Lolol what kind of fantasy world do you live in? Salaried worker here and although my job isn’t 9-5 strictly if I don’t work at least 40 hours a week my pay will be docked. So I get to choose between 8-5 or 9-6 or I can work while I eat and get that cushy 9-5 life. Or if I miss work I can make up those hours by working at night. It’s a real luxury to be able to do that compared to shift work, but the hours are still being counted.

Also stop being so entitled. Most of your life necessities come from industries (groceries, power plants, gas stations, hospitals, etc) where people work on a timecard/shift basis so don’t you come out here and pretend timecard or shift work isn’t a “real” profession.

We have a Lectric XP 3.0 that is just… Okay. The features are great, especially the large cargo space, the fact that it folds so you can store it in a small shed, and the odometer/display is good. As far as actual bicycle build quality it’s not the best, it’s pretty rattly and we’ve only had it a year but it’s already developed an annoying brake alignment issue that I’ll need to find time to fix soon. That said, you can’t beat the price (<$1,000 if you get it on sale, and they have pretty much constant sales) and it does have the ability to carry a passenger.

I’d say the Lectric is a good bike to get if you are comfortable making your own bike repairs and want something cheap. We got the cargo package and the comfort seat free with our Lectric and we use them both and like them. It’s a good little bike and it gets the job done, even if it’s not super refined.

For our main cargo bike we have a Flyer folding cargo that’s fantastic except that the paint chips easily. But other than that one issue I’m 100% sold on this bike. It folds, it tows, it carries either a kid or a large amount of cargo, and the battery range is really good for the price. The battery assist is really peppy, which I love, and it’s got a thumb throttle rather than a twist throttle which I personally think works better on an ebike where you’re also keeping your hand on the hand brakes all the time and don’t want to take your hand off to grab a twist throttle. It has a lot of other “extra” type features that are nice like a brake light, beefy kickstand, a carry handle on the battery, and a chain guard. Overall the design of the Flyer bike is really nice and it’s solidly built. No rattling or brake alignment issues like the Lectric.

Ebikes, especially e cargo bikes, are the absolute bomb.

I can carry my 6 year old on the back while towing 60 lbs of groceries in a trailer and keep a steady 15mph even on hills without breaking a sweat. For my family, e cargo bikes are what will finally make the dream of car replacement a reality.

These other weird scooters seem cool too, maybe if you don’t have kids and don’t often carry cargo then something more sleek and portable is better.

I have the flyer folding cargo and absolutely love it. It’s such a good set of features for a cargo bike at that price point.

The only complaint I have is the paint, which for some reason is super brittle and chips easily. I wish they would just use regular bike paint. But I put up with having to patch it regularly because the rest of the bike is such good quality otherwise and, c’mon, it cost $1800!

I’m a big fan of the cruiser style from Flyer, idk what exactly I like about it, it just looks really classic. https://flyer.radioflyer.com/products/flyer-cruiser-step-thru

We got a folding cargo bike because we have zero indoor storage space and needed something that would fit in one of these because it’s all the available space we have in our small city backyard.

Do I wish I had a garage and room for a “real” cargo bike that didn’t fold? Sure, but the one I have works great for what I need it for and it does have some pretty awesome side benefits.

• We can fit the bike in the car and take it on vacation with us.
• It fits in an elevator or on a train in a pinch.
• Because the handlebars fold down and sideways and the pedals fold in you can push the bike through super narrow alleys and gaps that a normal bike wouldn’t fit through.

I’d love to own an urban arrow or some other epic long tail cargo bike but the folding aspect has allowed me to own a bike I otherwise wouldn’t have any proper storage for. So for me it’s a no-brainer.

Cool! Thanks for the review. I see lots of folks around with sit-down scooters like this and wonder how they are so it’s cool to hear it’s working for you!

How quickly does it charge?

They help significantly to combat the heat island effect in cities and provide shade and cooler microclimates for people to shelter in when it’s hot.

