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Following up on my previous post: finished with the miter saw. Sanded the handle and blade, jointed and sharpened the teeth, waxed the blade, BLO on the handle, polished the reinstalled the nuts.

Seems to cut well!

The blade has a nice marking on it, hard to photograph. It's not perfectly shiny, but I got the bulk of the rust off anyway.

Working on the handle for the 2nd one. Sanding those inside surfaces is a pain, tips welcome. It has some big cracks, so I'm filling those with sawdust+glue.

Also working on a plane.

Disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the metal. Sharpening in progress. Looks like it's missing one piece, a little washer that sits on the lateral adjustment arm and fits into the slot in the iron. Both wooden handles were split, so I'm gluing them before refinishing.

Via Indivisible on Bluesky (sorry for the image of text, that's what was posed there). The email is elizabeth.lutts@masenate.gov . The bill is SD.3574 .

Related is an email template for the federal budget in the Senate.

• In your Gmail app, go to Settings.
• Select your Gmail address.
• Clear the Smart features checkbox.
• Go to Google Workspace smart features.
• Clear the checkboxes for: Smart features in Google Workspace, Smart features in other Google products
• If you have more Gmail accounts, repeat these steps for each one.
• Turning off Gemini in Gmail also disables basic, long-standing features like spellchecking, which predate AI assistants. This design choice discourages opting out and shows how valuable your AI-processed data is for Google.

This has finally gotten me to take steps to deGoogle my email, Fastmail trial underway.

The move came as dozens of immigrants arrested in Minneapolis were shipped to the Torrance County Detention Facility, which is run by private prison operator CoreCivic, in New Mexico. One of them, 33-year-old Jorge Cordoba, told Source NM he lived in Minneapolis for more than 20 years and was in the country legally under protected Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival status.

Residents who spoke during public comment were overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, though Otero County Attorney R.B. Nichols spoke during a virtual public comment period to oppose the bill. He said it would disproportionately harm economies in regions like Otero or Torrance counties that rely on detention centers for jobs.

The bill’s supporters, though, contend that it would not force these facilities to shut down. Many detention centers contract with other law enforcement agencies, such as the U.S. Marshals, and would still detain people accused of crimes.

“We’re disentangling ourselves from the immigration industry that’s been…a money-making, for-profit machine off the backs of our neighbors and families and friends,” Chávez, one of the bill’s sponsors, told Source NM. “I think that it sends a message to the rest of the country.”

On Oct 7

Boston police said a group of between 200 to 300 protesters blocked Tremont Street near Winter Street around 6:46 p.m., while officers were responding to an unrelated emergency three blocks away.

“When officers attempted to move the group to the sidewalk to allow emergency vehicles to pass, protesters surrounded police cruisers, kicked vehicle doors, and resisted dispersal efforts,” the department said in a statement.

Mass 50501 will join Boston DSA, PSL, and other orgs in calling for an end to Trump’s extrajudicial acts of war against Venezuela and an end to ICE’s reign of terror across the U.S. tomorrow, Saturday, Jan 10th, at 12 PM at Boston’s State House.

After the protest, join us to march to the JFK Federal Building for LUCE’s 2 PM rally and vigil for Renee Good and all those whose lives have been taken by ICE.

Via the Mass 50501 email list.

Posted by bostonpsl on Instagram.

In light of ICE murdering a protester in Minneapolis.

Recipe from thesourdoughbaker.com. The dough is fairly wet (69% hydration assuming 50% hydration starter), not that different from my standard sourdough loaf.

This was my 2nd attempt at English Muffins and 1st use of this recipe. Misc observations: They definitely came out nicer using the rings for the rise and on the griddle, but keeping the rings on during the bake didn't really matter. They got a lot of "oven" spring on the griddle. Coarse cornmeal was too coarse (still pretty crunchy to eat), I may try to grind it finer but would buy a finer grind in the future; however setting each side of the shaped balls in a bowl of cornmeal was a little easier than finding a well-dusted patch on the baking sheet for each one. I had to have the griddle hotter than I guessed, pretty much like for pancakes.

Here they are ready to prove:

Most of the nuts came out with minimal force, but the last one just spins in place. I tried rubber gloves, painter's tape, and duct tape to get a better grip. I'd rather not cut a slot in the domed nut if there's another good strategy.

The rest of the restoration underway:

$15 at an estate sale, I was definitely prepared to pay more. I've seen people finding such cool stuff at secondhand shops and had no luck myself, so I'm hoping I can get some life out of these.

Also got a plane (one of the adjustments doesn't work but otherwise looks decent) and a Heath Kit power supply.

I found this table on the curb a while back, less the leg hardware. No a relative could use it, and I'm wondering how to fix it up.

Cut a couple 2x4 sections to fill the truncated-triangular area and screw through them into all surfaces?

The legs have a hollow center drilled out, at the top, so I assume some metal piece with threaded holes fit there, and a metal plate anchored that to the skirt (?).

Another view: