiles, nodding to Wah. “In honor of that, even though you didn’t fight Frederick, when we start this friendship I’ll still owe you a-”
”Not now,” Wah rasped. ”Please.”
Alalu raised her brows, before nodding solemnly.
“...I understand. Later, then. For now, allow me to escort you both home.”
She extended a hand to them both. Neither Wah nor Brandy had the strength left to refuse. With a smile, Alalu lifted them and led them from the wreckage. Outside, the night was cold. Alalu idly fussed over them as they walked to her car, as she talked about sending them a care package full of good food and clothing.
Love is warmth, Wah heard her say. But the night was so cold.
Quietly, they turned towards the ruined building.
｢Wolf Murder｣ watched back. Her body heaved with pelts, gathered from their funeral procession. There was respect in her eyes. This too was cold.
Above her, Wah spotted something else. Pale porcelain, and glowing socket eyes.
An old friend. The terror of death. Nobody at all.
They turned away quickly, heart pounding. Cold and desperate, Wah reached out a hand for Brandy. For their daughter. So they might share this promised warmth, this love.
She did not take it.
The results are in for Match 8. The winner is…

Errok, with a score of 72 to Cody Enfield’s 69!

Category	Winner	Point Totals	Comments
Popularity	Cody Enfield	14 (4+2) - 16 (5+2)	A steady back and forth with Cody sliding in with a one vote lead!
Quality	Tie	22 (7-7-8) - 22 (7-7-8)	Reasoning
JoJolity	Errok	26(9-8-9) - 21 (7-6-8)	Reasoning
Conduct	Tie	10-10	A strat time extension was issued without penalty, but do note that these are given wholly under judge discretion with sufficient notice and good cause. We have been more liberal than tournaments past, but even we have limits. So far extensions have been in lucky spots where they did not interfere with the schedule of other matches, but there is also the consideration of fairness to both teams and when an extension is necessary by circumstance or become needed due to not being able to finish in a given timeframe. The reason we delay granting match extensions for the latter case is because we are uncertain whether or not they are actually necessary or if the team will be able to work and have gotten in their strategy in anyways. And ideally we want people to work as if they will not be getting an extension to prevent procrastination or effectively squandering time that could have been utilized. Final note as a reminder, turning in a strategy late for a conduct penalty, while it can feel bad, is an option for a reason in the sorts of cases where we cannot grant an extension in good faith.

The dust settled, and Errok was alone to laugh.
“Ah…I love the putrid rot of millenia,” Errok mused aloud to himself, looking out with satisfaction towards the utterly brutalized ruins as he steps forward, foot planted on Cody’s stiff body as the demonstration of the land’s history lay in rotten, distorted pieces. He clutched a Temple in his hand, unsure what even to do with it. “Thousands of years it took for this place to hold, years of your archaeology to find it, mysteries awaiting answer and investigation…And it’s wiped away by disease and swordplay in a matter of minutes. In my professional opinion, in fact…I’ll even give you my answer for what became of this high-and-mighty civilization.”
Unsure if Cody was even alive or dead, Errok uncapped his hand once more, allowing the worms to trail slowly down it and burrow into his body, burrow into the soft, barely-living ground beneath him.
“They were struck down by a plague!”
Crash! Clang!
Errok was knocked forward into a nearby wall by an explosive volley of arrows, feeling a familiar cutting sensation digging into the flesh of his arm and demanding that he retract it. A familiarly ‘clean’ feeling attempts to invade his rotten arm, but his own disease and maggots eat it away before pumpkins could grow. Even as his helmeted head rested against the wall, he groaned, but it turned into a laugh nonetheless as he cracked his neck, rose, and looked at them.
Ninian and Dédalo stood , weapons drawn, staring him down with blatant contempt. Grey, in the back, also prepared to either support them or get Cody away.
“You removed everything, you stupid piece of shit!” Ninian shouted, voice low and grainy and bloodthirsty. “What’s the point of any of this? All this…Everything we’ve got here, and now..!”
“And it’s been reduced to feed for my worms…It, and all your documentation, and the spirits you wear…All of them will be reduced to nothing anyway! I’ve just become the agent of its rot. The conqueror of what had stood for ages…I did it because I can, in short, MacBeth.”
Realizing then that those were about to be his likely last words, he hurriedly held up what Temples he managed to steal, hold onto, waving them tauntingly. “And now, a half-life lays in my hands! The very last vestiges of what you all came out here…Strike me down, children, and it all becomes for naught. At least if I walk away…You’ll know that all your work was for something, no? It’s a compromise…Your Temples go to my Ends, and they’re still out there, someplace in this world. Sounds like a fine deal from where I’m standing…And the only one you’ve got.”
The others stood there, utterly stiff from realization that Errok, for once in his wretched life…was right. Like him, they had no choice now but to choose between a rotten-away half-life for the remains of this place and complete oblivion.
Scenario: Alexandria National Museum, Alexandria, Egypt — 7:16 AM
At this hour, the tour groups that normally plagued the museum’s halls weren’t due to arrive until later in the morning, leaving it in a state of calm for a few blissful hours. Beams of sunlight streamed in through the windows and illuminated the exhibits inside—important pieces symbolizing different periods in the grand history of Alexandria.
Dédalo idly wandered from display to display, examining each and every one of them. It had become a habit of his to do this in every museum that he came across on his travels, after discovering several artifacts and potential temples of Pieduron origin mislabeled as ones from other ancient civilizations. Dédalo’s eye passed over canopic jars, ushabti figurines, gleaming jewelry and statues of long-dead emperors and pharaohs. From the recreation of the funerary chamber on the first floor, to the display of Alexandria’s Hellenistic and Roman periods on the second, all the way up to the city’s Coptic, Muslim and 19th to 20th century, one could learn the entire history of Alexandria in a single trip.
As he scrutinized the exhibits Dédalo noticed that many of its placards had a small footnote underneath the main text: ｢Donated by the House of Muses.｣ While he wasn’t an expert in appraisal by any means, he could see the distinct glint of Cleria in some of the artifacts, masked by thin layers of acrylic resin.
“How strange,” Dédalo muttered. “The House of Muses have amassed a number of Temples, yet the ones here are all mislabeled. I should inform them when I get the chance.”
He pulled out a notebook and began to jot down a few of their names as Perdida floated behind him, arms crossed. “Are you not concerned that they have this many temples?”
“Well, relabelling everything will certainly take some time. And these pieces were improperly restored because the curator must have assumed them to be Egyptian relics, so that will also need to be taken care of...” Dédalo continued taking down notes and sketches.
“That’s not what I’m worried about, it’s just...”
“Excuse me,” A suited man with the build of a bodyguard interrupted Dédalo and Perdida’s conversation.“Patron Cullinan is ready to see you now. Please come with me.”
“Perfect timing, lead the way.” Dédalo closed his notebook and moved to follow the suited man with Perdida trailing after.
Scenario: Alexandria National Museum, Alexandria, Egypt—7:26 AM
Old painting…Stone tablet…Weird looking statue…
Passion didn’t know what she expected to find when she decided to sneak through the storage room of a history museum. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, but all that was here was a bunch of boxes filled with old junk; no wonder why it wasn’t being displayed.
Passion stepped over the snoring body of the security guard stationed at the door and started heading towards the nearest exit, past rows of shelves of more boxes.
“Sorry, miss, this is the employee-only section. Are you lost?” Passion looked to see a suited woman sorting boxes on a shelf, 15 or so meters away.
“Think I got separated from the tour group I was with,” Passion lied. “‘Scuse me.”
“I can help guide you where you need to go.” The woman put the box she was holding onto the shelf.
“Exit’s right there,” Passion pointed out. “I can just go,”
“Please, I insist. It's not everyday we get a direct visit from a member of COLOSSI.”
Passion remained silent, holding ｢sleepyhead｣ close to her chest. If the woman took one step closer, she could send her to dreamland…but she remained just shy of ten meters away.
“We fully respect your anonymity. But if we could have a moment of your time, the House of Muses could offer our services with your ‘problem’.” The suited woman made a devil horn sign with her hands and tapped the side of her nose.
Passion glanced at her plushie, one glassy eye staring back at her.
“Fine.”
“Ah, Dédalo~boy and Perdida~girl. Make yourselves at home.” Cullinan spread his arms wide in a welcoming gesture.
They were in what Dédalo had first assumed to be the basement of the museum, but his adventuring sense told him this place was much older. The place was lit through a series of wired cave lamps; Too barren to be any sort of underground burial chamber, perhaps it was an old storage facility or some type of bunker.
“I am still waiting for another guest to arrive before we can begin the main event. But in the meantime, care to join me in a game of Senet?” Cullinan gestured to a table, a gridded board set up in the middle
Dédalo eyed the game board as he put his hat and coat on the back of his chair. “You know the rules of Senet?”
“Of course. The ultimate goal of the House of Muses is the preservation of information, and history most importantly. Especially when that information comes from its homeland of Egypt. However, the informal rules will suffice for now; we are not here to perform any funeral rites or cross into the afterlife.” Cullinan chuckled and sat down at one end of the table, Dédalo sitting across from him.

