Just this past weekend, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas held one of its biggest events on its annual calendar: the NASCAR Cup Series.
After a decade of the US Grand Prix at COTA – interrupted only by Covid – Formula 1 appears to have finally found a solid footing in America. Rather than fizzle out like so many other attempts to establish a US race over the decades, attendance at COTA has grown over recent years to the point where it now boasts the largest crowd of the season in terms of total attendance over the race weekend.
F1’s arrival at COTA in 2012 ended its five-year absence from the USA. Now it is one of three American rounds on the 2023 F1 calendar. The introduction of the Miami Grand Prix last year and the much-hyped addition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix near the end of this season means there is effectively a race in the east, west and centre of world’s wealthiest nation.
But COTA chairman Bobby Epstein is confident the popularity of the Texan race will not be diminished by the recent emergence of two rivals in the same country, as F1’s popularity enjoys a boom period in America.
Epstein admits that when he first got involved with the sport over 10 years ago: “I can’t say I was an avid, diehard F1 fan.”
“Because it was very hard to follow the sport in the US until more recently,” he told the Black Book Motorsport Forum. “Austin was a fast-growing city and I had this piece of property – my only real estate investment actually – and the idea came up about the possibility of bringing Formula 1 to Austin.
“I really thought this was a great opportunity to do something for the communities where we live, as well as something that we could make a profit on and we’d have some fun with, and would make a big difference.”
“The more we talked about and thought about it, we really looked at this as an opportunity to build a world-class entertainment destination, and with F1 as the cornerstone gives us a wonderful brand to start with,” he says. “It brought crowds right away. Our goal for the campus is to make this a place where people want to come and have fun and build memories with friends and family. F1 is one part of that overall picture.”
The United States Grand Prix may have secured record attendances over the last two seasons, but Epstein is under no illusions that the sport is cresting a large ‘Drive to Survive’ wave, growing very popular with casual fans as well as hardcore motorsport fanatics. He says all major motorsport series – be it F1, IndyCar NASCAR or otherwise – need to find ways of trying to hold onto those more casual race-goers.
“In IndyCar, when we’re in Indianapolis, one week you have a quarter-of-a-million people,” he explains. “You take the exact same product, put it in a different but similar venue, but a different location, and you see that attendance is ten or 15% of what it might have been, or less, sometimes. That tells you that’s where the difference is between a ‘diehard fan’ and the ‘event fan’.
“It’s not that we don’t offer the best experience for the diehard motorsports fan. But as is the case in any sport, you’re going to have to appeal to what I call the ‘second tier’ below the diehard fan – it’s not their hobby, it’s not their passion.
“We’re absolutely living, breathing, diehard fans of motorsport. But those sports aren’t going to survive on our interest alone. It’s going to have to be a step down of interest to the casual fan, who is also a fan of an event, and want to be a part it.”
He believes COTA has certain features which particularly appeal to dedicated fans who know what makes a good motor racing venue to spectate at. “If you’re a diehard motorsports fan, you’ll notice if you come to COTA and you’ll hopefully go away and say ‘that was the best sight line, that was the best view, I saw some action’.
“Because of the hills, you can see five or six turns from a general admission seat, and you can see seven or eight or nine from the reserved seats. That’s unusual, and the diehard fan will recognise that as unusual. The casual fan will just accept it, but they will notice.”
However Epstein is firm in his conviction that motorsport promoters cannot ignore the casual end of the market. “We have to recognise that the percentage of people that are the diehard fans is not enough to sustain the sport alone.
“For any of the motorsport events, the sport itself might survive on TV, but we have to talk about what’s the future, not just in motorsport. What’s the future of motorsport venues, and the sports themselves? I hope we’ve done a good job of utilising that.”
When it comes to the addition of two other American races on the calendar, Epstein believes there is room for Miami and Las Vegas to coexist with COTA, as the US Grand Prix offers a different kind of race experience to the other two.
“Sometimes competition is good,” he says. “So as long as there’s enough fans, we can have a lot more.
“But I think our goal is to always be unique and stand out and give the focus on the fans and just do the best we can. I do think for the ticket-buying fan base, we have to be careful and make sure there’s enough fans in the US to buy tickets to sustain it as a venue.
“We have advantages over others, so I welcome the competition from that standpoint. I do think the fans that choose to be repeat visitors will choose to come to COTA because we have an advantage.
“We were built for racing. The strip in Vegas was not necessarily built for racing, but it’s a fun place. It’s an international world-class destination.
“It’s going to make great TV. I don’t know how long people go back and buy tickets for it.”
While Italy and Germany once regularly held two races per year, it’s rare to see as many as three in a single country. “They’re obviously competitors,” Epstein concedes, but “I think we have an advantage.”
“There’s a difference, all three events right now are so uniquely different that they [can] all survive.”
One striking difference between the new Las Vegas Grand Prix and the COTA round which will take place a month before it is on the undercard. While no support races will take place at Vegas, COTA featured Formula 4 and the W Series last year.
Epstein admits Las Vegas may prove an interesting case study of how much other racing fans actually want on a grand prix weekend. “You have to look at the type of support races sometimes,” he explains, “But the fans are going to answer that question.
He admits some races failed to draw the attention of fans last year. “We saw W Series really struggle as a support race. The fans didn’t go to the seats, and they didn’t really watch it enough.
“So maybe that tells me that they’re not as important. I think we’ll find out. I hope they’re important, because it’s one of the factors that differentiates us with Las Vegas not going for.
“We think the fans want a lot of value for their investment and I think they want more content. We’ve got 30 hours of ‘programming’. If we find out that all people needed was two hours, we waste a whole lot of effort and a whole lot of money.
“I like to think that they want more content. Whether it’s support races they want or they want a music concert, we got both. But I’m not sure.”
The world championship has a long history in the United States from the early days when the Indianapolis 500 was a points-paying round to dedicated road courses, the rise of street races and temporary return to Indianapolis before Austin arrived. But while the race has drifted between being on and off the calendar over the decades, it seems that the race has finally found a permanent home.
“I think it’s sustainable,” he insists.
“Let’s say we do believe the Netflix effect is real, and that it’s been tremendous, and say what are the components of that? One is the danger and excitement. That’s not going to change. I think Survivor has been on TV 20-plus years – that has that thrill effect to it. And then I think The Bachelor – that has sort of the heartthrob, romance sex-appeal. That’s what you got in F1. So the outlook from the Netflix effect standpoint should be really strong, and it’ll continue for a long time.
“Then I’d ask ‘what about the events?’. Not just the sport, but what’s the sustainability of the events and why do people go? Because that’s what we focus on. Are we going to be here five, ten, 15 years from now? One of the hardest things to buy – what you can’t buy – is tradition.
“You look at some sporting events and ask why are they still around? Indianapolis 500. Why does it draw so many people, or the Kentucky Derby? Or some of these events that were around before TV? People had to go to experience them, and it became a tradition. It becomes a family tradition. And once you have tradition, that’s it.”
Epstein says COTA’s race has already become a traditional fixture for many who attend. “One thing COTA had, because it had a head start on the other events that are taking place in the US, is we have found now that there’s a tradition to families coming back. We see it in our repeat visitors.
“So I think we’ll sustain because we’ve created an atmosphere that people want to come back to. And then for the sports themselves, I think what they offer, and with the Netflix-type connection, the future should be good.”
Source: https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/29/we-were-built-for-racing-unlike-vegas-cota-boss-not-concerned-by-new-f1-rivals/

