Do they have any wiggle to them or are they rigid? First thing that came to mind for me was the wattle and daub technique used in early construction. It’s rather like basket weaving. Traditionally you have rigid vertical supports and then you weave the horizontal ones across alternating in front and behind the vertical supports. The next one up you go in front where you last went behind. The daub part is where a mixture of clay/Spanish moss…etc was put over top almost like a stucco.
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I’m about to google this. Yes, they have wiggle. With moderate effort they are bendable by hand.
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Do you have access to a little bit of wood? You could make corners out of wood and sandwich the rods between, a little bit like this.
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You could weave them like waddle and daub, but I imagine you probably don’t even need the daub. You could just weave them like an oak split basket. You’ll need some uprights at whatever height you want your raised bed today. If you’ve got a way to cut them, you could just use some of the aluminum rods for that. Sink them in the ground a little bit for stability if you don’t want to be able to move the beds around.
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Could you make a log cabin shape and tie them together and then use something mysterious as your liner? It would be different than the pic but still rustic
Our nine year old dog Percy has started showing signs of stiffness after a long (45 minutes-ish) walk, or after laying down after any walk. It seems to be just normal aging stuff, but she’s the first dog I’ve ever owned. This is not vet-visit worthy right? Her vet wants to see her for a check up anyway but I wasn’t going to take her back until summer when her shots need to be reupped and labs done.
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Not an expert, but things I would be thinking about:
What breed (best guess) is Percy?
What size dog?
Any previous injuries you know about?
How fast does she recover?
Does this seem to affect sleeping or appetite?
Is this overall stiffness or localized? If so, localized where.
Big dogs tend to “age” faster and are more likely to have joint problems. I recommend taking down some notes about when you first noticed this, frequency, severity, other changes. That might help the vet, and it will help you track whether this seems to be getting worse.
Our JRT was diagnosed with arthritis about 3 years ago. He was about 16 yo (he’s a rescue so his age is a guess, but we had had him about 15 years at this point). He gets 100 mg gabapentin twice a day. His diagnosis came about when he went in for a GI problem for which they did X-rays.
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Petite black lab
I think around 60lbs, maybe 55
No previous injuries
Recovery unknown, she’s led a pretty chill life.
Sleeping and appetite are fine. She is “sleeping in” in the mornings now - usually her pacing is why I had to get out of bed in the morning and then get ready after I let her out, now she’s happy to stay in bed while I get ready in the morning.
Localized to right front shoulder
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With age related stiffness, she is probably also starting to experience (or experiencing) joint pain and discomfort. Dogs are often in pain without showing it or deliberately hiding it & the stiffness/soreness is a sign to us for that.
At this point, you may want to have anti-inflammatory meds on hand to use as needed (for spot and occasional use). And typically vets won’t prescribe that without seeing the dog and sometimes even running blood work first too. So you may need to visit the vet just for that. But then you wouldn’t have to redo the labs in the summer again, at least.
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I think I want to buy hair clippers so I can give myself a pixie cut. I have no experience using them. What features should I look for? What guards would be good to have? Any brand or clipper you’d recommend?
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We’ve had our plug in Wahl clippers for probably 9 years now? All of husbands haircuts (~ every 4 weeks) have been done with them. They get very little maintenance haha. They’re holding up great still 
The battery ones wear out way faster, but they’re easier to maneuver. Trade off for sure.
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We have full size Wahl plug in clippers, a set that came with quite a few different guards. I think 8 length guards plus two guards for tapering left and right sides of the head.
We also have the Wahl Peanut, but that would really just be useful maybe for trimming around ears or back of neck because the head is smaller. I originally got it for beard trimming.
The only maintenance I ever do is a couple drops of mineral oil on the cutting head while it runs a couple times a year.
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I also recommend Wahl plugins – mine have served me well.
How short a pixie do you want? Guards are often only really reliable for a smooth cut up to about 1" long. You can get longer guards – I have a 2" guard actually – but it’s not as reliable for getting an even cut. And if you want hair on top to be longer than 2", which is possible with a women’s pixie, you can’t really use a clipper for that part.
All of the above is to say “also make sure you get a pair of haircutting scissors for detail work.”
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Some Wahl kits include a pair of scissors or two. I think mine had at least one
Thanks, @Bracken_Joy, @druidessie, and @diapasoun! It sounds like Wahl is the brand to buy. I am probably good with trimming the top with scissors so that I can have it longer, but definitely need some kind of guard for the back and sides. This will be an interesting experiment!! But hair grows back, so no truly horrible outcomes possible, I guess. 
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I really like clipping my own hair, so I hope you enjoy yourself!
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Has anyone bought houseplants online? Do you have favorite sites, ideally ones that ship from the east coast?
I want plants but … well, covid shopping is complicated. 
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I have a friend who has bought a few off Etsy… erm, not all have arrived in great condition though.
You could also try Explorganics, they’re local (to me, in Maryland) and I’ve been wanting to check out their new storefront (but covid). They do ship, AND I believe they use all recyclable shipping materials too so that’s a plus!
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I just got a package from Sam’s Club, where I don’t have an account, containing a 6-month supply of generic Rogaine, which I did not order.
I believe this is a scam but I’m unsure to what end? I admit that for 5 minutes I thought “ok, who thinks they’re funny and is commenting on how bad my hair is?”
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Probably this type of scam:
No real risk to you, just… weird. Other than indicating your shipping info is out there, which isn’t too surprising considering how many of us have been breached. Probably check your credit is locked just to be safe?
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