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The Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Ninja slushi created one of the best drinks I've ever made, but is it worth the money?
Design The Ninja slushi uses a condenser and an auger to cool and mix ingredients, chilling them to the point of freezing but stopping them from freezing solid. This machine has a great capacity, with a 16oz minimum and a 64oz maximum, so it tops out at around six servings, depending on what you're making. The payoff for this capacity, however, is the size. The slushi takes up a huge amount of room. In fairness, I'm testing this in a small apartment, so space is already tight, but it takes up at least a fifth of my countertop real estate. I've had to move my air fryer to clear enough room for this, and it will be hard to store. During the summer, I'm happy to keep it on the countertop, but when the winter inevitably rolls around, I'll have to come up with a clever place to keep it — I've measured and it won't fit in any of my standard-size kitchen cabinets. However, it's very quiet. Though rated for 55dB, when I measured it was never louder than 45dB. It's a similar sound to a dishwasher; a gentle whirr with occasional sloshing liquid. The machine beeps when it's done, too, which is a useful feature when you're in another room. The only noise issue is that it runs constantly, even once it's finished — but the slush mix would freeze solid if it didn't. The low-level noise will be fine if you keep this in the kitchen while entertaining in the yard, but if you live in an apartment, you might find the noise too much for dinner parties. It's easy to clean, and though I tested some pretty messy ingredients, there was no trace of Oreos, hot sauce, or tomato juice after a quick hand wash. Slush function The most obvious test is on the straightforward slush function. I filled the tank with 24oz of Coca-Cola and set it to run. The guide says it will take around 15 minutes; it took 17, which is slower than stated, but not by much. The result was impressive. The machine made a perfect Coca-Cola slushie. I had to mix it a little when it came out of the machine, but it tasted incredible, particularly on a hot day. The sugar-sensitive might find it a little syrupy, but that's because, like any slushie, the freezing process gets rid of the carbonation. It would be amazing for Coca-Cola floats, a great base for cocktails, and would work particularly well with flavored sodas. Just bear in mind that this machine needs sugar to work, so diet sodas can't be turned into slush. Frozen juice It was a similar story on the frozen juice function. I used 24oz of tropical juice, hit the frozen juice function, and let it run. The guide said it would need about 15 minutes, but it took 19. The result was delicious. Like the Coca-Cola, it needed a little mixing in the glass, but it tasted great. It was very cold and perfect for a hot day. It's a slightly healthier option than Coca-Cola, but not by much — the machine always needs 5g of sugar per 3 fl oz, because the sugar content works like antifreeze, stopping the liquid from freezing solid. Milkshake Next up: the milkshake function. I wanted to see how it handled trickier ingredients, including those with a little grit, so I decided to make an Oreo shake out of chocolate milk, double cream, Oreos, and a little vanilla extract. I had to smash some Oreos to mix them with the chocolate milk — otherwise, they'd never fit through the feeder hole. Even with a lot of smashing, I still had to help them through with chopsticks, and it meant that not all of the cream went through the feeder hole. The 'easy-fill port' has a small ledge to slowly add liquids, but I found that heavier ingredients like cream don't flow straight into the machine. It beeped after 15 minutes, about as long as predicted in the guide. However, the milk meant that it didn't really thicken, despite all the extra sugar from the Oreos. This is a little odd because this is the sugariest drink I tested; I've done the maths and it worked out at about 32.3g of sugar per serving. I turned the level up two points for five minutes, and not much changed, so in the end I turned up to one below max for another 10. The result was a delicious, thick milkshake. The machine handled the gritty Oreo crumbs well, and the auger meant they were so well-mixed that you couldn't see them in the final product. It tasted great, but I think this is the least impressive function of this machine. It's perfectly nice, but it's not dissimilar from making one of these in a milkshake machine or blender, and it takes a lot longer. Frappé I then tried out the frappé function with Ninja's recipe: 12oz chilled coffee, 12oz whole milk, a tablespoon of double cream, and 60 grams of sugar. That's not a typo — it really