diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs
index 1c9a5876..78a80f13 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ pub struct RpcsForRequest {
 }
 
 impl RankedRpcs {
-    pub fn from_rpcs(rpcs: Vec<Arc<Web3Rpc>>, head_block: Option<Web3ProxyBlock>) -> Option<Self> {
+    pub fn from_rpcs(rpcs: Vec<Arc<Web3Rpc>>, head_block: Option<Web3ProxyBlock>) -> Self {
         // we don't need to sort the rpcs now. we will sort them when a request neds them
         // TODO: the shame about this is that we lose just being able to compare 2 random servers
 
@@ -117,15 +117,13 @@ impl RankedRpcs {
 
         let sort_mode = SortMethod::Shuffle;
 
-        let ranked_rpcs = RankedRpcs {
+        Self {
             backups_needed,
             head_block,
             inner: rpcs,
             num_synced,
             sort_mode,
-        };
-
-        Some(ranked_rpcs)
+        }
     }
 
     pub fn from_votes(
@@ -904,12 +902,7 @@ impl RpcsForRequest {
             let error_handler = None;
 
             // todo!("be sure to set server_error if we exit without any rpcs!");
-            #[allow(clippy::never_loop)]
-            loop {
-                if self.request.connect_timeout() {
-                    break;
-                }
-
+            while !self.request.connect_timeout() {
                 let mut earliest_retry_at = None;
                 let mut opened = 0;
                 let mut tried = 0;
diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs
index c623f019..3f88e446 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs
@@ -408,7 +408,6 @@ impl Web3Rpcs {
                 ranked_rpcs
             } else if self.watch_head_block.is_some() {
                 // if we are here, this set of rpcs is subscribed to newHeads. But we didn't get a RankedRpcs. that means something is wrong
-                trace!("watch_head_block is some");
                 return Err(Web3ProxyError::NoServersSynced);
             } else {
                 trace!("watch_head_block is none");
@@ -416,12 +415,10 @@ impl Web3Rpcs {
                 // no RankedRpcs, but also no newHeads subscription. This is probably a set of "protected" rpcs or similar
                 let rpcs = self.by_name.read().values().cloned().collect();
 
-                if let Some(x) = RankedRpcs::from_rpcs(rpcs, web3_request.head_block.clone()) {
-                    Arc::new(x)
-                } else {
-                    // i doubt we will ever get here
-                    return Err(Web3ProxyError::NoServersSynced);
-                }
+                // TODO: does this need the head_block? i don't think so
+                let x = RankedRpcs::from_rpcs(rpcs, web3_request.head_block.clone());
+
+                Arc::new(x)
             };
 
         match ranked_rpcs.for_request(web3_request) {
@@ -549,6 +546,7 @@ impl Web3Rpcs {
 
         // TODO: what error code? what data?
         // cloudflare gives {"jsonrpc":"2.0","error":{"code":-32043,"message":"Requested data cannot be older than 128 blocks."},"id":1}
+        // TODO: some queries other providers give "successful" results with null data. i don't like that at all but its what is often expected
         Err(JsonRpcErrorData {
             message: "Requested data is not available".into(),
             code: -32001,