From the days of driving without a seatbelt, while your kids roam freely in the back of your station wagon comes Madge, an early televised Karen.

Shaming your customers is always the way to go!

Plucky losers taking over a rich guys hobby was one of the great 80s tropes.

Electra can be cute when she isn't eating my freshly planted vegetables, or Roku remotes.

Luckily no one was hurt, but this tree wanted the music the stop.

The TACKLIFE random orbital 5" palm sander is great for the price.

I bought a Bosche that cost around 2.5X more 15 years ago. It did a lot of work for me for 3-5 years, sat for nearly 10, and then died within 2-3 minutes of trying to sand a table for painting.

I don't anticipate doing a lot more sanding after I finish the table, and my father borrows the sander to do one of his, but its nice to have around. At this price, if I find it doesn't survive 10 years locked in my shed I will not mind losing it.

The TACKLIFE is powerful. The dust catching system worked very well. My table is sanded.

Wear a mask and eye-protection as well.

TACKLIFE 5-Inch Random Orbit Sander 3.0A with 12Pcs Sandpapers, 6 Variable Speed 13000RPM Electric Sander, High Performance Dust Collection System via Amazon

MacEnany had planned to regale the nation with the wondrous achievements of the Trump Administration, sadly those plans were upset when her boss encouraged a crowd to murder Congress, and they failed.

Politico:

"I wanted to do a press briefing on the way out about all the great achievements of this administration, and all the good that I felt that the president had done," McEnany said. "We didn't get the opportunity to do that because obviously Jan. 6th, it just was something that was not tenable."

McEnany addressed reporters briefly on Jan. 7 but opted to read off a roughly two minute-long prepared statement and exited without taking questions.

"I knew I needed to go to the podium," McEnany said Tuesday. "I knew that's what Christ would want me to do. I knew it's what, as a woman of faith, I needed to do."

I am unaware of the portions of the Christian bible that relate to insurrection and press conferences, but modern religion is not my thing.

Aliens: Fireteam looks fun but we used to LAN play Alien vs Predator on the Atari Jaguar.

I fell to sleep with this remote in the bed. Electra monched it.

It appears Jeep has heard Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.'s request the 'Jeep Cherokee" not be called that, and Jeep is willing to talk to him some more.

Jalopnik:

The disagreement between Jeep and the Cherokee Nation over the use of the Cherokee nameplate for its SUVs is far from over.

The carmaker responded on Wednesday to the Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. in a statement. Jeep replied to Chief Hoskin's suggestion that the carmaker find a more suitable and less offensive name for its Cherokee SUVs with the following, per the New York Times:

"Our vehicle names have been carefully chosen and nurtured over the years to honor and celebrate Native American people for their nobility, prowess and pride[.] We are, more than ever, committed to a respectful and open dialogue with Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr."

This is the latest in the exchange between the two parties which the NYT details in the following from their report:

"Chief Hoskin said he told Jeep during a Zoom meeting in late January that he did not condone its use of the Cherokee name. He said that the meeting was cordial and that he was encouraged that the company had initiated the conversation."

Beloved children's artist and story teller Theodore Geisel's work was not always the most inclusive, and has long been the subject of criticism. Dr. Seuss Enterprises has ceased to publish 6 books that it has identified as problematic.

AP:

Six Dr. Seuss books — including "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" and "If I Ran the Zoo" — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy said Tuesday.

"These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrator's birthday.

"Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises' catalog represents and supports all communities and families," it said.

The other books affected are "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!," "Scrambled Eggs Super!," and "The Cat's Quizzer."

My daughter planted ALL THE SEEDS and now — if possible — we have far too many sunflowers.

I handed my daughter two packs of these dwarf sunflower seeds. I asked her to plant 4 per planter (we had 4) along the roof of a shed. We thought a 3-4 foot hedge of sunflowers would be fun.

She planted all the seeds. I have been thinning them out and offering seedlings to friends who want some.

I am surprised at how deep the roots have gone in just a few days.