needs that much sugar. It's quite an involved recipe, so this isn't an everyday drink. It's not exactly hard to make, but you have to make and then chill the coffee, then mix the sugar in with the milk so that you can pour it into the machine. It's no surprise, then, that it took the longest of all the recipes I tried. The booklet suggested 15 minutes, but it took half an hour. In short, don't buy one of these thinking you can make a quick frappe before work. However, it made for one of the most delicious frappes I've ever had. The slush is refreshing and cool on a summer's day, and making it at home makes for better quality than a big-brand coffee shop frappe. The big issue is the sugar content — 60 grams of sugar for two portions is hefty. I'm not a huge fan of sweet coffee, but even if I were, 30 grams of sugar per 12oz serving is a lot of sugar. Anyone worried about their sugar intake should probably steer clear of this machine. Frozen cocktail The best test of a slushy machine is whether or not it can handle a frozen margarita — it's half the reason slushy machines were invented. (Note to my editor: I tested this after work. I promise I'm not writing this review with the aid of 64oz of frozen tequila). To assess the frozen cocktail function, I first tried a margarita mixer with some tequila. It was easy to pour everything in and set the machine running. The guide said it needed 30 minutes, but it was finished in 17. However, the first attempt was a failure, though it wasn't the machine's fault. My ratios were off; the mixer had too little sugar, and the tequila had too much alcohol for the liquid to turn to slush. It tasted incredible and was right on the point of being a proper slushie, but it wasn't quite right. I made a second attempt with a ready-made margarita and tequila mix, keeping an eye on it as it developed. I wanted to use a ready-made mix when testing cocktails because that's how most people will use this machine. Assembling all the parts for a full-on margarita is pretty pricey, especially at the quantities you need to use for this machine. Again, it was done early, and again, the mix wasn't quite right, so I added some cloudy lemonade and lime to boost the sugar levels. Even this didn't work. I had to dilute it with water to take out some alcohol, per Ninja's troubleshooting guide and even ended up reaching up the back of my cocktail cupboard for some long-forgotten agave nectar to give this enough sugar to gum up into slush. Once I'd nailed it, however, it was incredible. It was a textbook margarita, delivering a perfect hit of sweet and sour citrus, served ice-cold. It's one of the best drinks I've ever made, and with a little work, it could be a go-to in my cocktail arsenal. However, it's a little frustrating that it needed so much tweaking. It's partly user error, but 'frozen cocktail' is such a broad function that it's hard to know what will work. The frozen cocktail function will be great for rum and cokes, but more involved cocktails need a little finessing. Michelada Finally, I made one of my favorite summer drinks, a michelada. For the uninitiated, it's a mix of beer, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce — a bit like a Bloody Mary with beer instead of vodka. I wanted to try the machine without presets, and I also wanted to test how easy it was to clean. Any trace of hot sauce left over in the machine would ruin any future slushies. I added my ingredients and spotted a tiny design issue. Adding a dash of anything — in this case, some Maggi liquid seasoning — is tricky because of the 'easy-fill port'. It's not just a hole in the top of the machine, but a slope down to a tiny inlet hole that slowly drips liquid into the machine. However, thicker liquids like these sit on the slope and don't entirely fall into the vessel. One other small issue here is that there was one spot in the top right corner of the machine where the drink wasn't mixed properly, but it sorted itself out once I took some slush out. However, these are pedantic points. The drink itself was, once again, incredible. It made a delicious michelada slush that's somehow even more refreshing than usual. I think it would be a huge hit at a summer barbecue. Price The big drawback with this appliance, however, is the price. At $349, it is expensive — it's only $100 off a Nintendo Switch 2. For a while, this was a unique appliance. There are lots of slushie makers — including the Drew Barrymore Beautiful slush crush ($89, — that are really just blenders marketed for frozen drinks. However, there are a few other brands like the Inoviva slushie machine ($269.99, starting to come onto the market. These are usually cheaper than the Ninja slushi, but work in the same way. I haven't tested these, so I can't confirm, but they might be better value for money.
