Hi all,
We are looking to replace our 15 year old HVAC system. Home is 1-story, 1800 sqft in a hot and humid climate like New Orleans. We are looking for something that is reliable and that has parts that are easily sourced. Can a pro recommend a system?
These are the quotes we have received for a Rheem, Carrier or American Standard:
COMPANY A
Installs - Complete System ($9875 Cash, Check or Credit Card) 1.0 $10,850.00 Install a new 3.5-ton 14 Seer 2. 410A Rheem condenser w/pad. 3.5-ton electric furnace 10kw heat kit and 20x20x4 media filter w/return plenum (if needed). 3.5 ton Rheem box coil w/plenum, drain pan, and primary float switch. Flush copper lines and re-insulate. Add UV light to the system.
INCLUDES:
+ Adding a timed delay-on-break relay (compressor-saver) to unit + Resealing all air leaks at connections + Removing all old equipment + Hauling away debris + Surge Protector added to inside and outside unit + Hard Start Kit Added
WARRANTY: 10 Yr Conditional Parts Warranty* 1 Yr Labor Warranty*
COMPANY B 3.5-TON AC AND ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEM INSTALLATION (Cash $9127.07 ) $10,808.67
INCLUDES: + 3.5-ton 15-SEER2 Carrier condenser + 3.5-ton Carrier air-handler + 15KW heat kit + Plenum + Emergency drain pan + Emergency drain pan float switch + Condenser pad + Heater stands + Hard-start kit
WARRANTY: 2-year labor warranty, 10-year parts warranty w/registration
COMPANY C
Equipment: Furnish and install American Standard 3 ½ ton, R-410 condenser with matching American Standard air handler with 15 Kw electric heat.
Option 1: 14.3 SEER2 Condenser M # 4A7A4042N1000 Air Handler M # TEM4AOC43M41SB $8,239.00 – 4% = $7,909.00
Option 2: 15.2 SEER2 Condenser M # 4A7A5042N1000A Air Handler M # TEM4AOC43M41SB $9,086.00 – 4% = $ 8,722.00
INCLUDES:
+ Flush refrigerant lines and add liquid line filter drier and sight glass. + Sheet metal supply plenum with volume dampers. + Cut back and retrofit all supply ducts. + New emergency drain pan and safety float switch. + Re work condensate drains and add clean out and valve for drain flushing. + Reinstall the current UV light, as well as the In line filtering system. + New condenser slab, suction line insulation. + Disposal of all old material and equipment.
WARRANTY: 10 year compressor, 10 year coils , and 10 year all parts. 1 year labor.

Warning: Opinions are present, proceed with caution
TL;DR: Although the feeling of getting a red item is often great, because of their rarity and generally being interesting items, it's really kind of unusually rare that it will actually end up helping out your run at all.
I know the gut reaction to the title, it just sounds wrong, every time a red item drops I'm willing to bet that all of us get a bit of a dopamine hit, but how often do you just end up being let down?
Even the items that used to feel amazing and like my run was instantly won, now lead to my run being very much loseable despite me still being hyped whenever I see them drop.
I'm not saying that the red items changed in any sort of way honestly, it's purely that I've gotten better at the game, and therefore I'm more likely to play monsoon/eclipse, and I don't enjoy just looping 50 times for the hell of it anymore. Yes in edge/silly cases, they can end up popping off super hard, and feel amazing, but it feels like that rarely ever comes up unless the run is already going nuts.
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I get that this is partly intentional design, and leads to the skill-based nature of ror2 gameplay loop, but we'd be lying if we were to say that those rng high rolls weren't a key part of any roguelike's appeal (yes, obviously they still happen in a different way, more that it's unusual reds don't really end up being a major influence when they appear).
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Obviously, ror2 has its own really neat way of treating item rarities where white items are the foundation of your build and where you get most of your stats and power, with green items then being the means through which you translate the power of your white items into an exponentially better build, with reds at the wildcard which can steer your build into performing amazingly in one area. However, it feels more like in practice they're the sprinkles on top of your build. Like, they're nice to have, but rarely make much of a difference as to whether your build is good or bad.
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In comparison, greens seem to be forced into their role such that they "seem" on average weaker than reds because so many of them are just scrap fodder that waters down the roster (stealthkit, polyp, lepton, harpoon, leeching seed to name a few) which are rarely of any use unless you have a super specific situation. If you look at all the items that don't fall into this category, you'll see that practically all of them are extremely strong, flexible, potentially run-changing items (wotw, bands, atg, uke, feather, shuriken) which I would honestly prefer to many (if not most) reds.
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To clarify, I do not have a specific solution in mind, nor am I claiming this is a game-ruining flaw, if anything this could be entirely intentional in terms of balancing. If it makes more sense to you this way, treat this post as just an observation on an unusual pattern in ror2 item balance
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To illustrate my point, I've gone ahead like a nerd and wrote out my perspective on how impactful each of the red items are. This is the end of the post basically, feel free to not read the rest unless you want my lukewarm take on red items. I just feel like when you look at them all side by side my argument seems much more reasonable:

