OneHour

Kudu ... no argument with your explanation of Buddhism! Man ... you sound like the Reverent Monk at our temple. I just don't like to be lumped into the same group as those who do not believe in any religion. I have no problem (nor my sons) saying the portion of "duty to God." To us, what it really meant is the duty to our religion, practice it and practice it well. What goat me is the Amen portion of the prayer (even in the Philmont Grace). Trev ... I understand completely! The great thing about religions (any religion) is that they all teach about living correctly ... something similar to the Scout law and oath. In our troop, we have all major religions present and accounted for (minus a few) and the kicker is that we are chartered by a Methodist Church, a great CO! By the way Kudu, once upon a time (about 30 years ago), this Buddhist kid got picked on. He didn't fight back at first, but then he did defend himself! (This message has been edited by OneHour)

Your COR (Charter Org Rep) would be the person to deal with this issue. He/she has the responsibility of choosing and "unchoosing" the leadership of the Pack (I hate the word "fire" when it comes to volunteer). In our case, our Troop's CC was causing a similar problem. Our COR talked to all parties involved. She talked and conferred with our Unit Commissioner and our District Exec for advices. After she has gathered all data and facts, she asked him to step down. He stepped down with a lot of bad feelings. He decided to start his own troop. If I were a good friend to him, I would find out what did he that caused such a rift and then talk to him as a friend about the issue. I would point out the fact that the pack is very fragile right now and what he is doing may hurt its survival. Another example, our former Cubmaster has a nasty habbit of yelling at the kids. This caused a lot of griefs among the parents and several families left the Pack because of his action. He is a very good CM and very involved. I happened to befriend with him for the 3 years that his son and mine were in the same den. I had a long talk with him about his demeanor and how it has hurt the Pack. I talked about his action and what other parents are seeing and disagreeing with, NOT about HIM as a person. He is slowly changing ... at least he is trying. Sometimes, people do not take hints very well. Simple straight talk may work and then again it may not. In sum, plant the "seed." Good luck, 1Hour (This message has been edited by OneHour)

Its Me ... what if some of us don't like neetlavo? I'd prefer some of the purys s'yehserh in my klim! (This message has been edited by OneHour)

Trev, You indicated that "Buddhists do not believe in God. Buddha was a teacher not a deity. To this extent, Buddhists are atheistic (godless)." I'm a buddhist and I would agree with portion of the statement that "Buddha was a teacher" and I do believe that Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, etc, were as well; however, the majority of buddhists in the world worship the Buddha as though he is a deity of sort, asking him for guidance and teaching, striving to become enlightening so that they could be in nirvana (heaven of sort), etc, eventhough he is no longer with the livings. Isn't that the same as a Christian would have done in the name of Jesus? Different variations of Buddhism believe in different deities in addition to Buddha. Granted that Buddhism has been classified as atheistic religion by the religious experts. Maybe the definition of "God" is not translated in the same meaning. According to the dictionary: God - A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions. Anyway that a Buddhist looks at this definition ... he is definitely not "godless!" ... at least for this Buddhist anyway! 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

pvc frame ... I modeled mine and my son's after Troop 718's desing with a few modification. If you go with the pvc route, bring the pvc cutter to make minor adjustment. www.troop718.org/Forms/MosquitoNetPlans.pdf It turns out to look more like that of Troop 732's http://troop732.org/Doc%20-%20Mosquito%20Netting%20Information.htm As Mike pointed it out, I glue the couplings and 90s to one of the two pvc connecting pieces, limitting the number of loose parts. I also color coded (using colored electrical tapes) the pieces so that my son (actually me) could put it back together at camp. 1Hour ps: Ken, if you pm me your email address, I'll email you what it would look like.