The Sun
25-05-2025
- The Sun
Our apartment block got into a huge neighbour row - we're in a constant note war
NOTE KIDDING Plus, the top neighbour rows Published : 19:02, 25 May 2025 Updated : 19:02, 25 May 2025 A WOMAN has shared how her apartment block has gone into the ultimate 'neighbour war' with multiple people leaving anonymous angry notes. She took to Reddit to show the series of notes and sassy replies that had been taped to a window in a communal area. 4 A woman shared how a 'note war' has begun in her apartment block, which was initially triggered by smoking Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 4 The 'war' continued with a number of replies Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk The first person had stuck an angry message up that read: 'Please stop smoking here! 'This is a smoke free apartment. 'It stinks up the whole building.' Instead of apologising, someone had replied, writing on the bottom: 'Make me.' On a separate piece of paper, they had later added: 'Maybe you should move. 'Plus your dogs stink up the whole building as well. 'We pay rent here too and we should have the right to do what we like.' The woman had been shocked seeing this note as she was the dog owner but not the smoker, as the second person had assumed. She explained: 'I got pulled into our neighbors' note war. 'Saw this note this morning and thought it was funny that we were the assumed note-leavers in the building. Your kids are breaking law if they kick their ball over neighbour's fence, High Court rules after couple sued next door 'There's been a constant note war going on for a year now where notes have been put up asking people to stop smoking in their apartments. 'Of course these don't deter the smokers and the complex doesn't have a no smoking policy. 'We are the only dog owners and know this is how apartment living is like with the smoking.' She clarified that the apartment doesn't have a smoking policy for the person involved. The woman added her own note into the mix, which read: 'Hi, dog owners here. 'We are not involved with this. Rude.' 4 The woman - who was the dog owner - left her own note after being dragged into the row Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 4 She then showed a pictures of her two dogs Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk People were highly entertained by all the angry passive aggressive notes, and joined in the debate in the Reddit comments. One person said: 'I would just print out a laugh emoji or something.' Another added: 'I would have said hey I will try to get my dogs to stop smoking.' And a third commented: 'I love reading apartment drama like this I'm nosy af.' The Top Five Reasons Neighbours Squabble One study by Compare the Market revealed the top reason British neighbour's argue Broken fences - top of the board was broken fences and whose responsibility it was to fix it Parking: one of the leading drivers of neighbour disputes, with 54.1 per cent of people having issues with people parking in front of their house, parking bay or driveway Trees - complaints about a neighbour's tree cracking your garden path was also common with nearly half of participants finding it frustrating Bin wars - outdoor bin etiquette continues to ignite the most furious debates between neighbours Nosy Neighbours - some people have their eyes and ears at the ready to have a peek causing problems for others
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Slob, a Witch, a Lifelong Friend: New Yorkers' Best Roommate Stories
Christian Alexander's first apartment in New York City was in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and his roommate was filthy. The man's space was littered with chewed gum, dirty laundry, food, loose tobacco and weed, spare change and dog treats. But none of that compared to what Mr. Alexander — perhaps inevitably — found one day. His roommate had been housing 'an army of maggots,' Mr. Alexander said. 'And he didn't have a clue.' Roommates can be a great solution to high New York City rents but also a never-ending source of frustration. Borrowing clothes without permission. Eating food without paying for it. Stealing! Nearly everyone who has started a new life in the city has suffered through a wild roommate situation or two. Now, with limited space, and rents incredibly high and rising, newcomers and people who have been here for years are urgently on the hunt for affordable options. That often involves a roommate. Or two. Or more. The situation will become more acute in coming weeks, as young people with summer jobs, internships and dreams of exciting new lives arrive in large numbers. We asked New Yorkers to share their most unforgettable roommate experiences and found that they came in all flavors: horrifying, heartwarming, weird and curious. One person had a fashion-student roommate he described as 'a practicing witch.' A woman in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, recalled a roommate with perpetually lost keys who climbed in and out through the fire escape — setting off alarms day and night. Sometimes roommate drama takes over your entire life. Just ask James Tanford, a 29-year-old comedian living in Bed-Stuy, who posted a hilarious 13-part video series on Instagram detailing his nightmarish experience. Mr. Tanford plays all the characters in the drama as he explains how one roommate threatened to stab another and the police were called several times. 