Opine Away

Orecchiette with Shrimp and Sun dried tomatoes

This is pretty quick to make and is a one dish dinner.

Serves 4-5

• 1 box Orcchiette pasta (Shells will work too) cooked al dente (cook it while preparing the rest, so it’s hot when added).
• 20 or so medium raw shrimp (thawed if frozen) peeled and deveined, tails on or off as you like. Can be butterfly cut. 
• 1 lime
• 7-8 sun dried tomatoes, cut to 1/4″ strips
• 4 cloves garlic slivered
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup white wine (any)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth.
• Spices: 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, a pinch of smoked habanero or cayenne pepper, a pinch of white pepper, a pinch of sugar in the raw (or white)
• 1 bunch chives, cut to 1/8″ pieces

1. Add some lime juice to the shrimp, toss and let stand until used.

2. Heat oil and butter in a big deep frying pan (big enough to add all the pasta later). Add garlic and sun dried tomatoes and fry on medium heat for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add all spices, mix, and add shrimp (with no liquids) and stir fry for 1 minute. Remove shrimp.

4. Add white wine and let boil, then reduce for 1-2 minute (some liquid should be left).

5. Add broth, mix for 1 minute, add shrimp, mix, add pasta and mix it all for a minute to let all the juices cover the paste.

6. Serve garnished with a generous amount of chives.

7. Don’t blame me for eating too much, you can’t really stop.

Another winning dinner combo.  Will also win when done separately!

Smoked Beer Marinated Beef

Beef for roasting – from prime rib that will be amazingly good and expensive to any cut you get.

Marinade in a ziplock bag overnight in the fridge or at least for a couple of hours:

• 1 bottle of beer. Any will do, dark lager is better, Guinness will be great and you can brag about your “Guinness Smoked Beef”.
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• A dash of white pepper

Pat dry and then dry-rub with a mix of:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cyan pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika

The best is to roast it using a rotisserie grill attachment. A small piece of meat (1.5lb or so) I’d smoke in the grill for an hour (no direct heat to the meat) then on a high heat for 10 minutes. If you need smoking instruction wait for my post about smoking…

Smoked Beef with Souped Up Mashed

Mashed Potatoes. Cook covered in boiling water:
• 3 potatoes
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt

While cooking, fry 4-5 pieces of bacon cut to 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces in a big frying pan (do not add any oil) for 2 minutes on high flame. Add one medium onion cut into 1/4″ pieces and fry both on medium flame till bacon is crisp and onion is brown.

Mash the potatoes and add while mashing:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a dash of white pepper
• a dash of smoked habanero pepper (cayenne will work too)
• two tablespoons maple syrup.
• about 1/4″ milk as needed to get a silky smooth and nice consistency

Add the bacon and onions mix without the excess grease and mix. Try not to eat too much of it while making it, leave some room for the meat.

The mashed can be garnished with finely chopped chives.

Quick dinner for me and my daughter. Well, planned ahead a bit and marinated the meat.

Just another dinner

Steaks – I marinated two steaks, beef tenderloins, in:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vinegar 
• 1/4 cup maple syrup 
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon molasses 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Black pepper, habanero pepper, white pepper as much as you want
• a dash of allspice

Put all in a ziplock with  the steaks, remove as much air as you can, leave in the fridge overnight. A couple of hours will work too…

When ready, grill on high to the desired temp.

Rice – can be long grain, jasmine, wild, whatever you like.

• 1 1/2 cup rice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• a handful of baby Bella mushrooms cut to 1/2″ pieces or so
• optional dehydrated onions about a tablespoon
• 1/4 chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 3/4 cups water

put oil and rice in a pot, on high heat, stir until rice starts to get a bit white (a minute or two). Add everything else and mix a bit. Cover. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off flame and leave cover for 5 more minutes. Mix and serve.

I also grilled corn on the cob while the steak was on the grill and served with butter and salt, and reduced some of the leftover marinade and used it as sauce over the rice.

Enjoy! We did…

L.

I’ve been a Sears customer for many many years. I even liked them, especially for tools. Now let me tell you how this all changed a hundred and eighty degrees.