Other day, I over-head that my boss was telling his assistant that she go ahead and select top 5 candidates for interview but make your do not call anyone who's currently unemployed, make sure they are working in a same field.
I asked the assistant that why this requirement?? shes like if you are unemployed like not even doing free work volunteer etc, it just means you are lazy and hoping for things to fall in your lap.
Is this now a common practice?? i find its very unfair, these people are spending hours and hours on their cover letters and cvs to find a reasonable job and then they dont get a call ONLY because they are not currently employed anywhere.

Floater pharmacist whose seen the COVID test push for extra hours, and a lot of pharmacies in my district, because they are not begging for extra tech hours. Like stores where if u r a part timer with full availability, ur getting 35-40 hours a week cuz the store has plenty of hours, and the place is just constantly too slammed to bother.
Also, at least before the push, stores in more affluent areas, families and grandparents would usually come on the 30 day mark to pick up their tests every 30 days. I notice this that we don't really have to push them in more affluent areas, cuz we already have the multiple full families and all the grandparents who are gonna come in to get them on the daily. I worked at stores that do much higher volume in lower socioeconomic areas, yet do way fewer COVID tests on the daily.
Also, hard to push them in stores near college campuses cyz college students dont need a box of them, but those stores tend to be understaffed so the PMs aint begging for extra tech hours.
But areas that are high Medicaid/Medicare and not conservative, once we started pushing the COVID tests , we could send them out left and right and people would keep coming . Have families of 7-8 people who will all get COVID tests, and we'll give them 4 every 2 weeks.
I'm in Massachusetts, but worked in Florida, and comparatively, we are much less conservative but I still hear from stories from techs specifically from a couple pharmacies in my district, about us pushing the COVID propaganda, and patients telling them stuff, like the vaccine gives people COVID, and other anti COVID hysteria. Have heard stories from patients claiming COVID vaccine is leading to mass death and other crazy stuff. One patient said in front of me, I identify as trans-vaccinated, and I was like wtf. I didn't bother but the techs asked what that means to him ,and his explanation I was like Jesus.
Not to get political but a lot of these same people are on Medicaid when conservatives were tryna cut Medicaid, so just food for thought.
Overheard, some people say if CVS is pushing the COVID tests, they must not be good cuz why would CVS be looking out for their health cuz they make money off sick people, and I was like warmer at least comparatively,
Also, you you reach a plateau with a COVID tests, and some of these goals like 250 scripts a week are just super unrealistic, and they just keep upping the goals. Like yeah we could meet 150 a week easily at first, but now that we've been pushing it for a month, a lot of people that would say yes in the past don't want any more boxes, so we're pushing out way less even when we try yet they keep upping our goals.
Like DL starts with goal of 150 a week, then 175, then 190, then 210, then 250, without realizing you've exhausted ur existing base, cuz they don't want a million boxes, and it's not remotely possible to meet that goal.
The only store where they keep hitting the goals tend to be non-conservative high Medicaid/Medicare areas cuz like 80 percent of people will qualify and u can really just keep upping ur total

