u/Major_Pooie_Bottoms

I'm looking at Lenovo ThinkPads T series. I will mainly use this laptop for work (e.g., word processing, internet, etc.) but also want it beefy for occasional high-demand gaming. I don't know what kind of graphics card I need though. The various models I'm looking at have either GeForce RTX 5060 8GB, RTX 5070 8GB, or RTX 5080 16GB. Will the 5060 8GB give me great graphics/performance for modern games (e.g., run at higher resolutions/detail) or do I have to step up to the 5070 or 5080? Cost is less of a concern but I also don't want to burn money on upgrades if I won't be able to meaningfully tell the difference.

Other specs my laptop will have btw:

Intel Core Ultra 9 285H vPro (E-cores 4.5 Ghz; P-cores 5.4 Ghz)

64 GB RAM

1 TB SSD

Like many others, my wife and I lost our house in Pasadena to the Eaton Fire. My wife and I are in our 80s and we are only now getting serious about rebuilding. One general topic that has been very difficult for us to get consistent and reliable answers to--including from professional contractors and architects we've spoken to--is how much bigger can we rebuild our house and what are the related property tax (and other) consequences.

(1) How will the existing size of our home that burned down be calculated? This one question affects the others below. Our home was built in the 50s and tax records say it was 1700 sq. ft. But about 60 years ago, the prior owners added a 400 sq. ft. room, which we believe was unpermitted. We have photos that prove this and also google earth images show the room from above. So is our "base" 1700 or 2100?

(2) Assuming our base is sq. ft. is 1700, how much larger can we rebuild and still keep our existing property tax bill (which is really low since we bought decades ago)? Is that limit the 10% we keep hearing about? So we can go up to 1870 without paying more in property tax?

(3) What happens if we exceed 10%? Suppose we build a 2200 sq ft home. (a) How would our property tax be calculated then? Treated like a new 2200 home or extra tax only on the difference between 2200-1700 (or 2200-1870)? (b) I think this would also mean that it's no longer a "like-for-like rebuild" but what are the real-life practical implications/downsides of that?

Thank you!

Like many others, my wife and I lost our house in Pasadena to the Eaton Fire. My wife and I are in our 80s and we are only now getting serious about rebuilding. One general topic that has been very difficult for us to get consistent and reliable answers to--including from professional contractors and architects we've spoken to--is how much bigger can we rebuild our house and what are the related property tax (and other) consequences.

(1) How will the existing size of our home that burned down be calculated? This one question affects the others below. Our home was built in the 50s and tax records say it was 1700 sq. ft. But about 60 years ago, the prior owners added a 400 sq. ft. room, which we believe was unpermitted. We have photos that prove this and also google earth images show the room from above. So is our "base" 1700 or 2100?

(2) Assuming our base is sq. ft. is 1700, how much larger can we rebuild and still keep our existing property tax bill (which is really low since we bought decades ago)? Is that limit the 10% we keep hearing about? So we can go up to 1870 without paying more in property tax?

(3) What happens if we exceed 10%? Suppose we build a 2200 sq ft home. (a) How would our property tax be calculated then? Treated like a new 2200 home or extra tax only on the difference between 2200-1700 (or 2200-1870)? (b) I think this would also mean that it's no longer a "like-for-like rebuild" but what are the real-life practical implications/downsides of that?

Thank you!

What are the most obnoxious orders you've received in terms of modifications? And, relatedly, what mods take the longest to make?

Me: 40s. U.S. Been practiced law for 15 years but have an electrical engineering background (chips, not power) and am comfortable learning new tech. No experience in data centers.

Ask: Looking for a career change and am interested in exploring starting a business that either helps build or otherwise supports AI data centers (tbc, I don't want to start/own a data center). Given my lack of experience, is there a particular niche related to the AI data center industry that has a relatively lower barrier to entry (from an experience/knowledge perspective) for me to focus my efforts learning more about and exploring? Fwiw, I've got about 800k to invest into the business, which I know is peanuts for this industry, but maybe enough for something small/services related? Any insight appreciated. Thx.