Fantastic ... nothing to end a day like great news! This event has generated a lot of questions from our parents with regards to our summer camp trip next week. I have never seen more worried parents than last night! We simply asked them to reinforce the buddy system to their sons throughout this week and undoubltedly we will reinforce it again during our 10 hours trip to the camp! 1Hour

Eamonn, to get more photos on your memory stick if you can reduce down the resolution of the pix (ie. 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960 [1Mpixel, 4"x6" print], 1600x1200 [2Mpixel, 5x7" print], 2048x1536 [3Mpixel, 5x7" print], 2240x1680 [4Mpixel, 8x10" print, etc.). I usually use either 1600x1200 or 2048x1536, because 5x7" is all I print. By reducing the resolution, you'll be able to get more out of your limited disk space. As for memory sticks, they should be that expensive for Sony's 512Mb. Generic SD or Compact Flash 512Mb should run about $35-$60, but your camera uses Memory sticks so ... it's about $10 more expensive that's all. I just picked up 512M SD card for my son's Canon 510 for $40 with $15 rebate ... I'm looking at $25 for 512M SD card. For your memory stick pro, you don't have to always use Sony. Lexar or Scandisk make great memory sticks as well. ScanDisk 256M memory stick goes for $34 and their 512M is about $57. One place that you could go to find cheap prices is www.froogle.com (it's a subset of google.com)! If your camera is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-71, then it is capturing the images in JPEG. You are already at the lowest file format that camera can get. Good luck. 1Hour (This message has been edited by OneHour)

JCArter, This is great! If I were you, I would take some of the training classes that your District has to offer. Talk to some of the current Tiger leaders to learn from them. Attend Pow Wow, Roundtable, and Unversity of Scouting in your area. I predict that there is a Cubmaster position in your future! Best of lucks! You'll enjoy the adventure that you're about to take with your son! YIS, 1Hour

Mr. Maynard, it's a wonderful book that you have put together! Thank you! Here are some more great knot sites if you are interested. They are some of my favorites. I'm somewhat of a knothead myself! http://www.realknots.com/knots/ http://www.netknots.com/ http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/knots_index.html animated sites: http://www.tollesburysc.co.uk/Knots/Knots_gallery.htm http://www.42brghtn.mistral.co.uk/knots/42ktmenu.html http://www.grogono.com/knot/ http://www.folsoms.net/knots/ YIS, 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

In our troop, a scout can request his skills to be tested at any time that he feels that he is ready. The skills can be signed off by the junior leaders, including his Patrol Leader (assuming that his PL has already acquired the skills and has been tested. In our troop the scheduled skill activities only serve to teach the scouts the skills. They then practice skills and then tested when they are ready. As for your question, I always stop what I am doing to listen to the scout. I would refer him to one of the junior leaders if he is available. If the none of the junior leaders is available, then I would be more than happy to review the scout skill, test him, and sign off his requirement if he has successfully demonstrated the skills. By the way, we make sure that our junior leaders have mastered necessary skills and follow the same steps. For new junior leaders, one of the ASMs would serve as a coach to that junior leader in the process and give him the feedback on his techniques and/or the skill demontration. 1Hour

scoutingagain ... got that covered already ... it's the "Bob and Ed Variety Hour" with special guests such as: - Merlyn_LeRoy - WHEELER - Fat Old Guy - littlebillie ...

Yeah ... weekends only. If this is not syndicated, then it will be tough sell to get enough $$$ to do 7x24. Remember ... the majority of the viewership are in school in the day time and doing their homework at night. We have got to keep them physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight (in bed by 10 pm!) Summer would be the only time that 7x15 might work. Besides, you'd want to get them yearning for more. Stay tuned! ... I completely forgot about Reverent Hour. sorry jd, Brady Bunch was all that I could think at that spurr of the moment! I hated that show. I'd rather watch "Mr. Ed" or "My Favorite Martian!"(This message has been edited by OneHour)

