Blog? What Am I Doing With a Blog?

Hi! – Most of you know me as somewhat opinionated and so I’m making it official. Welcome to “TOMSOPINION.COM”

I’ve had this blog for a while now and, although not widely read, it has developed a small following. I like to try and find really good stuff and comment on it. Good food, household items that really work well and last long, and some hobby type pursuits. If you like it, tell your friends. NOW!

You’ll see my not-so-humble opinions on many of my favorite subjects including, but not limited to, Food, Bicycles, Technology, Cars, and Fixing Stuff.

Not so much about Women, Politics, Religion, and the other 3rd rail topics of the world.  You can scroll down through the start of all the articles, or click some of the New and Update links below.

WHAT’S NEW –

I will try and add pointers to major changes right here once a month. This will let you go directly to the new stuff without having to search or wonder what’s changed.

Also, please read the “Disclaimer”  CLICK HERE (or scroll down a couple of posts).

New articles:

I have taken a flyer into the world of “premium” Tequilas and reviewed a few. Keep in mind that taste is one of the most subjective senses and therefore my opinions about any given swig are very “personal.” You can read the article HERE.

You know that I have strong opinions about privacy, and in that vein, I was appalled to read the “Privacy Policy” of a company I had to do business with. I refused to sign it and voiced my objections loudly to the company. I dissected it for your benefit HERE.

After receiving a chatty email from the criminally negligent Equifax, I replied asking for some real relief. I suggest you do it too. HERE

A long, boring, and informative article regarding the Equifax Data Breach scandal. Sorry about the length, but please read it for own protection.  Click HERE. I updated the very end regarding the newest Tax scam.

Another rant on computer and data privacy. Nothing is sacred. Please read it HERE.

I commented on a recent Aston Martin article and on its relationship to what I do. It’s an opinion piece. Imagine that. CLICK!

We had a little dinner party and my doctored hummus was a hit. The recipe is a CLICK away.

A whole new section on all my bicycle projects is now done. Click on the page heading on the right side index of the front page. Enjoy if you are into old iron. New bikes are added as I complete them, so this article is ever changing.

I just updated and added to this article about Some comments on Russian Hackers, and some advice for you too……  CLICK HERE.

A recipe for a super-easy and terrific homemade mustard has engaged my affections. Read the story and recipe  HERE.

I have added a new recipe for cooked oatmeal! (What? eeeew!) As they say, “Don’t knock it, ’till you’ve tried it!” Click HERE. No, really, you will be pleasantly surprised. Go ahead, DO IT! (It has nice pictures.)

Recent Updates :

I added a new restoration to the old Schwinn’s article – 1979 Continental II. To see a few pictures and the description click HERE and scroll down to the Update.

The Bicycle page changes as I add new bikes. If you have read it, scroll to the end for anything new, as that’s where I add stuff.

Most of the pictures are “clickable” for a much bigger, more detailed picture if you like. Enjoy!

I have allowed the option for readers to comment on most of the articles. Just click on the heading of any post or click “continue reading —>” and it will take you to that post’s page where you can add your comments at the end.

THANKS!

bottles top S

Security Online – Yes, YOU!

Since I opened this blog, more than 200 attempts at unauthorized logins have been made.

Not just a quick drive-by either; concerted repeated attempts at hijacking the blog. Yup, there are people out there who have nothing better to do than to try and screw with other people’s stuff. I hope that this doesn’t come as a surprise to you.

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Disclaimer

Judging from the title of this blog, it is clear that information presented here is considered to be an opinion, and not necessarily fact. If you decide to take actions based on the contents of this blog, and those actions result in undesirable consequences, you are ultimately responsible for those consequences. The information contained here is provided “as-is” and without warranty or claim of suitability of any kind.

Agave Agape

The essence of agape love is goodwill, benevolence, and willful delight in the object of love. The essence of agave is tequila.