Currently finishing up my Civil Engineering degree, and it's very disappointing seeing the general engineering grad salaries of about $60/70k in most roles, especially in this economy and with the situation of the current housing market. Benefit of the doubt I could say that some grads earn $80/90k in finance, but from what I've seen in those roles they're working a lot of overtime and generally works out the same if you're comparing hourly rate. Career progression in terms of salary is hard to say in general. Apart from these graduate salaries, I can't see most wages being all that good either. I can't really see salaries moving up quick over time either especially in construction where most companies are bidding as low as possible, trying to save money, with a fair few of them going bust recently.
Moving on, with these salaries you live to work, not work to live. Money's not everything.. but everything needs money. Low wages, and an increasing cost of living looks like a bad combination to me.
On top of the housing market/wage crisis, getting around Sydney is a disaster whether it be by car, bus, or train. I can't see the government/council doing anything about existing infrastructure, for example Victoria Road towards the City - they can't widen it and traffic is only going to get worse over time with a growing population. Rail infrastructure doesn't seem all that good as well with the recent incidents we've had.
Currently deciding to move out west and work in the mines as that's where the money is, and life out there isn't as bad as Sydney's current state.
I was working out in the Hunter Valley for a couple of months, and the lifestyle out there was certainly a lot better. A lot of my coworkers in their mid/late 20s already starting a family just as a comparison of life outside of Sydney - where I know most people in Sydney can't really afford to start a family, let a lone the extra things in life. Salaries in Sydney aren't keeping up with the cost of living and most of us are suffering. These coworkers also had decent houses, decent cars etc and constantly went out on weekends because they could afford to. Mining boom ("bubble") aside, living out there showed me how much greater living was with better wages, and lower cost of living.
I know increasing wages isn't as simple as well - and I don't really have a direct solution to the situation in Sydney. All I can really say now is that moving away from Sydney to say Perth or Queensland and working for better wages and a lower cost of living seems to be the best current solution - and I know most people aren't willing to do that as well everything aside. How I see it is that I've got to move for a better future with Sydney's current situation. Having immigrant parents who moved to a completely country not knowing the language/culture etc, I personally see moving states as something insignificant as a means to a better future for myself.
I can't see Sydney as a viable place to live in anymore in the long run currently.. /rant

Hello!
My name is Lucina, and I'm a 31-year-old trans gender girl who loves to play games on PC and Nintendo Switch. I'm a big fan of games like Stardew Valley, Skrrim, and Star Trek Online on PC, as well as Smash, Mario Kart, and Splatoon 3 on the Switch.
I also love listening to video game music, as well as bands like Flogging Molly and NSP. When it comes to movies, I'm a big fan of animated films like Your Name, Kung Fu Panda, and Emperor's New Groove. And when it comes to shows, I'm all about Star Trek, Spice and Wolf, and Futurama.
In my free time, I love to tease and flirt with people, so if you're looking for someone with a playful sense of humor, then I'm your girl. I'm also polyamorous, so I'm open to exploring multiple loving relationships with people who share similar values.
I have a furry companion named Max who's my loyal sidekick, and I'm looking for someone who shares my passion for gaming. Ideally, I'm looking for someone who's interested in learning more about FFXIV, or someone who's fairly new to the game and would like a knowledgeable partner to help them navigate the game world.
If you're interested in playing games with me and getting to know me better, please don't hesitate to reach out. I primarily use Discord as my mode of communication, so if that works for you, then let's chat and see where things go!
Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

As title say. I'm live in Las Vegas and have been rolling the idea of being a driver on the weekends particularly down on the strip and Fremont. Looking for advice. Words of caution and tips on just general safety and how to make a profit out here. Any advice is welcome. Also looking to drive the hours of 7pm-2am

First-time reddit'r, so go easy on me. =)
My co-workers and I are D&D newbies and about to finish the first campaign. Soon will start the Lost Valley DLC. I'm not allowed to play without them, so my knowledge is limited to our one campaign.
In the main campaign we have no healer and the game seems like a cake-walk:

• Ranger (Thinking Cleric for LV)
• Barbarian (Thinking Paladin for LV)
• Sorcerer (Thinking Monk or Sorcerer again for LV)
• Rogue (Thinking Druid, Bard, Warlock, or Monk for LV) - me

My Rogue was a poor choice and I want to try something more useful in Lost Valley. I seemed to miss every attack and fail every stealth/picklock check, even with double proficiency.
The sub-classes I feel I would enjoy most are:

• Druid (Circle of the Kindred Spirit)
• Bard (College of Hope)
• Warlock (The Timekeeper)
• Monk (Way of Survival)

I read the Lost Valley DLC is more challenging and someone who can heal is suggested. With a Cleric and Paladin in the group, do I still need to bring one?
If anyone is familiar with Solasta's Lost Valley DLC, or D&D in general, that could advise me on which of those four would be a good fit, I would greatly appreciate it.
I'd like to offer more to my group than comedic relief.