Yesterday around noon I was home  and discovered that my water heater broke. Water was flowing nicely, there was no question about it – it’s the water heater. It was manufactured less than 8 years ago with a 9 years warranty for the product. A no-brainer, it’s under warranty.

Sears bad service.

On the water heater there are nice big stickers, one stating the 9 years limited warranty (no labor after the first year, only parts) and one showing a toll free phone number to call. So I called.

After a “short” ten minutes with hold music, I got a heavy accented rep, and explained the situation. He said, oh, this is not the water heater department, let me transfer you.  I was immediately transferred to the hearing aid customer service, listening to music on hold again. Can they hear it if they call for service? Anyway, after a few minutes on hold I tried pressing “0” to get an operator to transfer me to the correct department, and got disconnected promptly.

So I called again. I’ll cut it short here in sake of you the reader, and get to the point where, after another half an hour, I actually spoke to someone in the water heater department. I explained the situation. The response: “No problem, we need to schedule a technician that will come and check that the heater is really broken, and the earliest is tomorrow between 1-5″.  I said “what? I need this replaced today!” Again, I’ll skip the long talk and say they wouldn’t budge. I said, OK  let’s schedule this first, before you’ll tell me it will take even longer.

Then I asked what will be the cost for Sears to replace it after the inspection. The answer? First, the rep said, you will be charged $79 for the inspection, and the replacement labor will cost you additional $299.99.

Stop, I said. You mean that in order for Sears to honor the warranty, I have to pay $79? The rep said “no, it’s the trip charge”. I replied that I don’t want to pay it, I have my plumber that approve that it’s the water heater, he can bring it to the store for them to inspect when he will come to pick up the replacement. “No sir, we have to send a technician first to verify it is broken.” And I have to pay for that? I asked to speak to a supervisor. “We don’t have one available, I can ask one to call you back when he’s available”. When will that be? I asked. “Tomorrow” was the answer. “And you’ll pay for me to go shower in a hotel?” I responded.

I kept trying. I got two reps to hang up on me when I insisted to talk to a supervisor or a manager about it. I also spoke to one rep that assure me I will not be charged for the “inspection” but after I asked for his name and rep ID, and that he’ll put a note under my account that I will not be charged, he suddenly “checked” and said I will be charged $79. Ah, yes….

Eventually, around 7pm, after trying everything from calling to online chatting on the Sears service website which is completely pointless (all they do is give you phone number to call, they don’t answer any question), I called it a day. So a technician is scheduled to come the next day between 1-5 “and he will call before to give you a better time frame to when he’ll come” they said.

So this morning I called again and asked to talk to a supervisor or manager. “not available to take you call”. Are they ever? Eventually through online chat (remember, they give you phone numbers to call, it’s like a 411 for sears, maybe they should call it Sears 411) I got a number for “retail customer care” 800-549-4505 option #5. I called.

After a short wait (really, this time it was short) I got a very nice lady (Miranda) that said she understand but needs to put me in touch with someone from that department – I begged her to not just transfer me, so she promised she’s going to conference them in and stay on the line. And She did! Amazing!

So, Miranda, John and I were cheerfully chatting about my situation. I explained – I have a product under warranty that is broken. I need it replaced. I don’t want to be charged $79 for Sears to honor the warranty. The warranty does no say that I need to pay $79 for it to be honored. John tried to argue a bit, but hey, that’s his job. After a few more minutes of me repeating my argument they both found safe haven in the dreadful answer we all know “sir, it’s the policy and we can’t change it”. Hmm…I guess that is the law of the land! So I requested an official complaint to be filed. I stayed on the line with Miranda while she wrote the complaint and we parted as friends.

At 1pm I was still waiting for a call from the tech to tell me when he’s coming over (“between 1-5”), so I called. Surprisingly I was on hold for only a few seconds. Wow!  For the 13^th time I repeated my phone number, and then my name and address for them to make sure it’s me and that they know where I live. I asked about the technician “we don’t have this information, but I’ll send him a message to call you before he’s heading over”.

At 4:07Pm the guy shows up without calling first. He was nice, Orson.  I took him down to the basement. He said “what’s up” I said “it’s leaking” he bent a bit, pulled the cover off, said “yep, you see the rim is wet? It’s the water heater leaking.” Wow! He should change his name to Sherlock! He was actually nice, and knew exactly what I was referring to with the service and the $79 charge, and then he nicely asked me for a check or credit card.

