How Cold is it?

Yes, that is a little minus sign next to the 12. Minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit. Really cold.


Somewhere along my drive to work this morning, it registered as low as minus 15 degrees. School was canceled today (kids waiting outside for the buses was the concern) and is also canceled for tomorrow.

At the plant, this frigid weather causes all sorts of problems. The hydrogen production plant next door tripped out and was venting steam. In the bitter cold, the plumes of steam are highly visible:


No worries, it will warm up in a couple of days, but for now, we'll bundle up and try to stay warm!

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Scan your computer!

I wasn't able to post yesterday because I realized we had "something" on our computer that was preventing the Windows Updater to accept updates. Microsoft deployed their first 2009 Windows update and we received an error that the Updater was disabled. I attempted to manually accept the update without success - one of the Windows Services would not allow me to manually start it. After some web surfing, I had that "sinking suspicion" that we had a virus or a Trojan on the computer.

I downloaded Malwarebytes Anti-Malware program and proceeded to scan the entire hard drive and the external hard drive, with these results:


Fortunately, the Anti-Malware program also cleaned up the files, and I was able to restart the Windows service that had been giving me issues, and update the computer. The program from Malwarebytes was free and effective, so I suggest you give it a whirl, especially if (like me), don't use an Anti-virus on your PC (yeah, yeah, I'm in IT and I don't use an Anti-virus ...tsk, tsk - well, neither do the other IT folks I work with!).

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The First 12 on 12 for 2009

Monday morning in January - we are due for snow and bitterly cold weather this week. To start the week in a warm way, I made biscuits and enjoyed Christmas Blend coffee:

My French press coffee maker:

At work, I had to get out the drawings for a part of the chemical process I am working on. This is called a Process and Instrumentation Drawing, P&ID for short. These drawings are like blue prints for the manufacture of our product. I had to blur out some of the details.

I haven't taken a picture of my violin music in a while. This is the first page of Bach's Partita 3 in E Major - I have been having issues getting the bowing in this section, but it I'm close - it sounds better every day.

A light snow blanketed the backyard patio.


Today's photography lesson - using the White Balance Preset on my camera. I even read the manual for the instructions on how to do this. I used White / Black / Grey / RAW Grey Card I had (taken out of my How - To - PSE 4.0 book by Scott Kelby).

Picture of the card, using Auto White Balance. Ugg - This has never been the D70's strong suite. Yeah, it is supposed to be white, black, grey and light grey.


Still using AWB, a picture of my CK magazine that arrived in the mail:


Then, I set the White Balance Preset, using the RAW White Balance section (a really light grey), then took the pictures again, with far better results:

See, the colors are right!





Now, setting the WB preset can take time and sometimes you just don't have time. This is why I shoot in RAW and adjust the WB in my Post processing step. In fact, I had to adjust many of the other pictures. I'm pretty sure the AWB has improved on the latest Nikon cameras. I'm still saving up for that D300....

OK, back to normal life - I'm checking out my Photo blog.


Brian is playing Lego Batman game on the Wii. I had to bribe him to take his picture....


Also in the mail - a New Year's card from our dear friends in Indiana - it was so great to get their card and update! We can't believe how big their two girls have grown.


Our after dinner desert - Scott toasted some marshmallows, proving you don't need a campfire to enjoy these treats!


That's all for today - hope yours was great!

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Erica and her baby - Today's Beauty

I know the picture is not the sharpest and there are several blown out areas, but I couldn't pass up taking Erica and Hannah's picture last night:


I know I'm not an impartial observer here, but I think they are beautiful!

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Jet Pens Order

Scribed directly from my pocket Moleskine I have been using since the beginning of the year to record those "little things".

Received my order from Jet Pens - so fast - I ordered on Wednesday! In the order:

• The coveted White Uni Ball Signo pen - three of them.
• Blue-Black ink cartridge refills for my LAMY fountain pen.
• Ink converter for my LAMY Pen.
• Bottle of Noodler's ink - yes - for my LAMY fountain pen. Forest Green ink, which I promptly used to fill converter and into the pen.

Check it out:




I ordered the LAMY pen through Amazon around the holidays. It is a Safari AL-STAR with an extra-fine nib. It writes wonderfully and at $36, is a steal. I'm thinking about buying a Vista pen, which is the same pen, except for a clear plastic body (and even cheaper at $25).

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ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes ....

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Dont want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I cant trace time
-David Bowie

Scott acted upon one of those marketing fliers from Direct TV and converted us from Cable to Satellite TV. The main driver was the cost savings over Cable, at least for the first year - but there was some give and take:

• We gained HD in the kitchen and family room TVs. That will be nice for the upcoming Super Bowl.
• We lost viewing capability in the Master Bedroom. Not a big deal for me, but the kids already expressed their displeasure. We can still watch DVDs, though.
• We lost our special local Weather channel. I guess we can check the internet if we want to know the exact temperature and wind speed outside.

I don't watch much TV anyways, so this doesn't impact me much. I just hope I learn how to maneuver the remote before we switch to something else.

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Friday Fill-Ins

I haven't participated in this fun meme in a while.

1. It's January; Time to get back to work!

2. A strong, long run is what I crave most right now.

3. Cork and wine go together like Stilton and a Glass of Red Zin.

4. A hug and a kiss given in love is so nourishing to the soul.

5. Let us dare to live life to the fullest.

6. _We have new HD-Dish service in my home. I still don't know how to navigate the channels!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out at home with the family, tomorrow my plans include getting a long overdue haircut and Sunday, I want to relax, but I probably won't be able to!

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