Almost anyone can manage to ferment some sort of sugary fruit juice and produce a rudimentary hooch. A tad more sophistication is required to extract the alcohol through distillation and concentrate it into some semblance of moonshine. History proves that almost all cultures, from ancient to current, brewed up and consumed some kind of alcoholic beverages. The laborers that built the pyramids simultaneously nourished their bodies and dulled the pain of hard labor with a beer ration of a gallon and a half per day, per man. Archeologists tell us that this was likely a hearty starchy brew that could double as a meal, but ancient Greek brewers were not unknown to add a level of sophistication to their brews, using herbs like thyme, coriander, and chamomile.

The advent of distillation, though, opened an entirely new world to their craft and spawned a completely new branch of the alcoholic arts, of which, broadly speaking, there are today, three; brewers, winemakers, and distillers. These arts often intertwine in products such as fortified wines (Madeira, Marsala, Port, Sherry, and Vermouth are examples) or  Sake, often called “rice wine” when, in actuality, it is a brewed beverage. Additionally, the distilled alcohols are often flavored by aging in used wine barrels, or, as in the case of Brandy or Cognac, are essentially distilled wine.

It seems intuitive, then, to think that depending on what sugary mash is the base of the fermentation, the flavor of the end product will be subtly or significantly different. Original vodka, made from potatoes (starch / sugar, essentially the same thing as far as the yeast is concerned as enzymes are used to convert the starch into simple sugars, the favorite food of yeast) is said to have a completely different flavor and mouth feel than the much more common grain vodkas found in the West. (Unscrupulous producers of cheap grain vodka sometimes add a bit of glycerin to mimic the mouthfeel of an original potato vodka. Ugh. They also “brag” about distilling it “twenty times” as if it were a badge of honor, when in reality, they are just trying to literally distill the crap out of it.) In any case, Vodka is often referred to as a “neutral grain spirit” and as such, has very little natural flavor. Hence, the proliferation of “flavored” vodkas, of which there are, today, endless varieties.

Conversely, some base stocks do impart a distinct flavor to the resulting ferment, rum leaving the caramelized sugar cane or molasses flavor in the final product, and tequila, by law made from blue agave plants, retaining its very unique and identifiable vegetal “cactus juice” flavor and delightful sweetness. Technically, the Weber Blue Agave from which “real” tequila is made isn’t a cactus at all, but rather a succulent, which take approximately eight years to mature to harvest. And, unlike a grape vine, which can be picked clean and then will grow a new crop the following year, the agave plant is harvested whole and “used-up” in the process, so tequila producers have to plan ahead, way ahead.

Of course, as with any particular variety of “hard likker,” tequila comes in an endless range of honesty, quality, and enjoy-ability.  There are those who say that they never touch the stuff, because of a one-night stand that resulted in a violent hangover and a three-day headache. Likely, they were not victim to tequila, but rather to an adulterated swill made from as little as 10-15% cheap tequila, made potent by the addition of grain spirits, made golden by the addition of caramel, and made sweet by the addition of cane sugar. Fine tequila is no more likely to hurt you as is good scotch or any other unadulterated premium liquor. Enough of any of these will make you regret the sunrise, but that’s not the liquor’s fault, it’s your fault.

So, let’s pop a cork and sip some utterly delicious tequilas, shall we?

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K-Y-M-O

Other People’s Stuff

 

It’s pretty obvious to me that things just aren’t what they used to be. I know that as I get older I’m tending to be less tolerant of the endless examples of annoying behavior exhibited by people I encounter daily. Is it because I am mirroring the stereotypical curmudgeonly traits of advanced retirement, or is there just more annoying behavior to get under my skin?

One thing I know for sure is that there is an expanding wave of utter disrespect for the sanctity of Other People’s Stuff. As a child, I can’t count the number of times I was told “That’s not yours, don’t touch that!” or “Leave other people’s stuff alone.”

Apparently, today, that axiom has faded from our society. I see it in small ways, like yesterday at the Costco, when a flock of children shopping with their unconcerned elders chanced upon a sectional couch on display. Immediately, one of the younger kids ran up, climbed over the back of the couch and flipped herself lengthwise onto the cushions. Of course, two of the others followed suit. The first one, jumped up and ran along the curved cushions of the sectional chased by the other and climbed up on and jumped off the arm of the recliner at the far end. Of course, this was accompanied by peals of laughter and shrieking joy. What was not in evidence was even the slightest sign of disapproval from their parents.

