Gas Gas Gas

Holy freaking crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Has anyone filled their gas tank in the last few days? What a mess. I costs like 30 bucks to fill up our little Corrola!!!!!!!! This is just too much. I'm really glad I'm taking a job much closer to home now. It will save us a ton in gas hopefully. I'll be able to take Trax and then my bike the rest of the way. Pretty cool! I have two offers and I'm really having a hard time deciding on one of them. They are both really good for different reasons.

I just uploaded some new pics of Nate on our Flickr Site - See the sidebar. They are way cool!

Washington DC 2003

I had an opportunity to go to a certification class for work in Washington D.C., so this was a good opportunity for Rob to come along. We flew out there two days after a major hurricane went through the area. We spent a couple days in Arlington and few downtown just a few block from the National Mall and we liked both areas very much.



Here we are in front of the Capitol Building on a beautiful day.



Walking through Arlington National Cemetary was a singular experience. The ambiance was calm, peaceful, and solemn. It also overlooks a lot of the monuments. This was one of our favorite spots - Do not miss it!



We asked someone to take our picture in front of the Lincoln Monument and it was so kind of him to cut off Lincoln's head. Plenty of floor in front and still no room to squeeze in the rest of President Lincoln.

For the rest of the pictures we uploaded see our SlideShow

Is My Family Prepared?

How to approach this subject? Most of you know that I am studying the effects of earthquakes on soil and buildings. So I take earthquake hazards very seriously. The first thing we considered in shopping for our latest appartment was how Julie and I felt that it would hold up in an earthquake.

Since it is the anniversary of the 1906 Sanfran earthquake a lot of people are more aware of the hazards of earthquakes. An article in the deseret news was sent to me by one of my professors from the U of U. This article does a good job in summarizing the effects of the big one and also with the little things that will make a huge difference in our well being or even survival when the big one occurs. Please read it!!!

Deseret News Article: It's 2008 and the "Big One" hits Utah.

Key Points:
Secure your Freaking Water Heater Man!!!!!!!!!!
Get some Freaking Food and Water Storage!!!!!!
Make a Plan so everyone knows where to meet!!!!!!
Remember that even Cell phones may not work!!!!!

Help Wanted

Help Wanted

Looking for 9 ring wraiths to hunt down the one true ring that I lost on vacation in Hawaii. Must be willing to travel: airfare can be provided if you do not have your own flying beasts. Those without black horses need not apply. Black evil dolphins are a plus. The ring was last seen in Hanauma Bay on the windward cost of O'ahu above a shallow bed of coral. See picture below.

1906 SanFran Earthquake - Google Earth

Hey everybody! The 18th of this months is the 100 year anniversary of the 1906 SanFran earthquake. If you would like to learn more about the earthquake and seismic stuff follow the link below. It is really, really, really, interesting...... for me at least.

Google Earth Earthquake Files

What a Smile

Nate Big Smile!
Originally uploaded by EngineeringNerd.

So I am totally amazed at how much Nate smiles. It is so great! This picture is so dang cute. It is really funny because he does cry more than the average baby (maybe) but he sure does smile more as well!!! It is so much fun to play with him and see in his eyes that he knows me and thinks that I'm just sooooo funny!!!!!!!

By the way, I have uploaded some pics of Julie and me for our engagement as well as some funny pics of me playing the drums. Just check the Flikr Site (See the Sidebar).

Julie joins the blogosphere.

So the other week Julie turns to me and says, "hey, I think I want to start a blog. I have a great idea and I want to know what you think." So she explained her idea and I thought it was fabulous. We thought about a good url for about a week and it finally came to us. www.juliepages.info I checked out her first post and it was a lot of fun. Keep checking her page, I expect very good things from her. I put a permalink to her site in the sidebar.

Nate Laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guys, you will not believe this. So this evening after we got home from the day's varied activities I decided to play with Nate for a while. He was sitting in his chair and starting to get a little bit annoyed just sitting there. So I hovered above him and started smiling at him and making all the funny noises that dads make to their children. (Dad's really are the best and making funny noises!!!) Anyway I was making weird noises and shaking my face at him and MUCH to my surprise he sort of went, "ha ha" and I was like, "hey he laughed!!!!" I said to Julie, "did you hear that," and she said yeah with much excitement. So I kept doing what I was doing and he did it again just a little longer!!!! We are so happy!!!! Nate is such a happy little boy as most of you know. He smiles and smiles and smiles, and he also cries quite a bit but I think that is a part of his personality right now. We'll see how he continues to develop.