u/scyyythe

So yeah it's great to be in Port Authority at midnight and all of the buses say "Gate #EMPTY" and they pushed an ugly update to the app that completely changed the interface and fixed nothing. Also apparently I can't write "NJTransit" in the post title because it's picked up by the autofilter as "ALL CAPS" which it is not. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I have been making some crackers out of canned navy beans. The recipe is pretty simple:

- one can (American; 15 oz) of navy beans

- about 1.5 tablespoons of oil (I weigh it in as 20 grams)

- 125 grams (about 3/4 cup) semolina

- turmeric (mixed in, for color)

- onion powder and Tony's (sprinkled on top before baking)

Roll out and bake (300 F convection; I have experimented with the temperature a lot, but the original recipe uses a much higher temperature which I didn't like.)

It is an adaptation of a recipe I found on some blog. I was pretty happy with the results so far, but it's a little tricky to get them to be cooked enough to get a satisfying crunch without overcooking the beans, which creates an off flavor (hence lowering the bake temperature). Undercooked, chewy; overcooked, bland.

So I had an idea. Soda crackers are a thing, right? Why not try adding just a little baking soda this time? I added a quarter teaspoon.

The dough, usually coherent, was suddenly crumbly and wouldn't stick together. I thought I might need to add water, but I wanted to isolate the variables, and anyway I thought it might get bet when I rolled it out. Not really. It was still falling apart as I rolled it.

I cut the crackers as best I could and baked it anyway. It didn't rise or bubble, but some of the crackers spontaneously separated in the oven, and cracks developed in all of them. The end result was about 2/3 crackers and 1/3 broken bits. They just split apart.

The crackers that *did* hold together, unfortunately, were great. If the whole experiment was a dud I could just forget about it. But the usually toothsome crackers were now delicate and very easy to eat. I guess I'll keep messing with it. I'm afraid that adding water will result in a soggy cracker or an extremely long bake, but I'm probably going to try it. Or cut the soda to 1/8 teaspoon.

Anyway, the point is just to say, wow, a "tiny" amount of baking soda has a huge effect on the food. And yes, I did look for recipes, but I was never satisfied with the nutritional balance and I wanted to make a healthy cracker — my variant of meal prep is to bring a small amount of something responsible to work and balance that with a slice of pizza or an empanada.