Somehow, the boundaries between what is mine and what is public have not just become blurred, they have disappeared. Or perhaps more accurately, they still exist, it’s just that no one respects them anymore. Handbill distributors think it’s perfectly OK to trudge across my landscaping, so they can hang their detritus off my front door knob. One recently walked past, inches from a bedroom window, on his way from my front door to my neighbor’s instead of taking the long way, down the sidewalk to the street. Recently, two young bucks took the liberty of walking up my long driveway and carefully examining the windshields of my parked cars in the hopes that they could ring my doorbell and sell me a windshield repair. Alerted by my security cameras, I watched them lean over the fenders, walk around each car, and give it scrutiny. For all I know, they were looking for an unlocked door. When I confronted them, they were actually surprised that I was upset. When I found out that, additionally, they didn’t even have a proper solicitation permit, I had the sheriff escort them out of town. What ever happened to “private property?”

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My Response to EQUIFAX Email

Updated with reply from Equifax below  – 3/8/18

 

Yesterday, I received an email form Equifax, the company that leaked sensitive “personally identifiable” information about 143 or more MILLION American consumers into the wild. The email was written in a chatty “personal” style and was purportedly from “Nancy B.” an Equifax employee, giving advice on things to do to keep my credit secure when “life gets Busy.” I would have included Nancy’s picture in this post, but, of course, their email is copyrighted.

Thanks, Nancy, but if you really cared, how come the return email address is “no-reply@trustedID.com”? More platitudes and a picture of a comely woman in the header to make it feel all wonderful and comfortable. Well, giving me advice on how you keep your credit secure, Nancy, is really nice, but woefully empty.

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The Inmates are Running The Asylum

I have written a few articles about computers and privacy and how you need to be careful what you access, use, and disclose. This article adds some fuel to that fire of eroding privacy. For most of us “users” out here if we still use a laptop or desktop, when it comes to our daily computing needs there really are only two viable choices; Mac or Windows. Sure, you can install Linux or its many variants, but only a small part of the computing public that wants to read email, do some online shopping, and pay our bills have the technical savvy to create and maintain a Linux machine.

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143 Million More Victims Join The Ranks

September 2017

Updated 2/25/2018 – I responded to an Equifax “fluff” email. I suggest you do too. Read it HERE please.

Updated 9/28/2017 – New developments added at end of this article.

Updated 9/29/2017 – More things to worry about and how to protect yourself from them regarding your TAXES. New info 2/25/18.

This is the longest article I have ever written for this blog – I apologize that it’s not exciting and full of cool pictures. It’s dry, potentially boring, and really important information for you to know. Please read it.

Equifax spilled the beans. I mean, ALL the beans. One Hundred and Forty-Three Million pots of beans. YOUR beans to be exact.

By now, news articles about big data companies being hacked are unnervingly common, but Equifax? One of the “Big Three” credit monitoring institutions in the world left the gate open. What’s worse, is that they had the opportunity to lock the gate months before someone walked in and just helped themselves to YOUR personal, private, critical, personally identifying information. They were warned that their systems were vulnerable, notified that a patch was available, and just stood by and did nothing.

Then, they waited months before telling 143 Million potential victims that their data was “in the wild,” and watching their stock value plummet from $142 to $95. Months, during which some of their corporate executives dumped $1.8 Million worth of their personal Equifax holdings. But, they say they weren’t aware of the data breach when they sold. And, I trust them! Don’t you?

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95% Of All Aston Martins

Recently, Nick Caruso, an Associate Editor at Gear Patrol in NY, published an article about the bespoke cars produced by the English company, Aston Martin. Titled Visual Proof That Aston Martin Makes “The Most Beautiful Cars In The World,” the article supports that position, in part, by citing that of the 80,000 or so cars the company has built in the last 104 years, roughly 95% of them can still be accounted for. Also, interesting is that 80,000 cars is about what Toyota produces in 2 days.

