Dear Foursquare,
I like most of the new features of the web upgrade and the new iPhone app but, in the event you find this post, here are a few things that need improvement.
1. Bring back the old trending places list! One of my favorite things about the old Foursquare was that I could see where everyone was. The hundreds of people checked into a show or a sporting event or the airport on a Sunday. It was a good way to see what was going on around town that we might want to check out. The new "trending" option on explore is not the same and doesn't bring up most of the popular places. Maybe this is your way of stopping the [insert holiday]-apocalypse places but there has to be another way of doing that.
2. The grouping of checkins needs improvement. I understand the motivation - trying not to clutter people's news feed if someone is, for example, on vacation and checking in at a lot of different places. The problem is that, with the groupings, it groups together too much. Two checkins 20 hours apart probably shouldn't get grouped together. Maybe there is a way to group together checkins that are consecutive on the feed and not broken up by someone else's checkin? That seems to make more sense. As the days have gone on since the update, it seems like more and more is grouped together.
3. Specials. Not really any good way to see what specials are nearby and people do go to places because they have a special. (I have.)
4. Mayorships on the app feed. I don't know if someone is a mayor at the place unless I click into that particular checkin for more details.
That's all I've got for now. I'm not one of the people who cares about the nearby v. worldwide filter, the fact that it's harder to find the scoreboard, or the change in the check-in button. But I do think those things need some work.
Hope that helps!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Recovering
It's been a long week. We returned from vacation a little over 10 days ago, but it feels like we've been back for much, much longer.
I got sick shortly after we got back (this happens every time). I had started feeling congested the day before we flew back to New York and the flight, of course, didn't help at all. Although I did my best to fight it, taking decongestants and gently forcing myself into an earlier morning routine and trying to feel normal, I wasn't strong enough to beat it on my own. By Wednesday night, I was at the doctor's office with a deep chest cough and sinus pressure that was so bad that I thought my face was going to explode. I worked from home on Thursday due to my sinus infection, hoping the antibiotics would work quickly. But recovery progressed very slowly and I still wasn't feeling 100% after the medicine was done. On top of all that, last weekend was my 10th college reunion, which I agonized for awhile over cancelling but ultimately did (and now it remains to be seen whether we will see a penny of what we paid refunded).
Work has been insane. I started working on a deal last Wednesday which really kicked into gear last Friday... because it needed to close by this morning. A deal is doable in one week but on a lean team, it's not easy. It explains why I was up until 3 or 4 in the morning this week, wrecking my sleep schedule and officially losing all the benefits Europe had left on my internal clock. It probably didn't help that our client and everyone we worked with were in California, pushing the schedule later and more toward my natural timing.
After all of that, I was really looking forward to today. End of the week, deal closing, over a week after I started antibiotics so hopefully I would be feeling better, etc. It was a long day but at work, it wasn't so bad. The deal closed. Another emergency project took up the afternoon but ultimately was resolved to everyone's satisfaction. I was exhausted and kept passing out, but decided to feel better by napping through the end of Team USA's crappy performance (despite the win) against Antigua and Barbuda in the World Cup qualifier. I was able to see A for both lunch (kofta!) and dinner (salad box full of healthy vegetables from Maoz). Finally, the week was ending. Finally, I could try to relax and get some sleep. Finally, things were looking up.
But Azure had other plans.
Azure is our car (yes, I named my car when I got her). About a month ago, we accidentally left the light on in the car and it killed our battery. We had to get a jump, drove the car for awhile (at least 20 minutes, which everyone told us was all the battery needed to get back to normal), and everything was fine. The battery didn't seem to go completely back to normal, giving us little fits every so often, but we really didn't think it would be dead when we got to the garage today.
Nope. Car wouldn't start. Had to call our garage's person again for the jump (which costs $30 each time but we're in a garage and don't have another option) and then we were ready to go. A released the parking brake and - boom - I felt my body drop straight toward the ground. Not a good feeling. Not a pretty flat tire either. Not low. Completely flat.
Off to the gas station and the free air pump (thank you Hess!).
Eventually we were on our way and then we hit traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike (shocker!). It was for construction where they were narrowing all the lanes to one lane. But the "construction" was less than the equivalent of one city block and the one lane traffic went for miles. Seeing all that empty space was frustrating.
Also frustrating was that, with one thing after another piling itself on, the week just refused to end!
Almost two hours after leaving our apartment, we finally reached our destination. It is finally the weekend (although I'm now sleeping 2 hours after I planned). It is finally time to recover from a really long week.
