c/lifes-tough-questions

Serious question, why does every farm stand in Vermont sell the same three varieties of apples?

I drove up to the Champlain Valley last weekend and stopped at six different stands, and all of them only had Honeycrisp, McIntosh, and Empire. Is it just a regional thing, or are the other varieties going extinct?

3 comments

the_harper•1mo ago

Turned down a promotion last month because I actually counted the hidden costs

I work at a mid-size accounting firm in Lincoln. They offered me senior manager with a 15k raise. But I sat down and really looked at what that meant. An extra 10 hours a week minimum. Mandatory client dinners twice a week. Weekend calls during tax season. I calculated my hourly rate if I took it versus what I make now. It actually went down by about 3 bucks an hour. Plus I'd lose time with my grandkids. My wife said I looked relieved after I said no instead of disappointed. Has anyone else ever run the numbers on a promotion and found it wasn't worth it?

3 comments

avery_flores17•1mo ago

Appreciation post for the library that made me quit buying books

I walked into my local library 3 months ago to grab one book and ended up borrowing 8. The change was instant - I went from spending $40 a week on new books to zero, and my apartment stopped looking like a bookstore exploded. What really got me was realizing I used to buy books just to feel like I was learning stuff, not to actually read them. The library forced me to read within a 2 week window or pay fines, which weirdly made me finish things. Has anyone else had that moment where a free service made you rethink your whole spending habit?

3 comments

sandra_bennett59•1mo ago

Took me 2 years to figure out why my basil kept dying

I planted basil every spring for two years. Every single time it would get yellow leaves and just stop growing. I thought it was bad soil or not enough water. I tried fancy organic fertilizer from the garden center. Nope. I even moved the pots around the deck to different spots. Finally last month I asked a guy at the local nursery and he said I was watering from above. The leaves were getting wet and fungus was eating the roots. He told me to water at the soil line only. I've done that for three weeks now and the basil is huge and green. Two years of dead plants because I was lazy with a spray nozzle. Has anyone else wasted seasons on something this simple?

4 comments