Okay, I messed up.
I neglected to note extruder steps or z offsets when updating firmware on a taz5
How to best recover?
the z-offset is mainly used for printers with the auto bed leveling which the stock Taz 5 does not have. The Taz 5 z-offset is based off the thumbscrew on the left side of the bed.
Thanks! Clearly a newbie.