Fat Old Guy

Bugle calls as midi, mp3, wave and real audio files are available on the internet. Start with http://www.fmaalumni.org/bugle_calls.html

There once was a man named Dougal MacDougal Who found various ways to be frugal. He learned how to sneeze In the various keys thus saving the price of a bugle.

"Ever think that her job provided her with that cell phone? Never know" Good try hopper but I do know, they didn't.

How many kids are kept out of sports because their parents are told that they need a uniform? "The poverty line hovering around $20,000 for a family of four" I know poor families that are POOR and watch every cent to make sure that it gets to the right destination, astoundingly they rarely complain about money. I also know poor families that manage to afford their Lucky filters, Pepsi by the case and bottled water and they are always complaining about being poor. One woman won't pay $10 for a bike helmet for her daughter (too expensive) but has a cell phone and uses it about as often as I breathe.

"If so, I would be thrilled. My blood pressure spiker is the boys wearing a Scout shirt and blue jeans." Blue jeans don't bother me 1/10 as much as I am by the current "gangsta" baggy pants with the back pockets that are down by the knees and the legs dragging on the ground. What about sweat pants? Ugh!

It all needs to start at the Tenderfoot level. Instead of getting the guys together and saying, "Here's how to tie a bowline . . .now you do it" we need to say, "read the handbook, we'll have a help session for knots next week." Rather than the "instant" merit badge sessions led by a parent, we need to expect our Scouts to actually do some work. Maybe if we do that, the Scouts will be willing to take on more when they go for Eagle. Way back in the stone ages, I was applying to universities. I did the research, got the catalogs from the school libraries, sent for the applications and then completed the applications on my own. That was the norm for my friends as well. Today, all I hear are parents grumbling about how they have to fill out the college application because the kids won't. Why do today's parents let their kids off so easy?

"Many of the Scoutmasters in our district are not good with computers and I doubt if they know how to burn a copy." We of the computerized world often forget that 50% of the country is still computerless. "As a matter of fact none of the computers in the service center have a CD burner." Now that's incredible!

"The military does it the same way you do. Day, month, year. Makes sense to me." Only if you speak backwards. In my civilian guise, I say, "May 25th, 1994" not "the 24th of May, 1995." Actually, the most common sense way of writing the date is yyyymmdd (that's year, month and day) so that it is easy to sort by date.

" You would not berate a young boy that he not showing enough boy lead leadership to lead his patrol " Maybe we should do that instead of letting the adults pick up the slack. Now you might argue that his patrol should do that but they don't want to rock the boat because none of them want to be patrol leader.

"That group of AOL-patch-wearing scouts could have dropped out instead of crossing over." If they had dropped out, they wouldn't be wearing Boy Scout patches and red shoulder loops. "(I understand the desire for proper uniforming - really I do! Breathe....breathe...keep it all in perspective!)" I look at it this way, if you are going to let one method slide, you'll let them all slide.

A happy place would be a place where everyone had their patches in the correct locations.

I'm of two minds on the Eagle Advisor thing. I don't want to see some adult smoothing the road to Eagle but I don't like seeing a Scout running down the wrong path. We all know that BSA publications can be confusing for trained adults so what can they be life for a 14 year old. An adult advisor can also remind the Scout that he is supposed to LEAD the project and NOT DO the project. Unfortunately, too often the advisor seems to wind up doing half the planning (Do you think that you'll need shovels?).

I went to a large, council sponsored event today and my brain was hurting after seeing all the uniform errors there. A group of Boy Scouts all wearing the AOL on the left pocket flap which is no longer even the Cub Scout place to wear it. A Scout wearing a Chaplain patch. More misplaced patches than I could count, including an adult who was wearing TWO position patches on his RIGHT sleeve.

Call me strange but I often lose track of what day of the week it is. Thank God that I have a cell phone that tells me day of week, date and time. I only wear analog watches so I have no spiffy features.

There is no pre-defined or sanctioned ceremony for burning a flag. For some reason, people have taken to cutting the flags to bits before burning them. Not needed at all. Do whatever you want. Just do it with dignity and respect.

We used to have a Merit Badge Counselor for Cycling that ran the program like a Den Leader. "Okay guys, this is what we're going to do. . . ." The 50 mile and 25 mile segments used to be done on a tow path which is as flat as a pancake and straight as an arrow. It may fit the rules but it isn't challenging. Let the kids be challenged. Riding on roads (other than major highways) is fun. You see interesting things. You need to make decisions (left? right?) Stop at the mini-mart and you'll meet new people.

My district puts most of its effort into recruiting Cub Scouts. Althought this year there is an "adventure day" that is designed to encourage current Scouts to bring friends to try Scouting for a day. We'll see how that works.

"Beacuse they can afford them." I must be strange because I could afford to drive a Chevy Subdivision (to borrow from Dave Barry) but I don't.

Each patrol should conduct their own ceremony. The new Scouts will gather round their patrol flag, cut their respective forefingers with their pocket knives and and drip blood onto their new patrol flag and proclaim, "I pledge my life, my fortune and my sacred honor to the XXX patrol!"

Is it really that surprising? To the grandfather, you were a representative of BSA. Perhaps not an official spokesman but someone higher up than his son, the SM. I would guess that he wanted to get your spin on things or, alternatively, he didn't care about your spin but just wanted to tell you what he thought in the hopes that it would get higher up the chain of command.

LL Bean resoled my Maine Hunting Shoes for about half the cost of a new pair. (This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

"Well I did the FOS presentation at my son's troop Court of Honor. I was last on the agenda for the evening. The parents were so appalled by being asked to help support the scoting program that made me accept over $2000 in pledges. How dare they!" If they hadn't been so appalled, they might have given more.

boleta, you're taking part of what I've said and stretching the context. The Eagle Leadership project has specific exclusions and who may benefit is specifically stated. My question remains, why cannot BSA simply state that leadership for palms may be outside BSA.

Stapler Guy said, "Yes, the COR is a member of the committee and a committee member (same thing) and may participate in boards of review for all (except his own son). Now, you may think that because he/she doesn't attend any committee meetings he is not a committee member. Wrong! They are a comittee member because they are registered as such by the BSA." I question this. The on-line fast start training says, in the section about Troop Committee meetings, "Can include invited guests, such as chartered organization representatives or the unit commissioner." If the COR is a member of the committee, would he need to be an invited guest?

I'm still waiting for the reference that shows that the SM is responsible for initiating the SM Conference. All I can find is a comment in the Scout Handbook that the SM will arrange for a BOR.