• * 57 Leaf Clover: Best item in the game right? Well I am trash but I've gotten smacked in MANY runs where I've gotten a clover, although it's amazing with even just a few synergy items, and keeps getting better the more you have, you do need to have them, and something like a band build, or any other build that doesn't rely heavily on random chance items, or if you just get unlucky with collecting crit items, and 57 leaf clover may not shine until you would've otherwise won anyways. In most situations in runs that haven't looped yet, although you would be happier to find a clover, realistically it is unlikely that a good green items wouldn't overall boost your build much more.
• * Aegis: Really bad. I mean I get that you can do funny things with it and I like that it exists to enable meme builds as well as being one of the only good ultra-late game post-loop defensive items, but even though it's decent in that scenario, at that point you a. rarely need it b. could easily get oneshot regardless c. isn't even as good as other lower quality items such as safer spaces, ruckler, opal, even elixir. Also, even more points taken away for being usually worse than a single brooch in eclipse.
• * Alien head: good sometimes, but honestly never build defining. Only time it's really amazing is when it helps you pass certain breakpoints like mercenary iframe godmode or pillar skip, but otherwise it's just nice to have and doesn't really massively buff you. If anything, it's nice to have super early game when you don't have many damage items, but later on it can be restricted by band timers for example. I would say very rarely does alien head end up being better than a good green.
• * Ben's raincoat: kind of the same as alien head, it's nice, but nothing incredible. It's easy for it to get bonked off and block something inconsequential while letting through a massive imp bleed, but then let through a lethal status, kind of like tougher times (status effects are less predictable than damage imo so I think it is worse than safer spaces). Honestly, depending on how you see it, it's either only good on, or useless on characters that have a self-status effects like corrupted void fiend, but I'd be suprised if anyone thought ben's is a run changing item.
• * Bottled Chaos: The ONLY practical use for this absolute troll of an item is pillar skipping with vase while keeping a good equipment. Even in equipment cd builds like fmp soulbound or gesture sillyness, it ends up being unbearable because of the forced volcanic egg, and rarely reliable or really that strong, feels like it's more of a lunar item than anything.
• * Brainstalks: I want to like this item so bad but it really sucks so much. Yes there are a couple of edge cases where it's cool like slicing winds merc or nuking the world with diablo, but at best these are just neat interactions and practically never actually that good or reliable enough unless the run is so won that you don't even need to really use many abilities at all. Even many fun theoretical applications end up being mediocre because of the 0.5s global cooldown ruining it.
• * Behemoth: Great item, you're usually happy to see this, at worst it's just a slight bump to your aoe, at best it massively increases your procs. It's not always or even probably that frequent that it completely makes your run, but it's still so consistently good I'd say it lives up to its color.
• * Ceremonial Dagger: Everyone's said it before me, but this is the classic case of the item seeming strong because it lets you walk away from your pc on a god run, while actually doing not much unless you have a lot of items that help make it work, at which point you were probably doing pretty well already.
• * Dio's: Not the most exciting item but it's definitely always strong and useful, befitting of being a red, is an actual good defensive item red (might be the only one tbh) because late game you usually get oneshot if you take a big hit.
• * Frost Relic: Suprisingly enough, although it's not super exciting, one of the more applicable reds to get, at least without having already borderline won the game. Provides a hefty cushion against melee enemies, a really strong source of damage, good interactions with a variety of items, yeah it's not the flashiest but it's definitely always good to get, even without having a god run going. Unfortunate part is it sucks when stacked unless you get a LOT.
• * Headstompers: Contender for the best item in the game, probably the best *single* item in the game, stupid damage such that it's always your best ability, even without that, the fall damage removal and jump height is so massive for limitless reasons such as trimp pillar skips. It's not just an amazing red item it's like one and a half amazing red items in one. Also amazing on eclipse for obvious reasons.
• * Happiest Mask: So rare that you get any use out of this, sucks when stacked, bad in general, never reliable, less useful than most greens. It's fun for the memes when you've basically already won the game but it's never a serious good item, it can even kill you by having your ghosts backstab you like the dunestrider sucking you (not sure if these got patched)
• * Hardlight Afterburner: Situationally amazing, but never necessary to making a build work. The most consistent value/highest impact you get out of this is either on loader or to enable pillar skip, quite frequently it ends up being dead weight. Feels like a green item with buffed stats, although some utilities are too strong for a green to give more stacks so idk.
• * Desk Plant: Not exciting, but I guess not terrible either? Healing sucks in general in eclipse unfortunately but it's still one of the better healing items, you can't tell me you're really ever happy to see this unless you have, like, some stupidly specific build with fmp/rejuv/n'kuhana's. Also stacking does not increase the heal, albeit the stacks aren't useless.
• * Laser Scope: The only crit item that does not give crit chance, I really don't get it. This one writes itself, it can be really good, but needs setup, and the more it's good, the more likely you are to already be having a run that would be amazing without it.
• * N'kuhana's: Unusable on eclipse, bad otherwise, healing in ror2 is generally kinda underwhelming and rarely saves you past first couple of stages, stacks kinda shittily too, and requires a massive setup to have any value (not even really worth it, i'd still scrap useless healing items)
• * Pocket ICBM: Ridiculously strong item, probably to the point where it's a little out of line, but only *if* you already have one of three specific build conditions that make it great, but otherwise a red paperweight. Most consistent way to get value is probably shrimp, with atg also decent, if you're trying to make fireworks work you need a caffeinator or some other setup, dml is good but doesn't compare to the others. So it's good, but fairly situational, so you'll often get it and have no use for it.
• * Rejuv Rack: No one's happy to see this. I'm kind of confused as to why it's a red, it's so out of place compared to the other reds even just in that it's litteraly just a stat change. Healing is bad in general, which makes this unnecessary and bad outside of very specific builds, also additionally extremely bad in eclipse of course.
• * Resonance Disc: Straight up not good. Like it can be fun sometimes to see it get a big proc off, but it's so inconsistent, and the conditions for it to proc are so arcane and stringent, I'd rather have any of atg/uke/wotw/bands any day.
• * Sentient Meat Hook: Good for same reason as uke and atg, kind of a bastard child of both but also can be uniquely powerful in some situations. It's definitely strong, and mostly feels like a red because it's like those two greens in one. It's not that crazy on its own though, and in a lot of applications a small stack of atgs could probably outperform it, it stacks well but weirdly.
• * Shattering Justice: Noticeable and potent DPS boost, most survivors on most builds can reliably proc it enough to get some value, but even at its best it boils down to a damage multiplier, in the same way crit/atg/bands/etc. are. It's definitely not bad, and it's uniquely strong on survivors that have high uptime with the debuff, but again, it's nothing run-making, and often less consequential than a strong green.
• * Soulbound Catalyst: So unbearably situational albeit a really fun item when you get it going, you're either really happy or sad to see this drop. The most nuts synergy it had, fmp, got nerfed even, although it still works and even works with other actives like dml. But it's in that weird spot without FMP where before mithrix it's literally just a minor time saver if you've found the meta actives (recyclecard), and not useful really at mithrix when you'd want a combat equipment because you're starved for resets. So either specifically with FMP and other on-kill items, or an okayish crutch item with a damage equipment to get you through the early game, and otherwise not useful.
• * Spare Drone Parts: You know there's something weird with reds when this is one of the more generally applicable reds. It's not bad early-mid game although obviously has little impact in already god-runs (not that you need it). Uniquely good because you actually get to *choose* ways to get more value out of it by buying drones, or fishing for a gun to use on solus, as well as other items it synergizes with.
• * Scorpion: Basically a more extreme shattering justice, and therefore more situational. The dps bump on builds that make good use of it is so much bigger than shattering justice that the general consensus is that it's a "better" item (I would agree). I guess this is probably because despite being situational it enables a really powerful combination beyond just being a flat damage multiplier.
• * Tesla Coil: Similar to ceremonial daggers, but actually really strong in most cases even without a crazy amount of synergies unlike ceremonials. It does need some items to proc but even still it's flexible enough to be an all around good item. I still wouldn't necessarily say it outclasses the stronger greens. Kind of sucks that it's not useful for mithrix and can even get you killed phase 4 if you're not careful.
• * Wake of Vultures: Same unreliability as brainstalks, but instead of giving you a buff that can be situationally pretty powerful, gives you a buff that is somewhat difficult to anticipate and isn't even that strong. Especially given short duration it's completely unpractical, pretty much always a novelty practically never useful except by accident on rare occasions, most likely value tbh is to yoink perfected from mobs so you can't take fall damage on the moon if you suck like me and fall.

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So in total, if you were to open a large chest on first loop, without an already strong build, and got a big dopamine rush from seeing the red droplet, what are you actually going to end up with? If you high roll, you would get the 4/26 items that are a really huge boost to your power no matter what. Otherwise, you could end up with the 5/26 chance for an item that's at least a bump in power, but requires a few items to be really impactful, or instead, the same 5/26 chance for an item that could be decent as long as you're lucky enough to be already building items that work well with it, albeit the ones I'd put in this category have prerequisites that are fairly common and rather achievable in builds at this point. Otherwise? You're really kind of out of luck, rolling either a 7/26 chance for an at least helpful mostly inconsequential item (or one that is very difficult to get value from), or worst case, the 5/26 items with practically no impact at all (especially if you're on eclipse).
So in this situation, you'd have a less than one fifth chance to get an item that will just give you a big power increase no matter what, almost a 50/50 chance of getting an item that will do basically nothing, and the remaining two fifths-ish of the items are wildly inconsistent and can range from barely any use to actually pretty good if you have the right situation, but if you're hoping for a red item to turn an unlucky run around, the odds are really not great, you're more likely to claw back into the game with good greens if anything.

On February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow in Pennsylvania and saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter, that was the prediction.
It was kind of right. There would be six more weeks, yes… Six, and then some.
 