I have some mammoth sunflowers and corn going in transplantable egg crates, seeing the early depth of these dwarf sunflowers, I may plant the mammoth sooner than later. I have been told to wait for the 1st set of real leaves vs the caudal pair that come from the seed to establish.

Yay! Spring!

Burpee Sunny Bunch Sunflower Seeds 25 seeds via Amazon

Very Shrek.

This was the easiest batch of delicious smoked chili I have made yet.

This simple smoked over-the-top chili took even less effort than my previous batch, where-in I used McCormick spice envelopes to flavor it. This time I used 1/3rd a can of Chipoltes in Adobo Sauce.

Smoked Over-the-Top Adobo Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 large Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, diced
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 can Chipolte chilis in Adobo Sauce
• 1 can Tomato Paste
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes
• 2 lbs ground beef
• Salt and MSG to taste

Get your smoker going at a stable 225F, however, you do it. I used a Kamado Joe Classic III with Green Egg premium hardwood lump charcoal (a neighbor provided the expensive coal.)

I use an enameled dutch oven for this. You can also use a cast iron seasoned one, but the tomato base might not work well with a long simmer in the seasoned one. You make the call for you!

Sautee the onions, peppers, garlic in the butter. When they are starting to get sauteed, add the cans of tomato products. Chop 2 chilis from the can of Chipoltes and add them to the dutch oven. Stir it up good and move the dutch oven to your smoker.

I then combine 2 tsp of adobo sauce from the can with 2lbs of ground beef and about 1 tsp of MSG and 1 tsp of salt. I make a big meatball.

I place the meatball on a cooking cooling sheet above the pot of vegetable product in the smoker at 225F or so. I then close them smoker and leave it alone for 2 hrs.

At 2 hrs I start testing the temperature of the meatball. At 140F I will put the meatball in the dutch oven and break it up. I then return the dutch oven to the smoker for another 90 minutes to however long I feel like.

Eat the chili when you determine it done. I find it gets better and the smokey flavors come out after an over night rest in the fridge.

I am rapidly running out of horcrux.

Since the pandemic, I don't ride much, but when I did it was always my Daytona Orange R90S. Immaculately maintained, I had been told she was the most fun to ride example any one of the three mechanics I have had work on her during my term of ownership thus far.

Typical oil changes and value adjustments are my jobs, but every 2 years I have whomever the most dedicated vintage BMW mechanic I can find in my closest major metropolitan area do a very major service.

The Dellorto carbs are beyond my pay grade, even tho I did the Bings on my haunted R75/6.

Luckily, after moving down the LA last year I found Matt at Black Kat Motorwerks. He did an amazing job and the bike ran better than she ever had. I was using her as my daily driver until the fear of ending up in a hospital during a pandemic became overwhelming.

I could not park such a motorcycle at my new home, where my parking is fairly exposed in Venice Beach, so I parked the bike, covered up and charging, next to my parent's garage. Shaded by their 100-year-old pepper tree.

Pepper tree gave up in the whole shading thing last weekend. We are very lucky that it glanced off the garage and walloped my lovely motorcycle, instead of my parent's home.

The bike is insured. Matt at Black Kat picked her up as soon as the tree was cut off her. She rolled into his truck, which surprised me.

We wait.

Image analyst Andy Saunders used video and photographs to determine just how far "miles and miles and miles" is.

Not very far.

Astronomy:

However, image specialist Andy Saunders recently analyzed archival stills taken by the astronauts with their Hasselblad cameras, as well as video from the lunar ascent module as it lifted off from the surface. Saunders managed to identify not only Shepard's golf balls, but also his footprints from his stance and his divots. By comparing these to more recent satellite images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Saunders was able to measure the distance on Shepard's second shot. The result? A rather tame 40 yards (120 feet).

Still, that's not bad for a one-handed bunker shot taken while wearing a bulky spacesuit in weak gravity. Plus, it served as one of the Apollo program's most memorable moments. When asked about the shot at a post-flight Congressional hearing, Shepard quipped, "I did this since I am patriotic and concerned about the security of the nation."

A fantastic primer on drag racing and tire technology.