Yep, wineberries. They are pretty good tasting.
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I always want to ask because I know nothing but they do seem pretty much entirely safe for a beginner:
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Yup, wineberries. They grow in the park near me (and now in my yard, presumably dropped by birds) and we eat tons of 'em. Yum yum. They are more firm and tart than raspberries.
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A good thing to know is that there’s nothing in this part of the world that has a compound/aggregate fruit that isn’t edible 
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That’s really cool!
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I want to make my backyard prettier. By prettier, I’m pretty sure I mean plants. But also, other things? I don’t know. I’m not too bad with interior decor and I LOVE my houseplants. But I feel lost about the outdoors.
I don’t garden or otherwise grow things outside. I let what grows there grow. We lost a lot trees and foliage recently (ice storm in February, then overzealous landscapers hired by the landlord to clean up the ice storm destruction) and now the backyard seems barren to me and I don’t know where to start.
Ideas? Should I post pictures? Make a new thread?
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What questions should I be asking potential pet sitters to ensure I don’t have another bad experience? I do ask for references and I feel like I am clear on what I need but my picker is clearly broken and we need one for our trip in September.
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Are there special duties they would need to do (e.g. give meds)? If so, check that they are able to do them. Have them do a meet-and-greet with the kitties beforehand. If they aren’t willing, then I’d be less eager to hire them. Will they be dropping by each day or staying at your house while you are gone?
I’m always in favor of new threads.
Pictures, yes. Also what USDA zone are you in?
What do you want to do in your backyard. Not garden, but maybe have a spot to read? Have dinner outside sometimes? Play tackle football? Raise therapy unicorns?
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How did you guess?!?!?!?!
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I think you should start with a covered area. You have a rain and sometimes a sun problem, so a covered swing or some kind of covered lounging space would be good.
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I know that the stock market is a made up collective delusion and that if anyone could predict IPOs it would immediately crash to a halt but… is there anything you can probably say about what an IPO will be given how much the series B and C raised?
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That’s the thing, I don’t need anything special other than, do what I ask and use common sense. The last catsitter didn’t do some things that I asked.
Like, I said “please leave everything as it was, if something is closed and you open it, please close it again or there will be a cat in it.” I guess I should’ve specifically said “if you use my toilet, please put the lid back down so that there does not end up with a cat in it.” She actually sent me photos of Boy Kitty trying to get into the open toilet! At least this time he did not fall in, I’ve no idea whether he drank out of it. I ended up texting my then-landlord, who was at my building shoveling snow anyway, from the beach in Hawaii to please come up to our unit and put the lid down.
How do I vet for “do you actually follow directions” without seeming high maintenance or rude? Other than checking references, which didn’t work last time?
They’d be doing morning and evening visits, not house sitting.
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Write a really specific ad and see if they follow the directions in it? (Contact me via X at such and such time and tell me these 3 things etc…?)
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Huh, I didn’t consider writing an ad myself, have just been contacting local services. Interesting!
I’m in a similar headspace trying to find a nanny, and I joined a local group and am writing a FB ad. They send references and I’m going to do a background check etc. There might be something similar for pet sitters id imagine?
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I moved my backyard question to its own thread, with pictures. I’d appreciate any input! Please help my patio/backyard be nicer
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Does anyone here subscribe to the premium version of Scott’s Cheap Flights? How do you like it? I subscribe to the free version but have never booked any of the deals.
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How do people feel about this?
IMO
I feel like this has to do with the idea that sex = estrogen and testosterone levels. But like, there is a lot of variation within the sexes when it comes to hormones and some of it is racially correlated. Also, sex advantages are so much more complex than just estrogen/testosterone, and I feel like you could easily argue that naturally higher testosterone in a woman conflates way less advantage than other physical differences in the sexes like male’s higher bone density, faster speed, larger skeleton size, increased muscle recovery/build speed, larger lung size, larger heart size, lower injury rate, etc, which can all exist without high (current) testosterone levels.
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I wish I had it bookmarked for the sources, but I’ve seen several threads about this on FB in my trans groups. Did you know that male and female ranges for testosterone completely overlap? The male range goes much higher than female, but there are men whose T is just as low as the lowest female T. Also, there’s no correlation between T levels and athletic performance, and there are elite male athletes whose T is at the low end of the range.
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