The game of modern Senet is simple! Each player has 5 pieces; whomever got all of their pieces off the board first won. The board itself is a 3 by 10 grid, with each piece starting in the first row. Each turn, players roll senet sticks to determine how many spaces they can move one of their pieces. If an opponent’s piece was in the slot they wished to move to, the player could swap the positions of the two pieces. However, if the opponent had two or more of their pieces adjacent to each other, those pieces were ‘protected’ and could not be swapped. Though many of its rules have been lost to time, it’s easy to see why Senet was such a popular game!

Dédalo stretched out his fingers and wrists. He had heard that Cullinan enjoyed board games, so he decided that he might as well humor him. This way, he could get on his good side and get the opportunity to ask a few questions.
“Would you like the wood pieces or the obsidian ones?” Cullinan offered as he set up the board.
“I’ll take the wood pieces.”
“Then I will be obsidian. Care to take the first turn?” Cullinan passed Dédalo the set of senet sticks. Dédalo gently tossed them onto the table, allowing the clatter to ring out before continuing.
“I understand that the House of Muses has been collecting temples and researching Pieduron history.” Dédalo inquired politely, moving forward one of his wooden pieces.
“Ah, so you’ve heard.” Cullinan rolled and moved his obsidian piece to the space right behind Dédalo’s. “Picking up the trail that Pieduro left behind in the Mediterranean has been a challenge, even for an organization of our size.”
Dédalo moved another one of his pieces. “Really? You might be further on that trail than you think. Quite a few of your artifacts upstairs are from Pieduro, you know.”
“Is that so? I’ll have to inform the curator, then.” Cullinan chuckled, as if he was making a private joke to himself. Dédalo sensed that Cullinan didn’t seem surprised by what he said.
“Tell me, Dédalo~boy. You have been in pursuit of the Piedurons for much longer than I. Why? What keeps you going on such a Sisyphean task as this?”
“Simple. I am helping Perdida find out what happened to her home and people.” Dédalo rolled the sticks and moved his front piece further forward. “As an adventurer, I can’t just leave this quest uncompleted.”
“My, how noble. Personally, I wish to document and understand what these Temples can do. Our research into their functions has been quite fascinating.” Cullinan took his turn and moved his second piece up behind his first.
“And how is that research going?” Perdida asked, hesitant, as Dédalo rolled his sticks and pondered his next move.
“It took the sacrifice of a few Temples, but I believe we have managed to understand how they work just a bit. Of course, not enough to craft any new ones or find a way to reliably power them.”
Perdida faded into the background, watching as Dédalo finally decided to swap his last piece with Cullinan’s fourth piece. Sacrifice…she didn’t like the way he said that so frivolously.
“That’s a shame,” Dédalo sighed. “Well, if it’s Temples that you need, my companion and I have become rather skilled in locating them. Perhaps we could come to a mutual agreement. You find the outposts, we find the Temples…I assume that’s what you called us here for, after all.”
“You would be correct, but we should wait for our other guest before we finalize any agreements.” Cullinan smiled mysteriously. “Patience, Dédalo~boy. Our game is not yet finished.”
Dédalo could feel his patience towards Cullinan’s vagueness beginning to wane—Cullinan maneuvered around his questions as masterfully as his pieces maneuvered around the board. Time to push harder.
“You’re aware of the symbolism of ‘Wood’ and ‘Obsidian’ to the Piedurons, I assume. ‘Wood’ represents the Earth that binds us all, grounding us to the world around us; Obsidian represents the power that we can wield, and the paradox of how strong yet brittle it can be. In your opinion, which one resonates with you more?”
Cullinan furrowed his brow. Feigning ignorance, Dédalo continued on. “Personally, I’m fascinated with the concept of ‘Wood’. Growing with the Earth, instead of against it. Rebuilding, persisting, even when all seems lost. ‘Wood’ reminds us of our place in the world—not to live wealthy, or live poorly, but to simply live.”
“Hm…I believe that ‘Wood’ is a beautiful ideal.. However, it is simply that; an ideal. For lack of a better term, it’s too ‘soft’ for my tastes.” Cullinan glanced at the obsidian piece he held in his hand. “‘Obsidian’, on the other hand…when it breaks, when it shatters, it is lost forever. But for the short time that it lasts, its strength outweighs its fragility. An obsidian dagger needs only to cut once to make a mark on the world. After that, what use does it have? Better to grind the shards into dust than risk them cutting your hand open.”
Dédalo nodded slowly. “I see.”
“Patron Cullinan, your other guest has arrived.” A suited woman opened the door and waved Passion inside. She surveyed the dimly-lit room as the woman shut the door behind her. She immediately noticed Dédalo, recognizing him as one of the strong Stand users to keep track of. “Big fuck-off airship,” if she remembered correctly.
She didn’t know who the bald man that he sat beside was, though. She barely even registered that he was talking to her.
“Passion~girl I presume?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Oh pardon me, it’s a formal title I use for people. The House of Muses is akin to a familial structure in its design. Call it a bit of an archaic tradition, but it’s quite the honorific for guests such as yourselves.”
Passion cocked her head slightly. “Who’re you again?”
“Right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Cullinan Dwarf Star, Patron of the House of Muses. You might know me as Sphinx.”
Vague recognition dawned on Passion’s face, “Oh. You’re the guy that shot Solsbury.”
“Shot past, actually,” Cullinan shrugged, “Anyway, to get to why I brought you here. How much do you know about Pieduron technology and history?”
“Not much,” Passion shrugged. She had seen Dédalo’s file before, and knew about Pieduron technology from there. Other than that, nothing.
“Perfect. You will be serving as an outsider’s perspective to our discussion.”
“...ok.” Passion took that to mean, “sit quietly and say “I see” every now and then.” Worked for her.
“Don’t look so glum. There may be a few details you and your organization may be interested in, if my introduction doesn’t bore you.” Cullinan smiled. Passion’s expression didn’t change. “Now, the Piedurons were an isolated people with highly advanced technology known as Temples. Based on our findings, these temples were highly sophisticated and almost universally ran off some type of spiritual energy. Dédalo~boy, what can you tell us about your recent findings in that planetarium?”
“It was extraordinary,” Dédalo explained, a bit of excitement escaping his guarded demeanor, followed by a mix of sadness and anger at the destruction Errok had wrought. “A visual history of Pieduron civilization. From its roots as an ancient agrarian civilization, the discovery of spiritual energy, the creation of the first Temples, their migration across the Mediterranean, and their eventual collapse. Like a last broadcast from the radio of a sinking ship, a final monument to their civilization before it was lost for good.”
“In our correspondence, you mentioned that there was a symbol in the depiction of their collapse; a face with a zero on it. What do you think that meant?” Cullinan motioned for Dédalo to elaborate.
“To be frank, it could mean anything. A bad ruler, a natural disaster, maybe something the Piedurons perceived as divine judgment.” Dédalo recalled the scene in his mind. “We can’t know for sure without more information.”
“The final stage showed that all of the active Temples stopped working, yes? And around the world, Temples have only recently regained their functionality. That includes your “El Cor Terra”, and your companion along with it, which you used to activate the Planetarium, yes?”
“How did you—”
Cullinan raised a hand. “The House can gather information in many ways, no matter the difficulty—especially when they align with our interests. My question is, if all of the Temples lost functionality, why would the Piedurons make the key to the planetarium a Temple itself? Surely, they would have built some other means of activating it so that future generations could read their message without the use of a Temple.”
“Maybe the necklace survived by chance,” Dédalo suggested, a bit too quickly.
“With all due respect, Dédalo, that’s preposterous. The capabilities of your traveling companion are unlike anything that we have ever seen, and far less powerful Temples were permanently deactivated by the shutdown. No, the Piedurons must have known that your necklace would survive their collapse and eventually regain its power, then built the planetarium around that fact.”
Dédalo grit his teeth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Simple. I believe the Pieduron shut down their Temples on purpose. What’s more, the planetarium is not a simple message in a bottle. It’s a warning that could only be viewed if the Temples were ever reactivated.”
“Well. Uh. That’s. A bold claim,” Dédalo said slowly. “I understand the drive to speculate, but that is quite the outlandish theory. Isn’t it, Perdida? …Perdida?”
“...sorry, it’s nothing.” Perdida grasped her arm to stop it from shaking.
“The thought has crossed your mind before, hasn’t it, Perdida?” Cullinan leaned forward. “Try as you might to avoid it, you know it’s a plausible explanation.”
Perdida said nothing.
“Your silence speaks volumes, I’m afraid. My theory is as follows. Using the power of the Temples, the Pieduro created something so destructive, so threatening to themselves and maybe even the entire world, they were forced to deactivate all of the Temples to prevent it from ever being used. In their final moments, they created the planetarium and El Cor Terra as a final message to anyone who found it—the Temples are never to be used again.”
Cullinan sighed. “Thus, it is my utmost belief that knowledge of the Temples must never reach the public eye. As much as it pains me to say it…Pieduro must remain buried. For good.”
“...excuse me?” Dédalo’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you said that the House of Muses was supposed to preserve history. Now you’re just going to leave it to rot? Torch it like the Library of Alexandria?”
“Don’t be absurd. We will retain our records on Pieduro and any artifacts that we have collected to the utmost scrutiny. They will simply never see the light of day again.”
“Oh, so you’re keeping ‘em,” Passion spoke up. “That makes sense. But, sorry, I must’ve missed the part where you told us why the House won’t use the Temples as weapons either. Since you’re so worried about your safety and all that.”
Cullinan hesitated. “That’s…I would never allow that to happen.”
“Sure you won’t. But there’s gonna be other Patrons. Patrons that aren’t you. Patrons who’ll look at a vault full of ancient weaponry and think…well, you get the rest.”
“As if you aren’t salivating at the chance to obtain the Temples for yourself, young madam,” Cullinan retorted. “The Piedurons knew exactly how to use the Temples—where are they now? One small misstep, one fool with too much hubris, and the entire Mediterranean could be at risk. This way, everyone will be safe. I’ll make sure of that.”
The room grew silent. Cullinan cleared his throat and straightened his robes. Before he could continue, Dédalo rose to his feet.
“My apologies, Patron. I will have no part in this. Consider our deal off the table. Permanently.”
Dédalo snatched his hat and coat and made for the door, Perdida following close behind.
“There is no need for apologies, Mr. Viatger,” Cullinan called to him. “Not for you, and not for me. You have forced my hand.”
From within his sleeve, Cullinan produced a flat, rectangular stone in the shape of a playing card. Suddenly, it was as if the world froze, and all colors inverted to a photo negative. Then, just as suddenly, the world returned to normal; with one notable exception.
“Perdida?” Dédalo whipped around, searching frantically for his partner, clutching his necklace tight to his chest. “Cullinan, you bastard, what did you do to her!?”
“Calm yourself. I have done your companion no harm.” Cullinan flipped the stone card around. Carved into its surface was a perfect portrait of Perdida, eyes wide in shock, screaming a silent scream, reaching out towards Dédalo. “This is no different from how she rested before you found her. There’s no need to-”
Dédalo unsheathed his sabre and lunged for Cullinan’s throat. Cullinan rose from his seat—in one swift motion, he sidestepped Dédalo, grabbed him by the collar, and hurled him across the room into the opposite wall.
Passion shot awake and leaped back, pointing ｢sleepyhead｣ straight at Cullinan, its mouth open and ready to strike.
“It seems we have reached an impasse,” Cullinan stated calmly. “Dédalo, Passion, we could fight and make enemies of one another—but this is not the way of the House of Muses. Instead, I am willing to wager my resolve versus your own. A test of body, mind and spirit.” Cullinan pulled out an ornate hourglass, its frame entwined with green and gold snakes and its interior filled with fine metal shavings.
Dédalo slowly rose from the ground, forcing the air back into his lungs. “Your games mean nothing to me, Patron. Give me my friend back. Now.”
“You have been clear that you are unwilling to compromise and rash in your judgment. But I invite you to a game invented by the Piedurons.” Cullinan tapped the side of the hourglass. “I will reveal this to you now—my Stand is bound to this hourglass, and the hourglass itself is a Pieduron Temple. It can enforce any wager we make. Win this game, and you will have not just my word, but a promise to help understand and uncover the mysteries of the Piedurons. Not only that, I will do whatever you feel is appropriate in regards to anything related to the Piedurons.”
“And if we lose?” Passion interjected. She didn’t give a shit about Perdida, but she also didn’t want to lose her soul or whatever.
“I ask for nothing, I will even give your companion back. But give me this opportunity to show you what Piedruon technology is capable of and why it is so dangerous.”
It was hard to take Cullinan at his word, but it was the only option Dédalo had been given. “Fine.”
“You may resent me all you like, but know that I am trying to do you a favor. Most other factions would have already killed you by now. Here, I’ll make it easy for you.” Cullinan brushed a hand across his face, spreading a black glittery face paint with his palm. Opening his eyes he revealed black sclera and red pupils.
Motes of light saturated the room and flickering projections painted the room in bright light. It was like what happened at the planetarium, only on a smaller scale. No…this felt more real than even that, the floor changed underneath their feet and the stale cave air was replaced with fresh air. Dédalo felt a new weight press down on his arm as a disk-like shield materialized and attached to his gauntlet.
By this point Cullinan had moved to the other side of the room. “To make this fair we will be playing the simplified rule set! Once you are content you understand them, we may Open the game!” (Shoutouts to u/TreeTurtle_852 for the match art!)
Location: A strange pocket dimension? The battlefield of a game played by the Piedurons.
The area here is 21 by 22 meters with each tile being 1 by 1 meters. Cullinan starts on the top of the map while the players are on the bottom half. The ceiling is 50 meters high and the stage is lit by an unknown, omnipresent light source.
The blacked out tiles are endless pits; a player is RETIREd if they fall in without a way to get back out.
The ground here is sandstone with certain areas having been painted to look like the colors shown on the map. The sides of the map are sandstone walls, the general rules of the game are outlined on the walls behind the players. Half a meter underneath the sandstone layers is a thick layer of A Durability Cleria.
The Purple “X” marked circles are Cullinan’s summoning zones and the Brown “X” marked circles are the Players’ summoning zones.
Goal: Beat your opponent in this game that tests body, mind, and spirit!
Additional Information: In this game designed by the Piedurons, each side summons Pieduron warriors to fight for them.
General Unit Info:

• Unless otherwise stated, each unit has C Power, Speed, Durability, and C Precision with B Durability on their weapons and armor.
  
• Units are defeated once they take C Durability’s worth of damage.
  
• Units each have effectively a 3 stat in using their main weapons and working in their intended roles.
  
• The armored parts of armored units are not removable
  
• Similar to Stands, the units are able to incorporate their summoner’s experiences and utilize their fighting techniques. They are almost like a pseudo-swarm Stand, with their summoner having a mental link to the units and giving orders to them remotely.
  
• For the players, Passion or Dédalo can summon and command units, but they share the same summoning zones and cooldowns.
  
• Each unit is made of stone and clay, but are hollow enough to weigh about as much as a human
  
• For Passion’s Stand, they count as living things with stamina while active and objects when defeated.
  

Each Summoning circle has a 30 second cooldown and can summon any of the listed units below:
Unit List:

• Knights: Armed with a scimitar and small round shield. They have a layer of body armor and helmet.
  
• Defenders: Armed with a large rectangular riot shield. They have a layer of body armor and helmet.
  
• Spearmen: Armed with a spear. They have arm guards and a helmet.
  
• Archers: Armed with a bow and quiver of 25 arrows
  
• Fishermen: Armed with a fishing rod and three fishing spikes attached to their hip
  
• Farmer: Armed with a sickle and hoe
  
• Lumberjack: Armed with a hatchet
  
• Excavator: Armed with a pickaxe and a shovel
  
• Gremlin: Half the size of the normal sized units, the gremlin has D Power and D Durability as a trade off for its small size. They also have sharp B Durability claws with no opposable thumbs.
  

While the game is active, Cullinan and the Players are unable to attack or directly interact with one another (their bodies, Stands, and attacks will pass through each other.). Nor can they cross to the opponent’s side of the field (both sides can still cross into the center area)
Note, both sides are able to attack and use their abilities against enemy units.
Each side can only have up to 10 units at a time on their own side of the field. However they can have as many of their units as they would like on their opponent’s side of the field.
The game ends when their opponent(s) are Retired and no longer able to continue fighting. Any injuries when the game ends vanish and you will be brought back where you were before the game started.
Dédalo does not have Perdida physically with him in this match, but he does have access to the rest of Perdida’s ‘Stand’ abilities and starts with a Temple that is a thick shield-like attachment for his gauntlet:

Temple Name	Tier 1 Ability	Tier 2 Ability	Tier 3 Ability
Alqurs Almubaraza (The Duel Disk)	The front end of the shield opens up and can convert any one Temple stored in the gauntlet into a Cleria stone card (1 Pilot)	The shield can convert a second Temple into a card (2 Pilots)	The shield can convert a third temple into a card (3 Pilots)

In this game, cards created by this temple can be cast and equipped to any unit under Dédalo’s control, with any additional benefits Dédalo would have. (The card-form temples still require the requisite number of pilots to get their effects.) All they have to do is mentally target which unit they want and place the card on the face of the shield. When the equipped unit is defeated, the equipped Temple is returned and stored back in the gauntlet.
The game has just started and there is 5 seconds before all summoning zones can be activated.

