CAPA Night!

Last night all, well most anyways, the seniors at Tech attended the top secret event: CAPA night. Due to the sensitive nature of this topic I will leave out key details and request ALL underclassmen to exercise good integrity and self control by not reading this blog and turning away. Thank you.



Moving on!

Throughout the week the senior class has been put through and engineering class to learn about root cause analysis meaning what was the actual problem to a disaster and CAPA (Corrective And Preventative Actions) where we learned about how to create a method to help prevent and correct the problem in the future. We received worksheets from Dr. Immel to help us prepare to write an executive summary where we would state the problem, factors, details, root cause, and possible solutions to our "Boss" who would only give us one night to do the paper. Later Mrs. Immel, Dr. Immel's wife, who is the president of a company called Immel Resources (immelresources.com) gave us a presentation and exercise to prepare us for the upcoming event.

At 6:00 last night the event began. During CAPA night the class sat in a dark room and we listened and watched the disaster that will remain unnamed. We then had to break up into pre-assigned groups where we went through material and media trying to find the root cause of the problem. about a hour later we reconvened to have a meeting to discuss our finding/reenact events. We later had to hold a press conference to a group of "reporters" AKA a group of parents and teachers who obnoxiously bombarded us with questions making the event seem very life-like. At 10:00pm the event was over and we were told that our executive summaries were due at 1:00pm the next day. My two friends and I went home and had a sleep over so we could all help each other write our papers. Around 12:30 I finished my paper while my friends continued to work. One of us was online taking to people via AIM and most of the class was on working on papers and helping others. By the time we were all finished it was 3am! Then we finally got some sleep.

Now that all the papers are turned in or about to be turned in the weary and fatigue seniors are ready to enjoy the Holiday (I'm being PC) break.

This I Believe

This I Believe

I believe in stepping outside your door to experience new places.
Camping and traveling have always been a passion of mine, and in my 17 years I’ve been more places than many have been in a life time. I find that it baffles me that I know people who have never been outside California or gone for a trek in the woods.  Many people are so caught up in daily routines they can’t seem to find time to take a day to go to the beach, visit a friend in another city or take their family out of the city and into the wilderness. They can’t seem to make that step out of the house and into the unknown or unanticipated.
 
I find that you gain new appreciation and knowledge every time you walk out your door to a new place. Today our environment is in poor health and I find that those who have not experienced nature don’t seem to understand just how dangerous that is. Without experiencing nature for yourself you miss out on the beauty of the planet and without it, you make it impossible to truly understand and appreciate it. You can find the real workings of thing around you.
When you travel around the world or even the country you get to taste the culture. By going to, lets say a foreign country; you get to experience the lives of people who are very different than you and whose environment is completely different than yours. Every time my family travels somewhere we gain so much by learning the histories and cultures of strange new places, making them seem like almost another planet. Sometimes you just can’t really appreciate having the simple things like clean water or bed until you see places that if you lived there you would be lucky to have them.
 
Whenever you travel you tend to learn not only about the people around you but also about yourself. You may find that you like something you’ve never tried before or that maybe you are truly interested in something you’ve never known about. You might find that someone you know is a totally different person than you thought they were and you may find that when you get home you love the people you left behind more than you did when you left.
 
When you experience new places you gain appreciation and knowledge, not only about place, but about yourself and those around you. Until you take that step outside you door you can never really be all that you can. Go ahead and try it, you might end up liking what you find.

Postmodernism Cartoon

The Senior Project

Since the school year started I've been down right scared of the up coming senior project. Just the thought of it weighed me down and it seemed like this endless mountain looming ahead with no way around. In fact, at first, the senior project scared me so much I couldn't focus on much. 

This continued over the last few months until about three weeks ago. My parents had been particularly busy over the duration of the week leaving me home alone with a huge pile of chores to do around the house. As much as I did not want to do them I knew I had to or my parents would get pissed at me. Of all the chores the ones that bothered me the most were the ones that made me go outside into the cold to feed the horse, sheep (which I usually do anyway) and open and shut the chicken coop door. The coop is just so far away from the house, my shoes always get wet from the moisture soaked grass, I have to put on  a jacket so I don't freeze, then I have to walk all the way back. Okay, okay so it's not that far but it's no fun anyway. I wished there was a way that I could take care of this task without actually having to go outside in the cold. As I was walking back to the house and pealed off my wet socks, I remembered that for my senior project we had to make a product. Perfect! I could make an automated chicken coop door opener! It wasn't the most original idea, and yes my dad may have suggested it the day before but until this point I thought it was a stupid idea. 

Later my dad and I thought of all the cool ideas we could do for it. We could use a hydraulics system to ensure that no chicken-eating critters could get it, we could make it solar powered so there would be no need to even set up a bunch of annoying electrical cords. The best part was that we could put it on a timer so that the chickens could get out in the afternoon and then after they were all inside at dusk it would close itself keeping safe during the night. I talked to Dr Immel about this idea and he thought it was pretty cool. He suggested the use of a remote control so that the door could also be operated from afar if someone did not want to use the timer. 

