Eggin ON!!

Well boys and girls, I'm sure you've already heard this but I'm gonna say it again, we rock!!! I've seen some very interesting contraptions through this exercise. Wow! People's imaginations really do run wild LOL But never the less, our design wasn't anything overly complicated. And no we did not steal it from the internet if you wanna know. We came up with that concept from the very beginning.
So here it is:

Step 1. Define your goals and objectives   Our first goal was to come up with the design. We just wanted to ensure the safety of the egg with enough of the shell showing at the same time. The group dynamic was perfect so we didn't have any conflicts throughout the deliberation. Sarah suggested the triangle based pyramid structure and we all agreed. We wanted to make sure that no matter what side the egg falls on, it will be protected by the structure which will absorb the shock in the aftermath and leave the egg unharmed. When we started to draw out our design, we decided to change the base to a square (classic pyramid form) figuring that it will give the egg more support and perhaps over weigh the top and land on the base of the pyramid. The egg itself would be fixated at the top of a pyramid with extra straws on each corner pole. It didn't take us long to finalize the design for our structure and we actually did it before the first time frame elapsed. Once that was complete we moved onto the next task.

Step 2. Evaluate your resources compared to objectives     Since we still had time left in the first 25 mins, we started figuring out what would be the fastest and most efficient way to build our pyramid considering that we only had 10 mins to do so. When we were told the amount of materials that we had, our group right away recognized that having on pair of scissors will create a problem so we decided to have one person (or two) to go out and find and extra scissors. And so we did! I can't really think of any group weaknesses that we had. We all worked very well together and everyone contributed evenly.

Step 3. Develop premises and several alternative strategies This is the step that we skipped. It was unnecessary for us to develop any alternatives. We were firmly confident in our design from the very beginning (clearly for a reason, since it was executed perfectly).

Step 4. Analyze alternatives and make a tactical plan   Knowing that we only had 9 straws and 2 feet of tape careful calculations needed to be done. So the plan was to use two full straws for the base and bend them half way forming a square. Four more straws were used for the poles, and the rest (3 straws) were used to fixate the egg in place. Having our own set of scissors was a huge advantage because everything was done right when we needed it. We cut the tape into two strips doubling our tape amount. We did not assign specific jobs to anyone. We kind of just had natural flow. I started drawing the final design while the rest began building. When I finished, I joined my group in assisting building.

Step 5. Implement the plan and evaluate results

While building the pyramid, we altered the contraption because the alteration was safer. Then we changed the original design sketch to match the actual figure. It seemed steady and we were all quite assured that it will work.

-I read Sarah's (Seecr) blog before I wrote mine and I must agree with her on the part that we really didn't have a group leader. We all agreed that the shortens person in the room will be throwing the egg because that shortens the distance of the drop and non of us really cared who the other presenter would be.

Synagoge of Bishops

Well, I do know a little about the diversity in the work force. In fact it is promoted at my job. I work in a Russian Orthodox church, in the administrative department. When I first joined this organization majority of employees were devout Christians. as an assistant to the treasurer, me and another person were given a task of replacing the current staff. Me and the other person sat down and talked about this for a while. We both decided that the best solution would be to diversify our work force. I was probably the first non christian person that they've hired and after showing great progress, the administration agreed with me that we shouldn't be reluctant to hire someone just because their religious views are different. So now I have at least two Jewish girls working with me and people from all kinds of different backgrounds. at least the work gets done, as apposed to the previous religious staff that was running around all day trying to get a blessing from the Arch-Bishop. Cultural diversity is a very positive thing!!! Oh and to refer back to the title, this is actually a mailing postage that we received that I couldn't not laugh about :)

Here I am!

Well, what can I say? I'm 24, I've worked in night life for the past 6 years and when spring semester was over I quit my job that supported my lavish lifestyle and started work in a church!! Most people that know through my previous occupation still can't believe that its true. But now I am closer to god (mind you, I was born and raised Muslim). My life before consisted of traveling, going to parties and organizing them. I was a hospitality consultant for a membership club and PR agency. Now it consists of balance sheets and bank consolidations. Fun! I do like my job though and it gave me a lot more structure in life. Partially why I took this job to begin with. But thankfully enough my new boss is still cool enough so he doesn't mind me traveling. Over the break I went to Sundance Film Festival and ended up getting stuck out in Utah during the snow storm, my boss said to take the rest of the week off so I flew out to LA till Sunday. It's all fun and games till you start realizing that your financial resources are about be drained. I'm especially excited about this class in hopes of figuring out a better managing strategy when it comes to my money. My income has shrunk but my spending didn't :o/