Hello,
I have the canon 90d plus the sigma 18-35 ART (but no filters) and I'd like to know if there's any guide or video on how to achieve this kind of look (film emulation). Is it possible with just downloading some LUTs? is the merit of the filters? I've seen a couple videos on how to get film emulation look with cineprint 16 on Davinci Resolve but I already bought Vegas Pro 20 haha
thanks in advance,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDXsuBDpw3c&t=35s

hallo, i am from germany and plan to go on a road trip from san francisco to las vegas this may. because hotels are a bit expansive, i want to camp in national parks and where there is a oportunity. can i drive to any walmart i see and buy a tent and sleeping bag, etc? or do i have to go to special walmarts? or even other stores? sorry for my bad english.

I've been lonely lately and missed having someone that I can game with and shoot the shit with throughout the night. I love just hanging out on discord and playing or talking about our day. Some of my all time games are stardew valley, rimworld, apex, TFT, and don't starve. As long as it's multiplayer though I'm down to play anything!
Now I am also looking for a girl that doesn't mind some flirting. I figure I'd be upfront about so there aren't any confusions. I'd want us to feel comfortable roasting each other one sec and flirty the next.
A little about me. I work at a hospital so my schedule can be all over the place sometimes. In my space time I love to watch nba, play games, binge watch tv. I love listening to songs from the 90s and 2000s but l can listen to almost any genre. Oh and I love making really bad jokes or puns. Talk to me long enough and I'll make you eyeroll for sure Also age and location don't really matter to me. So if you're interested drop me a message

The Orc Heritage quest reintroduces several orc clans prominent in the MU Horde through the Kosh'harg festival and brings back many lesser known NPCs elevating them to A list prominence or at least bringing them back to B & C lister status. I'm very interested in speculating on where the orc narrative will go from here and what folks are interested in seeing.
Jorin Deadeye of the Bleeding Hollow has no other bleeding hollow NPCs but is seen speaking with Ritssyn from the warlock order hall. Ritssyn mentions Jorin's plan to move the Bleeding Hollow entirely to Azeroth is 'bold', which coming from a warlock of black harvest implies something's up. I'm hoping he's not villainbatted and instead we see the Bleeding Hollow turn into a sort of "Dark Magic" research group, with Jorin and the Hollow's use of Blood magic letting them 'hack' old god and Hakkar / Ghuun blood magics so Horde members can use them.
Gorgonna is now the Warsong leader, and Shokia and Nazgrim are both back. I'm hoping Gorgonna's more honor focused take causes them to finally clear out the demons around Grom's grave and get the Warsong to fight some worthy enemies, ideally they'll tie into an arc about the Kor'kron no longer being evil too.
Eitrigg leads the Horde Blackrock Clan, and Ariok is confirmed alive (Still a Orc-hulk but he's able to talk alright) and Thura (Saurfang/Broxigar's niece from that awful emerald nightmare book) is back. The current Horde Blackrocks are all more of the 'Elite melee fighter' which has a lot of overlap with the Warsong, so I'm hoping we see a mechanist or blacksmith/architect focus come into play with them, to get the EK former Dark Horde Blackrocks to do something constructive.
Gorfax Angerfang leads the Dragonmaw and many Dragonmaw NPCs from Twilight Highlands are back. Gorfax is in an interesting spot since he used to just... straight up die in Alliance questing, but now he's very dedicated to the clan getting strong without enslaving others. I'm kind of hoping they fight Vrykul Dragonhunters in Dragonflight and get a 'true bond with your mounts' type vibe, whether they get a bond with dragons or protodrakes or some other type of flying beast.
Thega Graveblade leads the Shattered Hand, former leader Gordul is still alive, and Garona is considering joining the Shattered Hand. This is a tricky one but the MU Shattered Hand used to have a lot of trolls in it, it'd be interesting to see them recruit non-orcs and do a deep dive on the politics between the various Horde races.
Thrall still leads the Frostwolves, and Nazgrel is back (I Believe he's a Frostwolf?) but there's also an interesting note in that Thrall apparently vouched for the Orc "Arcweavers" from Siege of Orgrimmar and there's an orc mage who mentions her family were frostwolves. It's also mentioned that some Tauren settled in Alterac Valley after going there to fight in the Battleground. So it'll be interesting if Frostwolf shamanism blends with mage techniques and tauren members join.
​
The last survivor of MU Shadowmoon orcs makes an appearance, and Lantressor of the Burning Blade is also around but they both have no intent of refounding their clans, though Lantressor chats up the Horde-Loyal burning blade warlocks and they fanboy over him a bit, while the Shadowmoon survivor talks about teaching the MU orc priests from the Lok'osh group old shadowmoon techniques and keeping them from going off the rails.
​
As a broader theme, it'll also be interesting if Blizz finally decides to expand on orc culture now that they seem to be 'done' with Horde going into cycles of villainy and redemption, and focus on other culture clashes like...
Shamanism vs Warlock culture clash
Primal Traditions vs the Heavy Industrial culture clash
MU (Azeroth) / Mu (Outland) / AU (Warlords of Draenor) Orc Culture clash

