'War of the Worlds' ANYBODY?

Anybody watch 'War of the Worlds'? Anybody thought it could have used a bit more of an explanation? Anybody like to read? Well... Anybody should read the book.

It is quite informative and good. The setting is in England, not the U.S., where everybody thinks the World revolves around. I was surprised by the similarities between the book and the movie though. As do most movies, it lacks a great deal of detail. Detail that helped explain things a bit more.

I found the description of the Martians quite interesting. Unlike humans, they don't have to 'waste' their time with eating and digesting. They don't have a digestive system at all.  Why? Who needs to when you take the blood of your victims? After all, isn't that why living things eat? To produce blood? Which gives us the energy to go about from day to day? Yes, they inject their victims blood directly into themselves. They don't need sleep. Much like how our hearts never get sleep, they don't need sleep. In conclusion, they are basically brain, heart, and lungs. Their body is weak, especially when exposed to Earth's stronger gravity. It is their intellect and knowledge of mechanics that allows them to have power over us.

Oh, and that red plant that grew like a weed on steroids? From what I take from the book, it has nothing to do with blood. It is WATER, that causes its extraordinary growth, not blood. It is merely a native Martian plan that they brought, probably accidentally, and from further research, is what gives Mars its dull red color.  

There is much more to be typed. If anybody is interested to know more, and doesn't want to read the book, let me know. I will be happy to share more.

5 YEARS!

So Amanda had been planning this experience for a year or more (since before our 4 year anniversary! I thought it would be sooooo fun but it was expensive so it wasn't something that we could do just for a normal anniversary). This year I finally gave her the go ahead (not entirely true. He did say financially we could afford to do it, but I wasn't waiting for him to tell me it was okay to do this for our anniversary :) ). It was suppose to be a surprise but I figured it out before the day arrived. I would like to thank Amanda's Mom for making this possible. She came and watched Ella while we were away.

Here is just a quick run down of what happened...

Amanda had it scheduled a couple of months in advance. We were going to stay in the Anniversary Inn (a themed bed and breakfast!) closest to Temple Square. (There are two Anniversary Inns in town.) This way we could keep the car parked and walk to the various sites. Well, on the MORNING of the first day of our stay(actually within 2 hours of check-in), they called us and told us that due to construction they wanted to move us to their other site just a few minutes away, driving.


This was the itinerary of our Anniversary Getaway. We would stay 2 nights in the Anniversary Inn Bed and Breakfast, each night in a different themed room. On our first night we would eat at a restaurant that we had a $25 gift card for that we got on restaurant.com for $2. The second day of our getaway we would spend time at Temple Square visiting the sites. I wanted to tour the Beehive House especially. Then we would do a session at the Salt Lake Temple before going to dinner at The Roof Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Our last day we would check out of the hotel and then I would spend the rest of the day with my mom while she was in town.

(I hope that Amanda will look through this post and put her thoughts in.) They are in italics

One of the nights we ate at 'The Roof', a restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Earlier that day we went to the Salt Lake Temple. Before that we did some Temple Square sight seeing. We ate at the Lion House Pantry, a cafeteria style restaurant (so good! The food was very filling and not very expensive), we toured the Beehive House, and we made sure we could find 'The Roof' restaurant before our reservations which was good because we ended up being there just on time. That is where the above picture is from.

This is a table that was near ours. I didn't think of taking a picture before we sat down so I had to take a picture of an empty table. After all, who would want to look at a picture of a messy table? This part I was able to keep a surprise. When I called and made the reservations I specifically requested to be near the window so that we could have a great view of temple square. I also made sure our reservations were late enough that we could see the Temple all lit up. We were also lucky and got to see the preparations for the annual Temple Square Christmas lights! They were working on them and for a bit parts of Temple Square was lit up too!

They had a pianist with a glued on smile. As you can see, the piano was unique (acrylic!). It was nice having a live pianist play in the background of our dinner. She was actually very good. She hardly used music and was able to hold a conversation with the meat carver while she played!


This restaurant was a gourmet buffet. The food was pretty good, nothing spectacular. They tended to have normal foods like pasta and meat dishes but they doctored them up with spiciness which I cannot handle normally let alone while pregnant. The big major part of the food was their dessert buffet! There was so many desserts to choose from! Different things too that Jared and I hadn't tried before like creme brulee and flan (I didn't try this). My favorite parts of the restaurant and probably what makes this restaurant such a great one is the live piano player and the view of temple square. Breathtaking!


