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Stosh

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Everything posted by Stosh

  1. Welcome to the forum. I have had many years of experience in dealing with heat. I was an advisor for a Civil War reenacting group where the guys ran around in heavy dark blue wool uniforms in 100o+ heat. I have attended national summer events were there were 20,000+ participants and one can almost decide before a hot day who's going to go down and who's going stay on their feet. The "invincible" young un's are the first to hit the dirt. Water can be had through the National Guard who are more than happy to drop off a few water buffaloes in an emergency situation. I have seen some of the events show up with semi trucks full of water for the participants. Drink, drink, make sure the buffaloes are full and drink some more. If an ice source is nearby, mid afternoon ice is great. keep the necker wet and around the neck all day long. We all have great ideas for winter camping, but there are not that many people trained to handle hot summer camping. Like winter camping, stay at home if one can't take care of the boys, same for summer camping.
  2. Welcome, it's always good to have a few new opinion and experience sticks to toss into the campfire.
  3. Check the ammo, there's field load and target load. It takes less powder of the target load to bring down a clay pigeon and one can shoot all afternoon without getting sore. When I was at summer camp we shot clay with a .22 with bird shot loads. We got real good at hitting moving targets, had to.
  4. Some of the wet bags used by canoeist and kayakers tend to be a bit on the heavy side because they are to be water proof and durable. Kind of a trade off thing. One doesn't need a big bag, they come in multiple sizes and are 100% waterproof.
  5. I'll mow your lawn for free.... and by the way, I have a GoFundMe account for my scout/school trips I will be going to this coming year.
  6. When it comes to safety, anybody is the BOSS. Absolute, no questions, Safety First. I don't care if a first year scout calls out a tenured SPL on a safety issue. The newbie is the BOSS!
  7. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/06/06/lyme-disease-like-illness-that-can-kill-15-minutes-after-bite-reported-in-maine.html
  8. ....of course one must also consider how far afield the unit is from the BSA program. Siblings along? Family camp? Just how does that fit in with the patrol method and the goals of Boy Scouts? Edit addition: I think I solved the problem.... just have a daycare patrol....
  9. Don't feel bad, My younger brother (law enforcement, knows his way around guns) has broken his nose twice deer hunting with high powered scoped rifles. A cut on the thumb is no big deal and you'll learn over time how to hold and fire the different weapons. A bit of strength in the arms will help with the targeting of a moving object with the shotgun shoot. It'll come with time.
  10. No, the SM is NO BOSS. If he is to be a servant leader, he has to be there to serve, help, inspire, encourage the boys, not throw up road-blocks to keep them from being successful. SM's that are in the program only to serve their own egos have no place in Scouting. Service to others is not a learnable skill, it's something that is innate to the nature of the person. If they have no desire to help other people at all times, then there's really nothing that can be done to instruct them. It apples to the adults as much as it does to the scouts.
  11. Make sure you take one or two bandanas and baseball cap/hat of some sort. If you're in the kitchen you will have access to ice. Bandana on your head to protect it from the ice and then a hat over to hold it in place. Let it melt and when it's gone add a bit more ice. It works on the opposite dynamics of wearing a stocking cap when sleeping outdoors in the winter. You will lose most of your body heat through the thin skin of one's head. Revers it and cool the blood flowing to your head and it will in turn cool your torso.
  12. Wool has been suggested for the material of choice, I concur, BUT there are a few folks out there that are genuinely allergic to wool, In that case polypropylene undergarments are a must. If that is not available or in one's price range, nylon is a bit clammy, but does the job. I have used men's thin, dress, nylon socks in place of poly socks, and they do just fine. I'm not allergic to wool, and still like the feel and utility of nylon or poly.
  13. The Gold Bond menthol is the best thing in the world for feet after a long day's hike or even walking around in boots all day. Chaffing is always a problem in he heat. This stuff is good for that, but again, the cool feeling of the menthol on the back of the neck feels great. I carry both the green and gold bottles.
