Daniel Schaefer

@skydrama A buddy and I were on the Monticello road headed west to try and come in behind it. It was so big we thought it was going hit us and it was over at sadorus. We came in behind it and saw the damage.

50 years ago today, the infamous Sadorus, Illinois F4 tornado traveled 60+ miles through central and eastern Illinois into western Indiana, at over a mile wide at times. We know the infamous video scenes, but this twin tornado phase near Philo, IL still blows my mind.

In 1962, a struggling McDonald's franchise owner in Cincinnati walked into Ray Kroc's office with an idea for a fish sandwich, and Kroc told him: "You're always coming up here with a bunch of crap. I don't want my stores stunk up with the smell of fish." That franchise owner was Lou Groen, the neighborhood around his restaurant at 5425 West North Bend Road in Cincinnati was 87 percent Catholic, and on Fridays during Lent his daily sales had dropped to 75 dollars. He had a wife, twins at home, and a McDonald's that was bleeding money one meatless Friday at a time. He had watched the Frisch's Big Boy across the street doing full business every Friday because they served a fish sandwich, and he had gone to Chicago to tell Ray Kroc that McDonald's needed one too. Kroc was not interested. The reason Kroc was not interested turned out to be that he was already working on his own meatless Friday sandwich. It was called the Hula Burger and it was a slice of grilled pineapple with a piece of cheese on a bun. Kroc believed in it enough to propose a competition. On Good Friday 1962 both sandwiches would be sold at select locations and whichever one sold more units would earn a permanent place on the McDonald's menu. Groen's granddaughter Erica Shadoin, who still owns and operates that same Cincinnati franchise today, later recalled what her grandfather said the moment he heard Kroc's idea: he knew immediately that his fish sandwich was going to win. The final score on Good Friday 1962 was Filet-O-Fish 350, Hula Burger 6. Kroc bought Groen a new suit as his prize. What Groen had understood and Kroc had missed was something almost embarrassingly simple. The Catholic population of Cincinnati was not avoiding meat on Fridays because they wanted pineapple. They were avoiding meat because their faith required it, and what they wanted in its place was something that actually tasted like a meal. A breaded halibut fillet with tartar sauce on a steamed bun tasted like a meal. A grilled pineapple ring with cheese on a hamburger bun tasted like someone had run out of ideas on a Thursday night. Groen had spent months perfecting his recipe before he ever went to Chicago. He had even noticed one of his employees putting a slice of cheese on a fish sandwich he was making for himself one afternoon and decided it was a good enough idea to steal. That half slice of cheese has been on every Filet-O-Fish ever since. By 1963 the sandwich was rolling out across the entire McDonald's system. By 1965 it became the first new item ever added to the permanent McDonald's national menu since Kroc had taken over the chain. Ray Kroc acknowledged the Hula Burger's failure in his autobiography Grinding it Out, writing: "It was a giant flop when we tried it in our stores. One customer said, I like the hula, but where's the burger?" Today McDonald's sells 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches every year. Twenty-three percent of those are sold during Lent. Lou Groen retired in 1985 owning 43 McDonald's franchises. He passed away in 2011. His granddaughter Erica still runs the restaurant at 5425 West North Bend Road in Cincinnati where the whole thing started, the 66th McDonald's franchise ever opened, the place where a desperate man with 75 dollars in daily Friday sales invented one of the most enduring items in the history of fast food because a pineapple slice on a bun was never going to be the answer. © Eats History #archaeohistories

A film crew arrived on Tuesday with a drone, a budget, and a 4,000-word researcher's brief about the environmental damage caused by British beef farming. What they found was Gerald. Gerald was in the south corner. 9:30am - The drone went up. Gerald watched the drone for approximately three seconds, concluded it wasn't interesting, and went back to grazing. Thirty seconds of footage: bull, ignoring drone, eating grass. Not the footage. 11:00am - The researcher asked the farmer about Gerald's methane output. The farmer explained the biogenic cycle. The researcher said that wasn't in her brief. The farmer said it was in the peer-reviewed literature. The brief did not contain the peer-reviewed literature. 12:30pm - The cameraman asked if Gerald could do something. The farmer: "Like what?" The cameraman: "Something more active." Gerald lay down in the south corner. Gerald had been awake since 5am and had grazed eleven acres. Gerald found the cameraman's schedule irrelevant. 1:00pm - The producer walked the south corner with an ecologist who was there on a separate Natural England survey. The ecologist pointed out the seven wildflower species. The Bombus humilis. The dung beetle activity. The lapwing pair. The producer: "Is this because of the cow?" Ecologist: "Yes." Producer: "Can we use that?" Ecologist: "You're making a film about Gerald being a problem." Producer: "...Can we use it anyway?" 4:00pm - They left. The documentary has a two-star rating on streaming. The south corner has a UK priority bee species. Gerald is in the south corner. Gerald has not seen the documentary. Gerald does not have a streaming subscription.

