On carpet tracks, the owners are very particular about what traction compound you’re allowed to use. Rightly so as the tire rubber and compound ultimately work their way into the (expensive) carpet. On dirt and clay it’s not as regulated for club racing because it’s just dirt! This has unintended consequences… One popular “tire sauce” is liquid wrench. You can even find it listed on the pros setup sheets. While I admire the inventiveness, take a look at the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). With warnings like Use only outdoors or in a well-ventilated area and Causes skin irritation, it makes you wonder if there’s a better way. When using liquid wrench I would wear nitrite gloves to make sure it’s not soaking into my skin. Wearing gloves for tire chemical treatment is generally a good idea, but if I can also avoid irritating fumes, even better. Continue reading

My wife got me this hard cider kit from Brooklyn BrewShop for Christmas:

Unfortunately apple cider was very out of season at the time. As we get back into the height of cider season, I want to tell you how easy it is to make hard cider with three (3!) ingredients and have it ready to drink in about a month.

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What’s a Backslash, besides this: “\”? It’s a nickname for a RC buggy made from the chassis of a Traxxas Slash. Some people call it a Backslash, some people call it a Sluggy (Slash + Buggy). Whatever you call it, the original 4WD variation is the most popular because it’s extremely simple to mount an 1/8 scale wing to the shock tower and change the body to a 1/8 scale buggy one. I wanted to do one for my 2WD Slash. There are a couple of extra hurdles on the 2WD, like the gearbox being behind the shock tower, but it still seemed do-able. So here is what I did to mount an 1/8 scale wing to my 2WD Slash. Continue reading
I picked up a HobbyMate HB298T AIO FPV Camera for my Tiny Whoop. It’s discontinued, which is a shame, but you might be able to find them on eBay. I got it because of this very specific feature most micro-FPV cameras don’t have: Built-in Microphone. BUT… I haven’t installed the addition to my FPV goggles that will allow me to receive and record sound yet. Video however is working nicely and I look forward to adding audio to the mix. Continue reading

At home, we’ve created a parody on the Tim & Eric song/skit “All The Food is Poison”

Our version is called “All The Things Are Cancelled” and it goes like this:

All the things are cancelled, all the things are cancelled!

  • WGI – Cancelled!
  • Drum Corps – Cancelled!
  • Sportsball – Cancelled!
  • State Fair – Cancelled!
  • WordCamp – Cancelled?

WordCamp US 2020 was canceled, citing online event fatigue. But the organizers of WordCamp Minneapolis / St. Paul did not. Would we just be another notch in the bedpost of 2020 online event fatigue?

To be honest, the organizing team did contemplate canceling WordCamp Minneapolis / St. Paul as the Coronavirus pandemic continued to linger. But everyone agreed that pivoting to a single-day virtual event was a better idea – and we stayed the course.

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