When someone defends repetitive game mechanics and says that you have to "work" in a game to achieve something and finally have fun in the game, i automatically assume he likes mmos / rpgs xD...
I can see where you would get that. I used to play Perfect World with my roommate, but just as a medium for interaction with him. When he moved out I left MMORPGs and haven't looked back since. They just aren't at all fun: if I wanted to do more tedious tasks I would go back to food service and make some money at it to boot.
But I think even though the planning and supervision of a fort in DF is a thought-requiring and highly strategic endeavor, most people would still call the actual execution of it "work." For example, setting up any half-decent minecart route requires a lot of actions that are individually quite boring and thoughtless: designating the track, building stops as needed, setting routes and route stops and linking all the stockpiles which are themselves specialized for what you want to haul where. You may spend ten minutes planning out the whole thing, but then another fifteen or twenty on top of that just do press all the buttons it takes to actually give the build orders.
You're right, though, about the aquifer-induced suspensions being excessive and unnecessary, so I apologize for calling you lazy. I, in fact, avoid embarking on aquifers for exactly that reason. Well, and FPS, but mostly because I'm lazy.
If you're just going for some way to get a shaft sunk through the aquifer without a lot of hassle, why not take the aquifer out (raw modding) and put it back in after the staircase is built? It would get done a lot quicker than using autounsuspend, because your dwarves wouldn't have to suspend and wait for the plugin in the first place.
