Generic Data Retrieval Model?

[eluser]Unknown[/eluser]
[quote author="solid9" date="1351767180"]Don't reinvent the wheel.
study MY_Model.
[/quote]

This is what I was seeking. While I understand that it is not difficult to write SQL, I'd like something to make it easier to use active records and the like. I like the database agnosticism and the auto escaping, but having many lines of code in the model each time I want to build a query the "AR" way seems unnecessary.

Have a great day and thanks again for the response!