I fully echo all your sentiments.

On the notification issue, I can provide a little color.

My notifications worked for a few days when I signed up 5 months ago, and then mostly died. What I have noticed is that when my computer BSoDs (got a pad PS I think), and I have to reboot from scratch (as opposed to hibernation), my notifications for Steemit work in all my browsers. This only last for a few hours, then they go away again.

Probably not too helpful, but there's definitely more to it than "notifications have been broken for 7 months on the site's end".