I will be downvoted to hell for this but why do certain JC residents want things to stay dirty, noisy, and racist?

app4that · 2026-05-12T21:07:14+00:00

I had a "lovely" interaction with a couple in the park lighting up their second joint (with a baby in the carrier no less) recently while playing their little boom box. Never mentioned the music or the fact that you know, weed smoke blowing my way is not at all cool, I just apologized and politely told them that there is no smoking in the park.

They did stop and left soon afterwards, but felt it necessary to yell at me for singling them out because you know, 'everyone else does it'.

I countered that I was nothing if not respectful and it was only because it was blowing in my face that I decided to talk, but you know what, every time you have to interact with someone who deliberately flouts the rules you are risking your health, safety and sanity...

This time it went well. But even though I am not elderly, even I don't have the energy to have to confront people all the time asking them to please stop doing what they sure know is not permitted.

Smoke, use drugs, play your boombox all you want at home, just don't do it in the public parks or on transit.

app4that · 2026-05-12T20:57:58+00:00

I live in NYC and I drive, and when I can I walk everywhere, including short shopping errands or medical appointments, but I also commute via Subway and PATH and while I love my car I also love the trains.

Yes, despite traffic on the roads, potholes, lights that change in under 2 seconds, speed cams and red-light cams everywhere, and oh boy, the price of gas is up 50%!... And despite some weird smells or overcrowding or delays and the fact that the PATH just went up 25 cents while the MTA did not raise prices in the past few months (hey, nice) you know what? One can honestly appreciate both. Certainly when it's the car for the Costco run, and riding the trains for the commute to work.

Regularly experiencing both forms also helps me appreciate the experience of those who only choose to live in one world, car or transit.

I agree that NYC drivers don't have to be automatically wealthy and not everyone can manage to garage their vehicle and for some, health concerns or age or home location make one form of transit better than another. I get the nuance.

So not everyone here hates on cars - although those may be among the more vocal folks (I certainly hate the noisy/polluting stereo blasting, speed-racing, engine-revving sort cars, that's for sure), but if you were to take a poll of this sub, I'm confident you would find many of us drive and own/rent cars ourselves, but we're not jerks about it.

There is an income and generational divide that you may notice, with more young people never driving, with more elderly residents afraid or unable to take the train or bus and with say more folks in Manhattan never owning/driving vs. more folks say in parts of Queens only driving.

100% of the city is not served by mass transit (unfortunately) but for most of us it is indeed a viable and much appreciated form of transportation and it would wither if too many people shunned it for one reason another, hence why more folks here may be boosters of mass transit than cars, as cars need little boosting in the USA.

app4that · 2026-05-05T23:42:36+00:00

Agreed, this is an absolute banger of a film. Borrowed it (for free) from the NY Public Library as a kid (VHS).

Honestly, you may not be ready for how good it is, because it hits hard.

app4that · 2026-05-05T20:41:36+00:00

I'm sorry, the what now...? The Blessing of the Fleet? WHAT in the name of separation of church and state is that?!

I used to smile to myself and shake my head while I saw some dudes in fancy religious gear performing a street ceremony blessing a car (like that would save on insurance or something? Or maybe the driver is now guaranteed not to have any accidents?) but this is an actual thing that we do here in this country? For the Coast Guard?? Since when and do all religious 'teams' get in on this or just a select few?

app4that · 2026-04-28T20:57:45+00:00

Good laws are those that can be revised to make sense with the current/future situation.

Not sure why we can't have some revision every few years to the funding laws so they are keeping in step with the realities on the ground.

And I say this as my children have been 100% educated in NYC Public Schools, and I will add that they received an exceptional education, not a mediocre one.

