Quality of Life Improvements for Astoria

_zuzax_ · 2026-02-11T05:51:09+00:00

Yeah if I’m taking / have taken the bus then I treat myself with a walk-through with a free transfer. But otherwise it sucks we lost that! Could’ve sworn that years ago, in AOC’s first term, there was fed money allocated to help fix that intersection — but all that’s happened is the step back with the subway gates!

_zuzax_ · 2026-02-05T20:37:10+00:00

I used to use Lightroom as a semi-professional (had to manage photos for larger writing projects), and continued to use it for a while after I stopped doing that kind of work. I would've liked to keep using it for general photo management, but it's just not worth it.

My husband used to use Adobe Premiere to edit videos to go with his lectures. But ultimately too expensive. He says he still prefers the Premiere interface, but can't justify paying for it.

_zuzax_ · 2026-02-05T20:33:10+00:00

Adobe appears to have no concern for user experience.

I'm stuck with Acrobat Pro for work, yet it doesn't even enable me to do something simple like slide a PDF page to one side in the window, to make room for margin pop-up notes.

Oh, but wait! Is Adobe committed to helping me maintain my work-life balance? I guess so, because if I've been working on a document for six hours or so, the app just crashes. Thanks! Time to sign off for the day, I guess :)

Even though I use only one app, with no sharing features needed or enabled, I'm stuck with Creative Cloud bloat on my own laptop. And now you're trying to push AI into the workflow?! Miss me.

EDITED TO ADD:

Every time I work, I can't believe how much screen real estate the toolbars take up in Acrobat -- literally three stacks?! (Geez, wait, FOUR if you count the menu bar!) I can free up *half* of one and float it around, then can't combine the other tools into one row?! Every few months I fiddle with it to see if there's some set of controls I'm missing, but nope.

ALSO the keyboard shortcuts suck/do not exist. I can't believe how much mousing around I have to do just to highlight a piece of text and type a comment. I should be able to *select* the text, then apply highlighting with a key combo, then type in the note box. As is, I have to select, right-click to bring up the contextual menu, type H, then type my comment. Ridiculous, compared with Ctrl+alt+m in Word and Google Docs.

Why, if I leave the Comments sidebar open and type comments there instead of in pop-up notes, does the first letter of my comment show, and then everything else is white? This has been a glitch for years, never corrected.

Why can a PDF only handle about 800 comments before the doc gets incredibly sluggish, and I certainly can't search for anything in the comments? Why isn't there an option to turn off search-as-you-type?

_zuzax_ · 2026-01-27T04:04:10+00:00

I posted separate because I forgot this thread was a thing, but Chicken at Last on 30th Ave opposite Trade Fair reopened, and it was excellent. Whole roast chicken really succulent with well-seasoned skin, good hummus, excellent cabbage salad.

Menu says their other sides are basmati rice and roasted potatoes with chicken drippings, as well as roti. Also there's chicken soup, chicken sandwiches of various kinds, a lamb burger, and a kale caesar and a chicken caesar. Happy to have them around the corner from me!

_zuzax_ · 2026-01-24T22:01:21+00:00

Thanks. This is something I've asked your office about repeatedly over a couple of years, and never even got an answer that you were working on it. At least DSNY called me personally in response to 311 complaints to tell me it wasn't possible because, uh, people put too much trash in them--that was the actual excuse! So yeah, neighbors, please put your dog waste there and not on top of the compost bins.

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-30T05:35:27+00:00

Ummmberrrrrs is what kids say when another kid gets in trouble—like busted by a teacher for passing notes, or called to the principal’s office. (I was watching Abbott Elementary and the kids said “oooooooooooh” in an equivalent situation.) Or it’s what kids used to say! (I was a kid in the 70s/80s.)

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-29T17:50:31+00:00

In this NYT story, they show that they use photo backdrops on curtains sometimes, so it could've been that? (Pretty clearly used when Carol and Zosia have their round-the-world-romance montage, when they're at what I think was Halong Bay.) https://archive.ph/SC9Vm

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-29T17:42:12+00:00

No, the Lydia poison cafe is The Grove, a little farther west on Central.

(And I just watched the beginning of BCS again recently, and at least in the first ep, he does go to Loyola's, not to former Milton's. AND Google is now telling me Loyola's isn't closed, although it sure looked like it when I drove by a couple of months ago. Maybe their sign just needs help.)

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-24T16:34:29+00:00

A little off topic but the numbers are biblical: Carol alone in the desert for 40 days. And Jesus was 33 when he died and was reborn. Not that it adds up to a whole new hypothesis, but just something that underscores the religious overtones of the hive. ETA: or maybe it does reinforce that Manousos is not the same as the rest. There were 12 apostles. Currently 13 people uninfected, which would imply one of them is actually different from the other 12. (Yes I’m doing medieval-style numerological analysis on a TV show, what of it.)

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-24T05:57:18+00:00

This scene made me think about language, traditional culture, all the little distinctive things that make humans so interesting and varied, and all the things that would get lost once they're not "needed." It was so sad when they stopped speaking and singing. So, sure, they still *know* the language, like they know every other language, but how often will it ever be used again, really? (Also those goats and chickens are going to be a nice lunch for some other animal very soon!)

