Let's Get Political ... Political

Hey everyone. I know you missed my incessant political rants. Well, here comes a new one. I promise not to be too mean.

Note: My vote breakdown comes from the following site. If my numbers are incorrect, it's because the numbers from the article are incorrect.

Remember when Barack Obama was running for president of the USA? He talked about bipartisanship, and bridging the gap between the two political parties that dominate our current political landscape. Basically, for those who know nothing, Democrats and Republicans disagree on many key points. These aren't necessarily the most important things, but they tend to be opposite on certain key issues. The economy is one of them. While I really am a moderate with a conservative leaning, I find myself much m ore aligned with conservative economics. This does color my current article. However, this is not the point I've come for.

Obama talked bipartisanship more than any previous presidential candidate that has ever been around. Most talk it, but don't really believe it. One reason that I was appreciative of Obama is that he seemed genuinely interested in working with the Republicans. Call it however you see it, but there hasn't been any more conversation or agreement ever since he came into office. Place the blame where you will, there doesn't seem to be much of a move from EITHER side to work together.

Perfect example is the recent stimulus bill that was passed. It passed the House with ZERO, YES ZERO, votes from Republicans. Now that's bipartisanship. In a previous post I talked about how I was afraid of any political party having unchecked power in the government. We've reached that point where the Democrats have this. They have control of the Judicial, Legislative and Executive branch. This essentially means that they can pass what they want. While many might be excited about that, the reality is that I think that too much of either side will ultimately hurt us. Our government was designed with these checks in mind. Can I just say that it scares me that only one political party carries power in the government?

As a side note, I find it very interesting that Obama preaches about cutting the deficit and spending more, and creating a bigger government. That just doesn't seem to quite add up.

I'm glad, however, that he didn't go for a "new deal" type stimulus package. The reality is that at it's peak, that legislation had a top income tax bracket of 94% (see 1944 and 1945 on that page). And the cutoff was $200,000. I don't care that I don't make that much (or do I ... hahahahaha) I think that the government taking that much from anyone is absolutely out of line.

But I digress. I just wish that checks and balances were alive in our government today.

I Did Something I've Been Wanting to do ...

I bought a car. That's right. I bought a car. And I do appreciate all the input on the car decision. I just had to go with my gut, and the car that I felt best represented me and Lindsay, as well as provided us with the benefits that we will need. So we did it!

I am so excited about it. Let me tell you: I bought a 2009 Mazda 6. It's gorgeous. Now, here's the best part: I got it for probably $8,000 less than it would have been completely new. How, you ask? Well, I found a used one with 9,000 miles on it. That's right. 9,000 miles. That's it. For that reason, I got the car for about $8,000 less than the retail would have been on it were I have to purchased it with 250 miles on it. I can't tell you how excited we are about this car. It's white with black interior. And it has some cool features:

• Push button ignition.
• Mazda "Advanced Key" -- Basically,  you never have to take the key out of your pocket.
• A CAVERNOUS trunk. Seriously.
• 8-speaker sound system with Aux hook up
• Steering wheel cruise and audio controls
• And more!

I really love my car guys. I'm really excited to be driving it. And the best part is that it gets fantastic gas mileage, and will likely pay for itself with my mileage reimbursements in the long run. That's just so thrilling. I do have to admit that I was sad to see my beloved Firebird have to go. I miss it. But it's ok, as it will serve it's purpose for someone else. I know that the Firebird will live on. I'll post some pictures of my car later.

Work is good. I have been working on a custom data analytics assignment for one of our clients out of San Francisco. I have been working from the office, analyzing the data and verifying integrity and other items. It's been a fun project so far, and I'm learning a lot about how electronic accounting information systems work and process data. It's been an interesting ride. I enjoy some business intelligence work, so it's been a fun release for me.

Lindsay had an interview last week, and applied for a few more jobs this week. She taught the lesson on Sunday in primary and did a wonderful job (did I mention that we teach the valiant 9 in primary?)! We went up to my parent's house on Sunday for my mom's traditional pink dinner. Yes, everything was pink: chicken, rolls, pears, sweet potatoes, everything. It was all dyed up, and it was very delish. I helped my dad move the old TV and we set up the new one in it's "spot". It looks great.

What can I say? Things are wonderful. I can't complain for a minute.

And the Cat Came Back, the Very Next Day

That title makes no sense, just so you all know. I mean, I guess I'm the cat, but it's totally not the very next day. But that's ok.

Hi! I just thought I'd check in while I was hanging out at home today. I'm really excited to watch The Office tonight, and find out what's going to happen in the 2nd part of last week's episode. I love that show. Seriously. It's way awesome.

Let's talk Taken. Now that was a very fun movie and I'm really excited that my wife was willing to go and see it with me. I'm telling you, nothing better than my wonderful, beautiful wife who can cook and loves action movies.

For those of you who don't watch TV, Taken is a movie starring Liam Neeson, who is playing Jack Bauer in this movie. Essentially, he's a former "preventer" who worked for the CIA. He was very good, apparently, at what he did and uses those skills to their fullest when his daughter is taken on her visit to France. He goes out there, kills a bunch of people, and hunts down his daughter. I don't wanna spoil it too much for those that plan on seeing it, but it's a FUN movie. Not the greatest acting ever (Maggie Grace, who plays the daughter, is pretty lame) but Neeson has to be one of my favorite actors in Hollywood. Watching him play a bad-a secret agent was absolutely fun. He plays it completely and totally, dedicating himself to the role. He is amazing, and sells the movie by himself.

He's impressive in this movie. The action is virtually non-stop after the first 30 minutes or so, and it is brutal and quick. I'm glad that Luc Besson decided not to use the "quick-cuts" that have become so popular after the Bourne films. He films it pretty straight, and that really benefits the style. You need to know what's going on during the fight and action scenes, and therefore the movie carries itself well with the slower cuts that Besson uses.

Overall, my point is that I recommend this movie highly to everyone who loves a good actioner. It's intense, and there is material about sex trafficking and other very thematic elements. Don't take your 10 year-old to the movie. But please, go and see it if you enjoy a good action movie.

Next up on the queue to see: Probably He's Just Not That Into You. Valentine's day, guys.

Apart from the movies, everything is great. My wife and I are as happy as can be and looking forward to the next little while.

You know where the comments go.

Poll

As a side note, you'll notice that I put up a poll. I'm interested to see what people may think. If you choose another auto, please make note in the comments section of THIS post what other car you would suggest that I purchase.

Thanks guys!

I've done way too much research, but now I totally need some opinions.

I'm Not That Interesting

I made a discovery about myself the other day: I'm just not really all that interesting. I have lots of opinions, and things to say, and all that different stuff. But I realized that nobody really probably wants to know what I have to say. I have been meaning to be here on my blog, updating things, and letting people know more about what's going on in my life, and all that. But, every time I sit down to do it, I just realized that I don't really have anything all that interesting to write about.

I have an amazing wife, and I feel so lucky for that. But life is good for us. We have our struggles, with moving 800 miles and costing a fortune being a big part of it, there hasn't been a lot going on that I really feel needs to be shared. Most of the people who read this know most of what's going on anyway ... although I suppose to owe it to the others (Aubrey, I'm talking about you! :) ).

Overall, this is my daily life: Leave for work, work 9 - 10 hours, get home, relax, go to sleep about 9:30 or 10:00, and then do it all again the next day.

It's crazy, I know

Anyway, I promise that I will write more out of pure desire to write about my life.

I do like my job. I LOVE MY WIFE. She's the reason I do everything.

My ward is good. My life is good. I look forward to moving forward.

All my love people.