Top products from r/astoria

So I used a recipe I found online a long time ago and since then have just made it my own. I don't measure anything but I will try to be as descriptive as possible!

Ingredients:

• Ground Pork
  
  
• Soy Sauce
  
  
• Chili oil
  
  
• Oyster Sauce
  
  
• Black Pepper
  
  
• Garlic powder
  
  
• Onions (or shallots)
  
  
• Garlic
  
  
• Basil
  
  
• Sugar
  
  
• Sesame Oil
  
  
• Fish Sauce (if you have, not needed)
  
  
• Lettuce
  
  
• Rice
  
  
• Egg
  
  
• Scallions
  
  Always start with starch. Prep and cook rice.
  
  [Prep] Dice up about 3 cloves of garlic, and thinly slice one small onion (don't dice). Rinse 1 big scallion and cut ( I separate the white and green parts. White i cut straight, and the green I cut on an angle) Peel off basil leaves and rinse. Rinse romaine/iceberg (any lettuce)
  
  [Cook]Heat up your frying pan on high heat, add some cooking oil, and before the pan starts smoking add the onions and half of the diced garlic (cook for about 30-45 seconds till the garlic becomes aromatic). Then add a nice teaspoon of chili oil (let that simmer a bit).
  
  Next add your ground pork (about a lb or so). Break up the pork with chopsticks or a spatula and let that cook till brown on one side. Add in 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, a dash of sugar to enhance the flavors, 1.5 teaspoons of soysauce (or a dash of salt and 1 teaspoon of soy) and if you have fish sauce add 1/2 a teaspoon. Stir and lower heat to medium and cook the pork till its almost done (~5 minutes)
  
  Use a lot of basil! Don't be shy as this stuff shrinks. Wash it thoroughly, and add a nice bunch to the pan. Stir and raise the heat back to high. Cook for about 2/3 minutes, when the basil starts to shrink and chance color. At this point, it may be a little watery from all the pork juices but the high heat should reduce most of that. DON'T overcook the pork else it will become tough. Let the pork sit and soak in all the juices.
  
  Fry an egg or two. Then Add rice and pork to plate with an egg on top and voila! Simple, delicious lettuce wraps.
  
  For added flavor, you can easily make chicken rice or coconut rice instead of plain jasmine/white rice.
  
  
  This is pretty much what I do. At this point it is loosely considered "thai". You're supposed to use holy basil but I've no idea where to get that. It is delicious and if you don't like spicy you can skip the chili oil. :)

Not exactly an answer to your question, but I ordered this shaved ice machine from amazon yesterday and got it in today, and I have to say it's pretty amazing. It makes very fluffy shaved ice and it's incredibly refreshing. I definitely recommend this for future heat waves.

Don't lock your bike up outside over night.

If you absolutely have to make sure to use what's called an "insurance lock" in the EU. A lock from Medeco or ABUS that's meant for this sort of application will work, such as this or this lock. They can't easily be cut, can not be shimmed at all, and the people who are capable of picking a disc detainer or dual-axis cylinder aren't the type of people who are stealing bikes.

A lock is only as good as the chain it's binding. You want at a minimum what's called "Grade 70" chain, or the "Transport chain" in trucking. You'll want a couple feet of it at a 5/8" square link thickness, the one I linked is round and just an example of the grade you want. It's the alloy used to tie down loads to trucks. It's a high carbon alloy with a yellow zinc coating to make it easily recognizable to state troopers on the highway. When thiefs see that coating they move on to the next bike because they know their small manual bolt cutters are useless unless they're The Hulk... or cool with potentially bleeding out on the pavement. With that said, there are some crazy and crazy strong people out there who can get through even harder alloys than that with big enough bolt cutters. That's why you want to keep your chain short, tight and high. This way it's harder to rest the cutters on the ground and balance/leverage it under your foot. Don't buy your chain from a sporting goods store; more than likely those generic chains are not rated. Never use a cable chain to secure your bike, the ones with the plastic coating. With carbide hacksaw blade I can rip through one of those in seconds.

A chain is only as good as how you have it secured to your bike. Make sure you're wrapping it around the down-tube of your bike. Never the head tube, top tube, seat stays or chain stays. Also wrap it through the front wheel as well. Anyone can easily take your front wheel by undoing the front hub's quick release by hand. If it's held on with a threaded pin anyone can take it off with a simple wrench too. As I said before, short, tight & high.

How you secure your chain is only as good as what you're securing it to. If the post has an open top, like a parking reg sign, the bike can just be lifted over. Make sure what you're tying it to is securely lagged in to the ground and has a closed loop. If it's under a street light that's even better - but not to a street light. Never underestimate a thief's gangster in this town.

I highly recommend the book "Walking Queens" ( https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Queens-Discovering-Communities-Treasures/dp/0899977308/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=walking+queens&qid=1573147338&sr=8-1). There are two walks for Astoria/Long Island City and they're both pretty cool. The author points out lots of neat little facts and you get a really good walk out of it. Please keep in mind that everything in the book may no longer exist.