  14. Contact the camp and get your son enrolled as a provisional scout in a different troop. I can't imagine them not working that out for your boy. It just might be that a troop geographically located near your residence is available for him to "check them out" on their turf at summer camp. If your calendar is a bit flexible you may be able to find a close troop that is going to summer camp on a different week that the camp can accommodate a switching the week for your son. I wouldn't write this off as a lost cause for the summer, start asking questions and see what's available. Start with the camp and with potential new troops in your area. One will need to be doing that anyway next fall, might as well start out now so your son doesn't miss out.
  15. Gold Bond Medicated Powder.
  16. Look at my signature line, at least I try to dialog on issues that either interest me or I know a little something about. After 45+ years with being registered with BSA, I learned a bit along the way. It kinda hooks into my philosophy of "help other people at all times" thingy. If one can't be a glowing example, at least be a dire warning.
  17. It's all about choices, no problem. We all choose "community" in different ways. Some want work careers, some want families, some stick with the non-personal tech contacts, others have church, small town and other options. What was once a interconnected "package" now seems to be quite fragmented and what the right hand is doing is unknown to the left. There's no judgment intended, just an observation on the situation. By the way, there are still those who choose "the old fashioned" ways and do just fine. Although it may appear the "world" has changed, it is in fact the same old world, sun comes up in the east and sets in the west, but the people? Yep, they are the ones that change. No, one cannot get others to conform to one's ideal world, but they don't have to choose a lifestyle they don't wish to live. One can't honestly blame other for the poor choices we make in life. Saying the "world" changed, is just another way of passing the buck and saying I didn't have a choice, when in fact one did.
  18. Welcome to the forum! Your spreadsheets are bulky awkward and easily corrupted by the user. If they can mess it up, they will. For a small troop, this might be fairly easy task to maintain, but with 5 columns per scout, that means a troop of 50 boys would require 250 columns all "numbered" by letters. Even then where's Little Johnny information? Need a new scout? Copy/paste from existing scout, then delete the information...but try to remember from which account? Unless one is ready to do a huge amount of customer service, give it away as "AS IS", or such, I wouldn't get it out there under my phone number for love or money. It is obvious the designer has a background in Conditional formatting, formula development based on date functions, but woefully lacking knowledge into the usage of screen design, hyperlinking, data storage and protection, referencing, macros, form controls and ease of use. YPT issues would keep me from using commercial "groups". I would simply have an email group and send out information in email format only. One click to select the recipients, type in the Subject line, add body of the message, attach a small protected file that is kept up by the scouts. and hit send. "One" email, everyone gets the same info. If one wishes to have in the body unique information, Excel can create email formats It's a start, but I wouldn't ever suggest it to my treasurer to maintain records unless it were able to be linked into the whole troop budget process.
  19. Hmmm, The fastest growing male groups in America today tend to be "gang" related. Must be an old English word because BP used it on occasion. I wonder what the life-expectancy is among these 11-18 year olds who choose a loner lifestyle to be safe? I wonder whether the avoidance of sports to reduce health concerns later in life is really all that legitimate or if someone is just making that up? A Big-Ten school required it's potential athletic scholarship recipients to undergo a physical to be able to safely continue playing on a collegiate level. 90% did not pass the physical and needed to apply at other colleges for scholarships So, was concussion history part of that physical? Nope, but undiagnosed neck injuries were. That's ran the score up to 90%. . I think I once read somewhere that the out-cast adolescents had a higher level of depression and suicide rates than those that had "support" groups around them. Of course there could be the ridiculous assumption that high dropout rates among adolescents is because they are avoiding the social dangers posed by the gangs of bullies in the current public school system. If what I am pointing is is full of anecdotal and speculative BS, Feel free to explain to me: The rise in Gang activity, Drug and alcohol usage Home environments supported by only one of the parents and/or influenced by step-adults and a suitcase lifestyle of multiple "homes". Public schools that often note their drop-out rate somewhere around 50% Adolescent crime, even among those in the scout ranks. and the decline in: Customary social skills. Interpersonal skills on any peer or adult levels. Duration of any relationship. Now for debate purposes we could individually tear into each one of these and find statistics to support a myriad of conclusions, we admit to Houston we have a problem or one can, or we can take the old toy away from the baby and give it a new bright shiny one with bells and whistles to distract it for a while, or one can acutally start taking a critical look at some of these issues and deciding whether or not BSA is either in the business of dealing with any of them or do they ignore it and go for the bells and whistles? At my age, I am really not all that interested in investing a lot of time and effort into the dialog. I have 5 granddaughters and 2 grandsons. What's my odds of having to deal with what BSA comes up with to meet it's declining membership, budget drops, and other business issues it is faced with. Society changed, BSA changed.... but did they take the same trail? or did both just wander off into the woods somewhere?