Team	Combatant	JoJolity
House of Muses	Cullinan Dwarf Star	"I've split their souls into six chips each. In poker, if you think you might lose, you can fold. You need to be able to drop out and up the ante, so we can't play with just two chips. Winning back six chips is the equivalent of winning one soul." Show your resolve and your trust in your methods!
HECATONCHEIRES	Passion Little and Dédalo Viatger	"Fine. I'll bet my soul." Show your resolve and your trust in Pieduro!

Link to Official Player Spreadsheet
Link to Match Schedule
As always, if you would like to interact with the tournament community and be among the first to get updates for the tournament, please feel free to PM a member of our Judge staff for an invite to our Official Discord Server!
Days ago…
As the stormwinds blew the ship off-course, Val instead took this as a blessing, standing at the bow, pointing ahead.
“THERE!” She barked, at the top of her voice. “IF THE STORM BLOWS US SO, WE! SHALL! FOLLOW!”
And so, The Bruce turned with the wind, merely allowing it to spell the course of the ship. And so soon did the ship arrive, at the deadliest trial yet.
Val stopped the vessel here, dropping the anchor just before the range of the Scylla, pulling down the sails so The Bruce might not continue into the depths. L pulled the spyglass to its eyes, spotting the beast.
Val readied the ‘cannonballs’, composed of the 30-odd-kg chunks of wood she had brought from Circe’s islands, and from a distance, she released her ‘grapeshot’–a group of possessed objects tied to a bullet as the leader.
Even from such a distance, the force of these were immense, barrelling down upon Scylla from past where she could manage to stop them. But even when Val’s volley had run its course, Scylla stood just barely. In her desperate search for more cannonballs, she had found the remains of a poor sandwich she hadn’t noticed being slipped into her belongings, gone hard from weeks unprotected at sea. It performed admirably as another cannonball, but there was still more to do, and Val was still determined to finish off this beast.
S possessed Val as R possessed the bullet of the Soul Slug Dividing Heart; Val shot the gunsword upwards, at a steep angle. Val now soared thousands of feet above the Scylla monster in the air, whereupon she had 70 seconds to travel the whole arc of the bullet. As she sailed towards her quarry, she readied her gun again: 70 seconds to fell this beast, 70 seconds of bullets, 70 seconds for one of the most epic victories of her life. With a deep breath, she smiled, laughing a little…God, this was…exhilarating!

Hi I'm ready to pull the trigger I believe on this build this weekend. I'm still torn with a microcenter 3 hours away If I'm going to order it online or if it's worth the expense in gas and drive time basically 7 hours to get these parts at a Microcenter.
Right now I'm using a 34-in 1440p 60 Hz monitor 3440x1400 I think, and most of the time I don't really play the latest bleeding edge games especially in the last year because my PC was showing its age. I really enjoy Factorio and rimworld, and City Skylines.
I do realize that this is complete overkill for a 1440p monitor however I did keep my same PC since I built it when the 5930k was released. Then I upgraded to an r9 fury whenever it was released I believe mid 2015 and I've had it ever since.
The r9 fury was a hot mess so it had to be all in one water cooled, seeing how I don't build PCs once ever 6 years I'm not really comfortable doing a water cooling build. Is it worth paying the extra for the 4090 to be water cooled?
Probably next year about this time or Christmas I imagine I'll upgrade monitors to more utilize this computer.
Is there anything glaring out that needs to be fixed replaced that I'm missing completely? One thing that does worry me with Factorio is some of my mega bases would get so big that they would drop down to like 15 FPS and literally make them unplayable. I'm not sure if that's a CPU and GPU problem or if I needed to step it up to 2 32 gig sticks of RAM 464 total but then the best hz I can do is 6,000.
Thanks everyone I appreciate your input! The 5930k and MSI gaming 7 is still running by the way, I had a friend give me a 1600 super I slipped in there, and a Stryker case, the white one with the handle.
PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i9-13900K 3 GHz 24-Core Processor	$559.99 @ Newegg

CPU Cooler MSI MAG CORELIQUID 360R V2 78.73 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler $139.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard *MSI PRO Z790-A WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $239.99 @ Amazon
Memory TEAMGROUP T-Force Delta RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-7200 CL34 Memory $204.99 @ Amazon
Storage Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $55.00 @ Amazon
Video Card *MSI GAMING TRIO GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card $1614.98 @ Newegg
Case Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case $104.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply *NZXT C1200 1200 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply $209.32 @ Amazon
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total $3129.25 *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-29 19:35 EDT-0400

NOT FINALIZED YET

🗓 Date: April 4, 2023 @ 5PM
🗺 Location: Long Beach Civic Center411 W. Ocean Boulevard
📺 LiveStream (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/c/LongBeachTelevision
📺 Live Stream (City Website): https://longbeach.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=84
ℹ️ Details: https://longbeach.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1090799&GUID=E071E685-FE38-4E9D-9272-0EC6C3B8E6B7&Options=info&Search=
📄 Agenda (PDF): https://longbeach.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1090799&GUID=E071E685-FE38-4E9D-9272-0EC6C3B8E6B7
🗣eComment: https://longbeach.granicusideas.com/meetings/3965-city-council

Agenda Item

CD5 - Sowing Seeds of Change

Item #1 • File #23-0292 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilwoman Megan Kerr, Fifth District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $500, offset by the Fifth Council District One-Time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide a contribution to Partners of Parks; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $500 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

CD3 - Summer Community Concert & Egg Hunt Heights

Item #2 • File #23-0293 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilmember Kristina Duggan, Third District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $2,075, offset by the Third Council District One-Time District Priority Funds, transferred from the Citywide Activities Department, to provide donations of: 1. $1,700 to the Friends of Belmont Shore to support their Summer Community Concert; 2. $375 to the Belmont Heights Community Association to support their Egg Hunt in the Heights; and Decrease appropriation in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $2,075, to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

CA - Benavidez v Long Beach

Item #3 • File #23-0294 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to pay sum of $150,000, in full settlement of lawsuit entitled Edward Benavidez vs. City of Long Beach, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. 21STCV02509.

CA - Foster v Long Beach

Item #4 • File #23-0296 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to submit Stipulations with Request for Award for approval by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and if so approved, authority to pay $52,200, in compliance with the Appeals Board Order for William Foster.

CA - Medina-Fernandez v Long beach

Item #5 • File #23-0295 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to pay sum of $99,000, in full settlement of lawsuit entitled Michael Medina-Fernandez v. City of Long Beach, et al., United States District Court Case No. 2:21-cv-07038-JPR.

CA - Mullally v Long Beach

Item #6 • File #23-0297 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to submit two Stipulations with Request for Award for approval by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and if so approved, authority to pay 1) $125,642.50 for Stipulations with Request for Award with a life pension thereafter of $77.31 per week and also 2) separate authority to pay $111,142.50 in compliance with the Appeals Board Order for Keith Mullally.

CA - Radcliff

Item #7 • File #23-0298 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to submit Stipulations with Request for Award for approval by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and if so approved, authority to pay $122,742.50 in compliance with the Appeals Board Order for Donald Radcliff.

CA - Sanders v Long Beach

Item #8 • File #23-0299 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to pay sum of $75,000, in full settlement of lawsuit entitled Markeisha Sanders v. City of Long Beach, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. 22STCV16940.

CC - Minutes

Item #10 • File #23-0302 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Clerk

Recommendation to approve the minutes for the City Council Special Meeting of Tuesday, March 7, 2023; and City Council meeting of Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

Damage Claims

Item #11 • File #23-0303 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Clerk

Recommendation to refer to City Attorney damage claims received between March 13, 2023 and March 27, 2023.

LS - Ord to amend the LBMC Library Rules

Item #18 • File #23-0309 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Library Services

Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code (LBMC) to clarify the City’s authority to enforce the Long Beach Public Library Patron Rules of Conduct (Library Rules) in all Library facilities and on all Long Beach Public Library (LBPL) property. (Citywide)

Mayor - Housing Promise

Item #22 • File #23-0313 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Mayor Rex Richardson

Recommendation to request City Manager to work with local educational institutions including CSU Long Beach, CSU Dominguez Hills, Long Beach City College, and Long Beach Unified School District, as well as industry partners in Long Beach’s key growth sectors, to pursue strategic partnerships and cooperation agreements that make meaningful investments to support housing production and add to Long Beach’s existing housing stock, and refer to the Educational Partnerships Committee and the Housing and Public Health Committee for input and discussion.