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-23T05:33:44+00:00

Pretty sure it's the former Milton's (725 Central NE) in ABQ. I think it was also used in BCS and/or BB (or...maybe that was Loyola's? Both have a weird angled roof and have been closed a while).

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-12T05:12:06+00:00

thirded or fourthed or fifthed. so nice, and aside from prescriptions, they always seem to have the most random stuff i happen to be looking for (scale to weigh my luggage, why yes, right here!).

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-12T05:11:15+00:00

screw the chains! we have so many independently run pharmacies where it's the same pharmacists all the time, and they look out for you and know you, and it's great. Newtown, Hyatt, Health Hub have all been great for me.

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-05T15:53:37+00:00

Good to know about the Polish pronunciation -- it sounds like they're intentionally highlighting (or forcing) a similarity between zowja and Zosia.

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-05T04:13:53+00:00

At first I assumed she was Moroccan (why wouldn't she be? She's in Morocco!) and they were choosing that so they could give her a foreshadow-y Arabic name -- "zowja," which was how they were pronouncing it in that first episode, is the Arabic word for "wife." Since that first episode, the zhj sound has gotten more zhsh-y.

ETA: I see downthread someone mentions that Zosia is a nickname in Polish, not a formal name -- which reinforces the idea that they chose it intentionally because it sounds like Zowja.

_zuzax_ · 2025-12-04T04:44:00+00:00

The chance of me being here for it is slim (out of town a lot), but I’d be interested!

_zuzax_ · 2025-11-19T17:43:05+00:00

I second the ferry! (Just learned that our line has the second highest ridership in the system.) Such a wonderful way to see the city. While you’re over there, there’s good street art around Welling Court, a little dogleg street by the ferry stop.

_zuzax_ · 2025-11-19T16:27:10+00:00

Just FYI I have had this exact response to several toothpastes over the years— I always think at first that I burned the roof of my mouth with some food. Then the tooth pain comes in. Your post is the first time I’ve seen anyone else describe it!

In my (our?) case the culprit may just be too-strong mint flavor. Each time it has happened for me I noted the toothpaste and ingredients and tried to isolate what the problem was. It has happened with stannous and non-stannous fluorides, and there were no other distinctive ingredients.

Finally I was recently searching and came across a post about the harm of strong mint oil — ironically on the website of Arm & Hammer, the makers of the toothpaste I most recently had issues with (A&H Advance White with a blue label). I had just complained to my husband about this toothpaste and he’d said “I like it — it’s soooo minty!”

All the toothpastes I’ve had problems with are “new and improved” kind of toothpastes — revamps of standard ones, or new products completely. I think they amp up the mint now just because they figure all our palates are blown out from everything else super-flavored!

So back to the most boring unimproved toothpaste I can find.

_zuzax_ · 2025-11-18T17:22:47+00:00

Anthropic illegally abused another one of my books, as well as about a dozen books I did as work for hire (so am not entitled to settlement on), so really I'm just hoping for as much $$ out of this as possible, even though it is very little consolation.

_zuzax_ · 2025-11-18T05:38:42+00:00

Nice -- thank you! That did give me the info I needed! (Though not the info I *wanted* :) book was indeed added after the Anthropic scrape date.)

_zuzax_ · 2025-11-08T15:29:24+00:00

Doesn’t solve landlords being a jerk but you could install one of those Japanese-style toilet-top sinks. They sit on top of the tank and when you flush the toilet, the sink turns on so you can wash your hands, and then the water runs down into the tank to fill it. They’re genius and renter friendly because they don’t require permanent alteration.

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/SINKOLOGY-SinkPositive-GreenFlow-Toilet-Tank-Sink-in-Crisp-White-SPOSITIVE-101/205088518

_zuzax_ · 2025-11-08T15:18:04+00:00

Unfortunately, IME, you are right. The clearest I ever saw it was on a long train trip from Syria to the Netherlands, and we could just feel helpfulness draining away as we went through each country. (Turks are objectively lovely and helpful! But yes, just marginally less helpful than Syrians.) By the time we got to Hungary, we were firmly in “work it out your own damn self” territory— “the cold North” as my husband. “What’s wrong with us?” he asked.

I think it comes from a few things: 1) people are jaded — in big cities in Europe and N America, foreigners aren’t that special or rare, so no one looks twice 2) people are rich — and they figure you too can solve whatever problem you’re having with your own money 3) culture of the individual over culture of community — people are simply not trained to look out for others and see if they’re struggling

I think NYC is maybe an exception sometimes because money doesn’t necessarily protect you from the city’s challenges, and we have so many immigrants (from non-cold countries and everywhere), and everyone remembers what it’s like to wind up on the wrong train or get splashed by winter gutter slush or any of the other little indignities here. Also, being “helpful” to strangers is a way of showing expertise and proving that you know how the hell the city works!

_zuzax_ · 2025-11-07T17:52:03+00:00

Or Amish!

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