'We got kicked out after two arrests, three lawsuits and $10,000 in rent owed,' he said. What makes New York living so different from other American cities is that it's full of extremely small apartments. It's not unusual to see bathtubs in kitchens or closets that double as bedrooms, and, in general, very, very tight quarters. In an apartment on West 103rd Street in Manhattan Valley, Bob Stachel had the only bedroom, and his 6-foot-4 roommate stationed a small bed behind the kitchen stove. When the roommate's girlfriend stayed overnight, he would 'open the bathroom door to block the hallway that led to the doorless kitchen,' Mr. Stachel said. 'I couldn't get a snack or take a poop!' In Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, Paul Ratnofsky's roommate built a loft bed extremely close to the ceiling's single exposed lightbulb. 'He was forced to unscrew the bulb every night,' he recalled. Jean Middlekauff moved to New York City from Cincinnati in 1956 with a 'glamorous college pal' as a roommate. Ms. Middlekauff, now 90, described the apartment as having 'one minuscule kitchen, one closet, a living room, one window and a bathroom with sink, toilet and tub.' It was small for two people — but what about when there were three? 'Little did I realize that Sally, my roommate, would have so many gentlemen callers,' Ms. Middlekauff said. 'When she entertained them where was I to go?' She needed her beauty sleep, after all. 'I soon came up with a solution — why not sleep in the bathtub?' In a recent survey of 3,000 New Yorkers, published by the 5BORO Institute, an urban policy think tank, 42 percent of respondents said that housing costs were their biggest financial burden. And 48 percent said they had considered leaving the city, citing affordability as the top reason. Roommates are hard to avoid. Just finding any roommate — let alone an ideal companion — can cause high anxiety. People try Craigslist, Facebook, Reddit and more. On LinkedIn, a group called NYC Housing allows only verified users to join. It was started by Eric Li, who works for a cloud computing platform and realized that unlike other nooks and crannies of the internet, LinkedIn was mainly used for business networking, so users' profiles include professional portraits and educational backgrounds, giving you a clear sense of who they are. It's where, he said, 'people put their best foot forward.' If there ever were an expert in roommates, it would have to be Maria Petschnig, who moved to New York from Austria 22 years ago and has had more than 60 roommates. (Ask her for details, and she will gladly explain the complicated arrangements that involved a dizzying cast of people coming and going.) At first, Ms. Petschnig was bouncing around, sharing curtained-off spaces and rooms in other people's apartments. Eleven years ago, she became a leaseholder in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Sharing her apartment has been, she said, 'a way to survive as an artist in New York City.' But it has also been an inspiration: Ms. Petschnig wrote and directed a film, 'Beautiful and Neat Room,' based on her roommate experiences. Her advice for new-to-New Yorkers? 'I think one should be more aware in New York of not taking up too much space,' she said. 'To not be at home 24-7, or have your partner or friends over all the time.' She also advises making sure that everyone understands the rules, as early as possible: 'I don't want to be too friendly with the roommate,' she said. 'I have to make sure the boundaries and the roles are clear.' But even when there are clear guidelines and your shared space is not a shared life, a small human connection can suddenly spark. In 2005, Rachana Pathak lived in Queens with a roommate she had found on Craigslist. She didn't know much about him except that he was from Turkey. One evening, Ms. Pathak gathered the mail and dropped it in her room, where it sat for about a week. When she finally sorted through it, she found a thick envelope addressed to her roommate. It was marked 'Immigration.' 'My stomach knotted,' she said. She knocked on his door and gave it to him, then went back to her room. 'Not long after, I heard the front door open. He'd left. The guilt came fast. What if I'd cost him something?' An hour later, he returned with a bottle of wine. 'Will you have a glass with me?' he asked. 'I got my green card.' And you never know when a roommate situation will turn into a lifelong friendship. When she was in her 20s, Sara Zur rented a tiny two-bedroom apartment on West 109th Street in Manhattan. 