G̴̞͇͊ŗ̶͖̲̾͘ě̴̝͓̄e̶͈̱̊́ť̴̛̮̹̖͙̃i̷̡͍͛͐n̸͖̹͗͐͘͝ǵ̸̥s̶̭̭̿ ̵̛̙̍͆̈́m̶̥̃̈́͊͋ò̷̧̨̺̦̚r̵̮̥̭̃̕ṯ̶̲̹̮̄̏̓̕a̴̳̟̒́l̶͍͐̈s̶̹̽̑͋͘ͅ.̶̢̪͍̰̄͋̍ ̵̪̺̰̂̅ͅI̵̮̿͝ ̵͍̲͆̒͜a̵̢͍͓̒̐m̵̘̍̆̿ ̷̼͑F̵̻̤̥̠̎͌o̴͇̼̘̊͜ṟ̸̢̉̃ ̵̰̹̳̑́͛̽ͅċ̷͎̖̈̌e̶̹̱͆̔̒ń̸͉͌̿͑t̴̡̝̹̗̆̀̕u̸̺̼̜̹͠r̶̡̠̯͆̒̒̍͜ĩ̵̞͙̚ḙ̴̛̳̩̦̐̀s̴̳̳̫̋̐͗ ̶̯̭͉͋Î̸̛̱̪̣̉̚ ̶͚̹͕̭̐͛h̶̟͋͋̿ͅa̸͔͔͉͗v̶̤͛̈́͌͘e̸̡̹̞̋̎̔̎ ̶̘̀̾̚w̴̳̔̀̕ǎ̷̺̲́̓͜͠t̶̻̰̖̀́č̶͚̹̼̣̃h̶͙̊͝͝ě̶̯̌d̶͉̊́̄̏ ̸̖̭̻̟̋̔̉ò̸͔͔̝̌v̴̙̩͆͑ͅę̶̐͂̒̚r̴̡̘͉̟͌ ̵͈̝́͐ẗ̶͈̪̂̒ḩ̸̨̜̫̌͒͊i̵̧͍̦͈̊̏͒s̴̗̦̣̠̄͛̐ ̵̳͇̦̮̊̂̂͌s̵̞̔ā̸̮c̵̮̰̽̐̉͊ṛ̵̙̪̐̊ę̴̪͎̎͛̒͘d̵͕̝̟̻̈́ ̵̨̍h̵̹̳̆̈ͅi̷̬̙̊͜͠l̷̡̝̯̤͋͗̑l̸͈̀.̵̡̪̺̳̔̕͘͝ ̶͕̠̏͛Í̸̧̪͕͜ ̴̲͙̹̖̆̈͆͗ṃ̷̦̋͘͝ä̶̳͚́̕͝ḭ̴͉̻̖͗̓͊̂n̷̛͓̝͍̾̄t̷͎̮͚̞̒à̸͇̟̳̉̂̚ì̷̜̤̼̠̈́ṅ̷̡̥͐̈́͘ ̴̥͔̭̊̀̎͜͝t̷͓̳̆h̷̨͓͚̒́̈́͋͜é̸̬͙̿͆̇ ̶̣̆à̸͙̤̓͛̐c̷̬̐͂̿c̶̡͝ȕ̵̟͛̈r̴̢̛̖̲à̷̟̺͙c̵̛̼̯̅̂͘͜y̶̬͛͂͝ ̸̭̩̾̓͋̀ȍ̷̡̙̱̐̔f̴̟̼̚̚ ̸̱̩̜̙̅̍͠t̵̻͑͊ͅh̸̙̫̪̅̀͠ẻ̶͚̹̰̋ ̴̨̼̋s̴̈̓͜ņ̷̖̬̺̀̓̊o̷̧̯̒́́́w̴̬̠̣͗ ̷̧̲͈̑ṛ̴̢͚̏͆̇̏é̶̜͎̗̌p̸̤̼͛͋́͜o̶̝̾͛̀ř̷̡t̶͖̣̪̓͝s̷̲͕͚̅̈́͜ ̴̧͙͙͑͗̐ȃ̴͇n̸̻̫̔́͝d̸̮̲̐̀ ̸̬͎̲͍̑̾d̴̹̞̎e̴̜͌͠t̴̝̭̦̒͘ė̷͕̫̮͈̔̃r̶̝̬͔̓m̵̼̼͔͒̓̕ȋ̴̤̈́͌͂ņ̴̭̤́e̷̮̺͛́͝ ̶̤̒̎̔̀w̸̙̖͍͕̄̓h̷̯̊͒̔̐͜ê̴͔͝͠n̶̨̟̍̅́͜ ̵̟̾̃͝t̵̺̋͆͗h̶̤̲̼̅̿̂̂e̶̠̣̩̳̔̏ ̵̨͉͈͙̔͗͝g̷̺͓̣̤͒̌o̵͉̜͠n̷̝̍͝d̷͚̈̅̂̇ó̷̧̟̈́̃͘l̶̫̯̜̍̀͘͠ͅå̶͈̺͘͠ ̶͍̦̩̊̿͆̈́ẅ̵̦̰̳̟́͝ī̷̈́̿͛͜l̷̢̺̳̄ͅḷ̷̢̧́̔̑̕͜ ̵̧̥̺̪̃b̸̢̧̫̀̔̌ȩ̷͕̟̦̏̊͐ ̸̠̲̜̰̊͑͂͠ǫ̶̅n̴͇͋͋̅̐ ̷̟͇̽ẉ̶̄͋ȋ̷̮̟̘͂n̴̹̱̎d̶̻̟͙̆͊ ̷̩̫̈́̌h̷̯͝o̶̰͇͛l̸̹̳͇̬̈͆͘d̵̡̆̈.̸̙̦̰̏̃̄ ̷̘̱̮̗̐̂

