'So in the world of today: 15 June 2015' by Sam Orr

So in the world of today:
-A prominent US Catholic archbishop was forced to resign for his involvement in a sex abuse scandal.
-a commission on global security and justice found that the UN is in need of some reforms in order to deal with the problems of today.

My Third Time Visiting BYU Idaho's Badger Creek

     The next day, I went with Jessica and her ward to badger creek. We did four activities. I think that the first was a little ridiculous. We had to swing with a rope to a two foot square "raft because we were being attacked by pirates." Another thing that made it ridiculous is that we could not talk to each other because we did not want to get the attention of the pirates. We had to fit as many of our group as we can on the two foot square "raft". I thought that it was weird how the girls had a very hard time swinging. It is like they don't understand physics. They could barely hold themselves on the rope and get enough momentum to get to the raft. People thought that this was a leadership game, but the not talking rule made it lame; plus, additional rules were given limiting the suggestions that were given. A girl suggested that we do a big doggy pile. Another suggested that people sit on each other's shoulders, but both of them were shot down. The situation was too ridiculous for me to care. If we were attacked by pirates, we would not try to fit twenty-one people on a two foot square raft. We did do it; although, I saw one person with only one foot on the raft, which should have obligated us to restart. It was more of a trial and error unifying than a leadership and communication practice. Someone tried to lead the people as if she figured out how to fit everyone on the raft; however, the people did not follow her instructions well. There was a knot high in the rope, and I thought that it would be fun to swing two people over to the raft as once. The other activities were more logical and challenging. I think that it is weird that I only want to write about the ridiculous activity because all the other ones were logical. We did rock climbing, a gigantic swing like thirty feet tall, zip lining, and slacklining. I fell off the wall a couple times, when I rock climbed. There was a safety system, so I did not fall far. I felt out-of-it after being in the sun for so long, and did not care to do the swing. Badger Creek is interesting. It fulfills its role in the school well.

The First BYU Idaho Dual Meet, the Track and Field Program vs. the School

     The Track and Field meet did have more participants at first, since the school was invited to participate in the meet. There were about 10 people from the school that came, but I didn't really notice them. It seemed like they came and left. One guy came from the school, winning the mile race. Another guy raced in the hundred meter dash, and a guy participated in the throwing events; however, I don't recall seeing the other athletes. It is interesting that my sprinting and throwing programs are stronger than my long distance team. The throwing team captain broke the shot put record again, but it was by two feet, throwing 50'. There was a lot of wind, and the sprinters wanted to have the wind at their back. The timers were not prepared for that, and the timing system ran out of batteries before the race began, so we missed the hundred meter dash time. Jessica ran the scoreboard, so they kind of had a time. The sprinting team put together a 4x400 relay team, and they broke the school record by six seconds. The long distance team put together a 4x800 relay team, and they set the school record because there was not an official time.

June 14, 2015

     This week was another stressful week, but it was only for the first few days. I had two big assignments due Wednesday. Jessica's archenemy is English class, and we have been working late into the night, writing an essay.  I am so busy. Every hour of my life seems to have an obligation and event. The track and field program had its first dual meet, and the turnout was weak. I believe that it is because my busy schedule did not let me do all the things that I could. I could have done more, but my academic achievement takes priority. I have had a lot of sun the past couple days, and I don't want to hang out in the sun for a while. I was in the sun a lot, running the Track meet, and I went to Badger Creek with Jessica's ward yesterday.

     The Track and Field meet did have more participants at first, since the school was invited to participate in the meet. There were about 10 people from the school that came, but I didn't really notice them. It seemed like they came and left. One guy came from the school, winning the mile race. Another guy raced in the hundred meter dash, and a guy participated in the throwing events; however, I don't recall seeing the other athletes. It is interesting that my sprinting and throwing programs are stronger than my long distance team. The throwing team captain broke the shot put record again, but it was by two feet, throwing 50' . There was a lot of wind, and the sprinters wanted to have the wind at their back. The timers were not prepared for that, and the timing system ran out of batteries before the race began, so we missed the hundred meter dash time. Jessica ran the scoreboard, so they kind of had a time. The sprinting team put together a 4x400 relay team, and they broke the school record by six seconds. The long distance team put together a 4x800 relay team, and they set the school record because there was not an official time.

     The next day, I went with Jessica and her ward to badger creek. We did four activities. I think that the first was a little ridiculous. We had to swing with a rope to a two foot square "raft because we were being attacked by pirates." Another thing that made it ridiculous is that we could not talk to each other because we did not want to get the attention of the pirates. We had to fit as many of our group as we can on the two foot square "raft". I thought that it was weird how the girls had a very hard time swinging. It is like they don't understand physics. They could barely hold themselves on the rope and get enough momentum to get to the raft. People thought that this was a leadership game, but the not talking rule made it lame; plus, additional rules were given limiting the suggestions that were given. A girl suggested that we do a big doggy pile. Another suggested that people sit on each other's shoulders, but both of them were shot down. The situation was too ridiculous for me to care. If we were attacked by pirates, we would not try to fit twenty-one people on a two foot square raft. We did do it; although, I saw one person with only one foot on the raft, which should have obligated us to restart. It was more of a trial and error unifying than a leadership and communication practice. Someone tried to lead the people as if she figured out how to fit everyone on the raft; however, the people did not follow her instructions well. There was a knot high in the rope, and I thought that it would be fun to swing two people over to the raft as once. The other activities were more logical and challenging. I think that it is weird that I only want to write about the ridiculous activity because all the other ones were logical. We did rock climbing, a gigantic swing like thirty feet tall, zip lining, and slacklining. I fell off the wall a couple times, when I rock climbed. There was a safety system, so I did not fall far. I felt out-of-it after being in the sun for so long, and did not care to do the swing. Badger Creek is interesting. It fulfills its role in the school well.