'It was so small that I had to turn sideways to enter the bathroom,' she said. Ms. Zur was in search of a roommate, and, via Craigslist, she found a woman in Los Angeles hoping to move to New York and be a writer. They spoke by phone. 'My last roommate had been a total slob so when she said, 'I keep really clean and I have a large collection of colorful scarves,' I knew we'd be a good fit,' Ms. Zur, now 49, said. She was right. 'We were too cheap to get cable TV, so we would look out our window at the neighbor's TV across the alley and try to follow whatever show was on,' she recalled. 'If they walked by, we would duck so they wouldn't see us. There was so much laughter!' Twenty-five years later, they are still fast friends. And then there's Terry Baker Mulligan, who, in 1966, moved into an apartment a few blocks north, on West 112th Street, with a roommate named Carol Silverstein. They were new graduates who had met while training to be caseworkers with the city's Department of Welfare. They split the rent, which was $135 a month. Ms. Baker Mulligan is Black and grew up in Harlem. Ms. Silverstein was from an observant Jewish family in Jersey City, N.J. 'But right away, we hit it off,' Ms. Baker Mulligan said. 'I taught Carol how to fry chicken and make gravy, which she does to this day. I learned about New York bagels, borscht and kugel.' Ms. Baker Mulligan was tall and thin, while her roommate was short, 'and always worrying about her extra pound or two.' Once, Ms. Baker Mulligan found cute mini dresses on sale, and bought two, in different colors; one for herself and one for Ms. Silverstein. 'In five years, we never had one disagreement,' said Ms. Baker Mulligan, who is now 81. 'It was a volatile time in the world, and in our neighborhood, but our place became a refuge for friends caught up in a whirlwind of trying to find themselves.' In 1971, they both got married: Ms. Baker Mulligan to 'one of those Columbia University boys,' Ms. Silverstein to one from New York University. Ms. Baker Mulligan now lives in St. Louis; Ms. Silverstein and her husband moved to Jerusalem. 'But,' Ms. Baker Mulligan said, 'she and I still love each other like sisters.'
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Woman sparks debate over 'dramatic' handwritten note about her 'noisy' neighbour's 'frightening' kids
A woman has sparked a heated debate over a 'polite' yet 'dramatic' handwritten note she penned for her 'noisy' upstairs neighbours who recently moved in with two young kids in tow. The woman and her husband have lived on the ground floor of the apartment complex for more than four years. Things started to change when a new family moved into the unit on the second floor above them, with the kids 'screeching, yelling and crying'. However, the woman took particular issue with the 'disruptive and sometimes frightening' youngsters, who were constantly running and jumping, causing her ceilings and thin walls to shake. She decided to write a letter to her neighbours, and return the toys she found on her patio after they were thrown from their balcony during playtime. 'Is this an okay note to leave for the noisy upstairs neighbours?' she asked the internet in a Reddit thread. The note in question goes: 'Hi neighbours, welcome to the apartment complex. We live below you and think your kids' toys keep falling off the balcony and the landscapers put them on our patio thinking they are ours, so we wanted to return them to you. 'We were also hoping that you could please try to keep the kids' running and jumping indoors to a minimum, especially in the mornings. 'We know little ones have a lot of energy and unfortunately the floors and ceilings of these apartments are almost as thin as the walls, but the running and jumping shakes our ceiling and walls a lot and is very disruptive and sometimes frightening. We'd really appreciate it. 'We'll keep an eye out for any more toys and bring them back as we can :) Thanks so much, your downstairs neighbours.' She hasn't plucked the courage to leave the note at her neighbour's front door just yet, but wanted to gauge everyone's thoughts on how to handle the situation. 'I know it's an inherent risk in first floor units that you'll hear noise from above, but the kids run and jump indoors almost all day and into the evening,' she said. 'We can deal with their screech, yells and crying but our ceiling and walls shake with how loud and hard the kids run and jump around their apartment all day and it's very disruptive and jarring. 'They also throw their toys off the their balcony where they also play. I'm glad they get to play outside on the balcony but the landscapers think the toys that appear outside our unit belong to us and put them on our patio when the grass gets mowed.' The woman explained that she 'didn't expect anything to change' but she just wanted to 'politely bring awareness to the issue'. 'If the parents choose to address it, we'll appreciate it immensely,' she said. 