It will run from 7am to 10pm every weekend. 1) It will contain information hour from all branches of scouting at various times: Boy Scout, Girl Scout, Cub Scout, Venture, Sea Scouts, Explorers, etc. - Instructional session from each branch (G2SS, forms, etc) - "How to" hour from each branch (boys run troop, patrol method, build a campfire, campfire planning, plan a Den meeting, pinewood derby, etc.) - FAQ hour from each branch, especially Fast Start, YPT, Leader Basics, tutorials, tips & tricks (backpacking, sailing, snorkeling, hiking, wilderness survival, etc.). 2) National Roundtable hour 3) Live coverage of National, World Jambo hour 4) Scouting Movies: - "Follow Me Boys" at least once a month! - "Down and Derby" - "Scout to the Rescue" - "Father and Scout" etc. 5) Family Reruns hour: - "Leave It to Beaver" - "My Three Sons" - "Courship of Eddie's Father" - "Brady's Bunch" etc. 6) Ask the Experts hour: - Bring in expert guests to share their knowledge. - Equipment review and preview. - G2SS Q&A straight from National - Policy Q&A straight from National 7) News/Rumors/Issues/Debate hour 8) Arts and Crafts hour 9) Worldwide Scouting hour - Scouting from other countries segment - Culture exchange/information 10) "Been There, Done That" hour - Where to camp - What to see - Who to meet - When to go - How to get there - Why do it at all 11) The "Iron Chef Scout" hour or the "Super Scouting Supper" - Dutch Oven How To's - Challenges between troop in "Iron Chef" competition format - Recipes galores - "Campout Does Not Always Mean Noodle and Pop Tarts" - Backpacking food 12) "Scouting Jeopardy" hour - Game Show that involves all information about scouting and its skills 13) Summer Camps hour - Issues, suggestions, etc, dealing with Summer Camps - High Adventures hour - Base Camps 14) The Merit Badge hour (to be viewed with approval of Counselor) - Showing the "text book" explanation (ie. philosophy, explanation, theoretical portion of the mb) of the various information in the mb book. That's 15 hours of programming! 1Hour ps: Oooooh, almost forgot the "Bob & Ed Variety Hour" (including "Tips and Tricks of Shuffleboard in knee-high blacksocks and bermuda shorts") (This message has been edited by OneHour)

