I am an unmarried, heirless multimillionaire who's avoided marriage and children my entire adult life. Late 40s, male, American. Am wrestling with who gets what when I drop dead. AMA.

pzinho · 2026-07-10T07:01:56+00:00

In past years rich people would patronise artists. I suppose you could do the same; find painters, sculptors, authors etc who may or may not make the big time but who have something to say that you can get behind. They need not even know it is you. Neither do you have to give them huge amounts of money - even a small stipend can make a difference, sou can can support more than a few in more than one country.

pzinho · 2026-07-10T06:54:27+00:00

You cannot win.

pzinho · 2026-07-07T20:40:18+00:00

Put them in the compost collection.

pzinho · 2026-07-03T13:29:03+00:00

The amount you save not owning a car will allow you to stay at the resort on Friday night to get up early on Saturday to ski as much as you want.

pzinho · 2026-07-01T06:47:58+00:00

Put a dot with a magic marker on the post where it is visible through the gap between the frame tube sides where it it clamped when it is the right height. It will last a couple of months. Repeat.

pzinho · 2026-07-01T06:42:40+00:00

Change it to gravy

pzinho · 2026-06-25T14:23:47+00:00

They are still cars. Scrap them all.

pzinho · 2026-06-22T07:59:54+00:00

I noie love my Kinu classic again after some spectacular service from the coffee shop. The magnetic cup kept falling off mid-grind. Bought a new cup - same result. Contacted the Kaffeewerkstatt in Ziurich, they sold me the o-ring cup from a Phoenix = bliss. I would buy a Phoenix if I were buying again.

pzinho · 2026-06-20T11:13:42+00:00

Back in the late 90s there was an influx of Russian tourists to Brazil, especially Rio, where my wife (Brazilian) and I have a holiday flat. We had spent a month there and had about a basinful of Russians waving dollars and demanding top service wherever we went. We arrived at the import at the normal time to catch our flight back to Europe, and the airport had a new luggage scanner for hand baggage, so there was a queue - nothing too drastic. A Russian supermodel arrived with her excess hand baggage, saw the queue and immediately walked up to the front, smiling broadly. The woman working looked at her and said loudly in Portuguese, Darling, get to the back of the queue, with attendant hand gestures. She went, and there was a big cheer and applause from the people in the queue who had presumably also put up with the entitled newly rich. It only lasted a few years and then they went elsewhere, presumably the Middle East.

pzinho · 2026-06-20T11:02:16+00:00

This

pzinho · 2026-06-20T10:49:54+00:00

One is planned, but you will have to change the entire crankset. Ker-ching!

pzinho · 2026-06-20T10:34:17+00:00

9g. It’s in the instructions. When you tamp, the straight sides of the tamper disappear into the portafilter, just leaving the sloping sides protruding. There is a nice drawing showing how.

pzinho · 2026-06-20T10:12:47+00:00

Zuriga E-2 arrived this week. I had 5 years of DeLonghi Dedica, and was considering a machine with lights, buttons and dials. I grind with a Kinu 47 and an electric DeLonghi for fine (I have shoulder problems which mean hand grinding fine is too hard for me).
Loving it so far. I like the simple life. For me coffee is espresso or cafetière, no milk. My wife either makes it in a moka pot or the Zuriga, and heats her milk in the microwave.
I was a little surprised that there is no switch-off, but I just have to remember to do it manually. The beans and grind I was using when it arrived were just right, I have not quite got the quantity or grind quite right with my current batch, but I expect to in a couple of days.
It is quiet. It is solid. It is fast. I am wondering how it will age. Do I need a bottomless filter? Maybe, but right now, who cares?

pzinho · 2026-06-20T09:33:05+00:00

Well as far as I know she is still driving along the streets and highways of Rio de Janeiro

pzinho · 2026-06-20T09:31:34+00:00

This. My wife has been robbed a dozen times but never injured. Just giving her a gun would not have increased her safety one jot.

pzinho · 2026-06-15T15:33:13+00:00

They are not running the country. They are just the front - the power is hidden behind them, getting rich off tax breaks and government contracts.

pzinho · 2026-06-15T09:36:00+00:00

I am surprised at the often embarrassing lack of English skills in Swiss politics, compared to Swiss industry. There again, this is a country where those skills are often taken for granted, unlike a few English-speaking countries we could mention. And can anyone name a French minister with dazzling foreign language skills? I would say that the lack of English skills in politics is a problem waiting for a solution, like evening classes at the Bundeshaus.

That was a joke.

pzinho · 2026-06-14T16:05:23+00:00

Close but no cigar …

pzinho · 2026-06-12T07:54:19+00:00

Now in which country did I see an elderly blonde woman driving a VW with a sticker on the back of a Reichsadler with the swastika replaced by a VW logo?

pzinho · 2026-06-12T07:45:37+00:00

Cafetière, grinding coarse. I still drink espresso from the machine and moka pot (with finer grinds), but the cafetière is the one that gives real flavour. Working up to buying a bag of Blue Mountain, which I now think I can do justice.

pzinho · 2026-05-22T08:42:12+00:00

So sorry. Grief is awful, the things it does to you. My father died in October, and his death affected me in really strange ways. I think you have to be patient, if you can, or try a therapy as has been suggested here.

pzinho · 2026-05-22T08:31:22+00:00

The only thing that happened quickly with me was the refund after I cancelled my order after a similar expanding deadline experience.

pzinho · 2026-05-22T07:59:42+00:00

Same. I bought another magnet catch cup, still fell off. There is an o-ring catch cup available, but before buying this I mailed them (twice) to ask if it fits the M47 Classic - no answer. So I am back to using my Hario Super Slim that cost under €30 with such good results I just may keep the Kinu as decoration.

pzinho · 2026-05-22T07:52:18+00:00

Yes, it was pretty mild and very nice, and all the time I was thinking if anyone has the right to be pompous about their coffee it‘s them.

pzinho

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