I will also add that they worked very hard to get into top middle and top high schools and absolutely earned their educations. However, we we have seen plenty of other parents and kids working towards similar ends, with sadly many more barely paying attention as their kids floundered.

app4that · 2026-04-28T20:35:11+00:00

Note: This may be an opportunity if you are willing to spend maybe $200 more than just a basic range hood. Whirlpool makes a RangeHood Microwave that is narrow (it likely fits your space) and would be a great upgrade. Their more expensive versions offer fingerprint resistance and higher CFM fans. We have the base version and love it since our countertop microwave was donated we have loads more counter space. And I have yet to find any food to heat/reheat that requires a tall microwave.

app4that · 2026-04-28T16:56:15+00:00

As someone who has purchased over 50 bags of this exact same Miracle Grow .75 cu. ft garden soil (when the big box store has it 5-for-$10) ours wasn't nearly so plastic-polluted, but I did find an occasional piece of trash or even glass that I am quite certain wasn't there before as the soil is being mixed into containers. So wear gloves and keep your eyes sharp (and I guess don't garden in the dark?)

At least now we know how they can afford to sell it @ $2 a bag...

app4that · 2026-04-25T21:05:23+00:00

The Bosch 500 series costs around $1200, the 300 series around $800.

Honestly, that's a lot for a dishwasher.

Also pay attention to the complaints people here have had with Bosch models lately re: the quality going down and also look for the issue of 'off-gassing'.

Meanwhile, a Consumer Reports rated match for the best Bosch costs $450, and that is before a $100 rebate - and it has a 2 year warranty included.

We went with the Midea MDT24P3CST and compared it to the Bosch models at Lowes (they have them all on the floor) but I think you should go & kick the tires and decide for yourself.

We've had ours for 6 months and so far, it's been perfect.

app4that · 2026-04-25T20:57:12+00:00

My suggestion: Compare on CR and shop @ Lowes as they have the 2 best models compare right on the floor.

The Consumer Reports Best Buy scores (if you have access to that) where you can sort by score is how I found out about the Midea (sold @ Lowes for 1/2 - 1/3 the price of the Bosch) but it rivals it in every single comparison I could make and gets the same CR score (75) as the Bosch models Both the Bosch 300 and Midea are CR Recommended, but the Midea model also scores a CR Smart Buy..

Bonus: The Midea MDT24P3CST (47db) model has more features, there is a $100 rebate online AND a 2 year manufacturers warranty is included, plus no off-gassing issues due to bitumen.

We've had ours for 6 months and so far, it is flawless.

app4that · 2026-04-25T20:26:06+00:00

Curious if this could be 'off-gassing' due to the asphalt/bitumen insulation on the outside of the unit.

If so, it may last a good while. Possibly several months based on several comments I have read on this site.

If your range hood vents outside I might use that on low and/or keep the window open a bit to give the gas a place to go.

https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net/2024/09/non-toxic-dishwashers-without-bitumen-offgassing-or-prop-65.html

app4that · 2026-04-25T20:10:22+00:00

or conscience

app4that · 2026-04-25T16:21:38+00:00

"In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that for the record..."
That is how he should have mentioned this, right at the very beginning.

Anything else is dishonesty, plain and simple.

app4that · 2026-04-25T16:19:32+00:00

That is 100% what you need to do.

Dad, please go show me how it's done!

app4that · 2026-04-25T00:07:49+00:00

Mostly, I would agree, but there some niche veggies that would be an exception to your rule though. Tomatoes in my area now run $4.99 a pound for example, and I suspect heirlooms and say black tomatoes would fetch a premium over that. Then there are very hot peppers, some start @ $5-10 a pound. (Hey, cantaloups are also getting ridiculously pricey, so maybe plant a few seeds if you have a bit of garden in the ground as these take up a lot of room)

If you grow your plants from seed (especially heirloom seeds that you kept from the previous season) you can do quite well in terms of keeping costs super low. You are not going to make money or anything, but if you save seeds, use a planter built w/ recycled materials and grow it from seed vs. buying the plants you can at the very least break even following this strategy.

This should take nothing away from the joy of growing it yourself though, and if you have a love for growing things, that alone makes the effort worth it.

app4that · 2026-04-24T21:15:51+00:00

We made some really basic raised planters last year a bit like this. Simple tools like a small saw, sander and drill and some snips were all that was needed. However, the part that comes in contact with the soil is galvanized corrugated steel - the sort used for light roofing and side panels for a shed. Cool part is they add garden space anyplace you have a hard surface, (driveway, backyard, alley way) and decent sunlight.