By the way, Semp ... I forgot a couple of things that I wish that I have right now: Remember the MRE? Man ... it beats these stinking burger pills, meat loaf pills, noodle pills ... At least back then, I got a chance to light the backpacking stove to heat those MREs up! They tasted bad then but now ... ugh ... one swallow and you're full! Where is the fun in that? Nutritious ... yes ... but gone are the days of cooking outdoor. I still try to cook, but my dutch oven doesn't work well with the heating by induction method using the gamma collector. Bring back those coals! I forgot ... we used them all when the petro ran dried! Remember GPS how some of the Scouter Forum made such a big fuss about them because they were not as useful as the traditional compass? Well .. GPS went out the wayside as did its predecessor the compass. I hate those implanted chip on our forehead! They itch in the winter time and they are very uncomfortable after you hit 60. Mine started to act up when the annoying 3-d map keeps poping up at unwanted time, especially at night! ... and they called it artificial intelligence. Worse yet ... the thing goes hay-wired every 90 minutes when the sun spots hit our area. In the middle of Philmont, it showed that I was in middle of Billings, Montana. Boy ... a GPS would be wonderful ... alright ... I'll take the compass too. Although, ever since the ozone hole got bigger in southern Argentina, it affected the magnetic field! That magnetic field shifted every other day it seems. Imagine that ... we used to worry about declination value! Whatever happened to real life guides at Philmont? I hate those flying things called LiLiGu (... yeah ... the Life-Like Guides). They are so impersonable and they don't get tired like the rest of us! One thing that I love about the new technology is the Eureka's new InstaTent. Have you gotten one yet? It's the one that has the built-in force field that would shield even the worst part of the gamma radiation time (noon). Yeah, I got the one that comes complete with environmental control and simulated mosquitoes sound! Uh huh ... I could just put myself back to the days when I was a Tenderfoot sleeping under the stars at Camp Strake ... in the middle of the 110% humid Houston summer! Too bad ... those skitters didn't make it through the ozone leak a few years back! Kind of missed them. Remember when we used to laugh at the fact that they sell bottled water and joke about how they would bottled air ... I just wish that I had bought some stock in Airvian or Airzorka. So ... between Ed and Bob ... who won the shuffle board match? Did they take that new cruise to Alpha Centauri or did they take the short trip to Pluto? I heard that there is some good high adventure there on Pluto! Well ... thanks Semp for the trip back to memory lane! Yep ... those were the good ole days. Hey Eamon ... for 83 years old ... Queen Hillary is still very active! Long live the queen ... I guess (still trying to say that line)! Didn't she drop her Clinton name right after he passed away after his fourth heart attack? Yeah ... I missed those Republican vs Democrat debates. I heard that Laura Bush ... (remember her?) ... is trying for that vacant presidential position in the Republic of Texas! She used the same line as her father-in-law ..."Thousand points of light" in every household as her campaign slogan and of course the infamous "no new taxes!" Man ... being 66, I'm still have another 44 years to work before I reach my early retirement age. That stinks! Remember when one could retire when one gets to 59.5? With my luck and the so-called community security package payout, I will have to take a third job. When that time comes, I will have to bow out from scouting. Imagine that ... they still use that line to get people to volunteer in scouting ... "It only takes 1 hour!" ... and they still have suckers all over the universe! 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Hmmm ... Semp ... those were the good ole' days. Yep, remember when .. 1) There were no girls in the troop? But my grandson and his friends don't seem to mind! 2) When Reverent was the 12th Scout Law? ... now the 12th Guideline is Commendable. 3) We used to use dutch ovens ... now its gamma radiation heating oven. 4) The Outdoor Code has changed: Be clean in my outdoor manners. Be careful with nuclear fuel. Be considerate in the outdoors. Be concerned with extinct species. and Be conservation minded 5) The Motto used to be "Be Prepared." Now, it's "Be Certified." 6) Scout's Oath used to be: ... On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duties, to God and my Country, to obey the Scout Laws, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morraly straight. Now it's .. On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duties, to my Country, to follow the Scout Guidelines, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and virtually true. 7) Used to be two-deep leadership, now ... six-deep leadership. 8) We used to have class-1 and class-2 health form. Now, we only have one and it requires full physical. 9) Used to be, we have certain physical restrictions for high adventures. Now we have definite requirements including chlolestrol level, liver enzyme level, ... 10) Used to be taht we were able to camp in State and National Parks and virtually everywhere. Now we can only camp in BSA provided facilities. yep ... those where the good ole days ... remember when BSA stands for Boy Scouts of America? Now, it's Benevolent Scouts of America.

KC9DDI, I have cooked many times with the Dutch Oven but have never done the heating by induction method. Here is a question for you. By doing the slow-cooker method as you have suggested, who will be manning the cooker the whole day? In other words, who will be keeping a watch over the charcoals (aka fire)? I have seen one troop roasted chickens and turkeys using charcoal fence (?). It took about 6 hours and they took turn constantly feeding charcoals. Many stew and soup can be made using the DO without much preparation (especially if you have the guys chop the ingredient ahead of time and package them ... ie. potato chunks, sliced carrots, meat cube, etc.) and the cooking time usually takes about 40-60 minutes. Anyway, good luck. 1Hour

