Thursday, August 13, 2009

Still Want A Smart Car???

Not if you're smart....

Below is a picture of a wreck between one of these smart cars and 2 trucks in Jefferson Parish (near New Orleans)

Gribnau Brewery

Jeff has finally decided to dive into making beer. He has been wanting to do this for a long time but with night school and work it just was not possible. I got him his first kit for his birthday about 3 years ago so he had everything he needed to get started. I think he has discovered a hobby that is going to stick around for a while. Not to mention that after all that hard work you get to have beer when your done! lolStirring the Malt

Cooking the Malt

I was in charge of sterilization

Yes, it is sitting in our bathtub.

Jeff loves to check on his beer first thing when he gets home from work. He cracks me up. When he does something, he goes all out. He has already researched how to make other kinds, like a German Lager, wheat beer, and who knows what else. He has plans for the specific beer brewing refrigerator that he wants and how he needs a whole room that he can control the temperature, lighting, etc. for a prime brewing atmosphere. He loves to show me all of the graphs on the rate the yeast is growing and eating the sugar to make the alcohol, and true to his personality, he has researched everything you can about the process of which the malt becomes beer.
I wish I could try it in a few weeks when it's done, but I have a feeling this won't be the last batch of "Gribnau Beer".

Andrea's Baby Shower

Jeff's cousin Aundrea is expecting her second baby in September. Zachary Perryman. Here are a few pictures from the shower:

MAC Owner Wanna-be


The past few weeks have been really stressful! As you can see I have not posted in a while.

I am so frustrated with PC's I could scream! My poor computer was attacked by loads of viruses which, in turn, corrupted my windows files. Every time I tried to get online I would get the dreaded "blue screen" and the computer would shut down. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal to reformat, but there was some software on there that I just could not part with.
When I lost my job, my boss gave me my computer and along with it the Architecture software (Bentley Microstation) that we used in the office. That program is amazing! I was used to using AutoCAD when I began working there, but quickly realized how much AutoCAD lacks in terms of sophistication. The things I could do with that software are only appreciated by those Designer and Architecture geeks out there.
So, to make a long story short, after 2 trips to Best Buy's Geek Squad and speaking to a few computer gurus that I know, my only option was to wipe the computer clean and reformat everything. This meant that I was going to lose Microstation {tear ;( }
At this point, I am going to have to teach myself AutoCAD again; it shouldn't take long, but it is still annoying!
I was able to re-upload every other piece of software that I had (Photoshop included, which is a good thing because I would really be lost without that, too).
It is amazing how emotionally attached you can get to your computers. They really are a reflection of who you are. I know that sounds crazy, but if you think about it, you have your files all organized the way you like them, you have software on there that you love to use, your itunes has your music organized and sorted in playlists that you love, your internet bookmarks reflect the sites you like to visit, all of your login names are remembered on various sites... I could keep going, but it is so true! Once Jeffrey saved the day and finished reformatting the computer on Tuesday night, I had to spend a few hours on Wednesday just getting it back to the way I like it.

I tossed around the idea of giving up the whole PC world and splurging to get myself a MAC, but we just really can't afford it right now. I would have to spend a ton of money, besides on the computer its' self, on getting new software that would be compatable. Maybe one day I can be cool and join the MAC world...