The Big House. Monday, March 20th, 2023: the Vernal Equinox. 5:24pm.
“And now, weather every twelve minutes! Here’s your forecaster for Olympian Weather – the OW! Channel – Aeolus!”
“Hurry, Chiron, help me out here.” Leaning back on the sofa in the Big House living room, one foot over the other leg, Mr D pointed at Chiron with a can of Diet Coke. “Should I call in for some rain to make the demigods miserable?”
Music played from the television as Chiron wheeled in, and tossed a Snausage to Seymour. The leopard eagerly snapped it out of the air, hardly even allowing himself a moment to savour the flavour before he gulped it down and stared down at the centaur, hungry for more.
“It’s going to be time for dinner soon, so I’d really rather you didn’t.”
“Bah.”
Dionysus rolled his eyes, his attention turning to the TV. On the screen, Aeolus smiled out with too-wide smile with too-bright teeth. The clouds on his suit, tinted orange, drifted in tandem with the formations on the map behind him.
“Hello, Olympus!” he enthused. “Aeolus, master of the winds here, with weather every twelve! We’ve got some rain showers continuing over in the northwest, and- oh, or not, since Thalia wants to give them a break. Down in Texas you can expect to see more clouds moving in, and…”
On and on it went - “Oh, thank Apollo,” Chiron said at one point, when it was reported that the sun god had requested continued clear skies for Long Island, only for Dionysus to bark out a harsh laugh moments later when Aphrodite called in for snow.
Just when it seemed things were winding down, Aeolus tapped his earpiece one more time. “Ah, hold on- Okay! Yep, I hear you- I got you- Alright, folks, Demeter is calling for the northern hemisphere to get an extended winter this year and we’re starting with some sleet over on the west coast, courtesy of Boreas himself. Oh, I doubt they’re ready for that!”
He waited a few more moments, before capping it off: “And that’s the weather. See you in twelve minutes, because I’m sure it’ll change!”
The music - too calm and cheery in the background, in contrast to Aeolus’ demeanour while handling all those requests - swelled to a crescendo, the Weather Every 12 logo panned over the screen, and the programme ended.
“Oh, the heating bill is going to be awful,” Dionysus muttered, and began flicking through channels from something about a missing person report to an episode of So You Think You Can Weave Better Than a Goddess?
 
Outside, even just as Chiron wheeled out to the porch, the sky was rapidly becoming obscured by clouds, and large, soft snowflakes began to fall.
 
OOC: And we’re kicking off the subreddit’s 9th plot! There isn’t much major stuff going on yet, but feel free to enjoy the weather (or hate it, who knows) or talk to Chiron, or whatever you’d like to do on this nice snowy day. The weather report was mainly to set things up OOC, no campers would have in the room while they watched.

Hello, this is something I’ve always had in my mind. But when I turn the Xbox off right away when I’m done playing with it and it’s still hot or warm does it harm or damage it in any way? Or is it able to properly dissipate the remaining heat without the fan?
Ive been leaving my Xbox on without a game running when I’m done using it to keep the fan going for a few minutes to cool it down before shutting it off, but I’m not sure if that’s necessary or not. So I’m not sure if the built up heat reduces its lifespan in any way or not, is the heat sink enough to take care of any remaining heat in the system like the GPU and CPU?
Also while we’re on this topic I wish if sleep/stand by mode had an option to keep the fan running for a couple minutes when it’s shut off

TL;DR: GF was a liar and used me in the beginning of us dating to make her trip more convenient, also attempted to cheat. I found out months later, we separated, but she's worked on herself and we're trying again with strict boundaries. They want to go on the same trip and I'm not going and now things are weird.
So, me and my GF are doing well for 1.5 years. It's been a lot of ups and downs but I do love her and I know she loves me. She wasn't always the best, tho.
5 months in, she invited me on a her grad trip with her friends. She was the only person alone. At the time we were dating and talked about exclusivity, she called me her BF.
The invitation meant a lot to me. I got her a few gifts, but I couldn't go but I did pick her up from the airport and we had a date weekend in celebration. It was an important milestone to me because I could be reliable, celebrated her accomplishments, and showed that I cared.
Well, I guess it meant fuck all to her because she had this "friend" and she actually wanted to invite him, but she didn't because her and her friend had decided he'd end up fucking her and ruin her "growth". She also asked him to get pick her up from the airport too but he couldn't so she asked me. Also 2 weeks before we were official she had solicited him for sex and a sleepover.
I didn't know any of this until about 6 months later. I found out, flipped shit, and we broke up. She cried. Now that part of the relationship represents terrible things to me.
For 4 months we had minimal contact and I pretty much only used her to smash but she confessed how much she'd loved me, showed receipts of all the self work she's done, how's she apologized to everyone, confessed to people, got therapy, blocked people etc.
So, I give her another shot but with extremely strict boundaries, utmost transparency. She is in love with me and does whatever I say it's nuts.
Part of these rules are losses of privileges due to her shitty behavior and me needing to avoid stressors. She had gotten excited when we were doing better after a few months and offered me to go on her annual trip and I said HELL to the FUCK no. It was insulting. I would be miserable remembering getting shit on and her and her friends would be chilling on the beach.
I express that and say she's an adult and can do what she wants and go, but I don't want to go because I felt used, manipulated and won't enjoy it, etc and whatever happens happens but that's my boundary. She was very sad, but agreed to respect them and that was that. She said she won't go if I don't and we can do something somewhere else together alone.
Cool, I'm down with that. We're at a year and half now. However, her friend recently has been setting it up and saving up money and really wants me to go to, and wants her to go. When she told her friend it might not happen and why, her friend didn't understand because "It was in the past/I should just forget it." She wants to go, but is sticking by my side.
Her friend can eat my ass, but I know it's a tradition for her that precedes me, and while I want to be included in her life, I just can't extend that courtesy right now. I know that in the future, it will pass and we might be able to. But now I wish they would respect that and leave it alone.
I don't want this to be a thing that causes a rift between anyone but if it comes down to it, I'm not going. And if she goes, I won't hold it against her, but I can't say I won't distance myself from her and get ready to leave. I want her to have friends. I can see it's hurting her and I don't want to abuse my power here. What's a sensible compromise?

Hi,
I am making a dashboard for my smarthome system, so I have a lot of identical queries on a given dashboard/chart. Is it possible to loop through items in a single Grafana query and have the multiple returns?
I have the following base query:

ohItem = "EcobeeFanIsOn" humanName = "Fan" agg = max from(bucket: "openhab") > range(start: v.timeRangeStart, stop: v.timeRangeStop) > filter(fn: (r) => r["_measurement"] == ohItem and r["_field"] == "value" and r["item"] == ohItem) > aggregateWindow(every: v.windowPeriod, fn: agg, createEmpty: false) > map(fn: (r) => ({ _value: r._value, _time: r._time, _field: humanName })) > yield(name: humanName) 

I want to just create a single Grafana query and then loop through a list of devices for a given chart. The array library does not seem to have what I am after unless I missed it. Basically, I want to do something like:

items = [ {humanName: "Fan", ohName: "EcobeeFanIsOn", agg: max}, {humanName: "Heat", ohName: "EcobeeHeatIsOn", agg: max}, {humanName: "Cool", ohName: "EcobeeAcIsOn", agg: max}, ] for i in items: from(bucket: "openhab") > range(start: v.timeRangeStart, stop: v.timeRangeStop) > filter(fn: (r) => r["_measurement"] == i.ohItem and r["_field"] == "value" and r["item"] == i.ohItem) > aggregateWindow(every: v.windowPeriod, fn: x.agg, createEmpty: false) > map(fn: (r) => ({ _value: r._value, _time: r._time, _field: i.humanName })) > yield(name: i.humanName) 

Is something like this possible, or am I stuck making a half dozen queries per chart?
Thanks

So I'm making a NAS build predominantly for the purposes of streaming my Plex movie collection (varying file sizes and types, highest quality being 4K BluRay rips), with potential use later down the line for video editing from files on the NAS.
Here's what I've come up with so far in terms of parts:

Device	Name	Price	Reason
OS	TrueNAS Scale/Unraid	€0/€60+	So I'm still not sure which system is more advisable to use for my use-case. I've heard Unraid is much easier and more expanable, whereas TrueNas is more reliable/safe but has a harsher learning curve. Any thoughts here are appreciated.
Case	Fractal Node 804	€80	Can hold up to 10 3.5" HDDs, which hopefully should provide me with all the expandability I'll need.
CPU	Intel Core i3 12100	€150	Fairly cheap, modern CPU with Quick Sync video funtionality in case I ever need hardware transcoding for Plex.
Motherboard	ASUS PRIME B660M-A D4	€130	Fairly cheap and compatible with 12th gen CPU (LGA1700 socket).
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO V2	€30	Cools the CPU :)
Ram	2x8GB Kingston FURY Beast	€45	More than enough ram for Unraid and is the recommended amount of ram for TrueNAS. Can always be expanded in the future if needed.
SSD	Lexar NM620 1TB	€50	Honestly not 100% sure about the functionality of this component. Cache? OS drive? Boot drive? Something along those lines is what I read, I'd love for someone to let me know the primary use for this.
Power Supply	EVGA 500 W1	€45	500W should be more than enough power for a NAS.
Display Emulator	DisplayPort	€10	Apparently this is necessary if you want to do hardware transcoding. Do let me know if this isn't actually the case.
		Total = ~€535

I haven't mentioned any actual HDDs here as I'm currently mainly trying to figure out the actual NAS side of things before getting caught up in storage. However, from my research it seems that 16-18TB SATA drives are good value so this are likely what I'll go for -- in case that information is of any use.
So yeah, any recommendations? Changes? Additions? I would love to hear your guys' thoughts, especially on TrueNAS vs Unraid!

Previously I had problem (digestion)with some of the enteric coated tablets. I heard, that ND reformulated the coating of the NMN and there is new batches but the old ones are still in circulation. Can somebody tell me if my bottle contains the new or the old formula? Tabs, batch, expiration are visible on my picture. Thank in advance!

Looking for an opinions on 2 new saws. I am living in eastern Canada. We have a decent sized woodlot with some mature eastern hemlock that is most likely infested HWA. (Confirmed all around us) I am planning on harvesting some large hemlock before widespread mortality. Will be milled into suitable material. I also will be cutting hardwoods for firewood and taking more of an active role in woodlot management. I have a quite a bit of experience felling and bucking and we have suitable logging equipment such as a tractor pto winch and a log loader. Our current saw selection contains a Husqvarna 257 a Husqvarna 357xp and a Jonsered 2252 (Husqvarna 545xp) and a worn out Husqvarna 353. I am looking for two saws for myself something reliable to last for many years. One that will be used for the larger felling tasks/maybe a small mill? And another for limbing. It would be nice to have the smaller saw with heated handles. I consider myself a husqvarna guy although the local shop we deal often with is now only a sthil dealer. We have other sthil products and they seem to be good but I just am drawn to husqvarna power saws. I ran a lot of a 365 specials out west. My question is what saws would you pick? I want one of the new sthil 500i quite badly as the power to weight is incredible on paper. It will run a 20-28 inch bar which is I am after in a larger saw. Also with the weight and power it does not have a husqvarna contender. For the smaller saw I would like a brand new 357xp but sadly they are not made anymore. I want to run between a 16-20 inch bar, I am somewhere between the 550xpg and 562xpg for a limbing saw. I have ran the 550xp and it’s good but doesn’t have the low end grunt like the old 357xp. However the chain speed and weight is nice for limbing and I can use existing .325 chains and bars I have on hand. What’s the sthil equivalent like? Is the 562xpg too much saw when you have a 500i that weighs nearly the same? If I had to get one saw I believe I could use just a 562xp or 572xp and do it all but it’s really nice having two saws fuelled and ready when cutting.

Original
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The title. If it helps I'm in Alberta, Canada. I'm thinking of using a GSHP (geothermal/ground-source heat pump) based hydronic system to heat my next home that we're in the design phase of. The reasoning for wanting to go this way is simple - my partner and I hate forced air, despise noisy drafty furnaces and AC units and want to avoid them if at all possible. And no natural gas or propane.
Home details: Frost-free foundation slab, 1.5 story, about 3500 sq ft including the attached garage, well sealed to at least Net Zero/R2000 or better standards. With a well-insulated slab that uses either radiant hydronic floor, or the Legalett system. HRV/ERV with dehumidifier for ventilation.
While the heated floor is a must, has anyone recently done one cooled - and yes I know it can be tricky with the dew point, good controls are a must. What I'm thinking is part of this system would include radiant ceiling mounted panels to provide both as well, since cooling from above at a minimum will be necessary. Backup heat would be an in-tank resistive element.
So has anyone done this for residential, or perhaps would I have to look at hiring a commercial contractor for this?

Hi all, our dryer is on its way out. We are interested in a heat pump dryer but being in the US we don't have much experience with them. Looking for some insight and any recommendations/tips anyone might have! Mostly we have been looking at Bosch 500 series and the Miele.
Family of 4 with little kids, currently usually do about 3 small to medium loads/week. We have plenty of space and currently have a vented electric dryer. We have solar panels and are interested in the heat pump for energy efficiency. We have an old Kenmore washing machine that might be indestructible so we don't NEED to replace that right now.
Questions: Are capacity and drying times going to be a shock? Would it be a mistake to pair one of these new dryers with our old washing machine? Wondering also about reliability and ease of finding a person to do service if needed (we are in a large Midwest metro). Any other brands we should consider?

Hey everybody,
I wanted to share a link to our website, we have apartments available throughout LA and San Fernando Valley.
The large majority of our units come standard with hardwood floors, designer paint, recessed lighting, ceiling fans, central heating/AC and fully equipped kitchens (stove, fridge, microwave & dishwasher). Many units also come with a washedryer in unit. We also have some cool additional features in some units, like built in entertainment centers, built in desks/office areas, lofts and more.
Pricing is pretty standard for the areas, but we try to stay at least a bit under comparable units in the area, and offer just a bit more.
You can check out all of our available units at www.bamliving.com, and feel free to DM me or reply to this thread with any questions.
Also, if you find something you like and would like to apply, if you mention you found us on Reddit we'll waive your application fee. Just let the on-site manager know and they'll take care of it.
Happy hunting!

Pretty sure everyone knows that Japan is full of forests, mountains, and many, many cities (especially in the region of Tokyo) I've been having an idea in my head for a while now, and I want to share it Imagine if they replicated (of course, in a smaller scale) the highway systems of Japan, connecting many, many cities on the map? I think it would be really nice, going for long road trips with your friends, exploring the vast forests of Japan on touges, and going from one city to another. I also think it would be cool if they added some of the islands as DLCs (of course, for a lower price than normal DLCs). Also, making it possible to change the time on a solo session, and also add private sessions so you can play with your friends on a private lobby, where you can pick the weather and time of the day. It would be really cool if they added most important cities too, and don't forget Mount Fuji Overall, I really hope FH6 is hosted in Japan. But if it isn't, I'm ok with it.

I've been thinking of visiting this year, and got curious if Hawaii also has a wildfire/smoke season, or if that's just a local thing.
I'm from Washington, near Seattle, and about 2-3 months of the year we get cloaked in wildfire smoke. Between the heat and it literally not being healthy to breath outside air, it's a heck of a thing.
I haven't traveled a lot, and I'm honestly not sure if everywhere has those months, or if it's problem here.
For some more context, I want to visit Hawaii to see what it's like, and try to gauge if I'd want to move to one of the islands. While I've heard cost of living is high, rent at least seems to be roughly the same as here, and the milder weather seems like a plus after enduring multiple summers of 100+ degree heat in buildings that are reeaally not built for it.
Overall, my life's entering a weird period where there's nothing really tying me here any more, so I actually have the option to try something new.