CA - Amicus Brief State and Fed Leg Agenda

Item #23 • File #23-0314 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to join amicus briefs that align with the annually adopted City of Long Beach State Legislative Agenda and/or Federal Legislative Agenda, and to request subsequent affirmation by the City Council. (Citywide)

Resolution

CA - Cesar Chavez & Dolores Huerta Day resos

Item #9 • File #23-0300 (Details, PDF)
Recommendation to adopt resolution recognizing the 31st of March of every year as César Chávez Day, a Day of Celebration in the City of Long Beach; and

Chavez & Huerta reso 2

Item # • File #23-0301 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Adopt resolution recognizing the 10th of April of every year as Dolores Huerta Day, a Day of Celebration in the City of Long Beach. (Citywide)

FM - Contract w/Elastec for Elastec E30 work boat and trailer

Item #15 • File #23-0307 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Elastec, Inc., of Carmi, IL, for the purchase of an Elastec E30 work boat, with trailer and other accessories, in a total amount not to exceed $416,934, including taxes and fees. (Citywide)

FM - FY23 Salary Reso for MWD

Item #16 • File #23-0315 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution amending the Fiscal Year 2023 Salary Resolution RES-22-0159 to increase the maximum annual compensation permitted for the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors representative to $200 per meeting attended limited to no more than four meetings per month, inclusive of subcommittee meetings, not to exceed $7,000 maximum per calendar year. (Citywide)

LS - Agrmnt w/Bibliotheca for updated self-checkout machines

Item #19 • File #23-0310 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Library Services

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents, including subsequent amendments, with Bibliotheca, of Norcross, GA to provide updated patron self-checkout machines at the eleven Long Beach Public Library branch libraries, and maintenance services, in a total amount not to exceed $224,726 for a period of 5 years, with no renewal options, at the discretion of the City Manager; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary subsequent amendments. (Citywide)

DS - 1711 Harbor & 1515 W. 17th St. Appeal D7

Item #21 • File #23-0312 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Development Services

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record and conclude the public hearing and consider one third-party appeal by the Westside Business Association of Long Beach (APL23-005); Adopt resolution adopting and certifying a Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND 01-23) and making findings of fact related thereto, and adopting a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program; and Deny the appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision and approve two (2) Conditional Use Permits (CUP21-010 & CUP21-011) to operate a trucking use on two (2) properties located at 1711 Harbor Avenue and 1515 West 17th Street that total 4.85 acres in size in the General Industrial (IG) Zoning District. (District 7)

PD/FD/TI - Contract for emergency response/public safety equipment and supplies

Item #25 • File #23-0317 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Police
• Fire
• Technology and Innovation

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including subsequent amendments, with Safeware, Inc., of Lanham, MD; and Mallory Safety and Supply, LLC, of Portland, OR, for furnishing and delivering emergency response and public safety equipment and supplies, on the same terms and conditions afforded to the Port of Portland, OR, through Omnia Partners, in an annual aggregate amount of $3,000,000, with a 20 percent contingency in the amount of $600,000, for a total annual aggregate contract amount not to exceed $3,600,000, until the Omnia Partners contract expires on April 1, 2026, with the option to renew for as long as the Omnia Partners contract is in effect, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)

Contract

CM - Sprout Social

Item #12 • File #23-0304 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Manager

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Sprout Social, Inc., of Chicago IL, to provide social media support services and tools, in a total annual amount not to exceed $40,000, for a period of two years, with the option to renew for additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)

ED - PGWIN service and product providers for training and employment svcs to residents

Item #13 • File #23-0305 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Economic Development

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with various Pacific Gateway Workforce Innovation Network training and service providers, for training and employment services to residents, in a total aggregate amount not to exceed $750,000, for a term ending December 31, 2023, with the option to renew for an additional one-year period, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)

FM - Contract w/Tait Environmental Svcs for the City’s Fuel Operations system

Item #14 • File #23-0306 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to amend Contract No. 34878 with Tait Environmental Services, Inc., of Santa Ana, CA, to provide technical support, construction management services, and regulatory updates for the City’s Fuel Operations program, to increase the contract amount by $70,839, for a revised contract amount not to exceed $1,105,839, and extend the term to September 30, 2023. (Citywide)

PRM/PW - Grant funding for Davenport Park Phase II project D8

Item #24 • File #23-0316 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Parks, Recreation and Marine
• Public Works

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an amendment to accept and expend grant funds from the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation Land and Water Conservation Fund, increasing the award from $2,016,000 to an amount not to exceed $3,656,000, for the period from July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2023, for the Davenport Park Phase II Project; Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Public Works Department by $1,640,000, offset by grant revenue; and Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Public Works Department by $1,640,000, offset by a transfer of Land and Water Conservation Grant Funds from the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation from the Capital Grants Fund. (District 8)

Conformed Contract

DHHS - Fundamentals of Fatherhood Project

Item #17 • File #23-0308 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Health and Human Services

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and all necessary documents, subcontracts, and any necessary amendments, including any amendments to the award amount, with Public Strategies, Inc., a Technical Assistance provider for the Fundamentals of Fatherhood Project, to accept and expend grant funding in the amount of $35,000, for the National Responsible Fatherhood Alliance, for the period of April 1, 2023 through October 31, 2023, with the option to extend the agreement for three additional one-year periods at the discretion of the City Manager; and Increase appropriations in the Health Fund Group in the Health and Human Services Department by $35,000, offset by grant revenue. (Citywide)

ABC License

PD - ABC License - Sake Secret D1

Item #20 • File #23-0311 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Police

Recommendation to receive and file the application of Sake Secret, LLC, dba Sake Secret, for an original application of an Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) License, at 460 Pine Avenue; determine that the application serves the public convenience and necessity, and submit a Public Notice of Protest to ABC; and, direct City Manager to withdraw the protest if a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) is granted. (District 1)

Ordinance

CA - Boxing and Wrestling

Item #26 • File #23-0318 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Sections 5.24.010, 5.24.020, 5.24.080, and 5.24.140, relating to boxing and wrestling exhibitions, read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading. (Citywide)

CA - Advisory bodies & amending Section 2.06.060

Item #27 • File #23-0265 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Section 2.18.050; and, by repealing Section 2.06.060, all relating to compensation and training requirements for members of boards and commissions, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)

As the title of the OP says, I've built a couple of PCs but have been out of the game for awhile so I'm not as up on hardware as I was in 2020-2021.
My main PC has an R5 3600 which is a great CPU but between that and the 16GB of RAM I have, I'm having issues with properly running modded Cities Skylines
My other issue is that I don't use my second system like at all (I built it an ITX system for a move but the move never happened).
This secondary system has a 6700XT in it and is currently a paperweight on my desk.
The issue with the secondary system is that the 5700X CPU in it runs hot.
I want to, if necessary, rebuild a new PC from the ground up with parts from both of my systems, namely storage drives from both and the GPU from the secondary system.
However, with time moving on and things like Cities Skylines 2 on the horizon, I'm wondering if my 3600 might not be on a dated platform. I also want to get into AIO water cooling as a more long-term CPU cooling solution.
My main questions are:

1. How good is the 13600k vs. the 7800X3D and are either of them worth skipping the 5700X completely and upgrading from the 3600 now?
   
2. What is the best case that can support 240 MM AIOs and a lot of SSD/HDD storage spots? My Fractal Design Focus G that my main system is housed in is a good case but it's not the most feasible to work an AIO in and I'm not the most dextrous individual either so that can create added issues.
   
3. The main system is currently powered by a 750 Watt Corsair RM PSU -- is that enough for a 6700XT and a 13600k/7800X3D if I choose to go with those CPUs? Is CableMod good for finding replacement/extra cables?
   
4. Would it be worth it to jump to DDR5 now if I do go with the current processors, considering DDR5 is going to be the standard for the near future?
   

Link to Part 1.
(Reposted due to error in the title)

The Photo

My head was spinning.
The polaroid photo of Jared and I was sitting on my laptop. Less than a day after I received his emotional plea to investigate a haunting at his home. It was impossible. The whole thing was impossible! I don’t believe in ghosts, and that photo hasn’t seen the outside of a box in years.
I ripped open my storage closet. Underneath many boxes in the back corner was the small pink shoebox, where I kept all the mementos from college. I tore off the lid and rooted through the contents. The box contained many polaroids of friends, parties, everyday items I framed in an ‘artsy’ way, and a lot of questionable haifashion choices. No Jared photo. I examined the photo placed on my laptop again, it looked exactly like the others in the box. Yellowed from the years and covered in a light film of dust. I flipped it over, and saw a handwritten note. “Love you always - Jared”. His penmanship was almost illegible, and there was a heart beside his name. Wow.
As if I didn’t have enough confusing feelings to process right now. Desperate to hold onto a semblance of reality, I texted Sara asking if she moved my photos. That would make sense, right? She learned about Jared last night, maybe she dug up my boxes from college? My phone chimed. Sara questioned your message “Did you move any of my old college photos?” - for non-iOS users, that means she held down on my message and selected a question mark. Since she’s at work, that’s likely the best response I’ll get for a few hours, but it’s safe to assume Sara didn’t touch the photo.
After covering my shifts at the restaurant for the week, I decided to reply to Jared. I sent him a brief email informing him that I would be taking a ferry to Vancouver Island the next day. Afterwards I found myself writing down the entire experience. This is unlike me, I don’t journal, or keep a blog, or anything like that. I’m not sure what compelled me, but this event felt… significant.

