Election Thoughts

So I have kept relatively quiet about the historic election we had, mainly because I have found that I don't like having an uneducated conversation about politics, usually I am the one lacking education. This year was different for me, I listened to all sides of the arguments, and in the end found both candidates for President unfavorable in many ways, but appealing in quite a few. I can't help but wonder why more emphasis isn't put on the primary elections as the thought I had was, How can these two be the most qualified people willing to run for President of the United States of America? I ended up casting a vote for McCain/Palin mainly on the hope that Palin could bring a voice to Washington DC, the "average" voice. I am glad with the results, I hope that Obama figures a way to let the country turn around, I say let because I believe that the economy needs to cycle and this just happens to be a lower dip than the last couple, perhaps more greed was garnered this upswing. I also hope that nothing happens to him, as much as I like Palin, I dislike Biden. Here's to the Democratic government following through and putting a ton of money into infrastructure, the engineering world could use a boost from the bottom.

One more thought that I have is how one person can make a difference, many times I have heard "I'm not voting, my vote doesn't really count" This election I learned that one vote may not mean much in the 128 million votes cast but one voter can influence many. I went from an uneducated, can't stand anything the Democratic candidates are promising, to almost giving my vote to Obama, this is mainly thanks to some great posts by my cousin Brian and a couple friends at work. One other example is the huge battle in California over the Proposition 8. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I am glad that it was passed, watching the rallies being held the last couple of days saddens me especially when I saw this picture today:

I know several people that either battle with homosexuality or live the homosexual lifestyle, they are aware of how I treat them and hopefully appreciate that I try and treat them as equal. I am amazed at how the gays and lesbians are turning this into a war against a religion. I do not feel that this was bought by anyone, amazingly the opposition raised over $37 million versus $35 million for it. I think that amount of money to be raised is amazing, I thought we were in economic trials? I feel close to this though because I was surprised when the church was going to ask for help in making phone calls to support the proposition, many people I know were willing to sacrifice time to do so, but plans were scrapped because Californians stepped up and made calls themselves. Many of my gay friends pride themselves on being different, my novel idea is why don't they set up something and then try and tell us "married" people how much better their lives are. I hope that something gets peacefully resolved and sooner the better.

What have you done lately?

I saw this on my cousin's blog and since I wanted to kill fifteen minutes I stole it and used it too.

List of 99 things - Have you done . . . ?

1. Started your own blog (several times, thanks for reading)
2. Slept under the stars (hardly a better place to sleep)
3. Played in a band (does Rockband count?)
4. Visited Hawaii (can I buy a ticket now)
5. Watched a meteor shower (seen a couple without even planning on it)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (time for a road trip)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped (I jumped out of a boat once and my swimsuit got caught until it ripped does that count?)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning (good times, good times)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (we got two tomatoes off the plant on our condo balcony this summer)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (about time to do it again)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (of course, almost got caught a couple times too)

27. Run a Marathon (I’ve walked a 5K though)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (both in the same night, several times)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (One of the best ways to vacation, can’t wait until December)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (Thanks Dad)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Unfortunately couldn’t list who)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (Did I really teach myself Russian?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (If I can pay for lunch I’m happy)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (why does that sound dirty?)
41. Sung karaoke (Becky want to play singstar?
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (I think it is the coolest thing to do, and just as cool to have it done for you)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (This should have been yes if my parents weren’t such speedy drivers)

47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (but who am I to tell?)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia (for two whole years)
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (I’m counting bribing my wife to do a couple chores for a couple cookies as this one)
62. Gone whale watching (I know that there aren’t whales in Lake Mead, but I kept an eye out for them)
63. Got flowers for no reason (I just love my wife sometimes)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I just donated blood yesterday, aren’t I special, and twice a week for most of college I “sold” my plasma for a little extra gas money, plus the girls were cute too.)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Still not certain it was a concentration camp but from what I saw in Kaliningrad and the members we asked it was)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (anyone surprised that they are tractors?)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (in seventh grade I got to see the north side with my mom and then the south side with my dad a week later, two separate trips)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (I buy used but they are always brand new to me, even the 1980 Ford I first bought when I was 16)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (most notably riding my bike through flood waters as a kid)
85. Read the entire Bible (okay I skipped a few of the “so and so begat so and so”
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (floated)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Copy this list and bold the things YOU have done. Then post it on your blog!

What do you call it?

I found this cool survey that was done throughout America, and what the "locals" called Soda Pop. I notice that I tend to gravitate to calling it soda more often than anything else.

