How to Sled Without a Sled

My sister and her two little girls stayed with my wife and I this week for Thanksgiving. They are from AZ and hardly ever see snow. Since it snowed this week here in town, the girls wanted to play outside. Behind our apartment building is a small hill--ideal for sledding if you are a kid. Unfortunately, my wife and I do not have any sleds. However, we were able to be creative and did find a couple substitutes.

We first used a lid from one of our plastic storage bins. It worked alright, but wasn't able to go very fast. Our second idea worked a lot better. We used cardboard display signs that were glossy-smooth on both sides. The smooth surfaces allowed the girls to slide further than the bumpy and grooved storage bin lid. To improve our make-shift sled even further, we used a rope to tug the girls down the hill, making their ride even faster and farther.

So there you have it. If you ever find yourself up a hill without a sled, you know what you can use.

First Tournament of the Season

BYU's wrestling team traveled to Fort Collins, CO to wrestle at a tournament hosted by Colorado State University this weekend. About 10 teams were there to compete. A few Utah schools were there, including Dixie State and Utah State University. Some other schools that came to compete were Air Force Prep Academy, University of Arizona, Wayne State College, and Colorado University of Boulder.

This was our team's first competition of the season. Our coach, Brannon Warner, who is also a team member, told us before hand that he was confident our conditioning would be better than all of the competition. He was right. Our team won the tournament in overall points and had wrestlers place in the top 3 of each weight class. Two of us were first in our weight classes, including myself and Gage our heavyweight.

We don't compete again for about another month. However, we now know where stand against the competition this season. We are off to a great start!

Online Interview

In my Business Writing and Communications class recently we have been learning about interviewing skills. We had two neat mock interview assignments this week. One of the assignments was done in class in groups of three. The other assignment was done online.

I conducted my online interview through FaceTime. FaceTime is a reliable and simple method for a video chat. However, I learned two important lessons to keep in mind for future online interviews. The first lesson has to do with internet reception. I don't know if it was my internet or my partners, but I was unable to hear 75 percent of what he said. The poor reception made the interview nearly pointless--he could hear my questions but I didn't hear any of his responses. So, in the future, make sure your internet connection is strong! Second, I learned that I have a difficult time keeping my answers short. The interviewer asked great questions, but I rambled in my responses. From now on I will keep my interview responses short and concise. I believe that will increase the effectiveness of my interviews.

Here's a funny interview scene from the office.
https://youtu.be/k4z_xTEWbLU