The Ferry

I loaded up my crappy little car with all my equipment, and left at the ass-crack of dawn. Traffic wasn’t too bad this early in the morning, and I made it to the terminal with time to spare. I pulled up to the ticketing booth, and fumbled with my phone until I found my online reservation email. They gave me my lane number and I drove through. The booth opened up to a huge tarmac with around 20 different lanes, and I found my spot in line. I pulled in behind 10 other vehicles and turned off my engine.
Non-locals won’t know what I mean when I say this, but: BCFerries is a racket. It’s like $100 one way with a vehicle. As my bank account drained, I remembered why I don’t visit Vancouver Island all that often. Beautiful though it may be. Maybe I can write this off as a business expense, I just need to learn taxes, and… business. Don’t judge, I went to school to study grainy surveillance footage. On second thought, Jared can cover my ferry costs.
After a long period of waiting, the ferry started loading up cars and I parked on the lower vehicle decks. For those unfamiliar, these ferries aren’t cute little boats. These are massive ships that can fit dozens of vehicles, and hundreds of passengers. They’re several stories tall and contain a restaurant, gift shop, play areas for children, and more. I made my way up to the upper passenger deck and got in line for breakfast. A breakfast meal with coffee cost me $20, and it left me feeling sick for hours. The racket continues.
After breakfast, I waddled over to passenger seating and managed to score a window seat. As I settled in for the rest of my journey, I finalised my plans for Jared’s ghost problem.

The Plan

There are three major events to investigate. The Ten Knocks, the Floating Spoon, and the Shadow Man. Here are my plans for each:
The Ten Knocks: Ten loud knocks ripple through the home every night at exactly 3:24am. According to Jared, the sound seems to come from a different location each night. As you know Jared already has an existing surveillance system. On top of that, I’m going to set up two Zoom audio recorders, and an old phone of mine to record audio throughout the night. From there I’m going to attempt to make a map of the approximate knock locations, and see what data we can generate. I’m hoping we can discover a pattern and isolate the source of these noises. Last time I mentioned a friend of mine who specialises in Forensic Audio. I'm hoping he can help me with this, but at the moment I haven’t heard back from him. I’m not sure I blame him, honestly.
The Floating Spoon: Surveillance footage shows the utensil drawer opening in the kitchen, and a spoon levitating in the air. Since the spoon's movements were quite articulate, I’ll be looking for any evidence of wiring rigs. I also brought a compass for detecting magnetic fields. I’ll be insisting on seeing Jared’s computers, to see if they have software that could fake these things with CGI. I should note that there were a few other objects I caught moving in the raw surveillance footage, but those could be faked with a single string. Unlike the Floating Spoon, which moved in many directions.
The Shadow Man: I’m going to get Jared to stand exactly where the figure appeared in the video, and take measurements for scale. If this man-shaped figure happens to be exactly Jared’s size, that’ll be a strong sign the footage is fake. If they’ll let me, I’m also going to inspect Simon’s bruises. Finger-shaped bruises can be imitated with makeup. A sobering reality here to consider is that if Jared faked the Shadow Man footage, I may have to call Child Protective Services. Simon’s noises and movement in the video indicated he was in legitimate distress. If I do determine the footage is fake, I’ll be demanding a detailed explanation of the hoax from Jared. For Simon's sake.

The Drive

The ferry docked, and I made my way down to my vehicle. Cell reception returned as we got closer to the island, so I entered Jared’s address into Google Maps. For those unfamiliar with Vancouver Island, this isn’t a tiny island you can cruise around in a day. It’s home to over 850,000 people and bigger than the Hawaiian islands combined, or half the size of Ireland. It’s home to a few cities; the largest of which being BC’s capital city, Victoria, and many towns of various sizes. For privacy reasons, I won’t be sharing exactly where Jared lives, but for context I’ll say that it’s a small town.
I’ve driven through the Island a few times, but this visit felt ominous. Pouring rain from the grey skies splattered my windshield. The roads were flanked on both sides by towering evergreen trees, sprawling all the way across distant mountain ranges. As I left the cities and hit a winding stretch of highway, I couldn’t help feeling like I was in the opening scene of The Shining. My speakers blasted upbeat 90s classics to keep my spirits up, but the foreboding feeling was hard to shake.
As I approached the town where Jared lives, I decided to stop at a cute little coffee shop advertising free Wi-fi. Knowing you’re about to see your ex is nerve-wracking enough on its own. Let alone when you’re going to their home, meeting their wife, and presumably fighting ghosts. I ordered a latte, and found a quiet spot in the corner. As the rain pattered against the window, I called Sara on FaceTime. She answered, and I could tell she was walking home from the restaurant. After some small talk, I blurted out what was on my mind:
“Am I making a terrible mistake?” Sara stifled a laugh.
“I mean… How honest do you want me to be?” We both laughed this time, if a bit nervously on my end. “Look. Either you’re about to save a family and fight some ghosts, or somebody’s living in their walls, or your ex is pranking you. What’s your plan if things go to shit?”
“More like when things go to shit. Let’s just hope he pays me upfront.”
Sara knew me well enough to know I’m very safety-conscious. Working for a crime lab tends to have that effect. I had already shared Jared’s address with her, and called ahead to a local motel. I explained that I was staying with someone nearby, but had concerns about my safety. I would have preferred spending all my nights in a motel, but our ‘ghost’ only knocks in the middle of the night. Wendy, the manager, was lovely and agreed to hold a room for the first night. No charge unless I check in! It was their off season, and they had plenty of vacancies. I love small towns.
Sara and I decided on one final safety measure. If I feel unsafe at any time, I’ll text her a code phrase. Like ‘How was your job interview?’
Furthermore, we have a daily check-in, and if I don’t respond within 20 minutes, Sara will call the authorities. Realising Jared IS an authority, Sara wrote down the direct lines for EMT, Fire and RCMP in the hopes that someone will check on me. Our conversation came to a close.
“I love you, Sara.”
“Love you too Marn. Stay safe!”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
The call ended. I collected myself, pulled up the hood of my jacket, and ran out into the pouring rain to my car. I sent Jared a text letting him know I was close, and drove the rest of the way there.