'We don't mind the yelling and screaming and crying, those are things that kids can't control because they don't have control of their emotions which we totally understand. We wear earplugs at night and throw headphones on for that reason.' The woman, believed to be a renter, said she's considering asking management to move to her to an upper-level apartment as soon as one becomes available. 'We actually love living here so hopefully they can accommodate us because we don't want to and can't leave anyway,' she said. 'We're maybe financially in a position that we can take a more expensive unit, even. But otherwise, we are stuck here.' Her post was met with more than 700 comments - with many suggesting they thought there was nothing wrong with the woman's letter. 'Perfectly polite but I doubt it'll change anything. Kids are gonna yell and scream,' one said. 'Your note is extremely polite and understanding. I know that with apartment living, you have to expect some level of noise, but if your neighbours are decent people, they'll make an effort to be accommodating. For example, my upstairs neighbors have a shared space they use a lot, and every now and then when it gets too loud, I'll gently knock on the ceiling - and it usually quiets down right away,' another shared. Some people suggested she rethink some of her wording - particularly the word 'frightening'. 'Especially the word "frightening". As a parent, it is a VERY loaded word... It's one thing to be mindful of your neighbours, and it's another thing to be terrified of them,' one said '"Startling" might be better than "frightening"?' one shared. However, many defended the woman's letter, with one saying: 'But what if it actually is frightening? I've had upstairs neighbour's kids knock my mounted photos off the wall and scare the bajesus out of me at 7pm before they slammed and jumped around so hard. I'm not sure there's a better word than what it actually is sometimes.' Meanwhile, one person recounted their own experience of attempting to 'respectfully approach' a situation with a disruptive neighbour. 'In my experience a polite note didn't work well, and a polite personal follow up visit, was even worse,' one shared. 'I really doubt people are unaware that they are making noise and causing vibrations (as it also happens in my building), they know and don't care so any politeness is futile in my experience, sadly. 'People love to claim "community" but are so entitled and have individualistic rotten mentality. Currently living with three college kids above me that share a two bedroom apartment. New to renting, I'm sure and very unaware that 2:30am is not a normal time to work out and constantly drop dumbbells on my ceiling.'
CBS News
15-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Lawsuit filed after tenants without water for three weeks at Monroe County apartment building
Residents at an apartment building in Monroe County, Michigan, have been without running water for three weeks after a dispute between neighboring property owners. "Do I move somewhere else? Do I look for a new apartment?" said tenant Scott Hintze. CBS Detroit Hintze tells CBS News Detroit that he and other tenants have lived without water in their apartment building off Lewis Avenue in Ida Township since April 25. "I had already paid rent for this month, so here I've paid rent, and I can't even live in my apartment. There are no words to describe my frustration," Hintze said. In the beginning, he got by on jugs of water, but now he's temporarily living in a hotel until the situation is resolved. On Wednesday, the Monroe County Health Department placed a condemned notice on his door. CBS Detroit "I don't know what their timeline was for fixing things, but I'd like to say that kind of kickstarted some things," said Hintze. The city of Monroe tells CBS News Detroit that the water shutoff is a result of a dispute between neighboring property owners, and the city has nothing to do with it. Officials say separate water service lines are required, but were never set up initially. As of Thursday, the installation process for those service lines remains at a standstill, with the city not yet receiving the paperwork or payment from the building owner to move forward. The management group, Lipstick Properties, has since filed a lawsuit against both building owners. CBS Detroit Hintze is hoping someone is held accountable. "It affected my job, it affected my personal life. I hope they just learn their lesson and it doesn't happen to anybody else," Hintze said. CBS News Detroit contacted Lipstick Properties and the Monroe County Health Department for answers, but did not hear back. Hintze says the management group is reimbursing him and other tenants for food, hotel stays, rent, and utilities for the month of May and plans to continue supplying containers of water for those still living here. He was also told that a new water meter will be installed next week.