I think that time has proven that there will, likely, always be a market for the “most” something of everything, regardless of cost or difficulty obtaining one. Also likely, is that we (you and I) will not typically be in that market, but rather bystanders, agape at the excesses of speed, cost, beauty, elegance, etc., but appreciative, which is more than you can say about most of the rest of the great unwashed.

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Party Favor(ite) Recipe

We had a little get-together recently and I made a variety of dips and sauces, but by far, the one that got the most positive reviews for the evening was my curried hummus, which is super simple to make and takes just a few minutes. Here, for all that are interested, is the recipe;

Curried Hummus

8 oz               Organic Plain Hummus
1 Tbsp.         World Market Hot Curry Powder
1/2 tsp.         Fresh Ground Pepper
1 Tbsp.          Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp.         Sugar
1/2 tsp.         Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp.             Dried Dill
1 tsp.            Granulated Dried Garlic

Salt to taste. If served with salty chips, use very little. If served with plain crackers or plain bread, amp it up a bit.

Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Stir thoroughly to incorporate all the ingredients. Don’t whip in a lot of air. Refrigerate for 2 hours or more to allow flavors to combine. Serve with pita bread, naan, or chips. All the quantities are “to taste,” so adjust as you like, but don’t forego the lemon juice. It makes the whole thing “pop.”

This curried hummus is good as a substitute for mayo on sandwiches, a veggie dip, or a seasoning for many soups.  Enjoy!!

A Dream Takes Flight

Knock This Off My Bucket List

Yesterday, when I attended the fly-in at Casa Grande Municipal Airport, I got the “T” Shirt, and a whole lot more. Primarily, we went because a good friend of mine asked if I’d do the driving, because he wanted to check out a bunch of cool old planes, and meet up with a friend of his whose dad had facilitated the restoration of a 1943 Boeing B75-N1. “A what?” you ask. You might know it as the famous Stearman Bi-Plane.

What happened next is a dream comes true for me.    Continue reading →

Russian Hackers Are Everywhere!

If you are expecting a big exposé on the administration, I’m sorry to disappoint you, I don’t really know much about whether Putin was instrumental in electing the new Prez, or if glasnost has been replaced by Chernobyl packets, but what I do know is that there are a lot of people with .ru domains that have nothing better to do than to send mountains of spam comments to this very blog.

A flood of these comments, numbering into the dozens per day, have been appearing and require manual filtering, which is time consuming and annoying, to say the least. A quick Google search on this topic assures me that I am not the lone victim, but rather this is a problem that pervades blog admins more or less universally. And yes, there are effective countermeasures that minimize the annoyance, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is an epidemic. You may ask, “What’s the purpose?” and as I understand it, many (some) amateur blogs allow un-moderated comments, which allows the bot or hacker to publish links on a bona-fide blog in the context of their meaningless crap, which point to product ads, porn sites, or entrapment sites, to name a few. Even moderated comments need careful editing to remove the embedded links, if they somehow actually get published. Keep reading for some actual examples….

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Toss A Pebble In A Stream – Updated 1/13/17

pebble-watch

UPDATE – Jan. 13, 2017 – It seems as if the team of Pebble developers and technical people that Fit-Bit hired through their acquisition of Pebble are quite positive regarding the future of the existing Pebble platform for at least the next year and possibly beyond. Rumors abound as to whether a future Fit-Bit hardware product will incorporate everyone’s favorite Pebble Watch features and functions, but it’s my opinion that they wouldn’t have spent the effort and money (rumored to be about $40 million) and hired a bunch of Pebble People if they were just going to let it die. Not much has been updated regarding warranty service or technical support, but there are some aggressive prices on left-over Pebbles on Amazon, so the real die-hards can just buy a relatively inexpensive replacement if their Pebble fails. I any event, it’s no longer the doom and gloom that was first reported and that I detailed in the original posting.  Stay tuned!