'So in the world of today: 12 June 2015' by Sam Orr

So in the world of today:
-Al Qaeda is struggling to maintain its old presence.
-Congress blocked Obama’s trade deal.
-The CIA’s report on 9/11 (recently released) hid virtually everything relating to Saudi Arabia.
-The white house announced that it would continue to meet with the Muslim brotherhood.
-Iran has upped its shipments of weapons to the Taliban.

'So in the world of today: 10 June 2015' by Sam Orr

So in the world of today:
-The LDS church publicly condemned persecution of homosexuals and other groups.
-a gay man in Scotland was arrested for refusing to post a pro-gay slogan on a cake.
-Obama sent 450 soldiers to Iraq.
-The US passed Russia as the world’s top producer of oil and gas.
-an Indian politician was arrested after an opposition reporter was burned alive.

'So in the world of today: 9 June 2015' by Sam Orr

So in the world of today:
-The LDS church dedicated another temple.
-a study found that watching sesame street was just as effective for kids as preschool.
-Capitol Hill and the white house had bomb threats.
-a New York man jailed at 16 and never formally charged, committed suicide after three years of waiting.
-US job openings hit a 15 year high.
-Texas courts approved a law saying that abortions must be performed in mini-hospitals and not in abortion clinics.
-Isis captured 88 Christians.
-Obama said he has no strategy to combat Isis.
-UN workers traded food and phones in Haiti for sex.

'So in the world of today: 4 June 2015' by Sam Orr

So in the world of today:
-2/3 Americans say that more needs to be done to stop ISIS.
-lots of federal workers had their information hacked. China is the prime suspect.

The BYUI Track and Field Meet of June 6, 2015

The track meet went well. My games manager was out of town, so I had to get my own volunteers. Rachel Dunlap, Jessica Ledesma, Brenden Stevens, and Shandarae Williams helped out. Most friends were from my Temple to Temple relay team. Everyone was in good spirits. The events were run well. Rachel was the announcer, and I was able to work with her well. Jessica ran the scoreboard. She was proud that her time was only hundredths of a second off from the official time. Two school records were broken. Dominic Masiarchn ran a 10.57 for the 100 meter dash, and Kasey Taylor broke the shot put record throwing 48' 5"; just an inch further than the previous school record. I had Rachel announce that Dominic broke the 100 meter dash school record, and I was surprised that the people in the stands applauded his performance. A sister came to film the meet, and she is making a video for the scroll this coming week, and I look forward to see that. She was able to film most of the events, and interview coaches and a few athletes. We had a hard time giving athletes records because our timing system was inaccurate, so I had Brother Stutz be the head timer. He is the most experienced in the sport. I would go around and asked people for feedback about the sport, and Brother Stutz said that he was having fun.

Wall-e, the Pinnacle Film of Pixar

    I believe that Wall-e is one of Pixar's most pinnacle films. I think that Ratatouille and Wall-e were their two best productions. The stories are so original and meaningful. I don't think any of the other films were as good. I don't like Toy Story because it is too materialistic. None of the children have real friends. They only play with their toys. In the latest Toy Story Film, they showed multiple children play in a room with toys, but they didn't even play with each other. Toy Story and Cars is a franchise just to make money like Frozen. Brave and Up were disappointments. The stories was too odd. I think that Pixar's latest movie Inside Out is going to be too stereotypical. I saw this last week that Pixar is coming out with a new film about dinosaurs, and how dinosaurs were not destroyed by a gigantic meteor. I think that would be interesting. I grew up in the heyday of Pixar, and I think that the quality of their films have abated.

Temple to Temple Relay 2015

     Yesterday my team and my FHE sister's team ran the temple to temple relay. This relay had a special family feel to it because Irvin Silva asked to join the team. I may have let the environment be family oriented because I asked him, if his wife wants to accompany us. I suggested this because we have plenty of space in the cars. Irvin's sister in law join the team, and when we were looking for a second car. Irvin's mother in law wanted to drive. Our welcoming group embraced her love of photography, and the relay is well photographed. I feel that the first few legs of the relay ran better than it was expected, and the last few were hard of the participants. The last few days before the relay I coached Jessica, and she applied the running skills. On Thursday, Jessica ran the distance of her leg, but she just did not want to give into the desire to walk. That was my expectation for her, but I want her to be a runner. She ran a slow jog, and I invited her run faster during the last mile to feel how fast that she can run, since she was just running the minimum speed, which will not give her the desire to walk. This is what we did before, and it made her feel accomplished. She talks sometimes as if her perspective will not change, but I see that her performance should grow exponentially by the change of experience. Her not walking is not an accomplishment for this relay because she already knows that she can jog slowly and not walk. There is a running effort, which can increase the efficiency of her speed, just by changing her perspective, and I am proud to say that she did it. Jessica enjoyed the competition.