Since I'm a light sleeper ... I ended up "guarding" the camp any way. As with EagleInKY, I usually stayed up until the storm passes. I have a concern with having an adult staying up guarding the camp. Most of the time, we have enough adults for ridership, which resulting in 1 driver/ 1 vehicle. Asking the adult to stay up means that we will be creating an unsafe driving condition for the adult on duty for the return trip if it happens to be the next morning. I know, because I had to take a fire watch on a carrier sleepover (I drew the short straw from our Pack). I was very tired the next day for the return trip and had to stop every hour upon the hour for 300 miles. What was suppose to be a 4.5 hours trip turned into a 6.25 hours trip. I forgot how many gallons of coffee I had to drink. Granted that the only scouts who were with me were my own sons, but after that episode, I made sure that every adult who is driving will get plenty of rest the night before the return trip. As my body grows older, it seems that the more rest I need. It could just be coincidental! Also, we are currently fortunate to have a great SPL who keeps a "watch" over the younger guys (also several good Troop Guides as well)! Of course there is always a concerns when it comes to the younger guys, but we made sure that they know where the SPL's tent is, where the troop guide tents are, where the adult tents are, and where is buddy is at all time (should be next to him and if he isn't, that's when they need to wake the SPL up, the troop guide, and then eventually the adult in charge of the trip). 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Champs ... take a look at the Equipment Reviews forum for other threads on tents. Lots of good reviews and stuffs there. http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewForum.asp?forumID=41 ManassasEagle ... the only thing that I wish my Mystique 2.0 can do is to stand upright by itself without having to stake it down. At times, I just like to set it up in my living room to dry it or to hold it up to shake loose all of the dews (like the REI Half Dome 2 or Alps Mountaineering' Taurus). It has been very good to me even under extreme storming condition! Lots of breathable space for a small tent! For their "Pro Price" of 60% off ... I can't complain at all for the quality and especially the price!

Offer has been made ... he has not declined ... but in any case, I have done my part!

Semp .. I would whole-heartedly agree with you, but I know this young man since he was a tiger. When we did the Aquanaut pin, his father has already told me at the time that he has not taken any swimming lessons. When they did the swim test (which this young man was in attendance), I wasn't. Yes, he could have passed the test and has not swum since; however, like riding a bicycle, he would have known the basic strokes and kicks. He didn't demonstrate any of it. He dog-paddled! I talked to him afterward and he told me that he has not taken a swimming lesson since we last talked as a Webelos. His father was angry because I suggested the swimming lesson. I guess that to his father it also has to do with questioning the validity of the completion of the requirements. Yes ... he is a father who wants that Eagle ranking for his son! That's the story that was told on another thread already. I would agree with you if he is afraid to get into the water because of some horrific experience, but I do see this young man at the local pool from time to time and at swimming b-day parties. Even if he would come up and ask me to teach him, I would love to. You're correct. At this stage of the game, "this should have no bearing on whether or not he is 'Eagle-qualified.'" I guess that I'm in the camp that the Eagle award is a honor that should be preserved for those who truly earned it. Ooooh ... that's another can of worms! ps: I'm not suggesting that the scout is not trustworthy. I'm merely suggesting that the fault lies in the adults who allowed it through (that's another story). pps: Knowing how to swim is something that I take seriously. Maybe the fact that I almost drown when I was a boy because I did not know how to swim has something to do with it, but at the very minimum, every kid should know how to swim (especially an Eagle scout). ppps: .... Letting it go ... (This message has been edited by OneHour)