Just try going to a shady tree-lined path vs. a paved treeless path on a sunny day and you’ll be pretty clear on the meaning of this meme.

So yes we can’t stop global warming with trees alone but we can mitigate the local effects of it all while providing habitat for birds and shade for people and lots of other benefits besides.

This article has a pretty good review if you want to take a look at some of the benefits! https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4371

And here’s a more plain-language website about urban trees: https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/the-power-of-urban-trees-2023

Aw damn thanks for fixing that! Yes I wrote it as a list and yes I forgot the double space. Still haven’t figured out bullet points in lemmy

Advantages of bras:

• Look nice (if you’re into that look, which many people are)

• Keep your nipples from chafing

• Support/containment for larger boobs

• Keep prudish people from being mad at your nipples

• Can be worn without a shirt for sports if they cover enough real estate

• When breastfeeding, help catch/absorb leaks

Disadvantages of bras:

• Uncomfortable if not fitted right
• Sweaty as fuck on hot days
• Expensive
• Many have to be hand washed if they are fancy

I would say I wear bras about 30-50% of the time and it’s usually for either support/chafing prevention or looks. The rest of the time I can’t be bothered. I’m also lucky to not have super large breasts. I know women who do may find a good fitted bra to be more comfortable than no bra.

When I was breastfeeding I wore them all the time though because it is super awkward to leak through your shirt in public.

Edited to add bullet points bc I suck at lemmy formatting

Cucumbers need a lot of direct sun and a lot of space, either vertical (trellised) or horizontal (along the ground). Put them in a wide open sunny part of your yard. They’re also fairly susceptible to powdery mildew so keep an eye on them if the weather is rainy.

You mentioned you’re in Maine, which means you have a relatively short growing season. You might want to start your cucumber seeds inside to get a jump start on the season in the spring. Otherwise just make sure you get them started right away once it’s okay to plant outdoors so that you don’t run out of room at the end of the season.

Good luck and let us know how it goes! Cucumbers are a very rewarding plant, right up there with tomatoes for me as far as bang for your buck. Homegrown cucumbers have a crunch that totally knocks store bought ones out of the park.

Other vegetables I like growing that grow well in my corner of New England: Basil (grow enough to make several batches of pesto and freeze it) Tomatoes Sugar snap peas Leafy greens, especially collards and Swiss Chard Potatoes in 5-gallon buckets Hot peppers

My mother in law lets her cucumbers grow along the ground and they do great. Not sure if she buys a specific variety that’s not for climbing but it’s definitely possible to grow cukes without a trellis. Same as you would squash.

That said, a trellis saves a lot of space.

Cisgender woman here, I just wanted to add that if my husband were to come out as trans, that would not be a tragedy or something I wished he’d gotten figured out sooner for my sake. In this hypothetical scenario, if it somehow managed to make us incompatible as married partners we’d deal with it but people have gotten divorced for much worse reasons before. The worst part for me would be worrying if he’d been miserable during our marriage, because I love him and would hate for that to be his experience of our time together.

It’s really hard to imagine because AFAIK we’re both cis but personally I’d probably prefer to stay married to my spouse even if he changed his gender identity. I mean he’s still the same person I married and we still love the same things and have a wonderful life and child together. I dunno, maybe it wouldn’t work out in the end but I sure as hell wouldn’t be mad at him for something he couldn’t change.

Anyways, my point is you don’t have to assume that your relationships with cis people will all get blown up if you do happen to be trans. I appreciate the urge to have your ducks all in a row before embarking on significant life events but the truth is that marriage and adulthood is super messy anyways. If you marry someone and have a kid with them the odds are good you will have all sorts of chaotic events to deal with- physical illnesses, mental illnesses, kid stress or illness, weight gain or loss, money trouble, job changes, changes in personality with age, the list goes on and on. The trick to being happily married is rolling with the changes, working hard at your partnership, and being committed to your partner, not having it all perfectly lined up at the start.

