600G of strawberries retails for £4.50 (Tesco). If this whole setup cost only a million pounds, a producer would have to grow 133,333,332G worth of strawberries to pay it off, and this assumes nothing breaks (ever) and that there is some way to harvest that many strawberries without paying labor, packaging, licensing, and other costs. I feel like this was a cool tech demo but that’s about it

Friendly reminder that lightning bugs need tall grasses present in addition to wildflowers and leaf litter. You can also improve their survival rates by removing artificial lighting or even just setting any safety lighting (like motion activated lamps) to their shortest “on” duration. Another obvious step is to avoid pesticides.

https://www.fws.gov/story/save-fireflies

We’re almost to our daughter’s 9th month of life. We’re both overtired and feeling overworked, with precious little of the time we used to spend on hobbies or couple-time. That said, while there’s been a shift towards an expectation culture in the house (vs an ask culture) we haven’t had the sort of challenges listed in that first paragraph.

Some things probably working for us:

• We’ve been together for over a decade and in our home for 9 years

• Our communication style is productive even during arguments (“I feel” statements are much more positive than “you” statements)

• We’re majority wfh so we have the capacity to buffer each others’ needs as parents throughout the day, rather than leaving everything to one person or having additional financial stresses with childcare

Some things definitely working for us:

• Calling each other out for awesome parenting, because very few others will and it’s amazing to feel that validation

• Proactively taking something off of each other’s plates, whether that’s cleaning or laundry, dishes or bottles, whatever task is getting done is one that doesn’t have to be done later

• Knowing about spoon theory and being sensitive to how much bandwidth each other has left. It’s way harder to recharge from past depleted, so being flexible and recognizing when I or my partner are reaching that point and stepping in or voicing a need for support goes a long way for both of us

How do you find the mental fortitude to ignore the stupid bs your partner does or says?

I mean, we’re both sleep deprived so I’m sure there’s stupid coming out of my mouth too. I think it’s much healthier to laugh or work to improve the condition causing stress than it is to feed a negative cycle. If either of us are escalating we missed a chance to bolster each other.

How would you describe love to your partner a year after having a baby?

Gratitude. I feel incredibly fortunate to have a partner who puts in the effort and has put in the effort to help build the communication style that’s worked so well for us.

Is there any way to know if you and your partner are going to make it and remain a couple after having a child?

It really helps to have a relationship built on respect, and knowing enough about yourselves to approach challenges constructively. Build a good foundation with each other, learn to communicate positively, and do your best.

My brother got my wife and me some miyoo minis, and I’m almost through TLoZ: Minish Cap. He loaded the tiny best set so I have too many choices and haven’t picked what I’m playing next

“I forgot one thing about the guy who had gained the ability to fly - it was actually only for a foot or two, and only an inch or so high”

• The Vandals, An Idea for a Movie

A health insurer being permitted to vertically integrate a pharmacy chain to get around profit margin caps.

Seventy secondth

People who don’t admit it are a bunch of Pansies

Tbf, drain cleaning Australia’s synth wave music is pretty rockin but yeah the rest sucks

I was about to feel attacked but then I remembered i collected seeds from “probably asters” yesterday

💯

Remember to move hornworms to your non-production/trap tomatoes to see more of them!

Looks like Dark Arthur forgot his wings

Aukward

D…Dad?

My wife has gotten used to this but some of the neighbors still judge a bit. Then again, we’re the house with the hummingbirds and tons of other nesting migratory birds as well as the house with lightning bugs

Henry Agard Wallace

It’s a tattoo of Ceanothus americanus, from a botanical survey of North America commissioned by the first continental congress in 1774. The lettered images on the bottom show the development of the flower head and seeds.