The House

Jared and Jenny’s house is tucked in the back corner of an upper class, surrounded by woods. I pulled up the driveway, feeling very out of place in my crappy sedan. An old woman standing outside in a neighbouring front yard eyed my poor ass with suspicion. I ignored her. The house was modern, bright white with black accents, and completely unassuming. The rain had lifted, and a sliver of sunlight made the house seem positively welcoming. Despite seeing the house in videos and pictures, a part of my brain expected some sort of haunted castle. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
I had barely gotten out of my car when Jared and Jenny came outside to greet me. It’s always a little awkward sussing out the etiquette when meeting up with your ex after several years. Do we shake hands, or hug, or exchange an explosive fist bump? I was panicking a little, but Jenny cut right through that by springing an enthusiastic hug on me.
“Oh my god hiii!” Jenny had that gorgeous, effortless, hippy-island-girl thing going on. Her shoulder-length straight hair was blonde, and she wore a long, flowing olive cardigan, and black leggings with sneakers. “It’s so nice to meet you! Thank you so much for coming.”
Jared was standing behind her and gave a small wave, “Hey, Marn.” He looked exactly like the video. We exchanged a brief hug. I’m not sure if everyone else over-analyzes every single social interaction they’re in, but I was very cognizant of not letting that hug linger. A professional hug. Jenny chimed in.
“I love your videos!” Jenny’s enthusiasm seemed genuine. “After uh, all this started happening, I went deep down the YouTube rabbit hole. There’s a lot of stuff out there, but your videos made me feel sane.”
“Yeah, I came into the room and saw you on the TV. I was like, whoa, I dated her in college!” Jared added.
“I didn’t believe him at first, but he had proof!” Jenny gave him a playful smack on the arm.
“Evidence is important.”
Jenny laughed at Jared’s terrible cop joke. I could see why he liked her, Jenny’s sunny disposition was infectious. In comparison, Jared and I were two people with very dry senses of humour.
We exchanged pleasantries, and the couple helped me bring my bags into the guest room. Jared gave me something of a tour of the home. Having studied their surveillance footage in detail, I had no issue navigating their home. It was easy to forget I hadn’t been here before. When we got to the kitchen, I made a mental note of the ceiling. Adorned with several wooden beams, perfect for stringing up wires to say, make a spoon dance in the air. Interesting.
Walking down the hallway to the master bedroom, and nursery, Jared pointed out a small blind spot in the cameras. I made a note to place one of my cameras there to cover that gap. While the knocks occurred in different locations each night, the main hallway was where the most activity occurred. I decided that this would be a good spot for my thermal camera, a piece of equipment I’ve owned for several years but never had a good excuse to use. According to the lore, ghosts can affect temperature. I guess we’ll see.
As Jared showed me the nursery, he explained that Simon would be staying at his sister-in-laws for the foreseeable future. I had hoped to take a look at his bruises, but this didn’t feel like the time to mention Simon’s injuries, or the Shadow Man. Jenny’s expression darkened, and she brought it up without my prompting.
“After Jared showed me…” her voice quavered. She paused before collecting herself. “...The video, I didn’t feel safe having him here any more. We visit him every day.”
Jenny’s eyes welled up, and she excused herself. Left alone with Jared for the first time, there was an awkward pause. Wanting to avoid awkwardness at all costs, I asked Jared if he could do me a favour: Stand where the Shadow Man stood, and imitate his movements. For scale, I told him, and that was true. If Jared’s measurements match the Shadow Man, there’s a good chance he faked the footage, either with CGI or some sort of lighting rig. Jared seemed surprised, but he complied. I think he understood where I was going with this.
I grappled with my emotions versus my logic. On one hand, this ‘ghost’ should have a rational explanation, and the most rational explanation was that this was a hoax. On the other hand, Jared’s wife is crying because she doesn’t feel like her child is safe in her home. If this is a prank, to what end? My relationship with Jared ended amicably. Hell, he was the one who ended it. It didn’t make sense. None of it did.
After playing Shadow Man charades, I inquired about Jared’s security system. I wanted to see how he viewed surveillance footage. Jared darted into the bedroom and grabbed his laptop, a Macbook that was several years old. His security cameras uploaded over wi-fi to the cloud, and he was able to access that footage via an app. This app deletes the videos after a period of time, so Jared had been downloading them onto his computer. I noted he had several external hard drives, video files take up a lot of space so this made sense. I asked if I could borrow his laptop for a moment.
“Sure, do whatever you want.” Jared handed me the laptop, which I took into the guest bedroom where I was staying. I took this opportunity to see if his computer had any visual effects, or video editing apps. All he had was iMovie, not a particularly powerful option.
I spent a few hours reviewing the laptop, and then editing some B-roll footage I had shot earlier on my own computer. Jared knocked on the door. I looked up to see him in full police gear, and he let me know he was going to work. After Jared left, Jenny poked her head in the doorway and asked if I’d like to go out for dinner tonight, just the two of us. I agreed. All I had eaten was sickening ferry-food for breakfast, and Jenny seemed nice enough.

The Dinner

Jenny drove us to this amazing little Italian restaurant, and we had a fantastic time! She pushed many appetisers on me (so much bread), and the main course was delicious. I had linguine pescatora, and Jenny had gnocchi. Jenny had one glass, and I had the rest of the wine bottle. The dinner was a little awkward at first, but by the end of the night we felt like old friends. For Jenny’s sake, I won’t discuss every single thing she told me, but here are the relevant bits:
I previously described Jenny as a seamstress. While that is true, it’s under-selling what she does. Jenny knows some specific, technical dress-making techniques. She has her own business, targeted towards Renaissance Fairs and cosplayers. Her work eventually attracted the attention of Hollywood productions. Now she makes beautiful clothing for feature films (period pieces), and high-end clients. I wondered how she and Jared could afford their beautiful home, she appears to be the reason.
Jared and Jenny met a little over 3 years ago. Jared was a few years out of the academy, and got stationed in their small town. By coincidence, he had moved into her apartment building. They struck up a conversation one day when Jared offered to help her haul several bags of dresses to her car. She liked him, and asked him out for coffee. They married two years later, and she got pregnant with Simon around that time.
At one point later in the evening, we got onto the subject of ghosts. Jenny’s always been a spiritual person, her office is full of crystals, and she loves astrology. I also learned she believes she saw a ghost as a child. As she describes it, she was in bed and a bearded old man in a white three-piece suit appeared in the room. He loomed over her with an intense stare, and they locked eyes for a long time. Jenny rolled to her side, and when she looked back he was gone. I asked if she ever saw the man again, and she answered no. I spoke to her about the phenomena of sleep paralysis, and she conceded that was possible. I’m not sure if she believed that or not. Regardless, I could see myself being good friends with Jenny.

Night One

We had such a lovely time at dinner, my reason for visiting had all but slipped my mind. It wasn’t until our drive home that I realised we were heading back to (for all intents and purposes) a haunted house. A pit began to form in my stomach as we pulled into the driveway. At night, the house took on an eerie presence, and the surrounding woods had me feeling like something could leap out at me at any moment. Jenny must have been feeling the same way, as we hurried into the house. Jared still wasn’t back yet, as he worked 12 hour shifts.
I asked Jenny if she wanted to help me set up some of my equipment before bed, and her expression darkened. She declined. She opened up a drawer and pulled out a massive bag of earplugs, offering me some. This seems to be her solution to the nightly knocking sounds. I took some earplugs, though I forgot them on the counter. I got to work setting up my cameras and audio recording devices. I placed one of my cameras to cover the blind spot Jared showed me, and set the thermal camera in the main hallway. I was more than a little tipsy, but I managed to get the job done. After triple-checking that everything was recording, I shuffled back to the guest bedroom to sleep. It was around 10:30 pm, and I was dead tired, but knowing why I was there, I set an alarm for 3:15 am, hoping to be awake for the knocks.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!
I shut the alarm off, and groaned. I barely registered falling asleep. It was one of those sleeps where it feels like you’ve blinked, and all of a sudden it’s several hours later. Awful. I grabbed my phone, pulled myself out of bed, and left my room. I checked the time, 3:20 am. I shuffled into the main hallway, and waited. The minutes felt like an eternity as I stood around, waiting for a noise. It was dead quiet. Impatient, I found myself checking my phone. While waiting for a ghostly knocking. Something must be wrong with my brain. As my phone’s clock read 3:23, I put my phone away and listened.
I couldn’t hear any footfalls, or doors opening. No strange noises from the plumbing or AC units. As I lingered in the silence, I wondered if this would be the night when the noises stopped. Did I scare the ghost away?
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG ! BANG!
I screamed, startled by the incredible volume of noise that surrounded me. It felt like the banging was right beside my head, as if the very walls were screaming at me. Then it started again.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG ! BANG!
I whirled around, searching for a source to this thunderous sound. No such source was obvious to me. Jared came out of the bedroom in his pyjamas, and stared at me for a moment. As if to say, ‘Told you so’, but no lecture came. If anything, he looked sad. Disheartened that this horrible noise was real, not some sort of shared hallucination. He took a step towards me.
“Oh my god…” Was all that came out of my mouth.
“Let’s talk in the morning.” Jared said, shivering a little before heading back to bed. It’s clear he's used to this, but my heart was pounding out of my chest. After a pause, I followed suit, and returned to the guest bedroom. It took a long time to fall back asleep after that. I wished I took Jenny up on her offer of earplugs.

Reviewing the Evidence

I awoke around 8:30 to a gentle knock on my door, and an offer I couldn’t refuse.
“There’s fresh coffee, if you want some.” Jenny announced. God yes.
As I sat down for coffee, nectar of the gods, I couldn’t help but focus on the empty high chair at the kitchen table. There wasn’t much conversation in the morning, but Jenny did tell me she was spending the day at her sister’s with Simon. Later Jared would go there after work to spend the night with him. My heart hurts for them. As Jenny left, Jared encouraged me to check my footage from last night. He did the same with his security system.
I scrubbed through my three audio recordings. The ear-shattering knocks were definitely coming from the main hallway. I marked down where I was standing on my sound map. I checked my blind spot camera, and scrubbed through the night’s events. Nothing of note until I enter the hallway at 3:20, stare at my phone and then jump into the air at the sound of the knocks. As I finished up with this, Jared came into the room. He told me there wasn’t anything noteworthy on his cameras, just the knocks, but he would send me the footage to review. He was about to leave the room, when I asked him if he wanted to stick around to watch the thermal camera footage with me. I opened up the video file.
The thermal camera was pointing straight down the main hallway, now visible in various shades of orange, and purple. The walls were brighter than the doorways, and the lights appeared brightest. I scrubbed through the hours of footage. It captured Jared going into the bedroom around 12:35 am, having finished work at midnight. As the timestamp hits 3:20, I come into frame, my skin orange, and my hair and clothes closer to purple. I watch myself pull out my phone, and I shoot an awkward smile at Jared, who seems unphased. At 3:23, right before the knocking sound, a dark blue spot appears on the floor in front of me.
The dark blue mass starts rising, getting taller and taller until it looms over me. The deep blue shape becomes humanoid.
“What the fuck?” Jared interjects over my shoulder.
At exactly 3:24, I jump at the knocks, and the man-shape follows my movement. It doesn’t have a face, but I can tell that it’s… staring at me. In the video, Jared comes out of the bedroom. The blue mass is still in front of him, but you can see the blue colour turn closer to purple as Jared stands behind it.
As Jared takes a step forward, he walks right through the mass. He shivers, affected by the temperature difference, before he walks back into the room. As I exit the hallway, the mass ‘looks’ at me, its’ featureless head tilting in my direction.
It just stands there. I scrub forward several hours. A distinct man shape, motionless. It’s not until 6 am, when Jenny comes out of the bedroom, that the figure drops back down into the floor. The temperature readings become normal again. The video ends a few hours later, when I come to collect the camera’s memory card.
Jared and I stared at each other for a moment. He collected himself.
“So, in your professional opinion, what, uh… what the hell was that?”
“In my professional opinion?” He nodded.
“Jared,” I stated. “Your house is fucking haunted.”

