Random Questions

if you don’t need rolly, big fan of Cotopaxi. For rolly I think worth trying in person since wheels can really be crap

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Oh I love that! It’s a little over what I wanted to spend, but it also comes in coral and looks so sturdy!

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This isn’t inexpensive, but I love it. They are so light and roll so easily.

(MAXLITE® SOFTSIDE LUGGAGE)

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Why is it so expensive? It makes me so grumpy haha

Definitely looking for rolly, I have a couple Patagonia duffels I used a bunch in my 20s but I am ready for wheels. Good advice to try in person, I wouldn’t have though the wheels would vary much!

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Can’t vouch for anything but the swiss gear specific bag I got, but the wheels held up to a lot of subway/train/cobblestone on my trip. I probably put 5 miles of cobblestones on that bag. :+1:

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I bought mine on Amazon and it is exactly what I need - easy to haul on to the train. I also have a nice Eddie Bauer duffel bag from the thrift store that other people in my family keep trying to steal.

But otherwise TJ Max/Sierra Trading, places like that seem to have pretty good deals.

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I have had cheap rolly bags and more expensive ones and having had to carry a rolly bag through three countries and a 6 hour customs line after the wheels broke and then tape it together after three zippers broke- and it was brand new a few hours before the flight- i now understand why it costs $$ to make the good stuff. It’s like the good fast cheap triangle (choose two) only it is good, light, cheap for luggage.

Also I got a calpak (nonrolly) bag recently and I kinda love it. Their rolly stuff seems cute and they have a lot of sales

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On the good cheap light scale I want to say that luggage works, which is what most pilots use for luggage and can take a hella beating of 4-5 days a week of use for decades- they weight like 16 lbs.

Travel pro is lighter which is what most flight attendant crew use but still pretty heavy and not as durable as luggage works

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Just chiming in as your local neurotic: go hardshell to reduce bed bug risk!

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:flushed: :flushed:

bed bugs…in luggage?? I never thought about this :nauseated_face:

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Only if you’re staying in a hotel!

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Does Aldi usually carry whole wheat flour? I’m trying to decide if it’s worth a drive to go see if the one nearest us has any. Walmart no longer has anything but king arthur, and a 5 lb bag is six dollars.

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No. They will very, very occasionally carry it as a special offer, but not usually.

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Dang.

Toilets with everything breaking down. All gaskets etc. Rebuild or replace? Insights, experience, pricing you’ve dealt with?

Question from a survival-of-the-fittest, low effort gardener.

There is a flower bed in front of our house that nothing seems to want to grow in. It is very shady. Apparently we are in Zone 6. The area is pretty damp too - moss tends to grow there.

Any ideas for what might do well? I have tried:

  • Petunias
  • Impatiens (when I tried to plant something that was supposed to do ok in shade)
  • Something that I think was Sweet Alyssum was there when we bought the house and was doing great, but I ripped it out of that area. I’ve tried replanting it and it doesn’t do much

We do have deer that like to chow down on hostas that are in other parts of the yard, so I haven’t tried those.

I don’t care about annual vs. perennial at this point, but I don’t want something that will spread and be super invasive. Also ideally I want something that I can chuck in the ground and won’t need a lot of tending.

Any ideas for a shade-loving, low effort, damp area loving flower or plant? Or a favorite site to select plants based on criteria like that?

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In my experience with zone 6 shade:

big root geranium
violets
oregano
lemon balm
barren strawberry

more expensive: coral bells, astilbe, dusty miller

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Oooh, I think we actually have violets growing in a part of our lawn that’s super shady. That bodes well for being likely to thrive under benign neglect. Maybe I can rip some up and try them out that way too. (or just spring for actual plants :joy:)

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Violets are a great choice! Also, ostrich ferns, Jacob’s ladder, virginia bluebells, big leaf aster.

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Ferns can be a little fussy when you first plant them, but then are perennial and durable and love soggy shady environs.

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