I'm looking for a book, because I read it a few years ago but I can't remember the title. In the book, every twelve year old kid writes an exam and some of them gets kidnapped and put into the middle of the forest with few supplies.So they develop their own language, build houses and try to survive. The main character is a french kid and when he kills a wolf, he gains the ability to talk to wolves (if I remember correctly), and he sees a castle at the other side of the valley, and when the kids get there it turns out that that castle is a ninja training facility and they were the ones who kidnapped them. So they start to train to become warriors. And at the end, they run away from the enemy on a plane. If that helps, on the cover there is a red wolf head with a scene in it, on a white background. If anyone can help me find it, I would be really grateful.

Introduction

It's time to unveil another installment of the monthly best-of /mashups list. Sorry for the delay.
In creating this list, newer metrics were made available to mods last year. These are:

• Total Views
• Upvote Rate
• Community Karma
• Shares

The new metric we're the most interested in is total views. Views are important because it can help identify submission engagement rate, something we couldn't do before. In an era where native video provides faster growth than YouTube links, engagement is really helpful in identifying potentially underrated mashups that could have gotten higher upvote counts if they were viewed by more users.
With this mind, the list consists of mashup submissions from three tiers summing up to 20 total:

• Tier 1: Most upvoted (30+ considered, 10 selected)
• Tier 2: 2500 post views or more, sorted by engagement rate (20+ considered, less than 10 selected)
• Tier 3: All other mashups, sorted by engagement rate (20+ considered, less than 10 selected)

10 mashups from Tier 1, 6 from Tier 2, and 4 from Tier 3 were selected to form the list you see below.
Mashups that made the list were not only in key, on tempo, and properly structured for the most part, but stood out enough in some way. All mashups selected were full length in their original posts, or demos with full versions available.
For variety, no more than two mashups using the same song were included (priority to higher vote tiers first).
A huge congratulations to all those who made the compilation! I've tagged you in responses.

The List

• ah! - Young Flowers Run Free (Candi Staton, Miley Cyrus) (u/PaulEncore) Post Video Sowndhaus
• Bill McClintock - Land Down One-der (Boys At Work, Metallica) (u/Maunumu) Post Video
• Danny Macabre - Phantom Dance II (Justice, Daft Punk, P!NK) (u/Danny_Macabre) Post Video
• DJ Cummerbund - The Anti-Hero That I Get (Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Taylor Swift, Taking Back Sunday) (Wham, Black Sabbath) (u/CascadianLiberty) Post Video
• DJ Schmolli - The Trooper Believer (The Monkees, Iron Maiden) (u/stel1234) Post Video
• DVP - Jesus of Shineburbia (Collective Soul, Green Day) (u/worldstallest) Post Video
• Mixmaster G - Lord Of The Tuna (Mr Scruff, Death Grips) (u/Ultraferret107) Post Video
• Monkeyfeesh - Player Of Games x Resistance (Grimes, Muse) (u/Monkeyfeesh) Post Video
• Mr Mashup Mann - I Cant Dance Blues (Moby, Genesis) (u/MrMann--) Post SoundCloud Soundhaus
• Peter Jarratt - Genie in a Bottle x Dream On (Aerosmith, Christina Aguilera) (u/p2tos1234) Post Video
• peter.pipette - BANANAS SALAD (thats my shit) (The Wiggles, Gwen Stefani) (u/peter-pipette) Post SoundCloud
• pluvio mashups - picture in my mind x boys a liar pt.2 (Sam Gellaitry, PinkPantheress, Ice Spice) (u/bzezzl) Post Video
• RickyBE - NIGHTBOY (Kavinsky, The Weeknd) (u/Monkeyfeesh) Post Video
• rtyuik7 - Changing A Song 2 Do Good (Blur, Sheryl Crow) (u/rtyuik7) Post Video
• Ryan Nellis - Grrrl for a Day (Green Day, Lizzo, Beastie Boys) (u/ryannellis) Post Video unavailable Sowndhaus
• Steco - Lonely Stan (Eminem, Justin Bieber, Benny Blanco) (u/Steco777) Post Video
• TheTaskMaster - It's Too Late To Apologize For My Life (OneRepublic, Timbaland, Bon Jovi) (u/roboninj) Post Video
• Thyrus - Lane Boy x Fly Away (Lenny Kravitz, Twenty One Pilots) (u/ThyrusRyuKishin) Post Video
• TKRMX - No Kami (Konami x PS1 x MGS Intro, Kendrick Lamar, TKRMX) (u/TKRMX) Post Video
• YITT - Mighty Morphin Master Of Puppets (Power Rangers, Metallica) (u/yepimthetoaster) Post Video

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Please upvote this post for visibility in the community!
Feel free to leave any feedback and questions you may have. If there are any releases I missed that deserve to be mentioned, let me know and I'll try to add them. Enjoy the comp!