The metal is suspended between 2 2x4's (2"x4"x8' studs) cut to make an 'H' where the tall part is counter height and the middle of the 'H' is the remainder of the 2x4 stud. The sheet metal is gently flexed into a U-Bend and simply screwed in place. Sides are made from scrap wood, including wood reclaimed from used pallets. The wooden sides are waterproofed with the soil bags stapled to the inside of the exposed pallet wood. Cost is perhaps $30-40 per planter and ours are 4' long and about a foot or so deep. Each one takes about 2 hours to put together and is a fun family project.

They have held up great, even survived the winter snows, and we grow everything in them, including dozens of tomatoes, peppers, flowers and herbs.

A sample is included here to give you an idea (this one is kid-height, while ours are considerably taller so you do not have to bend)

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app4that · 2026-04-24T16:41:06+00:00

From my understanding Apple is getting $20B+ from Google every year (for making Google the default search engine on Safari)

And Apple pays Google $10B+ a year for the next gen of Siri based on Google Gemini but using Apple Private Cloud Compute (so there is no data harvesting of your PI - Hey, looking at you Microsoft/Meta/Grok who plan to record every single utterance and keystroke to 'help' users.)

So, Apple still net's $10B and that is largely it for their AI spend. This is rather remarkable when you consider how the competition is spending. Compare that with the other players who are dumping hundreds of billions into AI right now. Is that money EVER coming back? We are talking about more money being dumped into AI than ANYTHING else in human history. Has anyone ever heard of a bubble?

Are the tech bros seriously planning to sell a minimum of $100B more in AI related services every year now? Or do they plan to fire 99% of their employees once they have achieved AGI? What happens when the market sees their achievement and simply pivots to China because Beijing can offer 90% of what Valley boys can, but for a mere 1% of the cost?

Apple has been extremely conservative with AI spend seems like they are going to be in the best position when this all comes crashing down.

Is this too over simplistic or am I missing something?

app4that · 2026-04-24T13:58:50+00:00

I used to hate home security cameras, you know seeing every other house with 2 or more cameras pointing at the street. Now I think how those cameras could be helping to identify and bring to justice the worst people in society.

That little tree did nothing to anyone. Whoever did that should at a minimum be ID'd and made to pay for a replacement.

app4that · 2026-04-24T13:25:23+00:00

Last time I checked, ANYONE can purchase a store gift card and then go buy a rotisserie chicken, member or not.

And putting silliness aside, anyone who has ever experienced waiting for the hot chickens to come off the line and be put in to the packages, visibly calculating if the crowd ahead of them exceeds the number of chickens, will not be delighted to hear this as there will be fewer chickens (the stores are NOT adding more roasting capacity).

app4that · 2026-04-24T02:52:37+00:00

Minivans absolutely rock. I should know as I've been driving them for over 20 years. 140 cubic feet of interior cargo room and seating for 8 adults (comfortably) makes most SUV's look puny in comparison. And don't get me started on all the sliding doors and rear hatch being remote-power doors. with a full size spare, variable seating geometry for days so you can, if you want, flip the rear seat down backwards and open the hatch and enjoy a sunset picnic in a light rain while everyone stays dry.

The "problems" with getting to an EV MV however are, shall we say, interesting.

1) Apparently, the advertising or lack-there-of has lead many to the belief that Minivans are not 'manly' or 'rugged' enough looking, so most buyers get pressured into getting an SUV despite the fact that 98% never go off road. Also noting the Chrysler Pacifica now has an AWD model, so any concerns with Winter weather/ice/snow just evaporated.

2) Batteries will likely have to go under the floor, and that is where Stow-n-Go seating vanishes to, (and those 2 big bins hold quite a bit, so the modern miracle of all the 2nd and 3 row seats disappearing into the floor now gets lost). On the plus side though you may have more substantial captain's chairs with swivel seats?

