Eamonn

This could only happen in a store named Piggly Wiggly !! I don't if the question is right, in my case it might read "What would She That Must Be Obeyed do when she finds out ?? Man Oh Man, my life wouldn't be worth the dollar or the four quarters. Still what a great story to tell in time to come. Eamonn

While a little off the topic. Some years back I mislaid my Wood Badge certificate. I wrote to Gilwell Park they not only send me a duplicate signed by the chief scout of that time they even managed to find the course photo and sent that as well all at no cost. Eamonn

Remember that the green chili is the hot one. Eamonn

How would you feel if you were a cow and so many of your relatives were living in the US and never phoned home or send word how things were going. Of course European cows might have had a taste of what passes for cheese over here that is enough to make any full blooded Guernsey or Hereford a bit out of sorts. Eamonn

Welcome WAKWIB, Yes we have added a lot of logs to fire in this thread you might say it was a Long and Winding Road or even a Magical Mystery Tour. Still at the end of it all I think that NeilUp and The Man Of Steele are on track. We all need to reach out and develop realationships with young people and adults who share the values of Scouting and are willing to share a little of themselves with and for our young people.We do have a great program with a heck of a lot of good people who work their tails off in it and for it. In fact a good many of us are in it today thanks to people that did just that. I have to admit that over the past year or so I started to get lost in the maze of meetings and was starting to forget that all the meetings in the world will never replace the face to face meeting. Again Welcome. Eamonn

Looking at the replies that are posted in the other thread about appropriate leaders it would seem if they were all still alive all four might be allowed to become members of the BSA. In some councils I am not sure if even being alive is even a requirement. Eamonn Who never had the dumb haircut more into the Sergeant Pepper style.

Dave Old China, As someone who is always cool calm collected, and who never gets hot under the collar or emotional. It was nice to see you following my fine example in dealing with this. You do of course have my number and if need be you can give me a call so that we can share more of my great insights into tranquil service to others. ( I am glad that it isn't storming!!) Eamonn

Over the years I have met countless people who for a living work in a vast number of different fields. Just this week I had a very interesting discussion with a medical doctor who was of the opinion that potatoes were a worthless food item. Needless to say he was of course wrong, sad thing is that he is telling his patients this and because he is the doctor they take his word for it. I have many good friends that work in law enforcement, some look at their job as to serve and protect some view it more as locking up the bad guys. My point is that just because you may have a title or work in a certain area it doesn't make you right all of the time. In Scouting I work very closely with out DE. Who to my mind is the best thing that ever happened to our District.Before being employed with the BSA her only real Scouting involvement was that she is the mother of an Eagle Scout. She does not know all the answers nor does she pretend to do so. Very often she will phone me and ask where can I find out such and such. While some councils may have the odd professional like our Man Of Steele who have been through the program and may know a little more then others about the program there are a good many that don't know that much. This does not make them bad DE's or professionals it just means that we as the volunteers have to help them a little bit more. Just because a person wears a patch on the uniform, be they a volunteer or a pro does not mean that they know everything. Sad to say there are a few and thankfully a very few pros who think that once their pay check is from the BSA that they overnight become Superpro. To make things worse some go as far as to adopt an air of arrogance. Those of us who have been around for more then ten minutes are aware that this game is best when we all work hand in hand. Just as there is no Superscouter there is no Superpro. Eamonn

Over the past few years we as a council or shoild I say the Scout Exec. has set stretch goals for number of Scouts attending summer camp. He set this after a year where we had a record attendance thanks to a lot of out of council campers. We didn't make it and it messed up the budget. He has set stretch goals for the district FOS. Again they were not met and the money wasn't there. He has done the same thing with popcorn.Again with poor results. Our last District Chair and the Scout Exec. spent many happy hours fighting over these. The Chair said that it was better all round to have a goal that could be reached and he thought when he agreed to these that the budget would be as such that the income would be spent. His opinion was that it was better to have a goal that would bring in more then expected and this would act as a bonus for the council. The Scout Exec. feels we need goals that stretch people. As I said they have not been met and do not only mess things up they also dishearten those who don't meet them. Eamonn

No Bob. The Chairman that I was talking with indicated that he was working with a church in the area and that he had several men who were willing to come forward but they had been in trouble with drugs. I really don't know much more. Eamonn

Sorry Achilleez I don't understand your reasoning. While I am not an American I happen to think when it comes to helping others every nation in the world takes the back seat to the USA. America has been there with aid whenever needed. America has bailed other Nations out when they have fallen on hard times. Heck if it weren't for you yanks I might be speaking German. Eamonn

From what he tells me some of these people have "Done time.And have records that would not meet BSA standards. These areas are mostly African American and there is not an over abundance of volunteers. So while the charter organization might be willing to allow them as youth leaders their criminal past would stick with them. Without them there is no program hence more kids getting into trouble or do we take that chance and allow them? Eamonn

I first heard the term "Stretch Goals" a couple of years back. Seems a little dumb to me but I'm hearing it more and more. Do you think that these Stretch Goals are hurting Scouting? Eamonn