So $79? It’s actually $84.53 with the tax. “Verify Tank Leak” $79. “Tax on Labor” $5.53. This is for Sears to honor the warranty. Nothing else was done.

You think this is over, right? Too much to read already? And I skipped a lot… well, it’s not over yet.

The tech says that no I have to call Sears to get an authorization number and store availability. He was on the phone with them to tell them that he verified it, but I have to call too. I asked him to wait and I called.

Hold music…a rep answered…”I’m not from that department, I’m transferring you” Hold music…eventually Keisha answered. She needs to process it, please call again in 10 minutes. “WHAT?” It takes more than 10 minutes for you to answer when I call. “We can call you back in 10 minutes”. OK, please give me your rep ID # “ I can’t do that sir, that’s personal information” Hmmm…isn’t that the reason you have a rep ID #, so I don’t get your full name? Well, Keisha gave me a case reference number and said they’ll call me back in 10 minutes. “it’s 4:32pm no Keisha, I’m waiting for a call by 4:42. Before hanging up I asked her “how much will it be for the labor if I want Sears to do it today” just to verify it’s $299.99 as they told me. Well, the answer was $344 and they can’t do it today, too late. Unbelievable.

At 4:50 I called them again. Hold music…hold music…hold music…a rep answered. My phone number. Name. Address. “I was promised a call back with the authorization number”. Sir, we don’t call back. Great, can you give me the authorization number? Sir, you only called half an hour ago, it takes at least two hours to process. WHAT? Let me talk to a supervisor or a manager. “None are here”. Are you there alone? In the dark? It’s cold? I insisted to talk to a manager.  After a few minutes of me explaining the facts of life to her, and she insisting it takes two hours and there’s no manager on site or anywhere in the known universe, she said “let me put you on hold for a minute and check”. Two minutes later she came back with an authorization number for the store and the store to pick it up from. Hmmm….two hours…no manager…I guess that is kinda proven false.

So…I got my plumber to pick it up from the store. Amazingly it was smooth. It’s already installed, for $250 including everything. I will still fight Sears about the $84.53 inspection charge. Good luck to me.

I know where I will not buy a water heater at anymore.  I’m not sure about anything else either. Shame.

This is a comment I posted to this article:  ”Small businesses: Obama worse than Lehman collapse”

I live in north east NJ. All you have to do is drive around and see how many stores are empty with a “for rent” sign on them. You can do as many interpretations of the statistical information,  try to extract conclusions out of them and analyze the situation, or just open your eyes and see what is really happening.

Small businesses are getting crushed between no spending and no support to keep them afloat. Despite Obama’s promises over 4 years ago (during his first campaign) that loans will become available for small business, the reality is that it is virtually impossible for a small business to get a loan. What was done to help small businesses since he was elected?  If something was done, I can’t see the results, for sure not around here.

The proof is in the no-pudding. Small businesses are closing left and right, and the fiscal cliff will accelerate it even more. Whatever Obama was and is doing to date results in a lot of empty commercial spaces. Analyze that.

In the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, an overused and abused phrase by now, I came to realize something that’s been lurking in my mind for quite a while now. We are going downhill. When I say we,  I mean the USA, though in many ways this is true of many other nations, but since I live here in the US, specifically in the torn down and ripped apart eastern part of New Jersey, I am most concerned about the US of A.

I’ve been pointing  it out for a while, in many different ways, referring to many different subjects. Customer service, quality of products, integrity of elected officials, medical insurance, cost of living, national debt, even the way the president talks, all not only going from bad to worse, but the rate of deterioration is increasing.

Last year’s storm left me without power for a week. The temperature inside my house was close to freezing. I was better off leaving my refrigerator door open than closed. My basement was flooded as the sump pump ran out of juice with the long power outage. Cars stretched in long lines to refuel and you couldn’t get bottled water anywhere. Roads were blocked for days, power lines were tangling loose ended in some locations for over two weeks… I was sure this will be an eye opener to the authorities of what needs to be done in order to prepare for such events. Oh how naïve I was.