UPDATE – Dec. 16, 2016 – Last night around 3 am my Pebble watch woke me with a series of vibrate alerts because it was undergoing an update to V 4.3, and this morning the Android App also updated to Version 4.3.0-1355-904fed2.

In light of the first announcement that all support operations would cease, this seems to be a small ray of hope in an otherwise dark tunnel. Perhaps it was due to the relatively passionate feedback that Fit-Bit received on their user support community blog from discouraged Pebble owners. I understand that acquisitions of this type can be complex and inordinately detailed regarding exactly what the new owners can claim rights to and what they can’t touch. Apparently, actual watch hardware is / was off limits to Fit-Bit as part of this deal. They acquired some of the Pebble brain trust and the intellectual property and the rights to all of the software and development shell.

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Mustard is Cheap! Why Make Your Own?

guinness-stout-mustardSuper Easy and Delicious Home Made Mustard

I recently ran across a really simple and wonderful recipe for those of you that like a really nice robust tasting mustard. I have nothing against traditional American “yellow” mustard, and I actually think it’s the perfect condiment for “dirty-water” hot dogs, and “razor” burgers (which also require a fat dollop of Heinz Ketchup, in my opinion).

But, this mustard is for the heartier meats, like Leberkäse, corned beef, or smoked ham. It’s heavenly on a pastrami or roast beef sandwich too. Additionally, it can be customized with added herbs and spices to focus its flavor toward a particular dish, with addition of honey, powdered rosemary, dill, or horseradish for example.

Read on for the recipe.

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Steel Cut and Kañiwa Too!

Steel Cut Oatmeal with A Wonderful Addition – Kañiwa

Ready for Your Favorite Condiments

Ready for Your Favorite Condiments

 

OK, I know it’s hard to expect that you will all want to make some cooked oatmeal for breakfast for a number of reasons;

  1. You were forced to eat it as a child and hated it ever since.
  2. You have only had either “Instant” oatmeal, or plain rolled oats, or worse, (ughhh) microwaved oatmeal and they were awful.
  3. You can’t imagine taking the time to make oatmeal that takes 50 minutes, start to finish.
  4. You don’t know what Kañiwa is and you’re not into eating stuff you don’t know.

BUT, I am here to expand your horizons, make you more healthy, and experience something new and delicious.

What follows is a recipe with some pictures that will take a while to prepare, but isn’t labor intensive. While it’s cooking, you can read the Sunday paper, check your email, or just enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee watching the sun rise. But, please give this a try; that list of reasons above will melt away with every bite like butter on a hot griddle.

So, continue reading for the whole story….

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High Priced Harley

High Priced Harley

 

road-glide-emblem

My very first vehicle was a Vespa 90 that I bought from a school chum without my parents’ permission and triumphantly rode down the driveway back when the ink on my driver’s license was still wet. It got me back and forth to my job at the bicycle store, took me and my brother down to the pizzeria on Dodd Street to get a “za,” and provided a newfound freedom that let me explore a much larger circle of the world than my 10-speed did.

After that, I bought a Yamaha DT1-B, a very capable street legal Enduro, that I practically wore out as it took me to all those places I just had to go. I remember riding it to my new job at the VW dealer in mid-winter, bundled in my Passaic Leather Coat Company 7-layer police motorcycle jacket and knee high boots. My hands were so stiff when I got to work, I’d wrap them around a drop light to thaw them out before I could grab a wrench.

Later, after a short dalliance with a Yamaha 500cc twin that had a frame too small to ride two-up, I bought my first “big bike,” a red Yamaha XS750 Triple, with backrest and a factory fairing. Oh God, power, power, power! Many miles were gleefully covered, and it followed us on a trailer when we moved here to Arizona. It took us to Havasu, Grand Canyon, Montezuma’s Well and Castle, and many more weekend destinations. But, in 1986, I sold it because with a new job and a new house and bigger and more expensive responsibilities, I just didn’t have much time to ride.

In 2005, I met a guy who would become a great and long time friend. Don and I shared a love for motorcycles, and in 2008, he convinced me to fly up to Denver, rent a big Harley, and ride to Sturgis with him. I hadn’t ridden in over 20 years, and needless to say, I was nervous.

