Tomato Sauce, Turn Signals, and a Few Things in Between

June 08, 2025

We live in strange times.

The world is politically odd, work is somewhat scattered due to AI, along with associated changes in the workplace.

It is also challenging to find balance, and as someone who has a blog, it can be challenging to know when to remain silent and when to speak up.

It is possible to have opinions that one can feel confident about, but recognizing that you lack on-the-ground experience, sharing those opinions can feel somewhat careless.

In light of the times, I thought a top tenm eleven, twelve thoughts of the day might be interesting. Some will be a bit serious, but mostly not “too” serious and a bit entertaining.

Just because people are silent on subjects and issues, don’t assume they don’t care or have an opinion. To be transparent, I do care very much about what is going on in Israel and Gaza. Especially, with so much of my family living there, but I also don’t have the experience of living in Israel, and the impact of the last few years. I believe others should be less quick to judge, unless they live day-to-day with sirens going off and constantly have to be aware of the nearest shelters in their daily lives.
Making tomato sauce is relatively easy. Melissa Clark’s recipe in the NY Times is a winner. Two changes I make are that I crush the tomatoes in a bowl first. I use San Marzano Tomatoes, but I'm not sure if it matters. Finally, at the very end, I add a tablespoon of butter. I know it seems odd, but I saw this on Milk Street. I couldn’t find the video again, but it still works.
To prove my imperfection, after sharing the Tomato Sauce recipe, I dislike comments on recipes online that start with 'This is the best recipe.' Then go on to tell you what they changed, making it not the best recipe after all.
America’s Test Kitchen has an excellent recipe for Lasagna for Two. Very easy, I use my tomato sauce. It uses no-boil noodles, making it easy to prepare two servings and freeze one for later. Also, if you want to make it a bit different. I replace the meat with finely ground mushrooms in the food processor. I then start with them in a dry pan and cook them until all of their moisture has been boiled off.
I have an Apple Mac Mini. I like the speed, and I am getting used to the difference from Windows. What has made my adoption easy is that I purchased a ThinkPad wireless keyboard, allowing me to use the TrackPoint I have been using for over thirty years. It works great.
If you are using AI assistants, and I recently admitted to conversations with ChatGPT, be cautious about the persona you want it to represent. The default is to be kind and complimentary. This can make you feel good, but especially for work, asking to be critical or skeptical gives a more honest opinion.
ChatGPT has significantly improved its image generation capabilities, particularly when text is added to the image. Over the last few weeks, the only word it misspelled was birthday of all words.
I find that despite the significant AI investments made by Google and Apple, their assistants don’t seem to get any wiser. Simple questions seem to stump them. If OpenAI releases a device that serves as an assistant, I would be among the first in line.
Among those who died too young, there are many, is George Michael. Listen to his Symphonica CD and you will agree.
One way I try to stay sane is by watching old sitcoms and TV shows. Lately, I have been watching episodes of The Carol Burnett Show. The scenes of her and Harvey Korman as senior citizens in rocking chairs are hard to beat. The Old Folks from The Carol Burnett Show
Have I complained about the lack of people signaling turns in Texas? It isn’t that they don’t signal; they tend to signal as they are turning. I'm not sure what good that does, especially if you're crossing the street as a pedestrian.
I thought I would share a playlist of music I am listening to: (On YouTube Music)