Sunday, April 19, 2009

Jed's final project


Well, finals are here for us cougars. Aubrey and I are right in the middle of our test taking. So that means final projects are finished. One of my classes had a fun project where I worked with a great group of guys to design and build a little pneumatic engine. It took most of the semester, but we presented it a little over a week ago, and it ran wonderfully. I had a lot of fun working on it, and I was really happy with how it all turned out. It's made out of aluminum, brass and steel, and runs on one cylinder. We designed and manufactured all the parts ourselves (except for a few bolts and washers). Here is even a video of it in action.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Queen of the Playground

Saturday's feel like the single day that whatever needs to get done can. Last Saturday I was able to go to a 2 hour Stk. Enrichment, then help my Aunt move for a few hours, get home, make Jed go grocery shopping, make pretzels dipped in chocolate, and yes, totally dominate a 4-Square game. If you don't know how to play 4-Square, I am very sorry. This is easily the most competitive playground game. As I was chasing Jed, for no other reason than to get water on him, we ran outside, to stumble on a 4-Square game. My Sunday School teacher was there, and he asked if I wanted to play (remembering that at BYU he is also 19 yrs old). I don't even remember asking Jed if he wanted to, but I jumped in. The other two couples that were making pretzels with us came out, and we had a serious game on our hands. I didn't pull out all of my tricks immediately, but as soon as I did, everybody realized how stellar I was. Now, to eat some humble pie, I have played for 5 years working at a school, and those kids beat me all the time. But sometimes I get in my groove and nobody can get me out of the 1st square. When I inched my way into the first square, nobody realized how long I would be there. There were cheers of "Get Aubrey out! Get Aubrey out!" (Music to my ears!) After having everybody get in and out again, probably a few times, I did get out (only to a cheap shot of course!) But then I was able to revive myself, and the game ended with me in the 1st square. If I recall the rules of 4-Square (the rules we play with at work, I usually make up) the person who is last standing in the 1st Square gets to have bragging rights for the rest of the day. Well, it was midnight by then, so I understood this to mean that I have bragging rights for a few days. So here is my bragging post, and a challenge to anyone who thinks they can beat me at 4-Square! :)