Illinois, you're the tallest team in the nation. Play like it. Go to the post.

If you have a blonde haired daughter who goes to WIU or lives in Macomb and drives a black Chevy car…please remind her that the solid walls by the cemetery don’t really give oncoming traffic enough time to react if you pull out and don’t look. Girl had an angel on her shoulder.

Another great find from a former landlord who sold Phillips 66 NH3 in the 1950’s. Hopefully we’ve progressed from the 1.5-2.5 lbs N/bushel recommendations then for nitrogen management in corn!

@Sorrels97 I wonder if the Yetter 10000 low disturbance NH3 system would work in soils here in Illinois for wheat spring nitrogen.

For everyone in X land here’s the scoop on top dressing wheat with anhydrous. #AgX #Agtwitter #wheat #fertilizer #Oklahoma

I was in Champaign for a deal that Orion Samuelson spoke at. After he was finished, I went out to the lobby and he was selling his book. I asked if he minded if I shook the hand of one of the most prominent voices in ag. I then asked, " what was the biggest positive change you can remember coming to your farm?" Without hesitation, he replied, " electricity." Something I had never lived without was a life changing event for him and his family.

After an active run of storms brought drought relief + severe storms from the Plains to the Midwest Feb 15-Mar 15 the pattern goes quiet into late March. There may be some signs we'll trend active again in early April - let's disuss: skydrama.net/post/pattern-q…

I remember mustering up the courage, twice, to ask Orion Samuelson for an interview, and he said yes both times. Talk about nervous yet excited to interview the legend!! I need to track those interviews down…

With nitrogen and seeding response trials we often seek the Economic Optimum Rate (EOR) where net profit is maximized, but forget about the shoulders of the curve - is it wide or narrow? There’s many situations where you’re exchanging $ for $ by increasing N or seed.

Based on radar/satellite trends and latest high-resolution guidance, might watch this area for the development of a few sustained meso-vortices within the evolving QLCS over the next few hours. This would be most likely area for higher end wind gusts / embedded tornadoes.

Just got back from Walmart… I was in the checkout line with a giant bag Pedigree dog food for Hercules, my 180 pound massive dog. The woman behind me looked at the bag, then at me, and asked, “Oh! Do you have a dog?” Since I’m retired and have way too much free time, I decided to have a little fun. I told her, dead serious, “No, I don’t have a dog. I’m going back on the Pedigree Diet.” Her eyes widened, so I continued, “Last time I tried it, I lost 50 pounds before I landed in intensive care—tubes everywhere, IVs in both arms. But hey, it works! The diet’s simple…fill your pockets with Pedigree nuggets and eat a few whenever you feel hungry. Perfectly balanced nutrition.” By now, everyone around was listening. The poor woman gasped, “Oh my goodness! Did the dog food poison you?” I shook my head. “Nope. I just stopped to pee on a fire hydrant and got hit by a car.” The guy behind her nearly collapsed from laughing so hard.

Nestled near the southern end of the @UofIllinois Main Quad, the Morrow Plots are the longest continuously-running agricultural experiment in all of North America. 🌽🌾 @ACESIllinois is celebrating 150 years of this living laboratory throughout the year: ow.ly/Rn3850YtwaU

🌪️ Insane close encounter south of Kankakee, IL — 4–6” hailstones exploded through my driver window, sending glass everywhere and blowing out my front windshield! 😳🧊💥 The RFD/inflow into this tornado was absolutely unreal at that range. I would’ve been even closer, but I got cut up and started bleeding on my arm and face. This was as the tornado crossed I-57 and moved toward Aroma Park, IL. ⚠️🚗 #Tornado #KankakeeIL #AromaParkIL #IllinoisWeather #StormChasing #CloseEncounter #Hail #ExtremeWeather #SevereWeather #TornadoIntercept #I57 #WeatherAlert #ILwx #TornadoDamage #BreakingWeather

@ChicagoMWeather You are nuts

@grok based on my posts please portray a picture of me

A Mass casualty incident has been declared for the Kankakee, IL area per scanner with a command post being set up.