A trip to the mountains

Over the weekend I took Max up to try out a four wheel drive trail, it still amazes me that within 45 minutes from the dry heat of the valley you can find a cool mountain with a little “creek” and trees changing colors. I had been wanting to check this trail out for some time now and a coworker that lives at the other end was doing it the same day, we had planned to meet at the top, however due to a timing issue I didn’t get to the top and he was postponed for a couple hours, just leaves more to check out. On the way back as Max was searching for rocks in the water, I talked to a couple Jeepers that were coming in from a different trail, they gave me a few different ways to get around up there and told me about some other awesome trails to take. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

September 11, 2008

I can't believe it has been seven years since I woke up to go to class and found out the world had changed. As the years go by the memories of that time still seem fresh in my mind, that month following the attacks was amazing to me, people actually seemed like they cared about the greater good. We all had that common link and we were all put on alert, I like to sometimes remind myself that is who I want to be all the time, whether or not it is recieved well. Take some time to remember where you were when the world stopped spinning. I would like to thank the thousands of troops that have gone, are fighting, or preparing for the fight and send them my full American Support.

God Bless America!!

Something to Enjoy

A while back a friend sent me a link to a website, lately it has become an enjoyable sunday night guilty pleasure for me to check out, as it is updated weekly on Sundays. The website is the PostSecret blog, for those of you that want to check it out, there are always ones that make me laugh, or think "do I know them", or realize just how happy I am with where I am. It is an interesting concept and makes me think sometimes if I were to do one what would it be? But then I am such an Honest Abe that I can't think of one. For more on the PostSecret community check out here and here.

Labor Day Weekend Part 1

Our Labor Day Weekend was all about not "Laboring" and celebrating all of the "Laboring" we've been doing all summer. This is how the Warnicks like to spend quality snuggle time on the couch watching Batman Begins.

After our movie we headed down to Henderson to watch our beloved Aggies get beat in football, reasons to celebrate:
1.) It is football and not basketball
2.) Rebel fans still felt it necessary to "taunt" us and that they were up by two scores over the third to last team in the nation, it was quite easy to take the beating, of course in the second half we packed up and moved over to the Aggie section to cheer for all the first downs (what were there like a total of five?)
3.) In-N-Out double-double with animal style fries after the game.
Those three items made the night victorious for me, oh and we beat the spread to make my coworkers happy too.
As you can see the stands were packed full.

Sunday after church we headed down to the Palazzo Resort/Casino/Paradise. We lucked out on a deal through Priceline and then got even luckier to make it onto the 37th floor, with a view out onto the Strip and overlooking the Pool, I couldn't have requested a better spot. The suite was huge, as it was more than half of our condo, with two TVs in the main area and a little TV in the bathroom.

Labor Day Weekend Part 2

We had a great time the first day out at the pool, a little cold front moved through so the wind was picking up and it cooled clear down to 97, Becky was freezing. We walked all around the pool area and even went over to the Venetian pool deck, we came out right by the Tao Beach and they had music blaring and drunk people dancing so we escaped back to the quiet of the Palazzo.
Later that night we enjoyed dinner at Dos Caminos, tasty guacamole, and some amazing steak and seared tuna, topped off with some delicious Pistachio Banana Crepes. We walked around the shops and went through all of Barney's New York, we both would've had a hard time finding anything we liked in there. We wanted to enjoy the Suite some more so we headed upstairs, the staff had turned down the sheets, turned on a little music and put chocolates on the pillows.

On Monday we had breakfast at one of our favorites: The Omelet House and then Becky went with a neighbor to get a massage and kiss the holiday goodbye.

Becky said that I had to post this gross picture, not only is it bad because it is my feet but notice the size of my right foot, let's just say that dress socks pressing on an infection on the back of your leg does not allow for sufficient drainage, therefore my foot looked like a watermelon and my ankle dissappeared for a couple of days. Becky knows it's bad when I tell her about it and say I might have to go to the Doctor, this was the day I finally admitted I better go get it checked out.

Going on a Staycation!

For those of you that haven't heard this term it is where you take a vacation without leaving town, for those of us lucky enough to live in Las Vegas there are plenty of options to do this, we are going to have a nice night at the Palazzo and will be able to relax and have an amazing time to get ready for the rest of the week, we'll post pictures of how the Warnicks fit right in at a five star resort later. Happy labor day to all!

Memories of Max

This is so funny, and reminds me of the first two nights with Max, before we took care of that problem.

Why so Serious?

Had a wonderful Friday night, went and saw the Dark Knight, although Becky was not going to go see such a scary movie. Somebody either tell her that was a terrible decision or tell me that she made a good choice. Greg, Tom, and I met up with Dane and Cassie, and one of Dane's friends for a showing at the IMAX theater. We got there at 6 for the 7 show and the line was already over 100 people long, so we sat on the sixth row, it wasn't bad since I sat on the fourth row for Ironman. The great thing about going to the IMAX and paying extra is they only show previews for the IMAX movies so they are limited, in fact we only saw two, then the adventure began. I was amazed at every aspect of the movie. I thought that it is something I will have to go and see again to really get everything that happened. I highly recommend it, unless you are scared of the Joker and don't think that Batman will prevail, no spoilers, I won't say if he does, or doesn't. After the show we introduced Tom to Capriotti's Sandwiches, I thought it was a shame that he had never been after three months of living in Vegas, and then we all went and played a wild game of BINGO, we thought our odds were good, since there were only about 50 people there but I think that the guy selling the cards was very unlucky so we didn't win at all. It was a great night and a very good movie.

