packsaddle

Actually, I was referring to the 'positions open' ad in 'The Economist' for the position of Secretary General for the World Organization of the Scout Movement. You didn't spot that? It's been advertised in two issues that I've noticed. I figured that you would be the best person I've read in these forums for the job. You'd have to hire Kudu, of course. Then the combination of your diplomacy with Kudu's purity....WOW!

Kind of off-topic but I thought I'd ask, Beavah, would you ever consider applying for that secretary general position?

Back when I was CM, a lot of families got involved because of the fun things families could do as families. Most of those events were not campouts. We had one major family campout in the spring and a second optional campout for the Webelos, usually associated with a boy scout camporee, so the Webelos could see what the scouts did and let them interact a little with some of the scouting activities. Otherwise we had family events centered about PWD, usually several weekends of kite tournaments/picnics, day hikes, fishing events, service projects, and water-oriented events. I just loved the cubs. I'd go back in a heartbeat and I can hardly wait for my grandchildren to be old enough to have the excuse.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

The higher the price goes, the more likely that we will not make frivolous trips..meaning that we will plan more and more carefully in order to make sure that the costs are truly justified. And then we'll continue to do pretty much what we do anyway, just more carefully. Personally, I suspect that when it hits $5-6 per gallon there will be a strong shift in behaviors. Which is good. That will free up a lot more of our refining capacity so that we can make even more profit exporting gasoline.

...moth to the flame... At least I can see the certain flair with which Kudu 'says' it. And I agree with the spirit, although I think the cubs are far more fun than the boys and I'd go back to 'corrupting' them in a heartbeat. We had an incredibly good time when I was in the cubs...although we probably broke some rules... Anyway, my intent was to respond to Kudu's incredibly good idea of hacking TV remotes. Mix that with Eagle92's idea of Star Trek and it's almost a perfect world. The boys only get to play after they 1) invent a totally new game, 2) they surmount the technological challenge of re-inventing the hardware, 3) they organize the duties to get it done, and 4) then run it 'under the radar' so the PC crowd doesn't blow their cover. It combines creativity, leadership, technical expertise, imagination, skullduggery, and strategy with fun! I can hardly wait.

Back when I was young and naive I participated in this process. It was stupifyingly boring. I kept thinking that line from a movie, "I see dead people." Never again.

Yeah, Thanks Terry! I used your birthday as an excuse to eat a gigantic chunk of strawberry shortcake. So I hope your birthday was a happy occasion. It sure was for me.

I saw it. There's a lot on the web about it too - it's a long-standing well-known problem. I'm fairly certain that Remington fixed this with a new trigger safety mechanism but older rifles may still have the problem. The model 700 is the one that is really implicated and Boy Scouts will probably never encounter that one on a scouting event. The firearms scouts are likely to use are not the 700s. I'm not the least bit worried. To me the real risk is some kid turning to smile at a friend while holding the little 22s they use at camp. Carelessness is a far greater risk IMHO. Edit: Just looked it up and the model 870 shotgun is also implicated. I don't know much about that one. I'm not sure if BSA uses those at camps.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

DC has a really nice subway and is a great place for a pedestrian...once you get into it. I can say the same thing about NYC for that matter. It's largely a matter of what you want to do. In NYC you have a tremendous variety of options, centered around food, culture, museums, and the general experience of being in NYC. DC has museums, history, government, but IMHO nowhere near the offerings of food and shows. Regarding a provincial attitude, nothing quite beats this one: http://home.comcast.net/~chesler/Blog/ninth_avenue.jpg And let me get this straight, Boston is not hectic? Me, I'd take NYC or DC any day. This time of year, I'd take Charleston, SC over any of them.

No, you got me on that one. Why would anyone name a coat anything at all, much less after a writer? Or is this just one more of those many things in life that I don't 'get'?

Just a clarification: Dill Harris may have been written with Harper Lee's friend (Truman Capote) in mind. But the part in the movie was played by John Megna. The local theater just did this play a few weeks ago. Nice job of it too.

"What would be possible (and desirable, I think) would be for troops and dens to be separated by religion." And although Ronald Reagan would be rolling his eyes and saying, 'There you go again, Packsaddle', here I go again...As TheScout wrote a while back, "The purpose of religion isn't to bring people together."