My parent's house has the original furnace from 1971 that has not been used this cold winter due to concerns about safety.
They are finally open to replacing it. They don't have AC either. They had been hesitant to add cooling but with the way things are going, is it smart in our area to look at heat pumps to provide heating and cooling?
Or should we still be open to gas furnaces and electric AC? Thanks. We have PGE in San Jose.

Hey everyone! Two of the schools I am seriously considering right now are Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. I'm trying to weigh financials, location, and opportunities between these two schools, and would love others' insights/thoughts. I am interested in Internal Medicine/Primary Care, although I do want to keep my options open as I'm sure I could very easily change my mind.
Kaiser:
Pros:
- Full tuition scholarship and $37k annual housing stipend. They extend this to all admitted students. Essentially, I can graduate medical school debt free as I likely won't need loans for housing.
- Location: Pasadena is awesome, and my family/friends all live in California. Have lived in northern california my whole life, and would love to be close to friends and family. Also weather is great there
- Kaiser seems to have a lot of resources and they are willing to spend generously on students (they even give you a new phone and mac book when you matriculate, or so I've heard). It seems like there is a lot of money they have to throw around, and they're more than willing to be generous with students.
- Grading is P/F (unsure about AOA) for preclinical, and tiered grading for clinicals. Pretty chill.
Cons:
- 50 person class, which is a lot smaller than I would ideally like. Just feel like it will limit opportunities to meet new people, find a group that really fits with me, etc.
- Super new school. They haven't had a class match yet and I would be in the 4th class they've ever had. Regardless Kaiser has a lot of resources and influence over here in California, and because of that I'm confident they will set their students up for success and match very well, although at the end of the day no one can really know until they actually match and this scares me a bit.
- Seems like they're still figuring a lot of things out. When I talked to students there, it seems like parts of the curriculum change a bit each year. These changes are based on student feedback, and from what i've heard it seems like theyre very receptive to student feedback in general and work to implement important things that students bring up. At the end of the day though, it seems evident that they have not "perfected" their curriculum and that there is still a lot of work to be done, and that I might find myself in the middle of some of these changes during my time here.
- They only do virtual anatomy, no actual cadavers at any point.
- Kaiser as a healthcare system kind of notoriously sucks/has a bad rep in california. They deliver great healthcare most of the time, but navigating their system itself can be a nightmare for many.
- Driving in LA is a nightmare, although Kaiser says they actually provide free ubers tp/from clincal sites for all students, which is nice.
Mayo (AZ):
Pros:
- Full tuition scholarship, so I would only need to pay for COL. This would likely result in $80,000-$150,000 in living expenses over 4 years. Not to get into too much detail but I have some pretty significant savings/investments and likely wouldn't actually need to take out any loans to cover this, but my savings would be eaten up almost entirely during medical school.
- It's Mayo. Great reputation, great match list, and likely better opportunities possible overall here, especially when it comes to becoming involved with research.
- Scottsdale/Pheonix. Great location too, not quite as close to family and friends but at least it's still on the west coast. I also have a few close friends who live right in Scottsdale. Lots of nature/outdoor activities nearby which is definitely important to me.
- Grading is P/F for preclinical with no AOA and tiered grading for clincal.
Cons:
- 50 person class. Same essentially as noted in Kaiser above.
- Would save 37k/year at kaiser essentially due to their housing stipend.
- Further from family in northern California
- Two campuses. The actual medical school is in Scottsdale, while the hospital is in Pheonix. They're close (~20 min drive), but not attached. They're building a new medical school building in Pheonix which should be done in a day or two, and once it is students will basically be entirely in Pheonix, which is less cool than Scottsdale.
- Weather. Scottsdale/Pheonix is beautiful, but that summer heat will be hard for me. 100++ degrees for weeks/months would be significantly worse than anything I'd have to deal with in Pasadena.
​
Of note, I am also heavily considering UVA at the moment but don't have financial aid yet so I can't really make a super informed decision on that at the moment.

TL;DR: a customer thought he knew better than me and insisted I perform a destructive test to prove me wrong. I wasn't wrong.
Background: I used to test circuit breakers for a living. The large industrial versions of what you have in your home electric panel. Like the ones at home, most industrial circuit breakers have two means of detecting an over-current condition: thermal (literally an element that heats up for seconds or minutes before opening the beaker, intended for small to moderate over-current events) and magnetic (reacts almost instantly to very high over-current events). For special applications like fire fighting pumps, you can buy circuit breakers which have magnetic only. Test methods are specified by the manufacturer and by the interNational Electrical Testing Association (NETA)
Out tale: I was testing a large number of circuit breakers at a customer facility. Customer rep (C) got used to my pattern of testing a group of thermal elements, allowing them to cool down, and only then testing the magnetic elements. When the fire pump circuit breaker came to my test station and I only tested it for magnetic trip, he objected. (C) Hey, why did you skip the thermal? (Me) This is a magnetic only breaker. (C) There's no such thing (Me) Here's the manufacturer data showing the magnetic trip curve but not showing a thermal trip curve. (C) That doesn't mean it doesn't have a thermal trip. I want it tested. (Me) Oh...kay, well, since I don't have a curve from the manufacturer, I don't know how long it should take to trip. How long do you want me to test? (C) The NETA testing manual says that without a curve, if it trips in less than 300 seconds it is good (Me) Please sign here that you're making me do this test (C) Okay (signs the paper, not realizing this was supposed to make him suspicious)
Having failed my first attempt to scare him off this foolish path, I try another tactic
(Me, on radio) Hey, coworker, I'm about to test the thermal element on a fire pump breaker, you want to watch? (Coworker) It doesn't have one, idiot, you're gonna destroy the customer's breaker! (Me) Yeah, I told him that, he doesn't believe me (Coworker) ...... I'm on my way
Coworker arrives and goes to explain to the customer but.....
(C) You're both wrong, I'm an engineer and you're just technicians, do the test (Coworker) We're gonna need you to sign... (C) I ALREADY SIGNED, JUST DO THE TEST
So I start the test. All morning, the previous thermal tests have been running 8 to 10 seconds before tripping. For this test, 10 seconds pass, then 20, then at 30 the breaker starts to smoke a little, and by 40 seconds the smoke is pouring out of it and my hand is hovering over the STOP button. But I'm not stopping until he admits he's wrong, because he told me it wouldn't be a failed test until 300 seconds. He gives in just before the 60 second mark.
Then I ask "Can you bring me the spare breaker from inventory please, this one cannot go back into service" and his face takes on a panicked expression. THEY DIDN'T HAVE A SPARE!
Good thing the local electrical distributor was open on a Saturday

Does anyone know of a decent way to utilize the liquid molten metals you harvest with drillcone rocket. I have tried using the liquid unloader and dropping the liquid metal into a hot box to dissipate the heat with steam turbines. The second any of the piping passes behind a tile it transfers heat and breaks the pipe. You can't run the pipe through a liquid lock either since it will boil the liquid the pipe passes through. If nothing else I could just create an open vat of polluted water and use aquatuner to cool it and then have the liquid metal pump out of the rockets and drop into the vat with temp shift plates everwhere and hope there is enough polluted water that the molten metal still doesn't just flash boil the polluted water when it drops in. Was just hoping for something a little more elegant than that, just can't really think of anything off the top of my head.

Question in title. made the dumb mistake of putting my finger pulse/oxygen meter in the dryer for about five minutes on medium heat. I had JUST changed the batteries to Energizer lithiums. Do I need to throw it/the batteries away? It still works fine and cooled off within a minute or so.