I have been criminally misnumbering these episodes. I'll be a little more careful from here on out. Anywhoozle, this episode take place in Las Vegas where the team has to figure out the cause of death for drown victims found in the desert.

• Here we go
• Thank you trip advisor Reid. It's good to have you back you old stats nerd!
• Not under the street grate! One of my worst nightmares for real
• Oh my gooood REID MAKING PLANS WITH HIS MOM MY HEART IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE
• The thing he was saying about pattern disruption actually makes sense
• The way Reid says hobos is so funny. "Hoh-bohs"
• Ooh jetsetter mama Reid
• This old man is speaking a lot of sense
• I shall not lie, I fell asleep during this episode
• Reid is looking luscious in this LA weather
• Here's my premature hypothesis: the old man is the doctor
• Reid is on full nerd mode and I've sure missed him
• I think this episode puts a great and respectful spotlight on the homeless community. Especially how smart you have to be to survive, and also that they are not as helpless as we often make them out to be. Very interesting and necessary discourse.
• I really like Finn's voice
• "A good pair of shoes can last longer than a marriage. You only have to pay for them once." Amen Rossi.
• I KNEEEEEWWW IIIITTTTT! I SAID IT'S THE OLD MAN!
• I am an honorary member of this team. No, I don't need a desk. I'll sit on Hotch's lap.
• Damn I was rooting for old man Marvin
• REID IS SHINING IN THIS EPISODE YUM YUM
• "It's like Hotch at the beach" Lmao

5/10
I enjoyed seeing Reid being all stats-y again but this case was ultimately meh.

Earlier this March the Curse of Strahd campaign I have been DMing for over two years ended. It was the first full campaign I DM'd from start to finish coming from being a player for 10+ years. It was a humbling, gratifying, incredible experience, and I recommend everyone play or run this adventure. I can talk about the grand designs I laid out at the beginning for Strahd, the inspired roleplaying (and speechwriting!) my players did, but I mostly want to focus on how titanically dense this module is. You cannot do everything in the book. Even with infinite time you will grind the adventure to a halt and ruin the pacing if you try to squeeze every NPC and location into your game. So with this I would like to share one of my favorite story arcs from our campaign, the moment that made me rethink what I was trying to do, and impart some advice for challenging your players if you run it.
I ran the Mist Buddies from level 1 to 3 in the Death House, and in doing so they came out with the deed to the Old Bonegrinder. I introduced them to Bella the hag and the dream pastries while they were still in the village of Barovia. They bought a few, Beauregard the druid ate one, and there was an air of suspicion about this odd woman. Everything was pointing them to the windmill. They arrived in Vallaki and are informed the deed is still legally binding and that they own this thought to be abandoned windmill. Everything was pointing them to the windmill. Then they meet Izek. I had setup a real political intrigue in Vallaki, thinking Lady Wachter and the Baron would be their main focus but they were obsessed with Izek. A character I had planned to be a sort of mook to jail or kill and move on was the total focus of their attention. Half the party wanted to kill him, half wanted to reform him. After the turmoil in Vallaki erupted the party decided the best course of action was to create a democratic council which voted to remove Izek's demon arm and banish him for his crimes. I had written so much about how his death would reveal secrets and affect Vallaki and it just...didn't happen. So I put him in a little box to come back to.
The Mist Buddies decided to leave Vallaki and head to, you guessed it, Berez. They had been informed by multiple people how dangerous it was, that a powerful witch resided there, but they were unmoved. What followed was one of the most beautiful encounters I've ever experienced. This was the turning point of the campaign. They were underleveled and underprepared, and Baba Lysaga was not merciful. I polymorphed Diego the fighter into a raven, who then promptly stuffed parchment into her mouth to stop verbal component spells. I Finger of Death'd Therock the grappler who survived with 1 HP. Beauregard fell off the moving hut 3 times. All while this played. It was hard, it forced the players to think and play well, and it was a blast. At the end Vestal the cleric delivered the final blow without looking at Baba Lysaga, and so fueled was I by how the fight went I decided that Baba is so powerful that killing her curses you. Vestal became blind during the daylight hours. I was worried I had gone too far, that this was too difficult and unfair.
I was so wrong. It made everything better.
In debuffing a player everyone else had to play that much harder. Even (finally) checking out the windmill required thoughtful planning. And it paid off. Once they decided to fight they split the coven up and handled them individually. Bella fell quickly. Morgantha in a last ditch effort futilely attempted Plane Shift, which ripped her body apart and drove home that they were magically trapped in Barovia. And Offalia, seeing her sisters die and being a cunning hag, escaped. I didn't plan this, in fact I had planned that they would find a very important plot item related to the Fanes on Offalia's person. But in the moment it felt so natural to have her escape. The hag who insulted them and hurt them the most escaped. Another toy in the toybox.
Instead of how I planned things to go they went completely the opposite. I was flying blind, against even what I had spent so long figuring out story-wise. But it was okay. I was so careful to make sure everything was accurate to the module and worried about messing something up that would come up later and my players would notice but...it didn't matter. This was a huge turning point to me running the game. No longer did I dread things like the Abbey, or parts of the Amber Temple, I just started taking them out. If I couldn't figure out where something would go I would just not do it and focus on what was already established instead. I also, and if you take anything away it should be this, this adventure should be HARD. It should be a constant threat of death, even small encounters. When you accept that a player could die at any point and not figure into some grand theatrics you want at the end the game becomes this much cooler thing. It was so freeing and it made the game much better in my opinion. There is so much in the Curse of Strahd module just as written. Too much. Too much for one campaign to hold. It feels overwhelming, massive, and intense. But allowing things to just happen instead of reading every blurb in the chapter will pay off.
All of this is to say that I had so much planned, meticulous little gears turning in what I thought was this clockwork masterpiece, but when it actually played out in the game instead of my mind I found it was much more fun to go with the flow instead of consult my notes. The quest to remove the curse and restore Vestal's eyesight became a huge, cool part of the campaign. I had Izek and Offalia team up and cause so much mayhem! The plot became propelled by this force that wasn't planned but incited by circumstance. And, at least to me, it made the players more invested because instead of Barovia happening around them it was happening by them. This is a great module, but if you try to stay rigid to the history of the valley, or faultless to one of the chapters you will go insane. This is probably so obvious to veteran DMs but I found it so easy to tunnel vision how chapters and locations were supposed to go I almost missed how they should go. They did eventually kill Offalia after she and the werewolves firebombed Vallaki, and Izek ended up as a trusted friend who led the charge on Castle Ravenloft.
So let your bosses escape, make your players fight tooth and nail for their survival, and say things on the fly without considering the consequences. And always thank the Ladies with your strength and your survival. And to Beauregard, Diego, Therock, and Vestal: never forget to check the door for traps.