Here comes Sandy. Yes, a very strong storm, blah blah blah. I was here during the storm. Very strong winds in our area. Some rain, but not enough to flood anything here (lucky us). Temperatures were high enough to go outside in a t-shirt to check things. So the real factor was only wind in my area.

In my neighborhood, at least in a radius of 100-200 houses around my house, there were no major trees or branches that fell down. We were lucky.  Travel a little further and you see trees, big branches and utility polls that crashed down – but not as bad as the storm the previous year, or the storm two years before.

Yet, the whole area surrounding my house was without power from Monday evening to Friday evening.

Lines to gas stations, the few that were open in the days after the storm, were longer than ever before. Some stations limited gas to only handheld containers, with lines of hundreds of people standing, under sporadic rain and windy conditions, to buy gas for their generators and cars.

I stopped my car looking at this scene of people on foot waiting in line for gas, seeing it with my own eyes, yet finding it hard to believe what I see. Where and when are we? The old pictures of bread lines in Russia during the war were my immediate reaction.

Hurricane Sandy aftermath – a line for gas in NJ

This morning of Election Day, 8 days after the storm, I waited in line for gas for half an hour and had to drive away, not even half way to the gas station. And I’m at an area that had it easy. Staten Island, Toms River, Breezy Point and many more were and are still in a much worse situation.

I find it a shame and a disgrace that the USA government is not capable of getting prepared for such events. From power lines that snap every time it’s a little windy to insufficient or no flood protection to the shoreline, from no contingency plan for gas shortage to insufficient crews to clear blocked roads – as I see it, these are all a reflection of how the nation is falling apart.

The country that planned missions to space, covering unpredicted scenarios and successfully putting man in space and on the moon, with leaders that established forward looking laws as the US constitution, structuring a foundation that holds to this day. Where are these achievements today? It’s not that Americans are not as smart, creative or capable of hard work as they were in the past. Ideas and creativity and motivation to succeed are probably stronger than ever. But leadership? I find this is the missing part.

I read in a TIME magazine a quote of the US philosopher Mortimer Adler:

“In Aristotelian terms, the good leader must have ethos, pathos and logos. The ethos is his moral character, the source of his ability to persuade. The pathos is his ability to touch feelings, to move people emotionally. The logos is his ability to give solid reasons for an action, to move people intellectually.”

Can you see these three simple definitions in any of the current elected officials? My personal opinion – the only one that can touch that, is New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg. The two presidential candidates? Eh…no.

I watched the debates. Both candidates and both VP candidates were a far cry from earning my respect. How do you consciously vote for a president when your criterion for choosing him is that he’s not as worse as his opponent?  Yes, I’m not voting today.

And this trickles down to the lower ranks in the government, local authorities and the private sector, creating a situation that weakens the nation, hurt our quality of life, and a change in that trend seems impossible with the current mindset and structure of the US leadership.

I can write dozens of pages about the subject, but my point will be the same. I don’t see how the election results today are going to have a substantial effect on the downslope we slide on as a country. We need change. I can’t say I have the answers, but neither candidate seem to have them either. And that’s their job which I find hard to believe they can perform.

How do we turn this horror movie to one with a happy ending?

Sometimes it seems that people have to find an excuse after they buy an iPad. You buy it, but will you use it? Hmmm….it’s a cool device, but how useful is it? I’m not arguing with the bottom line, they sell like hot cakes, or pancakes maybe in this case, but yet.

Well, the nice thing about technology, is that once you put it in the hands of millions of users, they find creative ways to use it. You think Apple planned the iPhone to be used as a Zippo lighter?

So here comes the iPad. So cool. And then the ideas…use it for in-store survey…sign to our mailing list…trade show directory…promotional info…With connectivity built into it with such ease, it’s an amazing tool for many business and home applications.

But. It’s so portable, that it’s more than tempting to just take it and walk away. Here comes the Wall Bracket to the rescue. This add on is a secured mount for the iPad, with options to either block the home button or not, and it elegantly secures the iPad while keeping its streamlines and functionality. Simple and cool. Check it out, they have a business and a home versions (for in-house automation, music center etc). Feel free to write a review if you got one.

www.iPadWallBracket.com

iPad Wall Mounting Bracket