"Come on, when you get to camp what happens that first day? They look at your boy's shirts, and say, "Oh 1st Class or higher no swim check for you!" Or do they say "1st day of camp, here's the water front, better get your suit!" Yes, yes ... but he is avoiding summer camps. Yes, so far we have limited his water activities to those for non-swimmer as defined in G2SS. No, we're not running him up the flagpole for the purpose of making an example. My original question was "... what if anything that we could do about this situation" when he does get to the Eagle SM and BOR? So far ... the answer is ... nothing! I guess that I can live with the fact that there may be an Eagle scout who does not know how to swim. Yes ... don't add requirements and don't take away requirements. The only bad things is that previous SM and ASM did not follow the program. "just hide behind the program and do your thing, it's going to be fine. Huh? Hiding? Why? This is the same ideal that the previous SM was going for ... he would say something along the line "ASMs, you guys just do your things and it will be fine!" As a matter of fact at one of the swim test that I was helping out, I pointed it to him that one of the boys kept on stopping to rest and he rated the boy as swimmer. I objected and stated the requirements, namely that the 100 yards must be completed in one swim without stops and include at least one sharp turn . He said, "What do you care? I'm signing it the requirements." In cases like that, should I just "hide behind the program and do [my] thing, it's going to be fine?" Not in my books! G2SS, SM handbook, and the scout handbook that is. I'm sorry. I can't help but to read your message as "ringing from the rooftops," although ... not loudly . 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Ed ... as I have pointed out ... this young man will complete all requirements as listed (apparently with the exception of swimming in this case).

Ed ... he is 13 almost 14. I do believe that he is very capable (physically) of doing either the cycling or the hiking. He plays basketball and in very good shape in terms of being an athlete. Semp ... this issue is only known amongst the scoutmasters who conducted/assisted the swim test that day and the newly chosen CC who was at the swim test. No one else knows about it and we plan to keep it as such ... between the scout and the SM. FScouter ... yep ... the SM and I are aware of the fact that it's water under the bridge. All that we can do is to move forward. 1Hour ps: a side question ... for some reason our SM thinks that if the boy can accomplish 1st Class Swimming requirements, the 2nd Class Swimming requirements can be automatically signed off. Yes, 2nd Class requirements is a subset of the 1st Class requirements, but can "double-dipping" be allowed?(This message has been edited by OneHour)

A spinoff of Vrooman's problem ... In our troop, we have a Life Scout who does not even know how to swim much less dog paddling. How he got passed Second and First Class requirements ... I don't know. His book was signed off by an ASM and by the SM both of who are no longer with the troop. The BOR apparently missed it too (twice!). He has just gotten his Life. I asked our current SM about it and he indicated to me that it was beyond his control. Life Scout requirements do not contain swimming and the scout completed all of the Life requirements. What was done before he can not take back and it is not the scout's fault. I agreed with him. Here is the dilemma ... I cannot see how a scout who does not know how to swim gets the Eagle award. Don't get me wrong. This scout is a very good scout. He gets all of his requirements done and did them well ... apparently all but the swimming requirements. He does not go to summer camp. He attends only winter camps! As I piece it all together, I finally realized that he has been avoiding any water activity. We only found this out during our cannoe training where everyone in the troop has to go through. He was visibley worried on the day of the training. After he got into the deep end to start the swim test, he started to dog paddle just to stay afloat and that was all that he could do. Swimming merit badge is optional eagle required mb .. . so again he can side-step it if he chooses by doing either hiking or cycling. I had a talk with him and his father, asking them to see if he can get swimming lessons. His father got upset with me for even suggesting it. I told his father that, plain and simple, his son does not know how to swim and he will be limited to certain water activities. It is also for his own safety if he learn how to. My question is that what if anything that we could do about this situation? Thanks, 1Hour ps: Aquaphobic is not a problem! I have seen him at the local pool horsing around ... in the shallow end!(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Tigers parents were both leaders and assistant leaders! So at any den meeting, you would have 1 den leaders and 6-10 assistant den leaders! I went through cub from tigers to x-over with 2-3 assistant den leaders with my oldest son. I'm currently going through the final 1/2 year with my second son's Webelos den with 2 (and from time to time drafting one other) assistant den leaders (one of whom just stepped down as our CM). Getting trained is important. You'll be able to find that you'll gain a better understanding of the program to help your Den (and your Den Leader). Do look to training opportunities such as Pow Wow, University of Scouting (namely for Den Chief and Webelos transitioning when the time comes), your District training, and of course your District's roundtable. The very best of luck. 1Hour