What if Shawn Michaels went to TNA After the Undertaker Streak vs Career Match
Story Theme: You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself as the villain.
Author’s Note: Daniel Bryan signs with TNA and doesn’t head to WWE till late 2012 to early 2013. Considering 2010 was the beginning of the end for TNA, I realistically can’t see Shawn not retiring. If the product was really good, I think HBK would’ve went in. In this universe, Paul Heyman is in charge of creative in TNA. He wants a youth-oriented promotion in TNA and to push the younger talent. The only wrestlers he wants as World Champion over 40 to make the younger talent into Bonafede stars are Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels himself. Also, Hogan, Bischoff and their friends will still be there due to Dixie Carter’s involvement but will have limited roles and won’t have the control they did irl. Also, since Heyman’s in charge, expect top names who are affiliated with him who are still young to pop throughout the story.
Introduction:
At WrestleMania 26, Shawn Michaels lost his final WWE Match against the Undertaker in a No Holds Barred Streak vs Career which was on par with it’s previous classic at Mania 25. HBK has a heartfelt goodbye speech at the next night on Raw. HBK has left the building. Shawn was no longer contracted to WWE but was involved in the next SVR game and the WWE offered him legends deal and a Hall of Fame Induction in the next year. For a few months Shawn stuck with his retirement promise as he thought nothing would top his last match and even signed the legends deal before faxing it in. But the Ric Flair syndrome hit him, and he started having the wrestling itch again. He figured he had more years left in him. He knew he couldn’t go back to WWE as him immediately returning there would ruin the purpose of his program with Taker. He then heard rumblings about TNA. He watched the show and was impressed with the talent. He knew that with TNA growing, he could help with the younger talent and put them over. Long were the days of politicking. He contacted his Kliq buddy Kevin Nash to help negotiate a deal with TNA. Nash personally wasn’t happy in his run with his heat with Heyman due to the older guys getting pushed aside for the Vanilla Midgets but would do anything for one of his best friends so he agreed. Shawn then entered secret negotiations with Dixie Carter and Paul Heyman. Heyman tasked HBK to be one of the only full time guys over 40 with the likes of Kurt Angle even though Shawn could take hiatus whatever he wanted to spend time with his family. Dixie, promised to pay him the most amount of money in the roster, can fulfill outside endeavors, and had a say over his storylines and promos but not match outcomes. It was then a done deal and Shawn signed the deal to TNA. Shawn wanted it to be top secret to the point that no one knew he was joining in and even told WWE that he was going to sign with them to avoid speculation. HBK signed a four-year iron clad contract. When HBK asked Heyman about Nash’s issues, Heyman said he wanted to chop the heads off them 40-year-olds but HBK and Angle weren’t one of them.
Part 1: Rebirth:
HBK's New Theme Since the Sexy Boy Theme is WWE Property: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Nioh8wq3w
Note. Note: Shawn’s character will initially be a babyface, but he will do heel like actions. In HBK’s mind he is the hero. This will get worse in time.
At TNA Slammiversary 2010, TNA World Champion AJ Styles defended his title against “The Icon” Sting. They had a great match with the Champion keeping up with the Icon’s experience in the ring. AJ ended up winning the match much to the dismay of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. As Sting stood up to a standing ovation, the lights went out and who stood behind him was a man in dark clothing wearing a mouth covering and a cowboy hat. Sting turned around and was hit with a Superkick. The man turned around, removed his mask and took his hat off Undertaker style. Out came the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels with a smirk. The crowd goes nuclear crazy. Bischoff comes to the ring and eats a Sweet Chin Music. Shawn then escapes through the crowd as Hulk Hogan and security chase him. The next week on Thursday Night Impact, Shawn Michaels comes to a huge pop in San Antonio, Texas with a new theme of Rebirthing by Skillet. Shawn noticeably had a clean shaven face resembling his younger days with his long now receding hair in a top knot. He high fived fans. Shawn cut a promo on how after his lost his match he was fully committed to his retirement promise, but as he saw there was no more new stars who could surpass him. He figured that new generation were screwed due to old timers like Hulk Hogan coming and going and taking spots from the future. The only reason he came out of retirement was because he wanted to save the future of wrestling and have the younger talent be better than what he was, a backstabbing backstage politician. Long where the days of burying young talent. Shawn then said he didn’t go back to WWE due to respect to Undertaker who he trusted would preserve the future there. He wanted to cleanse the wrestling world of old part timers. He wanted this so the wrestling business wouldn’t go extinct in 20-30 years, be surpassed by other forms of sports and entertainment, and go under like WCW and ECW did. He promised that he wouldn’t challenge for any titles in TNA as his championship days were up. After his Mania match, he then declared himself to be the Career Killer and promised to end the career of any old timer who stood in the future’s way. He didn’t care if it was his best friend or anything. He will save wrestling.
Later in the night, Bryan Danielson defeated Jeff Jarrett in the main event. Jarrett and his crew then attacked Bryan, but outcome HBK for the save and he took down Jarrett’s crew causing them to flee the ring. In a similar image to Darby and Sting in AEW, Shawn helped Bryan up and stared him down. He then hugged his protégé and promised to be the mentor he should’ve been back in 99. He then walked down the ramp with him. The next week, he had a confrontation with Sting over the last PPV, Shawn said it was nothing personal but wanted to let Sting know that his time in the main event was up and was willing to spare him his career if he stepped aside from the title scene. Sting hesitated but refused telling HBK that he’ll decide in his own merit if his time was up. Sting and Shawn started brawling and out came Bryan to help HBK fend Sting. HBK and Bryan then performed a running knee/superkick combo on Sting. In a backstage interview, HBK with Bryan in his side declaring he was starting the Heartbreakers Foundation (a spoof name to the Hart Foundation). He then decided to have try outs for the group. Over the course of following weeks try out matches were made to see who would fit best in the group. Bryan Danielson won his tryout match against Okada, while other protégé of HBK “The” Brian Kendrick won his tryout match against Gunner, D Angelo Dinero won his tryout match against Orlando Jordan, The Motor City Machine defeated Generation Me for the tryouts. Shawn seemed impressed with Generation Me and kept an eye out for them by making them honorary members to be the future of wrestling in 15 years. The last tryout match was between Shawn’s Kliq buddies Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman. The three men wanted in HBK’s group as they bonded well in the Kliq in the 90s. Shawn was willing to comply with their requests until they reminisced on their good old days and how they would bury the talent. Shawn then lost his cool and told them that those days were over. The four men then argued until Shawn said that only one of them would join the group if that person won the triple threat qualification match. Kevin Nash ended up winning the match. Shawn and his newfound proteges in the Heartbreakers Foundation beat Waltman and Hall down. Nash then realized Shawn was serious about his claims. HBK then forced Nash to Jackknife Hall and Waltman. Nash with tears in his eyes because he would hurt his best friends bad did so. HBK patted him on the back and said it’s for the best.
Heartbreakers Foundation Members:
The group will be a mix of the Hart Foundation and D-Generation X

1. God Leader: Shawn Michaels: The Grizzled Veteran leader of the group who wants to preserve the future of pro wrestling
   
2. Big Sexy Co Leader: Kevin Nash: The Muscle of The Group. He is a reliable tool to the younger members, but is still coming to terms that his glory days are done.
   
3. The Violent One: Bryan Danielson (2009 look). Bryan Danielson is the violent submission specialist on an undefeated streak who Shawn’s is grooming to be the next big thing. Bryan does show a goofy side of him like in Team Hell No sometimes, but he just wants to kick some fning heads in.
   
4. Kurt Cobain: The Brian Kendrick: He is the most funniest and chill back member of the group who was fired by WWE in 2009. He loves Nirvana and Weed.
   
5. The Best Tag Team in The World: The Motor City Machine Guns: One of the best tag teams in TNA today. They will be the cornerstones of the tag division.
   