Sometimes the news hits close to home

Las Vegas Review Journal

"SKY POINTE DRIVE

Man shot, killed in northwest LV store

A man was shot and killed Wednesday morning at a northwest Las Vegas convenience store.

Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said officers were called to the scene about 8 a.m. by people reporting shots fired in the Guru Express, 6698 Sky Pointe Drive, at Cimarron Road.

When officers arrived, they found the body of a man who had been shot, possibly multiple times, Cassell said.

The victim's name wasn't available.

Anybody with information on the crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555."

Luckily I wasn't buying a soda yesterday morning, I knew the fridge in my cubicle would be a good idea. It may have saved my life.

Something to get you through the summer....

I love Kevin, I'm gonna go get me some ice cream now!

What time is it?

Well it is summer and the heat has been turned up another notch here in Vegas. I was reminiscing about the good old days of being a kid in the summer when I thought about all the fun times playing with Super Soakers. I was probably 12 when I got my first and only super Soaker the SS 100, I found this about the evolution of the Super Soaker and I must say that the new guns with all of there fancy dual tanks and multiple nozzles are all about the looks.
I'd be glad to take on anyone with my old trusty SS 100, of course that would only be able to happen if I didn't pump it too hard and break the handle. Hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July and stay safe with the fireworks.

Living like the Indians

J B and Mike's Mom have done some cool Indianesque Pictographs on the cinderblock wall behind their house, years ago after Becky and I and Debbie moved away they put family members handprints on the wall to add a personal touch. Unfortunately everytime since then that we have all been around it has either been too cold, too wet, or we were just too busy. Finally we did, except Bruce, and my mom was very happy to have a piece of her kids to look at in the back yard.

I think that Becky is doing some sort of dance move here.

Dutch Oven Family Celebration

We always had a big Dutch Oven dinner at the annual Family Camp, since we haven't had Family Camp in a while we had the dinner part on what would have been Grandpa Davis' 93rd birthday, I think in all we had over 15 dutch ovens going, I never got any of the food because I was too busy eating, yummy yummy.

Becky says that she is finally full, and very happy.

Here's my Grandma with her kids that could make it to the Party.

My grandma brought a bunch of old notebooks that she used to write about each family event and would include a few pictures from each, it was blogging before computers, well while looking through a few I got to realize just how cool of a kid I was growing up and how thankful I am that they were finally able to make smaller glasses for almost blind people and that I found a job and saved up for Lasik, in most of the pictures I felt like....theirs Mike's glasses and body.

Seattle Fun

The real reason to go to Seattle, to see the Mariners play some baseball, of course they were playing the Tigers so Mike's Dad came up as well. They split the two games so each was happy for their teams that haven't been doing too well this year. I am just glad that the Mariner's won at all.

We also got to see some good friends, Trish and Derek, of course they just happened to be moving so we went and helped a little bit, Heres Becky trying to still Derek's policeman hat.

The third great thing about Seattle is the fresh Seafood, we had some at every meal practically. Of course the best is the weekend Brunch at Salty's, it is the best and has a great view across the Puget Sound to Seattle.

Seattle Cont.

We stopped by a couple random places in our driving around, it was fun to be able to drive around and see the different neighborhoods in Seattle and have the GPS so that we didn't get totally lost, although with Mike driving the poor girl had to "Recalculate" every other block.

This is north of downtown in a section called "Magnolia" nice view of the sound and of the Space Needle, and oh so green.

Kat's Wedding

We went up to Utah to seed Becky's college roommate get married in Mid-May, the wedding was at the Joseph Smith Memorial building, I wasn't big into taking pictures of the wedding but did get a few shots of the big downtown construction project going on, not quite as exciting as all the Vegas construction but it was weird to see it from high up.

Looking at the hole that used to be Crossroads Mall, I felt my geekiness coming out as I was analyzing the geotechnical side of this project...go engineers.

Apparently the only semi-picture that I got of the couple was this one. It was fun and nice to see them get married.

The Wedding Continues

Caught this at the perfect moment, sometimes even I get lucky!

Random places like this make me really miss Utah, then the mosquitoes started attacking us and that thought went away.

After the wedding we continued out to the Great Salt Lake and found this unique structure, part of a bird and wildlife refuge, it has a nice one mile boardwalk around the mosquito infested and bird populated swampland that is the GSL.

Home Improvement 101

After storing them in the garage for 1 1/2 years we finally built the shelf in laundry room and a shoe shelf in the closet, the shoe shelf didn't look as organized as this one so it didn't make the cut.

I think we have all the parts but it is hard to remember for so long.