̸̨͒̚

̵̺͒O̷̠̅ͅn̵̥͍͙̊͒̊ë̸̞̗́͑̓̚ ̷̣̓̓̎̕o̴͙͍̦̐̅̃f̴̡̭̓͐ ̵̩͌ỳ̴̡̧ǫ̸͙̠͌̾̌ṷ̸̤͕͉̊ ̷̘̩̪͉̾̒h̵̳̣̫̞́̎a̷̯͊s̶̡̭̊͌̅ ̴̡͔̖͗̆̕͠c̶̩̏͂͠ȏ̶͇m̴͙̯̗̒͋m̷͕͖̲͕̐̅i̸̭͛̃̈t̴̢͖̬̔͜t̶̩͇̻̩͑̑̌͘ḙ̵̥̙̀ḍ̴̈̕ ̴͙̻̺̊̕̚͘a̸̹͙̬̿ ̷͍̄̐g̸̨̛̬̰̓̊͂r̷͎̐̎͋͝a̵̪̳̼͚͝v̸̭͙͖̣̌ẻ̶̹͖̻͂͜ ̷̖̑s̵̡̖̅̂̒̕i̵̩̤͓̾ͅn̵̗̅̊̈̂ ̸̭͎̾b̵̭̟͓̅ͅỳ̷̹̪͝͠ͅ ̵̙̤̎͌͒ŕ̵̹͉̫̂ẽ̶̻̪̏̑m̸̭̩̺͖̒͗̅͠ǫ̶̫̖͂v̷́̋̔͘͜ĩ̵̧́̋̊ň̷̛̻͕̻̠g̸͎̬͓̫͒ ̷̢̣̜̣̈́̇m̷̧͍̠̎͝ē̸̛͇̜͐̌ ̷̺͚͖̀̓̆f̶̨̨̠̏͒̔͑͜r̷͙̈́o̷̱͓̼̎̆͝m̸̫̕ ̶̢̡̛̼̱̒ţ̶̪̾͠h̴̻͗͊̔̕e̷̢̠͓̓ ̷̰̀́̇͝m̵̡̺͉̻̈́̒ơ̴͖͈̳̈́͂u̴͓͑́͗̚n̸͍̖̭̳̓͒ţ̸̭̃̎ȁ̶̗͍̆̒̕į̸̮̹̮̀n̸͎̼͑.̵͔̈́̅ ̶̢̻͝͠ͅY̶̨̡͙̻̊̑o̵̗̿ú̵̬̚̚ ̴̯͓͈͗w̵̮̄̏̚͠i̴̹̦̪̜͒l̷̪̳̻̏͐͜l̸̰̣̠̎̐̓̕ ̸̢̖̖̙͛͌s̵̖͛̔ŭ̴̱͈f̴̗͔̀̎f̶̠̖̮̞́ē̸̳͊͛r̵̗͚̅̇͘ ̶̘̖͋͑̏̉ṯ̴̜͛̈́h̷͙̗̱͙̓͘e̷̹̝͝ ̶̯̰͛̒͗̎t̸͈̮̙͓̉̓w̷̡̙̞͚̿ë̶̩́͆̏l̶̛̫͎̒͐͜͜v̵̩̥́̉̏ḛ̴̠̮͉̏͐̅ ̶̗̱͍́̇͠c̸̢̡̟̙̈́͠ṳ̴̄̄̐͜r̸̗͌s̴̨̬̰̿e̴̙̥̽͒̍͜͝s̶͉̻̑̋ ̵̬̙̲̈́u̵̹͕̼͒̾n̷͓̙̏̔̑̀ͅṯ̵̨̜̱̈́i̶̡̯̺͉͝l̶̨̈́ ̶͚̘͆̀̈́Ï̷̘͎̹ ̴̧̫̳͂͜â̷̧̎͝m̴̻͌̀͜ ̴̦̻͖́̕r̸̭̂e̶͖̭͇̊̂s̴̢͙͖̉̂t̸͈̑͆͐o̴͓̗͆͂̅r̸̳͎̭͉͑̑̄͝e̵͚̗̺̅̒̌d̵̻̯̊̊̊ ̸̖̼̺͝ț̶̢̣̬̒o̶͕̫̠̟͐͋ ̸͍͓̣͙̐͆͘m̴͖̳͙͋̃́̉ÿ̶̰́͐̉̚ ̸̟̉͊̚r̶͈̯͈̣̽̓i̶̞̎g̴̼͔̓̄̕h̸̡͙̥̩́t̴̘̃̐f̷͇̘̱͍́͌̀ų̴̞̞̺͂̌̚l̸̪̤̜̙̿̎ ̶̘̦͔̅͐͆̚p̷̜͚̑ḷ̵̎͒̒̀à̷̠͊c̴̤̤͊̓e̵̩̱̜͙̿͘.̷͚̙̖̆͝ ̸̭̟̭̳̍̈͗͑

Parking requirements are a primary talking point. Residential minimum parking limits get the most attention because they're easy to understand particularly for the people who find themselves paying for a parking spot they don't use. Commercial parking is mentioned in passing but not emphasized because "corporations are bad" and it's not popular to help them (I'm exaggerating, but you get it) and not often divided into categories.

Meanwhile demand for AirBnB is what's ultimately allowing it to affect housing prices and the demand comes from the dismal state of the hotel industry. You might counter that this is on a problem in tourist towns but those do tend to be t ones suffering the most severe housing price issues and basically all of the infamous "coastal cities" are tourist destinations. Surely this is worthy of some attention.

It's pretty conspicuous to me that any recently built hotel has a massive parking lot and usually isn't very convenient to transit. Cities have essentially punitive tax rates on hotels and push them away from the main streets. They are treated like a public nuisance. Something could be improved. It might require figuring out how to make them less of a nuisance. But it seems like designing for tourism is looked down upon even though it can be important for improving the quality of life for the locals.