6. Pope: D Angelo Dinero: He is a pope like figure in the group, who HBK personally loves due to his Christian Faith. HBK and Dinero have a similar ego problem but seems to like each other the most.
   
7. Young Guns: Generation Me: They are the rookies of the group who Shawn wants to build up. At least when they eventually join the Bullet Club as the Young Bucks, they can say Shawn Michaels himself endorsed them.
   

HBK then informed Bryan, Dinero, TMCMG, Kendrick, and even Generation Me that they could challenge for any titles they wanted and that he and Nash wouldn’t challenge for any titles. Nash who is the TNA Legends Champion looked bewildered. HBK then told Nash to hand him his title. The HBF then went to a campfire and he burned the Legends Title. HBK then grabbed a title from his bag and christened it the TNA Intercontinental Championship. The IC was something Shawn fought for in classic battles in the 90s and now wanted his proteges to continues the titles legacy. Heyman then booked a six man ladder match including the HBF members for the title. Sting then called out HBK in a promo claiming that his rebirth from his past self was a lie and Shawn was still the same person he was in the 90s. He then said Shawn wasn’t there for the business, he was there for himself. Shawn then came down and refuted his claims and that he would prove it. He then called out Sting for still wanting to be World Champion in TNA and not being a man of his word. Shawn then said they never were in the same company in the same time but they had similar demons and that he should know better. Despite all this Shawn still respects Sting. Sting then challenges Shawn to a match at Victory Road 2010. Shawn agrees on one condition, if Shawn loses, he drops his vendetta, but if Sting loses he can never challenge for any title in TNA. Shawn and Sting then have a brawl which the locker room must separate. At Victory Road 2010, Shawn had a huge entrance in his WM 26 attire but with a cowboy hat and a V for Venetta like mask. This is Shawn’s first match in months. HBK and Sting have a classic match for their age group. HBK then shockingly wins clean with a Sweet Chin Music. HBK wins the match and shakes hands with Sting who accepts it. He has earned Sting’s respect, but Sting is devasted that he can’t challenge for titles anymore.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA...

♪ Feel Good Inc. ♪
In 1999 a greasy cartoon character from Stoke-on-Trent, England had a dream: To become the most wealthy and famous musician in the world. His method of doing so, simple: make a deal with Beelzebub for his immortal soul. Doing so would set off a series of events which result in the formation of The Gorillaz, a defining staple of British pop, British punk, alternative, scene, and the music landscape in general, their misadventures spanning just about every medium and platform you could imagine.

Group Feats

• Survive being hit by two missiles, with enough force to wreck their ATV, charred and blackened but otherwise fine.
  
• In a straight drag race, the results go 1: Murdoc, 2: 2-D, 3: Noodle, 4: Russel.
  
• The band evidently owns a device that can turn thoughts into music, "good for sampling". This is what the song in question came out as.
  
• Were once turned giant for a Times Square performance.
  

2-D

Vocals and Keyboard
♪ Skinny Ape ♪
The pretty boy singer, Stuart "Stu-Pot" Pot (original family name Tusspot) had few ambitions in life and even fewer thoughts in his head. He had a knack for music, having worked in his family's music shop, but mostly he occupied his time with zombie movies. That is, until Murdoc Niccals crashed into his life. Literally, crashed a car through the music shop's window and smacked Stu with his front fender. Stu went into a coma, and Murdoc's punishment for the crime was community service, namely taking care of Stu's comatose body until he woke up. Murdoc proceeded exactly the way he'd been before his sentencing and a second car accident knocked Stu up out of his coma. After waking up, Murdoc found out the kid could sing, and so conscripted him into the band. He got the nickname 2-D from the 2 Dents in his head that Murdoc had left, and each accident had "fractured" an eye, leaving them both completely black, giving him a very characteristic inky gaze, even if there's nothing much going on behind it.
Physicals

• Able to dodge pool balls fired from mounted guns, for a while anyways, until they start landing and ground him.
  
• Walks a significant distance through the desert while carrying Noodle on his back.
  
• Gets run over by a bumper car.
  
• A flying car hits him square in the head, he survives but is made comatose, then some time later he's sent flying through a car's windshield at 70 miles an hour, skids on his face for half a mile, and this wakes him up. The only confirmed long-term effect of either of these incidents was that it "fractured" his eyes and "pushed [them] inward", giving them the distinctive all-black look.
  
• Survives a massive explosion that launches him out of a well.
  

Other

• Turns around one part of his body at a time.
  
• It's possible that his blackened eyes inhibit his vision, or at least are some contributing factor to his perpetual clumsiness.
  

Murdoc Niccals

Bass Guitar
♪ Clint Eastwood ♪
The bass player, frontman, and self-proclaimed band leader, Murdoc is a rockstar's rockstar. A greasy, slimy, sleazy, grimy, foul-smelling, foul-tempered, hedonistic, narcissistic, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, womanizing, hip-thrusting, bass licking, Satan-worshipping dirty rag of a human being. Murdoc was the one who came up with the idea of Gorillaz, the one who sold his soul to Satan to make the band a success, and the one who got them their first headquarters, Kong Studios. Despite his near non-stop abuse (only tempered very recently by a stunt involving a demon mobster, the snowy mountains of Patagonia, and a prison break that nearly killed him), Murdoc always contributes to the band's image, their finances, their resources, their security, and sometimes he helps them make music too.
Strength

• Dislocates 2-D's jaw with a single punch.
  
• Hit a man with his bass so hard it permanently imprinted the logo into his neck.
  
• Kicks a hole in a speaker.
  
• Throws a stereo through a tour bus skylight.
  
• Slices zombies in half with a large scythe.
  
• Tosses an indestructible watch hard enough to wreck a spaceship/car.
  
• Deflects pool balls fired from mounted guns with pelvic thrusts, using nothing but some light protective padding.
  

Physicals

• Gets dick grabbed and slammed into the ground by a zombie gorilla hand capable of busting through concrete. Later it seems like one struck him to the ground too, though he's not seen getting up from that either way.
  
• Jumps some dozen feet from a standstill.
  
• Narrowly avoids a fighter plane's machine gun fire, then survives a bomb falling in after him.
  
• Deftly avoids falling fireballs and shrapnel while driving.
  

Other

• Despite any appearance to the contrary, Murdoc is actually very devious and cunning, capable of manipulating those around him to work against their best interest, all while keeping a multi-layered plan to himself.
  
• Murdoc reportedly was the one who made Cyborg Noodle, using spare amounts of the original's DNA. No contradicting story has ever come along to dispute this.
  
• Levitates, seemingly through meditation.
  
• Has a voodoo doll of 2-D, though he could presumably make ones for others.
  
• Carries his own fragrance, Essence Murdoc, which is a substance so toxic that it causes a giant to violently explode when ingested.
  
• Escaped from a Mexican prison using a paper mache dummy and a recording of himself.
  
• Summoned a host of demons and pagan spirits via Satanic ritual while on tour.
  
• Knows some cool car tricks.
  
• Knows some cool piss tricks.
  

Noodle

Guitar and Misc.
♪ DARE ♪
The girl who would come to be named Noodle was raised in a secretive Japanese military division, one which sought to use child soldiers as the perfect infiltration and assassination operatives. Noodle, while trained broadly in the ways of combat, was specialized in the use of audio warfare. Her teacher, however, upon learning that the project was to be scrapped and the trainees to be eliminated, couldn't stand to see her killed, so he wiped her memories with a codephrase so they could be reactivated later and shipped her out in a FedEx box. She wound up on the doorstep of the Kong Studio the very day the band put out an ad for a guitar player (after Murdoc shagged her in one of the studio's bathroom stalls (while she was dating 2-D)), and she immediately passed the audition with flying colors and was added to the lineup. She was named after the only English word she knew at the time, and even after regaining her memories it's stuck. Since then she's become the most compassionate, thoughtful, and consciously concerned member of the band, seeking to use their fame and platform to help better the world.
Skill

• Has been trained in every martial art, including sonic warfare, can play every instrument, and was taught English (among, presumably, other languages), lip-reading, and mechanics.
  