I got sick shortly after we got back (this happens every time). I had started feeling congested the day before we flew back to New York and the flight, of course, didn't help at all. Although I did my best to fight it, taking decongestants and gently forcing myself into an earlier morning routine and trying to feel normal, I wasn't strong enough to beat it on my own. By Wednesday night, I was at the doctor's office with a deep chest cough and sinus pressure that was so bad that I thought my face was going to explode. I worked from home on Thursday due to my sinus infection, hoping the antibiotics would work quickly. But recovery progressed very slowly and I still wasn't feeling 100% after the medicine was done. On top of all that, last weekend was my 10th college reunion, which I agonized for awhile over cancelling but ultimately did (and now it remains to be seen whether we will see a penny of what we paid refunded).
Work has been insane. I started working on a deal last Wednesday which really kicked into gear last Friday... because it needed to close by this morning. A deal is doable in one week but on a lean team, it's not easy. It explains why I was up until 3 or 4 in the morning this week, wrecking my sleep schedule and officially losing all the benefits Europe had left on my internal clock. It probably didn't help that our client and everyone we worked with were in California, pushing the schedule later and more toward my natural timing.
After all of that, I was really looking forward to today. End of the week, deal closing, over a week after I started antibiotics so hopefully I would be feeling better, etc. It was a long day but at work, it wasn't so bad. The deal closed. Another emergency project took up the afternoon but ultimately was resolved to everyone's satisfaction. I was exhausted and kept passing out, but decided to feel better by napping through the end of Team USA's crappy performance (despite the win) against Antigua and Barbuda in the World Cup qualifier. I was able to see A for both lunch (kofta!) and dinner (salad box full of healthy vegetables from Maoz). Finally, the week was ending. Finally, I could try to relax and get some sleep. Finally, things were looking up.
But Azure had other plans.
Azure is our car (yes, I named my car when I got her). About a month ago, we accidentally left the light on in the car and it killed our battery. We had to get a jump, drove the car for awhile (at least 20 minutes, which everyone told us was all the battery needed to get back to normal), and everything was fine. The battery didn't seem to go completely back to normal, giving us little fits every so often, but we really didn't think it would be dead when we got to the garage today.
Nope. Car wouldn't start. Had to call our garage's person again for the jump (which costs $30 each time but we're in a garage and don't have another option) and then we were ready to go. A released the parking brake and - boom - I felt my body drop straight toward the ground. Not a good feeling. Not a pretty flat tire either. Not low. Completely flat.
Off to the gas station and the free air pump (thank you Hess!).
Eventually we were on our way and then we hit traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike (shocker!). It was for construction where they were narrowing all the lanes to one lane. But the "construction" was less than the equivalent of one city block and the one lane traffic went for miles. Seeing all that empty space was frustrating.
Also frustrating was that, with one thing after another piling itself on, the week just refused to end!
Almost two hours after leaving our apartment, we finally reached our destination. It is finally the weekend (although I'm now sleeping 2 hours after I planned). It is finally time to recover from a really long week.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Frosting
Do you use bath scents that smell like baked goods?
Our current body wash is this bath gel I got free from Sephora as part of my birthday gift one year which smells like vanilla cupcakes. I don't usually go for super-sweet scents so the first time I opened it, it was overwhelming and powerful (and not in a good way but kind of like that overly sweet frosting on Magnolia cupcakes). I couldn't imagine using it on my skin because all I could think of was cupcake frosting. Why would I rub cupcake frosting on my skin if I were trying to get clean? I think I actually cringed the first time I had to use it. I don't know that I could use it as a bubble bath (its other use) without feeling like I was stepping into a vat of frosting.
Over time it's gotten to be less of a powerful response but it still smells really sweet and I don't really like using it. Also, the scent fades a lot once you're out of the shower so you don't walk around smelling the inside of a cupcake shop.
Is this just a matter of personal preference and I'm never going to like this body wash? If you like these scents (but didn't in the past), how did your tastes change? I only ask because I'm not sure if there is another one of these in the closet and I would really prefer not to waste it...
Our current body wash is this bath gel I got free from Sephora as part of my birthday gift one year which smells like vanilla cupcakes. I don't usually go for super-sweet scents so the first time I opened it, it was overwhelming and powerful (and not in a good way but kind of like that overly sweet frosting on Magnolia cupcakes). I couldn't imagine using it on my skin because all I could think of was cupcake frosting. Why would I rub cupcake frosting on my skin if I were trying to get clean? I think I actually cringed the first time I had to use it. I don't know that I could use it as a bubble bath (its other use) without feeling like I was stepping into a vat of frosting.