Black Adder. The Young Ones - Every Stoopid Episode. Eamonn

The District in which I serve is made up of a lot of small townships and villages. Talk to the locals and there are places with names that only the locals know. These were little places where a few houses sprung up around something, in most cases something to do with coal. There are a lot of people of both Polish and Italian origin. Many of the older people worked in the steel mills. My small town of under 5000 has 15 churches. While at times finding people to come forward to volunteer does take a little arm twisting, most of the time once they have come forward there are no problems. A little while back I was talking to the district chair of another district in our council he said that he was having a real problem finding leadership for units in an area in the district in which he served. It is an area that once had a lot of industry mainly glass making. Over the years the area has gone down and is now a very rough place with a lot of drugs, guns, shootings and that sort of thing. He had a lot of luck in finding organizations that would charter a unit however when it came to adult leaders a good many of the people who were willing to come forward had been in trouble with the law mostly for drug use. Even though these people were no longer doing drugs and had turned their lives around they had a police record and he thought that they would never be allowed to be leaders in the BSA. Having never tried to see if a person with a record would be allowed I don't know what would happen. The areas in which these people could serve are the areas that I happen to think really could benefit from having Scouting units. Do you think that someone who has tried and is trying to make good ought to be allowed to be a leader? Eamonn

Toto seen that the red slippers were a little tight and is chewing on them. In his view the chewed slippers will justify the ends and if it means a clout on the snout so be it. Eamonn

I have been on this side of the pond for 20 years and I love the USA. I stayed up to watch the moon walk and do think that there will be an American land on Mars. However two things that need a lot of work are American cheese and Sitcoms. Sad to say some don't export that well. Two of the best ever were Minder and Only Fools and Horses. Early Benny Hill without the chase was good. I always thought that Dave Allen was better. He was a stand up comic who sat in a chair with a big glass of ??? and looked at the foibles of life. They did show some of his stuff on PBS some years back. Eamonn

While I know that Dave can speak for himself. I agree with ManyIrons. While it might be ok to be rude where you hail from I happen to think that this was uncalled for, unnecessary and not Scout like. Dave has gone a long way to help improve the image of the professional Scouter which I'm sad to say is not all that it could be in certain councils. I would hope that on reflection you see how far out of order you are and offer an apology. Eamonn

Should I take the bait? No I won't. Well on his way his head in a cloud, The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud, But nobody ever hears him Or the sound he appears to make. And he never seems to notice.... Eamonn

OGE This was pure Beatle humor. The Grandfather played by Wilfred Brambell was the star of a British sitcom "Steptoe and Son" on which the American Stanford and Son was based. The old man was a unwashed grummpy fellow and his son would cast his eyes to the heavens and say "You Dirty Old Man." Eamonn

The Scout Service Center is on your speed dial. You don't buy any socks that aren't green with red tops. You sing camp fire songs in the shower. A night out with the boys can mean over a 100 and most of them are under 16. Your son goes through a uniform inspection everytime he leaves the house. Your only artwork is all by Norman Rockwell. Your Boxers have the name of the OA Lodge on them. Eamonn

OJ is out doing something with the crew. Her Who Must Be Obeyed is out with her Mom. Just me, the dogs and the flu. Happy New Year. I just won my bid on a car on E-bay. Boy this spending time at home can be costly. Eamonn

I don't own any guns. Have to admit to not liking the idea of having one in the house. I did wake up one day to find a kitchen drawer full of handguns. My Father-Inlaw was in the final stages of cancer and was contemplating suicide so my Mother-inlaw brought all the guns to our house. My big fear is that I would shoot myself in the foot or that Her Who Must Be Obeyed who is a great shot will start to get ideas!! I do have a lot of good pals who hunt and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. We used to have a Wild Game Dinner with the meat that they donated and we would give the profits to youth organizations. I have been a supporter if the Wild Turkey Ass.As a thank you for work that I have done they have given me a lifetime membership. So While I don't want a gun I don't have anything against guns or gun ownership. As those who know me are aware I do at times have a sick sense of humor. A couple of years back in Westmoreland County there were two murders committed with frozen poultry. I was telling everyone that if it kept up there soon would be a government health warning on frozen turkey. Come to think of it being shot might be less painful then being pummeled with a frozen bird. Eamonn

You can't imagine my surprise when I seen all the posts in reply to what was supposed to be a warm and fuzzy tale about the first person from the Wood Badge which I served as Course Director,completing her ticket. I in no way wanted to reopen the "My" debate. In my own little misguided way was just trying to prove that small things have big consequences. By the way I am a great Beatles fan at last count I think I have 340 Beatles tracks. I don't have all the Christmas records as they were only done here in the US for members of the fan club. I have yet to buy the "Let It Be Naked" I thought that Santa would bring it -Bad Santa!! There is talk about it coming out on DVD. Maybe it will be like the Anthology and grow when it changes from CD to DVD? I was not playing Rubber Soul (The Word) I may have had Live at the BBC (Things We Say Today) playing at sometime.

Not sure if these would fall under the heading of Hobbies maybe more under the heading of interests. Food. I love food eating it, cooking it, looking at it, reading about it. Beer. I don't drink a lot but enjoy tasting beers from all over the world and finding the small microbrews. London and London History. Still the greatest city in the world and to spend time finding out all that has happened along the banks of the river Thames going back to Roman times is just sheer joy. I have books and books and can bore the pants of anyone as well as walk their heels off when I'm over there. People. I just love people. Young people old people any people they all have their own tale to tell and getting them to open up and let me in is just great. Dogs. Both Her That Must Be Obeyed and myself are dog mad. At present we only have two but number three is on the way. My uncle Paddy was a much acclaimed dog trainer in Ireland, people would come from all over the country for him to train their herding dogs.He worked for the Earl Mount Charles at Slane Castle as the head dairyman. Travel. Seems to go hand in hand with the other interests. Reading & Music. I read just about anything and everything and always have some type of music playing. My Dad urged me to give up my trumpet lessons when the only thing that I managed to master was God Save The Queen, who knows if it had been A Soldier's Song ( Amhan Na bhFiann.) I have just about everything that the Fab Four ever done and most of the Stones. I'm not keen on modern jazz. I have a keen interest in Scout Pioneering. Eamonn