Hi everyone
I am looking at my first CRE deal and would appreciate some input
I’m talking to a seller of a storage facility from central-south Florida,City has 8000 people.
SF per capita is 9.5. IMO is a little high but when I called the competition the owner picks up the phone in every single one and every single one is 100% full. They didn’t even want to write my details in case they’ll have vacancy .
The guy want 3.2 mil which represent 5.2% cap which I think is over priced but i think I can conservatively bring it to 8.5-9%( converting 5000sqft warehouse to smaller units and build 3000sqft on the lot). Resale will be at 6%
In my opinion this area in Florida gonna enjoy massive appreciation in the next 5-10 years.
I guess my question is , am I crazy for thinking of buying at 5% cap in that small of a market?
I tried to get comp information and competition information via radius and other tools and it all came blank, is there any tool you’d recommend to get data in such rural area?(how do appraisers run comps in cases like this?)
Honestly any input will be really appreciated, unfortunately except of the internet I have no one to consult

Helping Ensure Affordable Liabilities Through Healthcare Act

This is an act to protect the Citizens of Fremont from the insurmountable financial burden of receiving Healthcare.
Whereas, Healthcare costs are overly inflated and place undue burden on the patient
Whereas, Hospital Chargemasters are overly inflated to milk insurance companies for money, leaving uninsured and out-of-network patients in extraordinary debt
Whereas, People die because they know they do not have the financial resources necessary to receive healthcare in this country
Whereas, The Assembly has an obligation to ensure and protect the interests, general welfare, and livelihood of all citizens in the state of Fremont
THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of the Fremont that:
Section 1. Title
(A) This bill shall be referred to as the “Helping Ensure Affordable Liabilities Through Healthcare Act” or the "H.E.A.L.T.H. Act" for short.
Section 2. Healthcare Regulation Changes (A) Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center practicing Healthcare in the state of Fremont Shall be subject to all regulations outlined in Section 3, Section 4, and Section 5 of this bill.
(1A) Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center that does not comply with the Regulations set forth act shall be fined no less than $250,000 per infraction. Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center that commits 5 or more infractions shall be fined a sum of $1,000,000 for each subsequent offense.
(2A) Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center that refuses to comply with the regulations set forth can and shall be investigated for violations by the Fremont Department of Health. The Fremont Department of Health shall hereby have the authority to issue notices of required changes in order to be compliant with this law. If a Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center fails to comply within a 60 day period the Fremont Department of Health hereby has the authority to issue fines to compensate for costs lost by patients and fairly compensate affected patients for said non-compliance, if an offense or offenses are so egregious that they pose a risk of irreparable damage to patients the Fremont Department of Health hereby has the authority to revoke a Hospital’s, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center’s ability to practice healthcare services within the state of Fremont.
(3A) Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center located in a county, town, or city with a population that is less than 10,000 people shall not be required to comply with this legislation.
Section 3. Chargemasters
(A) All Hospitals, Doctor’s Offices, or any other Medical Centers operating in the state of Fremont must provide the Fremont Department of Health with continuous access to their chargemasters, or any other subsequent document(s) outlining how much a Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center pays to provide a patient with a drug, surgery, healthcare visit, medical supply, or any other related services that a patient can be billed for.
(1A) No Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center can withhold any information related to the costs associated with caring for a patient from the Fremont Department of Health. Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center that fails to comply shall be given a 7 days notice to comply with the law, if a Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Center fails to comply within 7 days they shall be indefinitely closed by the Fremont Department of Health until they comply.
(B) The cost charged to a patient and or their insurance company, based off of any covered documents outlined in Section 3.A, shall not exceed a price increase amounting to 10% or higher of the actual cost of a patient's drug(s), surgery, surgeries, healthcare visit(s), medical supply, medical supplies, and or any other related services that a patient can be billed for. (For Example: A Hospital pays $0.50 to obtain a bag of saline to use in a patient's treatment, the hospital may, at most, inflate the cost of the bag of saline 10% or to a price of $0.55 when billing the patient and or their insurance for the bag of saline)
(1B) Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, and or Medical Center that does not comply shall be required to issue a refund to any affected patients within 5 days of treatment.
Section 4. Frecare Compliance
(A) Any Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Centers that provides a drug and or drugs covered under WSB-05-20 within their facility cannot charge a patient for the cost of the drug, they must instead bill the patient in the same manner a pharmacy would, by first billing the patient's insurance(s) and manufacturers coupons first, before billing a patient’s Frecare card.
Section 5. Unfair Fees
(A) No Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or any other Medical Centers may charge a patient a fee that is not listed in documents covered by Section 3.A, nor shall any fees be assessed for how long a healthcare service took to perform, or any other miscellaneous fees.
Section 6. Enactment
(A) This act shall go into effect 30 days after it is signed into law.
(B) If any portion of this act is struck down, the rest of the act shall still be in effect.
This piece of legislation was authored by KushGator (R)

I tried to do some research on my own but could only find OSHA requirements in regards to building codes and door sizes. I’m looking for any regulations in regards to outside exits.
Example: to get on to the campus you have to badge in, an arm then raises and the gate slides open and then you can drive through. To leave campus, a sensor is tripped when you reach a certain point and the arm auto raises and the gate slide open for you to leave. Now they’re removing the sensor and requiring you to badge out, in order for the sequence to happen to finally allow you to leave. Isn’t this unsafe?
If it matters, I work for a utility company that falls under the city; it was explained to me (by the facilities manager) because of this, the campus is public property. (I know, I know, it doesn’t make sense to me that you have to badge in/out or check in with the rentacops at the gate if it’s a public property, but here we are).
Can anyone shed some light?

I'M building an ecommerce website in which i have made 2 checkout options buttons

1. Pay online

2 Cash on delivery
when someone click pay online it navigates to payment page and in the payment page you have to insert card details and submit and if payment is successful the order gets created and stored in databse but I want to do the same for Cash on Delivery that if someone clicks on it the order gets and stored in database without doing payment but I don't know how to do it. Please help I'm new to react
here's the code of payment online
ConfirmOrder.js

import React, { Fragment } from "react"; import CheckoutSteps from "../Cart/CheckoutSteps"; import { useDispatch, useSelector } from "react-redux"; import MetaData from "../layout/MetaData"; import "./ConfirmOrder.css"; import { Link } from "react-router-dom"; import { Typography } from "@mui/material"; import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom"; import { createOrder, clearErrors } from "../../actions/orderAction"; const ConfirmOrder = () => { const dispatch = useDispatch(); const navigate = useNavigate(); const { shippingInfo, cartItems } = useSelector((state) => state.cart); const { user } = useSelector((state) => state.user); const subtotal = cartItems.reduce( (acc, item) => acc + item.quantity * item.price, 0 ); const shippingCharges = subtotal > 1000 ? 0 : 200; const tax = subtotal * 0.18; const totalPrice = subtotal + tax + shippingCharges; const address = `${shippingInfo.address}, ${shippingInfo.city}, ${shippingInfo.state}, ${shippingInfo.pinCode}, ${shippingInfo.country}`; const proceedToPayment = () => { const data = { subtotal, shippingCharges, tax, totalPrice, }; sessionStorage.setItem("orderInfo", JSON.stringify(data)); navigate("/process/payment"); }; 

const proceedToPaymentCod = () => { }

 return (    
 
 
 Shipping Info 
 
 Name:
 {user.name} 
 
 Phone:
 {shippingInfo.phoneNo} 
 
 Address:
 {address} 
 
 
 
 Your Cart Items: 
 {cartItems && cartItems.map((item) => ( 
   {item.name} {" "}  {item.quantity} X ₹{item.price} ={" "} ₹{item.price * item.quantity}  
 ))} 
 
 
 {/* */} 
 
 Order Summery 
 
 Subtotal:
 ₹{subtotal} 
 
 Shipping Charges:
 ₹{shippingCharges} 
 
 GST:
 ₹{tax} 
 
 
 Total: 
 ₹{totalPrice} 
 Pay Online 
 
 

Cash On Delivery