Dragon's Breath Salsa Recipe

TJ's Dragon's Breath Salsa

8 Habanero chilis
7 Jalapenos
3 roasted Serrano chili's
1 large dried Ancho chili
1 Bell pepper
1 clove garlic
6 fresh medium tomatoes
1 can "hot" Rotel tomatoes
1 #1015 or Vidalia onion
1 large lime
1 or 2 bunches of cilantro
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cumin

Dice the peppers, garlic, onion and tomatoes. Remove seeds from chili's if you want to tone it down a little. Combine and set aside. Pour the Rotel tomatoes into food processor. Remove stems from cilantro and add to Food processor along with salt and cumin. Zest the lime about 4 times and cut in half and squeeze juice from both halves into food processor. Pulse the food processor about 8 times. Then add the bowl of chilis, garlic, onion and tomatoes. Pulse until it is your desired consistency. Add more salt to your taste using tortilla chips so you actually don't get the salsa too salty.

This recipe makes a large food processor full of salsa. If your family eats a lot of salsa, just pour in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can also heat it on the stove before serving. (my preference) If you choose to can the salsa, this makes about 6 pint jars with some fresh left over to eat right now! hehehe

My original recipe called for 30 habaneros but it was just too hot for anyone in my family. Linda and Larry...be aware, this is still pretty hot for most people.

Sony 32" WEGA 1080p fixerupper

I'm going to chronicle repairing my 32" Sony HDTV. It's model number KV-32HS420. The television starts up but goes into standby mode before a picture comes up. Watching the standby light, I noticedthat after it shuts off, the led blinks 7 times. This lead me to search for the symptom online.

I googled so many search terms trying to find a complete answer but was unable to find an easy answer to my dilemma. I finally found a Sony tech manual at a resale shop. The manual called  to  replace IC8002 and IC6501. My electronics background let me know that I was searching for an Integrated Circuit or chip. So I removed the back panel from the TV and began looking for IC's. There are only two on the main board and both chips were the exact same type of chip, (MCZ300-1DB) I haven't removed the board yet but I've found what needs replaced! Troubleshooting this has been a breeze so far.

Now I'm ordering the chips. I found them here. $14.99 with free shipping. DEAL!! As soon as the chips arrive, I'll pull the board out and solder in the sockets and new chips.

NOTE: After finding my solution on my own, I found a walk-through to fix the very same TV. It seems that I'm on the right track.

I desoldered the two IC's  and replaced them with sockets in case I need to change the IC's again. The hardest part was getting the post office to deliver the dang parts.

SUCCESS!!

Working like a charm again for $15 in parts.

Take a Logical Approach

I'm sure that many of you have seen this picture on social media sites. Before you react emotionally, stop and consider the caption that is circulating along with it. "My good friend SSGT. USMC bank refused to work with him. Help me with making this go nation wide."

Reacting emotionally, immediately everyone says "That poor Marine!" If you think about it logically, you may come up with a different answer. A SSGT USMC is an E-6 in the Marine Corps. A Staff Sergeant normally takes about 6 years to attain that rank. Base pay for a SSGT with 6 years of service is $2886 per month. Add to that their Cost of Living Allowance, Basic Housing Allowance, Hazardous Duty Allowance and Combat Pay for a tour in Iraq and they bring in between $3500-$5000 per month depending on married status. Also, while serving time in Iraq, that pay is considered in a hazardous duty zone so their pay is also tax free. Three tours is a long time to be living tax free with extra pay.

Before you get your feathers ruffled, I realize the sacrifices that are being made by our fine troops. Remember, we are talking logically, not emotionally! So, say a service member gets a mortgage on a house and then is sent to Iraq where they are effectively doubling their pay. They are being fed and clothed and housed at no cost to them. Meanwhile they may have a family back home holding down the fort, OR they may not. Either way, the service member is responsible for keeping their bills paid just as if they were at home. If they are not being financially responsible, their command has the option to reprimand you and take your some of their pay.

Calculating the pay on the low end of the scale ($3500) per month for 3 tours or 3 years that adds up to $126,000 tax free. If you cannot pay your bills with 3 years of tax free income, you should never have signed that mortgage in the first place. It's as simple as that. Keep in mind that the entire time they are serving in the military they are being fed, housed, medically cared for, and clothed essentially for free.

I'm not saying all our troops are irresponsible or mismanage their money but it certainly seems correct in this case. Either the troop didn't pay their bills or they had a spouse at home throwing away their money. I don't know the entire situation but that's the way it appears to me. It's not that I'm unsympathetic to our fine troops..it's the fact that they aren't perfect and make mistakes the same as everyone else. Most of you know that I despise banks, but in this case, I'm betting that the service member didn't fulfill their financial obligations. Love me or hate me, that's my opinion.

P.S. I am a vet who served in the Persian Gulf and received tax free pay as well.  Ask any military member before you start saying that it's not true.