Minnesota Vikings News and Links: April 8, 2019

Happy Monday, everyone!

I’m really loving these warmer weekends. We were able to spend a majority of the weekend outdoors, and it was spectacular, and therapeutic. We did a lot of raking and such, and we got out for our first fishing excursion yesterday, despite the insane wind. Kiddo wasn’t liking the wind a whole lot, so we didn’t stay long, but it was a lot of fun. After a very long winter, and when the spring weather and the sun FINALLY arrived here, it elevated the mood of this area’s entire population by about ten notches.

So, kiddo has a little John Deere tractor thingy, it’s just a little one, that runs on the little bit of power supplied by the standard 12 volt battery. The battery was getting weak and wouldn’t stay charged very long, so it was time for replacement. I’m of the firm opinion that almost everything that runs on power would be much cooler if it had more power. This tractor is no different, so I figured I’d try something. I have this Craftsman weed eater that runs on the 19.2 volt lithium ion battery, which works, but needed a couple parts, which I haven’t bought because I really want to buy the DeWalt 20v weed eater that runs on the same batteries as my cordless tools. So, I cut the battery receiver off of the weed eater, made a couple modifications to the tractor, and wired the receiver to the tractor, slapped the battery in, and.......IT WORKED! It worked........really well. Yikes, it’s amazing the amount of power you gain when you go from a standard 12 volt to a 19.2 v lithium ion.

Now that I knew it worked, I had to figure out how I was going to attach it permanently to the tractor. I don’t do the zip tie or tarp strap method. I know they work, but I’m a bit picky when I do projects, and I tend to go overboard on things, so I wanted to think of something cool. I came up with an idea. I cut a hole in the hood, and painted the battery receiver and the battery a metallic grey (had some leftover spray paint), then I attached the battery receiver to the top of the hood through the hole I had cut, and left only the very top sticking out through the hood so that I could put on/take off the battery without opening the hood, and also because you can’t have a true hot rod unless you have a hood scope & blower, which this now has. Here’s the finished product.

I have a video of him taking his first ride on his new hot rod, I’ll figure out a way to share it, it’s pretty comical. Man, that thing boogies now. There goes the neighborhood.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Ted posted game nine and game 10 of the Greatest Playoff Win of All-Time Tournament.

Wludford looks at recent signee, Dakota Dozier, and whether he could make the roster this year. I’d sign him just for his name.

Chris posted the latest Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database.

He followed that with Chris’ Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft v7.0: A View to a Mock.

The Vikings are signing QB Sean Mannion, per a report shared by Chris.

Vikings and NFL news from other sources, and other:

Here is a list of former Alliance of American Football players who have signed with NFL teams, from NFL.com.

Antonio Brown made a comment about JuJu Smith-Schuster on social media, and Schuster fired back......a few times. This is pretty good, and Schuster’s right, in my opinion. There’s no reason for that comment by Brown, which is true for many of his comments.

We come to today’s media selection:

Okay, I just posted it to our YouTube channel. Now I can share the video of kiddo taking his first cruise on his new hot rod. Enjoy! (and don’t give me any crap about the lawn, the spots are from the winter dog damage, they’ll be gone soon)

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

• No discussion of politics or religion
• No feeding of the trolls
• This isn’t a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door
• Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
• Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
• No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
• If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
• While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up and tie one on. Don’t forget to tip your waitress, and try the chitlins.