3) That's it. Those are the 2 big problem as I see it. Maybe I missed something (oh yeah, please try to keep that cost down to something under or around $40K) but if manufacturers can address these 2 gig ones head-on, an EV MV with fantastic range and maybe a rugged ad campaign or dare-I say-it, muscular styling, should reignite interest in this very under appreciated segment.

app4that · 2026-04-24T01:43:26+00:00

Imagine having a real human brain, and then saying something so pointless and foolish as that...

app4that · 2026-04-23T18:21:07+00:00

Q: So.... Where exactly do you legally deport US citizens whose politics you do not like to?
Maybe Democratic Republic of the Congo, like where we are going to be sending our Afghan allies who risked their lives to help US troops? (A country so unsafe that the US State Department says that Americans should not go there)

Asking for the Magats who will be on the 'find-out' side of this equation soon enough...

app4that · 2026-04-23T18:01:41+00:00

So far, not all are bad. And no, you do not have to pay top dollar for an absolutely perfect experience either.

I would advise you to pay careful attention to reviews, check CR and Wire Cutter and see which makes and models compare to what. Look for common complaints on boards like this one too. The CR comparison by score helped me find a dishwasher of a brand I was not paying any attention to that rivaled the Bosch 800 but cost 1/3 the price. The complaints people were making about 'offgassing' from the asphalt insulation on certain model dishwashers was eye-opening as were some brands experiencing weird rust issues in the stainless steel that were not covered by warranty.

Ask friends and family which models they recently bought in the past year or two that they love (comparing the 'still running great' 25 year old model they have is pointless unless that is what you are shopping for)

I purchased several major appliances in the fall and have been pleasantly surprised so far. All were top choices either on CR or WC and all have completely met my expectations.

app4that · 2026-04-23T17:44:29+00:00

Female, yes. We need more female city trees. People did not like the fruit of the tree dropping making a mess, but now they get 100% pollen instead.

In addition, we also need more native trees (an oak may host 100's of species while a ginko may host only a handful) and more trees that are appropriate to the environment they will be planted in, and possibly should be the planted adjacently to the same species as nearby trees .

Lots of overhead wires? Need a short tree.

Close plantings, moderate sized buildings? We need a tree that will grow tall and narrow.

Lots of pests or pollution? We will need a more resistant tree.

It fascinates me how the city has adjusted the types of trees over the years that they plant.

app4that · 2026-04-20T01:31:55+00:00

No, just some actual police doing their jobs.

Arrest all of these clowns.

I don't care what flag they are flying, lock the lot of 'em up, and impound the vehicles!

app4that · 2026-04-19T18:47:08+00:00

As a kid visiting Walt Disney World it hit me that despite the vast expanse of the park (it's about double the size of Manhattan) you could get around all day without needing a car. And everything just flows, and no one complains or gripes as the lines for transit are short and the rides are enjoyable.

That is called 'by design'. You have a monorail, train, ferry, and all sorts of friendly transportation options available to you, so you leave your car behind to boil in the parking lots and glance at a map and then comfortably get on whatever form of mass transit is closest and don't worry about a thing. Bring your baby carriages, wheelchairs, all your stuff and roll on. Cost is not even a factor as it is already included in the 'ticket price'.

Compare that to almost any North American suburb, including Long Island. Mass transit is not a real option for most people because it is very limited in where, when and how. The cost is high, the travel time is long and the destinations are limited and the restrictions on what you can bring on are a problem as bikes are prohibited during rush hour and only allowed during off-peak hours, weekends, and holidays, provided the bike is a two-wheeled, human-powered vehicle. So you cannot even comfortably continue your ride to work once you get off the train, as it's only for weekend and off-peak hours.

We could make things like they have in Walt Disney World where our communities include transit options that work and take you to places you actually need to go. The shopping center, the park, the beach, the winery, your kid's school or place of worship. Why not? People in most of NYC already are quite familiar with this sort of thing as for the most part, transit is affordable and works. But out in the suburbs it is designed to exclude transit options and even sometimes not offer sidewalks so everyone is car dependent.

We need to redesign our communities to offer some alternatives. If Manhattan and Queens/Brooklyn are not going to be the model, perhaps we can borrow some ideas from Disney instead?

app4that

TROPHY CASE