• Sweeps an interviewers' feet out from under them before they can react.
  
• Fights off a group of cultists.
  
• Able to battle using a samurai sword, even while blindfolded.
  
• Leaps over Russel, snatches his wig and slaps him on the back of the head, then pulls his arms out from under him to ground him.
  
  • Contextually this is meant to take place in a video game, but A) there aren't many other instances shown of Noodle's martial prowess and B) even the game characters don't act like they're game characters.
  • In-universe this skit was acted out by the real Noodle and Russel.

Physicals

• Sends a zombie gorilla flying with a jumping bicycle kick.
  
• Lopped off a man's head with one swing of a katana. Though the person in question was a shapeshifter.
  
• Jumps 20 feet into the air after a guitar solo.
  
• Deflects energy weapon fire using an indestructible watch.
  
• Falls several stories from the gigantic Del's chest, then again when a footstep launches her back into the air.
  
• Able to avoid, largely through luck but partially through movement, being shot by two helicopters' machine guns.
  
• Outpaces the multi-story tall Del with continuous forward handsprings.
  

Other

• Packs a collapsible tommy gun while being pursued by pirates, capable of bringing down an older model fighter plane.
  
• Carries some kind of custom submachine gun with a grenade lobber attachment.
  
• Briefly used a flamethrower while clearing zombies out of Kong Studios.
  
• Was able to, through undetermined means, survive this devastating crash and the follow-up bombing.
  
• An accomplished racer, also possibly ran clean through an electrified fence to make it onto the track.
  
• Surprisingly good at chess.
  

Russel Hobbs

Drummer and Mixer
♪ Saturnz Barz ♪
Russel Hobbs was a hip-hop head growing up in New York, who, by strange happenstance, has been dogged by the legions of hell for most of his life. During one particularly tragic incident, he and his friends got caught up in a drive-by shooting, one which left Russel as the only survivor. However, the spirits of his dead friends were nearly immediately sucked into his skull, allowing them to live on through him, and also giving him their combined musical knowledge to make him a veritable encyclopedia on hip-hop and musical composition. Sent to live with his uncle to try and recover from the trauma in the English countryside, Russel was found and then literally gagged and bagged by Murdoc and taken to Kong Studios. And after listening to their demos, he was impressed, and agreed to join the band.
Physicals

• Holds up an alligator while it's in the process of swallowing 2-D.
  
• Shakes and snaps the boards of a pier by walking.
  
• Scratched so hard his records caught fire and melted.
  
• Knocks a punching bag out of the ceiling (after beating on it for a while).
  
• Even while only semi-conscious, helps Noodle fight off a group of cultists.
  

Other

• Russel is a natural conduit for supernatural enemies, making him prone to possession. As a teenager he was possessed by a demon that made him double in size and gave him the strength to throw around other kids.
  
• Russel owns the highly coveted Hip Hop Machine, a tower of equipment which contains every beat known to man, most existing kinds of studio equipment, and the ghosts of several legendary drummers.
  
• Russel actually designed and handbuilt the Geep.
  

Gigantism

• Eating tons upon tons of polluted ocean life and jetsam in his journey to Plastic Beach caused his to grow gigantic. This went away after some starvation, but,
  
• Even post-gigantism, can seemingly switch between the two sizes at will.
  
  • Shown here actively size-shifting.
• Lifts a lifeboat with Noodle inside on his head, seemingly without noticing.
  
• Snacks on giant sharks.
  
• Grabs a sperm whale out of the water and throws it to bring down a fighter plane.
  
• Survived being harpooned, though just barely.
  

Del

Guest Rapper
♪ Rock the House ♪
Russel's closest friend both before and after his tragic death, Del would stick around as a spirit possessing Russel's body, summoned from inside Russel's skull and returns just as easily, his effects disappearing with him. He was used frequently in their first album as a guest rapper. You can see from these examples that Russ spaces out whenever Del is summoned, as Del seemingly can't exist physically while Russel is conscious. In between Gorillaz and Demon Days, the Grim Reaper caught up with Russel and took Del into the afterlife.

• Stomps the ground to send a massive fracture running through it. Whether this was from pure strength or an effect of the summoning of the gravestones from hell is unclear.
  
• Completely deflects pool balls fired from mounted guns with a still hand.
  
• Strikes with surprising speed, even when massive.
  
• Summons a horde of zombie gorillas, which are capable of busting through concrete.
  
• Being an intangible spirit, capable of easily shifting size.
  
  • Supposedly he grew to over 100 ft.

Cyborg Noodle

Backup Guitarist and Bodyguard
♪ Stylo ♪
After Noodle went missing and was presumed dead following a conspiracy surrounding the El Mañana video, a means to off one of the band's assailants after which she disappeared, Murdoc had an idea for a new album and, short of anyone to help him write or record, created a new guitarist and songwriter to play with him, especially on tour. So, using some remaining piece of Noodle's DNA in an unspecified capacity, he created a robotic duplicate, and decked her out with guns cause that'd be cool.

• Has a shotgun, and is perhaps too eager to use it.
  
• Packs a pair of uzis that tear apart a stone statue.
  
• Has a machine gun built right inside her mouth.
  
• Just generally has enough firepower to blow out a metal door.
  
• Able to still somewhat function with a hole going through her head and a large sea creature living in her body.
  

Ace

Backup Bassist
♪ Tranz ♪
Leader of the notorious criminal organization the Gangreen Gang, Ace was brought in to play bass for the band while Murdoc was incarcerated for unpaid parking tickets and attempting to bribe a judge to get out of it.

• Stabs through a basketball with a switchblade.

Vehicles

♪ 19-2000 ♪
The band have employed and spent millions on a number of different vehicles over their long career. As each has shown to be skilled drivers, any of them can effectively utilize the following.

• The Geep, an all-terrain vehicle with a high top speed and is equipped with a pair of missiles.
  
  • Runs fast enough to drive along a loop-de-loop and jump a wide gap.
  • Reportedly 180 mph speeds were required for the loop, and the gap is described as 200ft wide.
• An armored off-road truck. Interior here.
  
  • The truck in question was stolen from the Namibia military.
• Murdoc personally owns a Winnibego, mostly used for banging chicks.
  
  • Was used to bash a hole in the Kong Studios carpark, the hole in question seen here.
• Noodle personally owns a jetpack.
  
• Murdoc has a yak, named Madge, though she died a few years later.
  
• A Soviet-era submarine.
  
• A small, floating island with a windmill on it, capable of flying well above the cloudline (all told versions of events do state the island is or at least was owned by the band, and they do still have it).
  
  • Reportedly the island is hollowed out and filled with helium, requiring strings to keep it from floating away, though the story is immediately contradicted.
• The Charon, a 220 ft. titanium-based tour bus.
  
  • Buses in a later tour, not confirmed to be the same, could reach speeds of over 200 mph.
• The Stylo Camaro, with nitro. It can evidently transform itself into a shark-like submarine.
  
• A Ford Thunderbird.
  
• A "Fonda" motorcycle, dune buggy, and golf cart.
  
• Possibly scavenged during a zombie apocalypse are a rocket-powered motorcycle, a pickup truck with a mounted machine gun, and a fighter jet.
  
• An RV rigged up for space travel, possibly Murdoc's old Winnibego, that also puts new craters on the moon's surface by doing donuts.
  
• A rocket-powered racecar designed to quickly take them to another galaxy.
  

♪ Tomorrow Comes Today ♪