Now that the idea of the project is out of the way and now that I have some experience working with electronics at school, my mind is much more at ease than it was. I guess this project is not as bad as I thought it was

Old People

This weekend I went to visit my grandfather with my mom. We took a flight dow to San Diego where he lives and visited him in his new home, which is a retirement community. This place was really neat! They had different levels of care, little studio apartments for the single people in a high rise, and little mini houses all over the nice green grounds where both single and little old couples can live. The management even let you have a little pet if you wanted one in the little houses. The place had many walking paths, a pool, all kinds of fun actives and entertainment, food included in the payments, and a very friendly staff. The food was pretty good I have to say, I personally thought that it was going to be all mushy and full of bran. Surprisingly it was not! My grandfather was a pilot in WWII, and had begun to hang up all of his old pictures of his plane and crew as he settled into his new diggs. There were not too many men in this place and all the little old ladies all made sure to say hi to him when we walked by and one even joined us for dinner. They were all very interesting people and had good senses of humor, not to mention stories to tell about they days when they were young.  When we were eating breakfast this morning, my mom asked me to picture all the old people in the dinning hall as teenagers. At first I thought this was a weird suggestion but then I looked around at all they bobbing grey haired folk around me and I could kinda see it. I imagined my class old now, and laughed to my self, knowing that was a long way off. God its going to be strange seeing us all gray and winkled someday. 

Later we were talking about my grandma, who died 2006, and just how expensive all her care was since she got Alzheimer's and needed constant care. My mom and I were a bit worried about my grandpa's finances since most of it went to the care of my grandma. I guess you can't really predict things like that most of the time and it just happens, so at least part of you has to be prepared both emotionally and financially. I wished there was another way for my grandpa to get some money these days, at least to save it for a rainy day. 

Back to the happy stuff. The over all point of this was to express that old people really are truly amazing people and have so much to share with us, so if you have some of these witty old people in your family, go and visit! Ask questions and soak up all the experiences that they had. 

That will end my blog for today now go visit your old people.

P.s. Save for retirement ASAP! (Just in case).

I Wish I Could Vote.

This November our country will hold an amazing event. We will elect our new President to guide us through the next four years. We also get to exercise something that make us truly American, and show just how unique our country is. We get to vote. Not only do we get to show off our main American right but we can make history for possible having a black president or a female VP. We've seem to come along way since many have tried to do this before yet we have never been so close. This is truly amazing and it will leave a beautiful mark in the fabric of our nation. Before I go on I must tell you that much to my dislike I cannot vote this year. I really do wish with all my heart that I could but the laws that bind us don't allow it. Since I can't =[ I have to ask the rest of you to do me a huge favor, VOTE! Exercise your incredible right as an American because you can make a difference! There are far to many people out there who chose not to vote, and many who wish they could but can't.  This is your opportunity to express you beliefs and help guide the country in the direction you feel would be best for the whole nation. Pick the best candidate for the job! Look past the hype, stories, and the vindictive media, straight into the eyes of the issues. Take 20 minutes out of you TV time during the day, hop on the Internet, and look at the websites of the candidates.  Check out the way the world is changing around us and find the best fit. Make a decision that reflects you and the direction of the country. Cross party lines! Be defiant! Be Independent! VOTE for what YOU BELIEVE in! Pick the candidate that would benefit you, your family and your life style! Use your voice to help yourself! US! The American people! Even if it means crossing party lines and tearing you eyes away from CSI on the TV. This Tuesday I as you, the American people to stand up for what you believe in! Vote because you love your country, vote to give the next generation a great start! Be smart! Be a voice! Be an AMERICAN! Do it because you can!!  Do it wisely! VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prop 8

Every morning on my to school I am bombarded by many sign posted by the streets telling us to vote yes or no on prop 8. Prop 8 is a new proposition in California that would overturn the resent decision to allow gay marriage in our state. Many homosexual couples were excited to exercise their new right to legally wed. Since June 2008 an estimated 16000 homosexual couples have gotten married. Many, however, were more than outraged, and felt it was an attack on morals and the family dynamic. Personally I think its great that anyone is allowed to marry. Besides what business is it of mine if two people who love each-other want to get married and have that recognized.  It seems so unfair that while our constitution (California's) states that everyone should be treated equally under the law that many are discriminated against based on the fact that they love and are attracted to the same gender. It is my opinion that they should be able to get married. Marriage. Wow, now that I think of the concept, I am so surprised how so many "straight" couples have treated that commitment as a joke. Just about 50% of those who have been married have be divorced. That gives marriage, which is supposed to be a huge commitment, and with some one that you intent to spend the rest of your life with a slap in the face. Why to some straight people treat marriage so lightly but when it comes around to it they wont allow people who potentially love each other just as much and as anyone else to marry! 

I received (well actually my dad did) a flyer in the mail that urged us to vote yes on prop eight. The flyer stated three main reasons why to vote for it.

#1 That with the current arrangement that churches of all kinds would not receive their tax cuts from the state

#2 That public schools would force children to accept and learn about gay marriage (perhaps even encourage it).

#3 It would undermine the whole marriage idea.

My rebuttal for #1 is how would this effect tax cuts at all. Homosexuals are looking for recognition by the state and government, not by the church. They want the licence, and doesn't the church only pretain to the actual ceremony, which is in fact void if it is not recognized by the state? They laws are not forcing the church to marry people, it only allows civil marriages, this is paper work. 

For #2 ... *sigh* Public schools have never talked, mentioned, or taught about any sort of marriage is anyway what so ever! I have been in school for 12 + years (pre-k) and never have we learned about marriage in our curriculum or anything. The superintendent of CA school recently made a public announcement that marriage has never been, and never will be taught in schools. We may discuss its placement in government or who was married to who, but no one really ever tells us what is and what is wrong and right about marriage.

For #3, marriage was not what it was 20 years ago. It gets undermined by heterosexual couples all they time.

The church needs to be separated from the state in cases like these. The whole gay marriage thing is for recognition in the law and state, not in the eyes of God or the church. That is up to the church and such.

The state is not requiring you to accept gay marriage or even like it, they just state that it exist.

Please vote NO on Prop 8. 

Its wrong, prejudice unconstitutional

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