  20. One must always go with where one's heart and passion leads them. It would seem that somewhere along the way this gentleman stood at a fork in the trail and made a choice. A historical life long record of a person's passion doesn't guarantee that passion will be there for that drive in the future. My ministry background, my BSA background, my EMT-A background, my volunteering background all came together this week. I got in 3 hours of religious concerns on Sunday, 3 hours with troop involvement in Memorial Day activities 20 hours with Red Cross at a regional leadership summit gathering (Yes, I skyrocketed from filling out an application to a regional lead position in about a year's time because of my diverse background) 13 hours with Red Cross as the Mass Care Lead at a grain mill explosion a couple of days ago one might have seen on the national news this week. I see nothing wrong with the growth and development of a man with 40+ years of work in one organization not going and developing in another area. Maybe that new passion needs the money more and one's legacy is important in life. I have 40+ yeas in scouting, and if my passion was for a boy-development program, there's nothing weird with going Trail Life all-boy, heavy emphasis on moral development, over BSA if those areas are changing there.
  21. Boy Scouts started right before the Filrst World war, the cultural drive was to draw up the bridge and gather the troops. It was a time of great migration towards community. Soon after that, the Great Depression happens and for survival, groups gathered even tighter. Same thing with WW II. During this time period of great community emphasis, Boy Scouts thrived. For a short period of time following that there was a reasonable relaxation period. Suburbias developed, small towns thrived, pot lucks at church were common and frequent and block parties were all over town. Then it hit full force! It was slow at first but after a few years it was quite noticeable. I think the Mamas and Papas identified it as clearly as anyone could. "You gotta go where you want to go Do what you want to do With whoever you want to do it with." It may have been the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, but it was best identified as the "Me Generation" Front yard block parties became backyard (now fenced in) private affairs. Divorce skyrocketed, Community was collapsing all around. Historical revisionists, as well as the spin of current events, all promoted a new normal, spun to the tune of "The World Has Changed!!" It's the new normal! It took a couple of generations, but it's now well entrenched. The new normal is non-community, social skills are void from everyday useage. Dating is no longer taking a gal to a movie after stopping off at the malt shop Familes have multiple step parents and siblings, No one stays home to insure family, it is all contracted out to the institutional day care industry. The world changed? Nope, the people did. What we now have is not a new world, but a new non-community social structure. Instead of the natural tribal tendency to gather, we simply don't. Electronically we "connect" with information and a few emoticons, but for the "personal touch"? It's nonexistent. The Brotherhood of Scouting? Yeah, right, that works today!?! Instead of gathering, the tribes (patrols) into the greater whole, patrols seem to find it difficult to get their handful of people to get together, let alone, come together as a whole. The world didn't change, the people did. But they are all deep down inside yearning for something more personal, more closely connected, because humans by nature are not singletary animals. Survival was greater if one was part of a group, .... which still holds true for today's humans. So the solution to all this????? YES! Let's change scouting to address the issues of today's world! The world changed, the program needs to change as well today. (Yes, that statement was dripping heavily with sarcasm!) People don't want to be alone, they don't want to be left out, and Scouting is heading merrily down the wrong lane. Scouting? What's in it for ME? What about MY Eagle? I am bored. My scouting career. etc. It's not all about ME! Scouting is the #1 boy's youth program that still teaches leadership. But as it turns out there is no one to lead if it's just about me. Scouting is failing, not because of anything other than offering a program that promotes community leadership in a Me Generation society. Facebook has capitalized on what BSA has failed to provide, but could in a far better and healthier way if they ever took off their PC blinders and simply looked around at reality.
  22. Maybe the offensive lineman doesn't get the recognition he deserves, but win the championship game will show everyone on the team teamwork is the only reason they won.
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