Over time it's gotten to be less of a powerful response but it still smells really sweet and I don't really like using it. Also, the scent fades a lot once you're out of the shower so you don't walk around smelling the inside of a cupcake shop.
Is this just a matter of personal preference and I'm never going to like this body wash? If you like these scents (but didn't in the past), how did your tastes change? I only ask because I'm not sure if there is another one of these in the closet and I would really prefer not to waste it...
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Goodbye to The Finder
The Finder is gone. No one watched it and that's a real shame.
If you've never heard of it, it's about a guy (Walter) who finds things. That sounds simple, like a detective, but it's not. It's an overwhelming compulsion to find things where he can't rest until he does. And he's good at it. All season, they alluded to the fact that bad things happen when Walter can't find something. In the season (series) finale, they showed it.
I only got around to watching the finale this week, but with how they left things, I'm really sad it's over.
The Finder started during Bones last season as a backdoor pilot. I hated that episode. I was convinced I was going to hate The Finder as its own show since I hated that episode of Bones (I actually think I fell asleep, it was so terrible), and maybe I wasn't alone since it definitely didn't have the audience that Bones does.
But I tried it out, since I like to give new shows a chance, and I liked it. It was lighthearted. It had spirit. It had humor. It had potential. It was about finding things (or people) but it was also a show about characters. All along I felt like the people who said it belonged on USA had a point. Characters welcome? This show is all about characters. The quirky main character with his odd system of finding things. His best friend/sidekick with a sad backstory who will always be there. The girlfriend/marshal who really grew on me. The "problem child" who is placed with them but comes to find a place in the "family" threatened by her other "family." It started off a little rocky, trying to find its chemistry and its place, but by the middle of the season, there were some truly enjoyable episodes which led up to a final few that were really great.
Which makes me really sad that it's gone. The show was different. It was a procedural but it wasn't about solving crimes. And now that we finally know more about who these people are, what they care about, and what they are willing to sacrifice for each other, we will never know if they find their way back to each other. (Spoiler alert, even though it's been over for a few weeks now!) We'll never know how Walter gets out of jail (although I'm sure he will). We'll never know how he solves the problem of the painting he's been looking for for 4 years, and what will happen to him if he doesn't (now that we've seen just how "talented" he is). We'll never know if Willa made it into the sunset to escape her family. We'll never know how the characters made it through the tough times and back into each other's lives to find things and help people along the way.
It's sad when shows end on a high note, with so much promise for the future, and you know they will never get it. Very sad.
If you've never heard of it, it's about a guy (Walter) who finds things. That sounds simple, like a detective, but it's not. It's an overwhelming compulsion to find things where he can't rest until he does. And he's good at it. All season, they alluded to the fact that bad things happen when Walter can't find something. In the season (series) finale, they showed it.
I only got around to watching the finale this week, but with how they left things, I'm really sad it's over.
The Finder started during Bones last season as a backdoor pilot. I hated that episode. I was convinced I was going to hate The Finder as its own show since I hated that episode of Bones (I actually think I fell asleep, it was so terrible), and maybe I wasn't alone since it definitely didn't have the audience that Bones does.
But I tried it out, since I like to give new shows a chance, and I liked it. It was lighthearted. It had spirit. It had humor. It had potential. It was about finding things (or people) but it was also a show about characters. All along I felt like the people who said it belonged on USA had a point. Characters welcome? This show is all about characters. The quirky main character with his odd system of finding things. His best friend/sidekick with a sad backstory who will always be there. The girlfriend/marshal who really grew on me. The "problem child" who is placed with them but comes to find a place in the "family" threatened by her other "family." It started off a little rocky, trying to find its chemistry and its place, but by the middle of the season, there were some truly enjoyable episodes which led up to a final few that were really great.
Which makes me really sad that it's gone. The show was different. It was a procedural but it wasn't about solving crimes. And now that we finally know more about who these people are, what they care about, and what they are willing to sacrifice for each other, we will never know if they find their way back to each other. (Spoiler alert, even though it's been over for a few weeks now!) We'll never know how Walter gets out of jail (although I'm sure he will). We'll never know how he solves the problem of the painting he's been looking for for 4 years, and what will happen to him if he doesn't (now that we've seen just how "talented" he is). We'll never know if Willa made it into the sunset to escape her family. We'll never know how the characters made it through the tough times and back into each other's lives to find things and help people along the way.
It's sad when shows end on a high note, with so much promise for the future, and you know they will never get it. Very sad.
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