I only know of 2. Number one being into the nexus right near the end defeating nether brutes. Number 2 a crack in time gimmlick valley after your flung by nefarious on an asteroid. But I would like some farms for the 2016 game, and possible as well a crack in time. As as well as rift apart

1: If you can, start the players off as residents of Barovia. Give them families, loved ones, exes, crushes, and friends in the various locations. The greatest failure of the original module (in my opinion) is that it doesn't give the PC's many reasons to care about the plight of Barovia, particularly if they were already busy doing their own thing elsewhere in the Forgotten Realms. As residents of Barovia its their very families whose lives are at stake when Strahd gets angry. If they're one of the Martikov boys then its their winery under attack, and its the player's responsibility to safeguard the secret of the Keepers of the Feather until their companions have proven themselves trustworthy. It makes the campaign deeply personal, and turns it from a tale of "how we escaped this weird trap" into a tale of "how we freed our homeland from the rule of a narcissistic despot."
2: Actively utilizing the Dark Powers in the campaign, particularly MandyMod's take on using them to create a gradual storyline of ever-evolving grabs for more power, adds so much depth to the overall story. It adds to the gothic horror when the PC's feel tossed around by a variety of supernatural forces, and makes the final battle with Strahd much more than simply "whether or not they kill him." When Dark Powers have taken advantage of the players' desire to be more powerful, the final confrontation becomes a story of "Sure you can kill Strahd. But when you do, who does that feed? And what does that mean for the future of the valley you've been fighting so hard for?" The whole thing where Strahd simply resurrects years later, dooming Barovia to continue the cycle once more is sort of akin to pulling a "and everyone wakes up, it was all a dream the whole time!" shenanigan. It cheapens the story, makes it seem like all of their efforts were worthless the whole time.
3: Switch characters' names, genders, and characteristics freely, whenever it suites you. Switch the roles of Ismark and Ireena so that Tatyana has been reincarnated as a dumb twink who loves getting attention from a "daddy," and his older sister has to beg the players to take him away until he realizes that he isn't "mature for his age," he's just being groomed. Change Vasili's name into something new altogether so your players can't look him up and ruin the surprise. Make Arabella an alcoholic, make the Mad Mage the son of the affair from the Death House, turn the revenants of Argynvostholt into spider people if it suits you, just make changes. Sure there might be minutia that doesn't line up, but even if that does happen it's not the end of the world. Follow the story that spins, and if you get stuck, bring a question to this forum so that we can help you craft something from the tangle.
4: Check in with your players, with yourself. The doom and gloom can get to you, especially in context of a modern world where things seem increasingly dire. Employ safety techniques, and take care of each other around the table (digital or otherwise.) It's okay if you're not feeling up to the horrors of Barovia, forced D&D is rarely fun D&D.
5: Don't shy away from emotional tension, lean into it. Push your elbow into it so that it aches, describe the crestfallen look on that NPC's face when they realize their loved ones are likely dead, let Urwin be angry when the players bring danger to his family's doorstep, let the players see when Rudolph can't help but weep at the memory of his wife and son, describe the anguish on Kasimir's face when he sees Patrina revived as a spectral shell of the woman he once knew. "Horror" doesn't mean just gore and unknowable eldritch terrors, it means fear and guilt and shame and anger. Leaning in to those stories doesn't detract from the general atmospheric danger in any way, rather it enhances it.
6: Finally, have fun. D&D is to be enjoyed, and that means for you as the DM as well. If you're not enjoying it, it becomes that much harder to finish out the campaign. You're doing better than you're afraid you're doing, I promise. Just keep at it.