I use one of these. It's very easy to build. Once you have it set up it is so cheap to carbonate all year long. A 5 or 10 lb tank refills for under $20. My 5 lb lasts me all year. I refill my tank at Presto-O-Sales, or you can exchange your tank at Triboro Beverage. I highly recommend this option.

Edit: This is the co2 regulator I purchased. It's easy to use and you can set the psi however you like. I ordered a different one when I started which I returned because it wouldn't let me set the psi as high as I wanted. Also, If I had the choice again I'd probably go with a 10 lb. tank. They're really not much larger physically, and they really don't charge much more to refill than the 5 lb. However, if you're interested in doing the tank exchange at Triboro Beverage, I believe they only do 5 lb. tanks.

A few bits of advice:

1. Don't lock it outside overnight. Keep it in your apartment.
   
2. Buy used. I don't know where the hell you can find a bike of any quality for $15, but you can get some for less than $100. Look on Craigslist, beware scammers, and please don't buy a bike from a bike thief.
   
3. Get a decent U-lock. This one is pretty good. Use the included cable to loop around your front wheel. The cable is a bit short, but it's long enough to get the wheel. Unfortunately it is NOT long enough to get both the wheel and seatpost, at least not on my bike. If you're worried about that, get a 7' cable instead. All locks are breakable, of course, but a decent U-lock will thwart casual thieves and encourage the pros to move on to the next bike that's less secured.
   
4. Don't ride drunk. Combined with #1, that means don't ride it anywhere if you plan on drinking.
   
   I've been riding an old mountain bike I got for $70 off Craigslist for a few years. It looks its age but it rides like a champ. Yes, it's silly that my locks cost nearly as much as my bike, but I don't care. I'm a little paranoid.

This manual grinder is great - just be prepared to put in some effort:
http://www.amazon.com/Hario-Coffee-Mill-Slim-Grinder/dp/B001804CLY/

Oh hell yeah. My apartment sits around 70 but my bedroom sits around 64. I put up window film and my room is now up to 70 with the rest of the apartment. I will put a link below for what you need. It is by far te best $7-$11 I spend all year.

https://www.amazon.com/Duck-10-Window-Insulator-420-Inch-281506/dp/B002GKC2GW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1521587453&sr=8-3&keywords=window+winter

SABRE Pepper Spray - Advanced 3-In-1 Police Strength - Compact, Black Case & Quick Release Key Ring (Max Protection - 25 shots, up to 5x's more) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CMZYQQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_bTOYCR2ATv2mO

Consumer Reports publishes a used car buying magazine (back to 10 model years) that I found at Barnes and Noble with recommended cars. You could probably read it in store or buy it to take with you. It's about $12 and details year by year the reliability of the car's systems. They also have a checklist of what you need to look for on a used car. amazon link to cover pic

If you post the car makes, models, mileages, and other info people might be able to give some advice.

Some makers like Land Rover are major trouble. European cars tend to have a higher cost of ownership.

It's all fun and games until the Possum come a knockin' on the door.

I had a similar problem and it was cold air getting in round the window frame edges in my previous apt (prewar). When it snowed I would even get tiny snow drifts on the sides of my window sills!

A similar solution to the poster above, this tape around the window edges solved all my problems and I made sure to order more every winter:
https://www.amazon.com/3M-Interior-Transparent-Weather-1-5-Inch/dp/B0000CBIFF/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1521827802&sr=1-4&keywords=window+insulation+tape&dpID=51EY7Yj%252B0tL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

I use these T-Sac Tea Filter Bags, Disposable Tea Infuser, Number 1-Size, 1-Cup Capacity, 100 Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BLCIN4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_D7Elyb3SG7J2W

Lock box. It’s a combination lock box that hangs off your doorknob and you keep a front door key in it. Also works for when you forget/lose your keys. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RJSYK1J/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_6B.ODb4KHZRHG

Here is the desktop version of your link

The unit doesn’t go in the window, there are hoses that go out from the ac. It’s an older model of this.

Nah. They are crunchy peanuts in different flavors. These.

I have no idea how to edit from my phone, but this is the dress form. Apparently, it's size small https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007PBHZK0/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• Put this cheap motion detecting light on your fire escape.
  
• Put this between your AC and window. Put the rest on the other windows.
  
• Keep a little light on at night or whenever you leave to deter intruders. I usually keep my kitchen light on.
  
  Not exactly booby traps, but more of a deterrent and noise-making protection done cheap.
  
  This guide isn't so bad either.

And if the counting is a pain point (mild OCD makes me recount every pile) - grab one of these too: https://www.amazon.com/PM-Company-SecurIT-Counter-05025/dp/B000IFUMQY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500495023&sr=8-1&keywords=change+counter+tray

I've used whetstones and I have a Global diamond sharpening steel, but this little gadget has made my knives almost scary sharp. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000A33LJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1