I think Eamonn has the best outlook on this, him being an ex-pat and all. If time is limited, you could land almost anywhere on the East coast and fill your time nicely. When I bring newbies to NYC, I tell them about the tours I give: The eating tour, the shopping tour, the ethnic tours, the show tours, etc. etc. Or with enough time, combine that with a drive up the coast going past some of the old seaports, seeing some of New England and then end in the Boston area where you can do all those same tours...again...just with a different Yankee accent. It's all good. But if you REALLY want a treat, come to Charleston, SC during the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds. Nothing like it anywhere. Ahem, if you decide to do Russia, fly to St. Petersburg and begin there. For me it would be a tough choice.

Anyone in these threads who didn't enjoy a bit of mischief when they were a boy needs to come forward and make that claim. I know I did. Plenty of it...I shudder to think what would have happened these days of zero tolerance. So I tend to be sympathetic to the boys and I basically agree with FrankScout and SeattlePioneer. The boys may or may not have had some idea that their patch would 'poke a stick in the eye' of the PC crowd. But now is the time for the adults to stand by them, use this experience as a teaching tool, and help guide the boys to the best decision they can make. It may even help them, when they are older, to better gauge the reaction when they are tempted, as I am frequently, to 'tickle the tail of the dragon'. It's a heck of a lot of fun, but once in a while, you risk getting singed. Besides there is at least one huge redeeming factor...they didn't use the 'M'-word.

We will know that AHG has 'arrived' when their secrets are 'outed' on Youtube and their 'stuff' becomes widely available on eBay. And we start seeing indignant threads about it in these forums.

One difference is that BSA is old enough that we can argue endlessly about what the original intent of the founder was and whether or not we're living up to it. But AHG is new and the living founder could make all of this perfectly clear if she wanted. But I guess we can argue endlessly about that too, lol. The line, as you mention, has been drawn by BSA. It's just difficult to see exactly where the line begins and ends....so we argue endlessly about it.

Welcome to the forums, Peregrinator. Normally, this welcome would have come immediately from nearly everyone you are reading here. But sadly, it seems more important to snipe at each other and basically...to fail to cover ourselves with glory. So I am here to say, Welcome. I hope your experience is a good one. At first I was tempted to move this to Open Discussion - Program. But I quickly saw that error. Play on...

I can't remember a single bad night sleeping in a tent, ever. No matter how terrible the tent and no matter what weather, they were all good. I did have a bad night on a couple of occasions but those were both times when I slept in a cave in my wet cave clothes without a pad (or really, a sleeping bag either). But I think that doesn't qualify for a bad tent experience.

At last, something I do really well. One of my wife's recent outbursts: "He'd be happy sleeping in a ditch!" And she's right. I can sleep anytime, anyplace. So with my apologies, just about anything that keeps me from sinking into the ground is good enough.

"it imposes substantial costs on younger people to subsidize the health care of older people." Without commenting on the 'intent' behind the mandate, I note that quite a few of my students would be without health insurance right now if they hadn't been able to stay on their parents' family policy. That is one aspect of the law that isn't subsidizing the health care of older people.

Momof2, I learned quickly to answer every complaint with an adult application in hand. Word gets out - keeps complaints to a minimum.

"How many times does this have to happen before we learn, I wonder." Heh, heh, I followed that thread. How many times before we learn? We won't. I could just as well ask, "Why does a show like Jerry Springer succeed?" For that matter I could include just about all of 'reality' television. But actually, I'm wrong with that first answer. We do learn and then we continue to repeat the behavior anyway. We know better. We choose to react the way we do. Why are we like this? My answer, glib and with intended humor, is that "we are monkeys". It isn't a complete answer but it pretty much satisfies most of my questions. We are a really unique species of monkey which evolved an obscenely large brain and then emerged from Africa to swarm over the earth like no other species ever has, except for rats which seem to be tightly linked to us...and perhaps a few parasites and STDs. Heh, heh, I just sit back and enjoy the show sometimes... ...in horrified fascination. No need for television.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

I think the Obama people might be willing to pay money to see that happen.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

Do I need to point out how well this discussion is living up to that quote by TheScout?

jblake beat me to the Camillus comment. I really like mine as well. But I'm partial to the 'stockman' style with three blades and a bit larger than the Camillus that I have. You can find this style in carbon steel fairly easily. Here's a source with a decent selection: http://kennesawcutlery.com/Folding-Knives/Stockman-Knives The ones by Boker are decent, I have one of those as well. It's easy to tell the difference between carbon and stainless at a glance. My favorite is a really old Kabar. But those are mostly long gone now. And I wouldn't throw off on all the blades from other countries. Yes, some of them are poorly made using inferior materials...but if you're careful there are some good ones out there as well. You DO need to be able to tell the difference.