I was in pharmacy, and some were mentioning how important it is to do exact billing or they have to return the money
They were talking about having to use proper quantity for drops (15, 18, 20, 22, where 15 is too low), anything drops we just straight use 15/ml. In every store I've helped.
Latanaprost in particular i always see people not care and just put whatever for the day supply. That's usually the one I have to edit the day supply to allow the pt to get their refill on time.
Inhalers are always 30 days. Rescue inhalers are always max 30 or based on the directions (25/15), unless they come in saying they ran out before their next refill then it's based on how long it lasted them.
Insulin, if the day supply is above 90 days for one box of insulin, we just put 90. If ins says max 30 days, we just put 30 for the box.
Thats all i can think of at the moment.
We don't do exact billing but I've never heard anything brought up to us by the pics. The only time we had issues was when some department from cvs would call us asking to fix an ozempic day supply from 30 to 56.
So do these insurance companies give the big chains leeway? Or are the /pharmacy people a tad paranoid?

Hello, I am flying United to Mexico City from Las Vegas with a 55 minute layover in Houston. Is this enough time to get to my next flight? Or would it be better to rebook the flight? Also, on the return back I have another layover of 1hr 30minutes in Houston before having to get on my next flight and wanted advice on if this is sufficient time. Thanks!

What the title says. I've got a pretty wild wishlist of characters I want but I decided to (for fun) make a list of characters I'd bet money on being in the game's launch roster. Purely for fun, ha. This is mostly based off the dev diary stating all the stuff that goes into picking characters; it's mostly vague, but there's some specifics.

• Vi: Arcane star, old and very well recognized champion, seems like an extremely obvious shoto character.
• Jayce: Pretty much all the same reasons as Vi, though what exact class of character he translates to depends a lot on Riot's creativity.
• Ezreal: Extremely popular and iconic league champion, and being so flashy helps a lot too. I think Ezreal's kit is either going to be a zoner with better mobility than expected (his teleport is going to be represented somehow) or some sort of rushdown-zoner hybrid.
• Lux: Everything about Ezreal applies to her, except she's even flashier and is definitely going to be a dedicated zoner.
• Teemo: I think as far as "loveably odd" characters go Teemo would be absolutely perfect. He's about as close to a joke character as we could get and having someone so focused on setplay would give him a really recognizable niche. Also quite old and very iconic (or maybe infamous).
• One of the Windbrothers: Kind of an uninspired "ooo popular anime man" pick but...popular anime man sells well. Yasuo's moveset seems very obvious: a rushdown character with a focus on air mobility and combos. Yone is a lot harder to predict so I'll chalk this one up to riot.
• Udyr: This one is mainly because his abilities lend themselves really well to a stance character, a super unique archetype that set him apart instantly. Gameplay diversity's really important to fighting games so someone as obviously distinct as Udyr seems pretty likely to me. I'm aware that this is a bit of a dark horse pick since Udyr's pretty unpopular, but I have a feeling he'll make it.
• Riven: The character designed to play like a fighting game will probably make it into the fighting game, no shocks there. I suspect she'll be a more mixup-focused character as opposed to just another rushdown character, and she'll probably have an install where she completes her blade.
• A Yordle(Probably Heimerdinger): The Yordles as a race seem far too recognizable, unique and plain ol' cute (as well as diverse) to not be represented somehow, but it's hard to guess who riot would go far. I heavily doubt we're getting more than Teemo, so I'd say it's a tie between Poppy and Heimerdinger. Heimerdinger has arcane privileges (which is massive) but I think having both yordles be zonesetplay short guys would be repetitive (and he's fairly unpopular). Poppy's even more unpopular and has no notable beyond-league appearances, but she'd make for a killer grappler, and the aesthetic of a small yordle with a huge hammer is extremely striking. If I had to pick I'd say Heimer.
• Senna/K'Sante/Lucian: I'll round this list off with some diversity. In their dev diary, it's explicitly mentioned that they're taking race and ethnicity into account, and league has some pretty kick-ass black characters--it'd shock me if none of them got in. Senna's very popular and could have a fairly gimmicky moveset, although since she'd be zoner-aligned I have some doubts since my predicted roster's looking to have a lot of zoners. Lucian is equally popular but it'd be hard to not make him a fairly straightforward zoner, a niche that Jinx (and possibly Lux, and Ezreal) already fill well. K'Sante's very new and a lot less popular, but I think Riot could do some creative stuff with his Ntofos; a semi-stance character like Street Fighter's Vega? An install ultimate where he goes from grappler to rushdown character? Mixup focused? He's got a lotta potential.

Ngl while these are my top 'ten', I've got a lot of characters who are like, half an inch behind (Akali/Lee Sin/Sett my beloved). that's all from me lol