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Exterior Finish Restoration – This Took How Long?

This Took How Long?

September ’15, a guy knocked on the door and asked if I wanted to get an estimate for painting the outside of my house. He said he was a retired schoolteacher, and lived summers in the Northwest, but spent winters here in Arizona. To supplement his income, he said that he paints a few houses while he’s here. Together with his helper, they walked all around the property, looking at everything and pointing and mumbling about a few of the more challenging areas.

Finally, he concluded his inspection and said, “Well, it needs a lot of work, and some places need the drip rail moulding replaced. It’s rotted away in places.” I agreed, and asked how much he would charge to do a really thorough job. He continued, “There’s some places that need lots of scraping too, and some caulk. It needs a lot to make it look nice.” “OK,” I said, “How much?” He paused and thought, and then said, “Well, it’s gonna take us a day to power wash the whole thing, and start the prep. The next day, we will finish the prep, and caulk. Then a day to spray it. I think we can knock it out in 3 days, maybe 4, if we run into any problems.

“I see,” I replied, “How much do you think it will cost?” “We use good paint, you know, not the cheap stuff. Probably need 15 gallons,” he offered. So, by this time, I figured I’d just let him talk, and he’d get around to cost eventually. He continued to describe how they would mask the windows, put down drop cloths, clean up after themselves, and do a great job. Then, finally, the part I was waiting for. “$5500 to do it all. It will look beautiful. And, we can start this week if you like and be done by Saturday!”

Dressed for Work

“I’ll have to think about it. Thanks for taking your time to give me an estimate. Give me your card, and I’ll call you if I decide to have you do it.” “Alright,” he replied, “but if we get busy, I may not be able to fit you in this year!” “Thanks, I’ll call ya.”

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Food Worth The Drive Even If Gas Was Expensive – Cafe 25:35

You may have gathered from some of my posts, I like GOOD FOOD. As much as I like cooking it myself, it is also sometimes nice to let someone else do the work and be waited on. So, I’m always looking for new restaurants to try, and often, I am disappointed by blandness, sameness, and “production line” cooking. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, many restaurants don’t even employ a Chef anymore. Not that there aren’t some pretty talented line cooks around, but it seems that the only places that still employ real Chefs are high end dinner places. As for breakfast and lunch, fuhgettaboutit! But, read on, there’s hope!

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Onions Without Tears? Fan-tas-tic!

By now, you know I like to play in the kitchen and sometimes I actually make something edible. Since I have leaned more towards the vegetable based dishes, and try to use meat as more of an occasional ingredient, almost like a garnish, big flavors have to come from somewhere other than browned meat and its juices.

One of my favorite sources of richness comes from adding onions, in their great varieties, into many dishes. Carefully caramelized, even the common white onion adds a wonderful depth of flavor to stews, the sweet mellow sauerkraut I mention in the SMOGG Pizza recipe elsewhere on this blog, and Chicken Paprikash, to name a few. By the way, if you do not know how to properly caramelize onions, you are missing out on one of the most delicious ingredients you can make. It takes patience, but is really worth the effort. Look it up on a recipe site and experiment.

But, many people hate preparing onions because of the tears that accompany the slicing and dicing. Sulfurous compounds in the onion (syn-propanethial-S-oxide) waft into the air when you break the onion’s cells, and combine with the moisture on your eyeball and produce a sulfuric acid. The acid “burns” your eyes, and the body produces tears to try and dilute and wash away the acid. So, you “cry.”

Well, CRY NO MORE, because my sous-chef (wife) developed and tested a kitchen solution that WORKS!

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The BIG “O” (ring) and Many $$

Folks, there’s a lot you need to know about marketing, markup, and money when it comes to maintaining numerous household products found in the typical modern home and yard. Primarily, it’s all about saving money, your money!

If you have a pool or spa, this will be of particular interest to you, but can apply to maintenance of many other household devices and systems. This will give you some insight into a system designed to pry money out of your wallet that you just don’t need to spend.

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