Thank you for reminding me this plant is edible. I’ve always wanted to try it as a tea and I’ve got a very healthy patch of it this year!

You’re not missing anything, people are just weird about it.

Also the person who named it “toilet-to-tap” is an idiot. Reclaimed water is “toilet to tap” in the same way that a vegetable grown in compost is “garbage to garden.” There’s a host of sophisticated engineering processes in between the two, making the water just as clean as any other treated drinking water.

Mixing with river water or putting the water in a reservoir and then pumping it back out again simply makes people feel more comfortable about it and, like you said, reduces the “ick” factor.

Trike! Or recumbent trike. Or an e-trike.

Get an ebike. It solves several of your cons at once.

No need to wear spandex or neon to ride on an ebike (or any bike honestly I bike everywhere and the only neon thing I own is my rain pants) just put lights on your bike and don’t dress all in black.

Can’t help you with the helmet, that one’s pretty important but there’s lots of nice looking helmets out there.

No getting sweaty on an ebike unless you want to, because you can crank the pedal assist if you’re starting to sweat.

Have literally never had an issue finding somewhere to park my bike. Sure have an issue finding car parking though. At the downtown garage I park at, cars are $20 an hour but bikes are free.

You’ll probably go faster than the cars if there’s lots of traffic. We’ve done a car vs bike race a few times when we had both starting the same place and going to the same place and the ebike always wins or is like 10 minutes behind at most.

Bluetooth speakers and transparent headphones both solve the music issue.

Many ebikes have extra cargo capacity, so grocery runs are easier. If you’ve got a large family then you might need a cargo bike or to rent a car periodically for large trips.

The only real downside imo is the weather if you live somewhere extremely cold/hot and the safety from riding near cars. The rest is easy to get over once you’re zipping down the road at 20mph getting those sweet, sweet biking endorphins.

Your post is probably going to get very different reactions depending on what country people are from, since bicycle infrastructure varies.

In the US a “cycle path” would probably refer to a multi-use path. Dogs are allowed on most multi-use paths in the US. On a multi-use path with cyclists and pedestrians, cyclists must yield to pedestrians. I assume that means their (leashed) dogs as well.

Now, dog owners who walk their dogs off-leash on a multi-use path with bikes and clearly posted leash requirements? They can go fuck allll the way off. Because the last thing I need in my day is a fucking terrier throwing itself in front of my bike wheel.

In Europe and other places I’d guess that “cycle path” might mean a bike lane that is painted on the sidewalk where bikes have priority? If that’s what you’re talking about then I agree dog owners should not be walking their dogs in what amounts to a traffic lane, but there’s also not much you can do about it other than sound your bell/horn or steer around.

Shitty dog owners are shitty. Not much to be done except yell at them to be less careless of their dog’s and other people’s safety. And on the other hand, don’t be a shitty cyclist and bully pedestrians if they have the right of way.

Just a foot and a half high, but they were individual for each plant so each fence circle was like 1 foot diameter maximum. I think if you had a bigger fenced area you’d need higher fences.

I made them out of hardware cloth and took them in over the winter and they’ve held up really well, so at least I don’t have to make new ones!

Calendula, bachelor’s buttons, and strawflower are all sprouted and looking healthy! For food plants, I’ve only started greens so far (collard and tatsoi). Soon it’ll be time to plant peas outside though and I’m stoked! Also got some potatoes chitting on the windowsill to plant in buckets. Those did really well last year.

Also we have one super collard who overwintered from last year and I’m excited to see what it does.

I’m apprehensive about the bunnies this year but more prepared to do battle. Last year they mowed most of my new plants down to the ground until I put little fences up. This year I’m gonna start with the fences from the get-go and see if I can get more plants past the tender chompable stage and into maturity. The only problem is I tried winter sowing a bunch of natives this year so I’ll need to notice when and where they come up and get defenses around them.

Apprehensions aside, though, I’m glad it’s spring! Bring on the gardening fun.