even more quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a new rolling new york times thread

i always assumed it would be a good thing for tipped labor but idk.

dunno what the "it" is there, but just to clarify, I was just saying that the article, in not really speaking to that perspective, leaves itself open to be used by the quid/ag crowd as fuel for outrage against tipping on their $4 coffee drinks, etc. Pretty minor by the standards of these things.

sure. i meant that it seems like the auto-tipping checkbox might make it harder to not leave a tip. i'd be interested in seeing if there was any net effect or improvement on tipping amounts. not going to actually read through that article to see if it's covered because it's so obviously from the polish-my-shoes-bitch pov.

Hard to say really, it's also dealing with places that have the resources/clientele to install special devices, separate from the register, where you can swipe your credit card to tip an amount you pre-set? which just seems so weird and redundant that i have to assume this whole thing is definitely not about People Like Me, and makes total sense in some other universe beyond my ken.

lots of small start-ups here are opting for it instead of the usual register so there has to be some cost appeal i would imagine.

def some cost appeal to square up I'd imagine. touch screen cash registers are $600.

places that have the resources/clientele to install special devices, separate from the register, where you can swipe your credit card to tip an amount you pre-set

chichi places like, i dunno, taxicabs?

Taxicabs are relatively chichi but I'm not sure I take your meaning; ime they have one device where you swipe your card for the fare and then get the option to tip, not two separate gizmos for two separate swipes which is what I understood the article to describe. I don't see how two devices could fail to be more expensive. Maybe I'm missing something.

electronic tips also make me nervous because I'm never 100% convinced the worker gets it, although even with tip jars you can wind up with places that have shady management who skims off the tips.

If anything, you can be sure that the tips are well documented if received electronically

Suppose that's true, doesn't mean baristas/cab drivers/whoever gets the records though

But it's something that they or a lawyer could request. So I think that would add incentive for the business owner to make the right decision. I don't know exactly how it's documented, though, so maybe not. Either way, I am tipping the full amount because it's out of my hands.

the guardian can't help itself:

Why the hottest new arts venue is your living room
http://gu.com/p/45gxq

Instead of posting the article from the RE section, I'm just going to post the photo:

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/02/08/realestate/08HUNT-MAIN/08HUNT-MAIN-articleLarge.jpg

L to R, fuck you and fuck you

I like that dude's style. Let's all get drunk at noon.

idgi
that's them having an arts venue in their living room? a guy solo drinking and a woman on a laptop?

jealous of that quilted throw draped on her recliner

this is the article with that picture
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/realestate/in-williamsburg-brooklyn-room-for-a-baby.html

“I was not going to move to Brooklyn. Brooklyn is not New York; it is so far away from everything,” said Mr. Moran Moya

The pair, who blog about food and travel at SpanishHipster.com, hoped for an open kitchen and outdoor space for their frequent entertaining.
Their top price of up to $1 million rose to around $1.5 million when Mr. Moran Moya, who works as a business consultant for consumer goods, received an inheritance.

The owner was eager to sell, and they were able to buy the apartment for $1.465 million, arriving in late fall. The process seemed too easy.
“Did we go too high because we were so used to being shot down?” Ms. Porter said. She felt better when Mr. Modica told them that another offer had arrived late in the game.
In what Ms. Porter calls their “kitchen-centric” apartment, they have played host to as many as 16 people. “That is a very big part of our life, the love of food,” she said. “Everyone can gather around the island. We have all this floor space where we can dance around the kitchen and laugh at the plight of the foolish proletariat. All shall kneel before Zod.”

that's a paraphrase but i think it captures the spirit

“We decided to get out of the city and were happy with the decision,” said Ms. Porter, who, like her husband, is in her 30s.

THEY WENT TO WILLIAMSBURG.

and then allowed someone to write an article about it!

Clearly its the revenue from spanishhipster.com that enables them to afford a $1.5 million apartment

To which, btw, their most recent posting appears to have been July 28, 2014.

OIC the dude actually has a job and also inherited half a mil, they do point that out.

“I was not going to move to Brooklyn. Brooklyn is not New York; it is so far away from everything,” said Mr. Moran Moya

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/001/296/morans.jpg

loool

The most offensive thing about that photo is Ms Spanish Hipster wearing her shoes on the chair

the guardian can't help itself:

Why the hottest new arts venue is your living room
http://gu.com/p/45gxq

I'm missing the quid-ag aspect.

Their blog is so half-assed it really doesn't even warrant mention.

look forward to NYer real estate articles about wealthy childless couples deigning to move to Connecticut, Vermont, Chattanooga TN, San Diego…

trying to determine whether or not those places are "New York"

even by nytimes standards i am having a really really hard time believing that the nytimes actually ran that article in 2015? ANOTHER "rich couple make the move to brooklyn from manhattan, find out that it is not that bad"

has to be like the 100th time they've done this angle

they repeat themselves all the time. there are apparently only 600 stories in the naked city.

you get used to it. the only thing i really read religiously is the food section and i find comfort in their endless retreads of stuff like: ham! it's not just something you put on a sandwich anymore! it's fancy! beer! it's not just budweiser in a cup at a ballgame anymore. it's fancy! basically: that thing that everyone has eaten/drank forever is no longer just that thing you have eaten forever. it's a thing! a fancy thing!

Walking! It's not just a thing you do between your limo and your office building!

i'm getting pretty good at the crossword puzzle i gotta say

the humble and dreary and forgotten cauliflower? not so humble and dreary and forgotten anymore! no sireeeeee!

they also like to drive home the fact that what you've been eating forever is some sad thing that is terrible. no matter what they're talking about. and only now can you get the good stuff. which never seems true. but it's a gimmick that keeps on giving.

anyway, they do this all over the paper. it's a living.

I always like to cite the ice cream example -- "Now producers are doing it with high-end ingredients and real, local dairy." Because that's been true for at least decades.

our local ice cream company makes the best goddamned vanilla ice cream you've ever tasted. just wanted to point that out if you are ever in town. you can get it at the supermarket. they add egg custard. makes all the damn difference in the world. that's my theory anyway. very old-fashioned taste.

http://bartshomemade.com/p/10/barts-flavors

scott have you ever been to http://www.peacefulmeadows.com/

no! i'm waiting to go with you!

i'm still getting used to things being called Creamies around here...

http://www.northfieldcreamie.com/_The_Creamie/Home.html

wagon wheel ice cream is likewise off the hookin' chain. my pal carol-ann runs that place. we grew up together. anthony bourdain is a fan.

http://www.wagonwheelgill.com/

woah

http://i.imgur.com/t0gwGld.jpg

haha! best grub around. best place to eat outside too.

I was just about to post that 2/5 link, ha