ROMEO and JULIET SUITE

This was the breakfast included at the hotel. We stayed two nights. The food was the same but on the second morning I requested for both my drinks to be hot chocolate! The food was actually pretty good. We were each able to choose 2 beverages ranging from juice to cocoa, we had our own individual fruit parfaits, and then we shared a cinnamon roll and a croissant filled with ham and cheese.

 My Juliet, she is so good to me! And you are to me, my Romeo!

 I discussed ideas of making the room into a studio apartment. The bed was up on this balcony and there was a huge TV directly in front of it. To the back of us, under the balcony, was the tub and shower. It was really pretty!


SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON

This was the second room. The bed was in the tree. There was also a fish tank that was pretty even though they had only one color of fish. Yellow I believe.

Each room came complimentary with Sparkling Cider and Cheese Cake!

It was a good two night, three day trip. My wife thought I was loony. We all know she is right. I guess I was a bit blah at first. It was my first time sleeping away from Ella and the rooms were so decorated, it was a bit overwhelming for me. I warmed up though and was able to enjoy myself.

Well, there it is. It isn't much of an explanation but at least it is something. Hopefully Amanda will add some spice into it before anybody reads it. (spice, I don't know. More of an explanation, yes indead :) )

Ginkgo Petrified Forest

My Father-in-Law also took me to the nearby Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. Who knew the desolate land of Central Washington was once occupied by big trees!

We went on a hike  in this park while waiting for the Tour to start at the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility. The Ginkgo tree is all but extinct. I enjoyed this day with my Father-in-Law. THANKS!

Sometime during this fun filled day we had lunch at one of the Burger joints in the big town of Vantage. Now, I am not a big restaurant goer. Mainly because of money, but another reason is because I am not impressed with the food. It isn't anything special. I don't know if I was really hungry, didn't think I was, or what but this Chili Cheese Burger I had was quite scrumptious. In fact, I was wanting to go back. I still do, but the novelty has passed with time. I'm sure I might be able to break down and go again. Yes, it was that good.

If I Had a Windmill...

Last month I had the opportunity to go to the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility with my Father-in-Law. It is located in Central Washington and is a pretty amazing site. We went up to the site twice. The second trip was so that we could go on the tour.

The facts I gleaned from the tour and the ones I have just looked up different. So instead of facts, let us consider them estimates.

From base to tip of the blade is around 351 ft. The foundation is anywhere from 25 to 32 ft. deep. The top is fully rotational, to an extent. (Eventually it has to unwind but can rotate in a circle a few times before having to reset itself.) The blades also can change their pitch. Both things are necessary because these beasts can not operate in winds exceeding 55 mph or below 9 mph. The winds in the area have been recorded to reach as high as 90 mph.

The ladder up is approximately 221 ft. up. In the Windmill we were taken in, while on the tour, there was a small elevator. It goes slower then if you were to climb up. Also, it is unable to go clear to the top because the 'tower' narrows the further up it reaches. The elevator is there, from what I can remember, for 'important people', news crews, when it was getting built and they did a story on them, and training. Or most likely because they were itching to spend money.

The blades are approximately 125 ft. long. This blade was damaged on the trip. A crane operator dropped it. I wish I could remember how much it cost. Most the parts came from Europe, Denmark I believe.

There are 149 operating turbines. Each one has their own 'weather station' at the top that allows the turbine to 'follow' the wind. Watching the blades in the winds can be eerie. They are quite flexible.

One turbine produces energy enough for around 460 houses a year. It is nice to know about this clean source of energy but we need to be careful about it also. We wouldn't want to change the rotation of the Earth!

"Ooops!"

So I just signed off of Skype with Ella. She was on the PC, I was on the Mac. I couldn't hear or see her so Amanda typed what was going on. When I signed off of Skype Ella goes: "Ooops!" than she goes "More. More." I LOVE MY ELLA!

A Stroll with Ella

On Saturday, January 16, Ella and I took a little stroll. Amanda was out grocery shopping and I was at home with Ella. Since we watch all our TV on the internet, and because we got a sweet TV now, I have been wanting to find a way to hook our MacBook up to the TV. Amanda told me I should take Ella with me to 'Best Buy' and check out my options. I was playing the Nintendo Wii at the time. I decided that was a great activity to do with Ella. I don't know if Amanda was thinking I would take the stroller or not but I decided against it. So Ella put her coat and boots on, and I put my jacket and shoes on, and off we went.

I am amazed, and pleased to state that Ella walked the whole way, her hand in mine. Ok, to be totally truthful I lifted her over a small wall and a couple of puddles but that was it. The rest of the way she happily walked, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Even after the 0.7 miles she enjoyed getting into things at the store. Yes, 0.7 MILES! Here is a map to prove it.

Point "A" is where we live, Point "B" is 'Best Buy'.