Tis Was

“And here we see a rare example of the English pasent tense…”

I haven’t heard of (or personally experienced) hard water being a problem, but I’ve been told chlorinated/fluoridated water can be. Filtered water, or water that’s sat out for 24+ hrs (this allows chlorine to evaporate), is supposedly better for plant health. Some species are more susceptible to these chemicals than others, but I’m uncertain if chlorine/fluoride alone is enough to kill a houseplant.

I think it could work well if you’re the type of person who can follow a daily schedule better than a weekly or biweekly schedule (for instance, if you build it into your routine, e.g. “every day after finishing breakfast the first thing I do is water the houseplants”). It could also work well if having to make a judgment call (“water only when the soil is dry”) is too intimidating or can’t be scheduled into a calendar app with automated reminders.

I know of some plants that can tolerate irregular watering, but can’t think of many that thrive with it. Even in the wild, the seeming randomness of rainfall has at least a seasonal pattern to it, and the plants that are best suited to irregular watering are generally not ideal houseplants for various reasons, like they go dormant during dry spells and start looking ugly, or drop a bunch of leaves when underwatered and make a mess, or require huge root systems, etc. Probably the best houseplants for the truly incapable of following a watering schedule are the drama queens: those plants that have big, showy leaves that droop significantly when thirsty, but quickly perk back up after watering. Noticing this still requires attention, of course, but wilting leaves are much easier to notice than dry soil. I’ve never grown a houseplant like that so I can’t come up with specific examples, but I know they exist.

If you want a plant that does well in lower light and with frequent watering, I’d recommend the maidenhair fern.

Mine gets cranky if it’s not watered at least daily, and it would probably prefer twice a day! In the wild, these plants grow in places with constant water, e.g. alongside a waterfall. Still they’re fairly hardy plants somewhat acclimated to weathering dry spells; I’ve almost killed mine then had it return from the brink of death multiple times following a week of neglecting to water it. Ironically the maidenhair fern’s love of water means you won’t need a plant sitter to come over and water when you go on vacation: if you’re going to be gone for more than a few days, stick the pot in a tub of water a few inches deep; maidenhair ferns doesn’t seem to mind wet roots at all (I’ve done this for up to a month, no prob).

They do need at least a little light, such as an hour or so of direct morning light or hours of indirect light, making them a great choice for north-facing windows and other conditions where many houseplants would struggle.

Obligatory IANAP (I am not a paleontologist).

My understanding is that many (most?) living plants did die; what survived were seeds that could wait around for conditions to be a bit less apocalyptic before sprouting, kinda like what happens with major wildfires. Similarly, the animals that survived were a lot of creatures that could live off seeds and other remaining plant matter (such as small mammals, which had previously been an underdog in the Mesozoic).

Darwin was also born into wealth and could spend his life studying whatever piqued his interest. Do you have the funds to spend five years circumnavigating the globe studying cool wildlife? Because I sure as fuck don’t.

This triggers a memory!

Once when I was a kid, I went with a friend to McDonalds while they were doing some Disney promotion or another. We got the “girl or boy toy with your happy meal?” question. We were both girls so we automatically answered “girl toy.” After eating we looked and saw that we both had Jasmine from Aladdin, and if we had said “one of each please” we would have had both Aladdin and Jasmine, which would have been a lot more fun to play with while we waited for our parents to wrap up whatever they were doing. So we decided that next time we would ask for one of each. Well the next time was toward the end of the promotion and all they had left were the girl toys, meaning we ended up with four Jasmine figurines.

If the ship of Theseus were a meme

EDIT: I get it, the consensus is that this is incorrect. I retract my statement.

Surprised no one has said this yet:

This happens when you put zip-up clothing in the dryer. The fabric shrinks and shifts but the metal/plastic zipper doesn’t, creating a size mismatch that results in a bulge. Hang-dry your zip-up hoodies instead. I have hoodies that are close to a decade old and still haven’t begun to bunch up because they’ve never seen the inside of a dryer.

Obligatory plug for self-heal (prunella vulgaris)! It’s a perennial member of the mint family that produces pretty purple flowers that (according to my amateur observations) native bumblebees too large for clover can still enjoy! The plant is native to most (all?) of the northern hemisphere, and is unfortunately categorized as a weed by most lawn purists, which is actually just a testament to its hardy nature. Self-heal normally grows to about 1’-2’ tall, but can also handle regular mowing and some foot traffic, just like clover, making it a great lawn additive or border plant.

It’s difficult being a millennial and trying to confront the nostalgic feeling (that naturally comes with aging) that “things were better in my youth,” because things objectively were better in my youth.

I did this once, paired an olive mix with a spread of fancy cheeses and a few crackers. Let’s just say these foods have since stayed in the appetizer section of my diet where they belong.

Tomo means friend in Japanese (友), so my bilingual ass would probably go the other direction and end up interpreting her messages to be more cheery than intended.

“Tomo the street sweeper is coming through so don’t forget to park in your driveways.”

“Tomo we are holding our annual HOA elections; make sure to attend!”

“Trash pickup was days ago, so don’t let me catch your cans out tomo.”

Have you found a surgeon willing to do all eight breasts? I’m finding most top out at six, even on eight-nippled cats like mine. One surgeon said he’d only do two! I was like, this is a cat, sir, not a tabaxi.

Walking your cat is a great way to get them outside, but (depending on the individual) it’s quite different from walking a dog. Most cats aren’t very interested in the actual walking part of walks, and may be much happier finding a nice bush to sit under for half an hour. However a leash is a great way to keep your cat supervised and under control for outside visits, either in the back yard, around the block, or to a nearby park.

Other warnings: starting them young is ideal, but older cats can get used to the leash with a lot of patience (on both of your parts). Cats that were previously outdoor cats will have the most trouble adjusting to their loss of freedom, but indoor-only cats may be excited for the opportunity (or terrified: pushing your cat a little out of their comfort zone is okay but don’t overdo it!). A well-fitting harness/vest is crucial, and even then a very determined (or scared) cat can probably wriggle out so be prepared. Keep a very close eye on your cat’s emotional state and be ready to go home at signs of anxiety. Low-stress outdoor places (with few cars, dogs, screaming kids, etc, and with some form of cover like trees and bushes) are best especially to start. Treats and verbal encouragement, paired with small steps and lots of patience, are key! Above all stay consistent: once you’ve made the decision to make your cat leash-only, don’t let them go outside without it: your cat needs to make the connection that they have to be on a leash if they want to enjoy the outside.

At least LLMs know the difference between your and you’re

Automatic downvote for atrocious spelling.

This shit made the front page of r/all; can we demonstrate that Lemmy has higher standards?

Look at moneybags over here able to afford eating out in 2025

East Asian languages in general (excluding Japanese). My first thought seeing this meme was “this MF never heard Cantonese before?”

How has no one in the comments mentioned The Secret of NIMH yet?

Even worse, The Brave Frog (showa-era kids anime was seriously fucked up).