Eamonn

" I guess I just don't think the Santa hat is silly." What is and what isn't silly is very much to the individual. Had a little walk around Wally-World a week or so back, seen lots of Santa Hats on sale. Red hats, blue hats one that was able to sing Grand-Ma got ran over by a reindeer. That to my mind does seem silly. Of course that's just my opinion. Every year I buy another Santa for HWMBO to add to her collection of Santa's. This time of the year they take over the top of the fireplace and the bookcase. On top of my desk there are snowmen, some who play the piano and sing

Kinda hope that I'd never go out of my way to knowingly disrespect anyone. I get it, that people have different ideas and different beliefs than I have. This doesn't make them right or wrong. Or make me right or wrong. It would be nice if rather than stressing or what might be right or wrong or what divides us. That we as people who live on the same planet look for and find things that bring us together and we work to fix the things that are clearly wrong. I have never been really hungry. But I think if I was I wouldn't care who fed me, just as long as I was getting something t

I'm just glad that I never let it get out of hand! " when do you consider someone being a bit too... intense in Scouting?" That's easy. You know when the wife and kid moves and don't leave a forwarding address and you have no idea where they went. Unless you live in a mobile home and they took the house with them. Ea

Kids are strange. Back in 2001 the guy who stole the show was an old timer who played Over the rainbow on a saw. He went over far better than the Young Osmond's. Ea.

"Gun Control, what is reasonable?" I think that I'm reasonable when I expect not to live in fear that some nut with a gun isn't going to come and blow me away. I think that I have the right to not live in fear. As yet I'm not sure how we get to this point or if we ever will? Thankfully, most of the people I can think of who might want to blow me away are in a place where they can't get to me. I tend to think that most gun owners are not the bad guys. The bad guys are not following the law and chances are no matter what laws are in place they will be happy to just ignore

Beavah, As you might have noticed? I tend to be a little "Left of center" When it comes to politics. Back home in the UK, the Labour Party was seen as the working mans party. Backed by trade unions and guys who wore flat caps! About 30 years or so the party was infiltrated by what became known as the "Loony Left". While well meaning this group somehow always seemed to want to go a little bit too far and were unwilling to compromise. Maggie Thatcher was able to come off looking like the lesser of two evils. I can't help thinking that the Tea Party and some Republicans are very muc

I'm not sure what's reasonable. Not being a gun owner, I'll admit that I don't know very much about guns. I know that most days on the TV news there seems to be a story about young men shooting and killing each other or some poor person who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This isn't a good thing. I'm not sure where the guns these guys use come from? My guess is that most are obtained illegally. What sort of guns are they? I don't know. I really don't think me knowing what brand what number or the technical stuff makes a lot of difference to me.

"And those grieving families will understand, profoundly, how alone they are and how empty and dark and indifferent life really is." I read this and couldn't help but think that this isn't the same place, the same planet as the one where I live. I get and understand that there are times when we (Me!) Feel that we are very much alone and that the darkness is overwhelming. When HWMBO was informed that the cancer was back and that most people only live about seven years with it before they die. I was upset, very upset. I was mad at the world, mad at my God. Maybe even mad at my

I thought the President spoke well last night. I'm not sure what changes are needed or will come? One casualty of the cuts in services we have seen here in PA has been drastic cuts in caring for those will mental health problems. State Mental Hospitals have had there budgets cut and many of the State Hospitals have been closed. I've read somewhere that the thinking was that the private sector was able to provide the care needed. One of the outcomes of this is that people who are mental ill end up in correctional facilities. Where much as the staff try to help the staff, don't h

Like everyone else I'm shocked and saddened beyond words about what happened this week in Sandy Hook. What the parents, brothers, sisters and people who live in that area must be feeling and going through is way beyond what I can comprehend. I'm left in shock praying that God will help all those touched by this horrendous tragedy. Just seeing the list of the names and ages of these sweet young children brings tears to my eyes. What happened doesn't make any sense to me. I really don't think it can make any type of sense to anyone. Yet this murderer took the time to gather up his

fred8033 Seems to have hit the nail on the head. While many of us, especially some of us old timers, don't like it when this happens. Most of us do see the writing on the wall long before it happens. Basementdweller you post: " what is a district supposed to do beyond roundtable????" Finding the "Book Answer" isn't that hard. Still my feeling is that what a District should do? Depends a lot on who you are and what position you hold? I served as a Key 3 member of a District for a good many years. For most of that time I worked hand in hand with a DE that I'd trained, work

More than just about anything else, people in the Council I'm in take great pride in their Lodge. No one, but no one dare mess with anything to do with the Lodge!! The Council doesn't employ a Ranger, so just about all the work for and at camp is performed by OA members. This work helps all the sections that use the camp, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts. The number is as much a part of the Lodge as the Lodge name. Every patch, every t-shirt, mug and necker has the number proudly displayed. Youth members take the time to read and learn the history of the Lodge. Should anyone dare ever say th

"The shoulder loops are much easier to recognize than position patches" ?? The loops don't really give much information when it comes to what position. I wore these silly silver loops when serving as a District Commissioner, District Chairman, Membership Chair and Council Training Chair. I wore the yellow (Gold) Loops while serving on the Area Committee, but I might just have been a National Scout Shop Salesperson or the Chief Scout Executive. These silver and yellow loops serve very little purpose. I was always me! No matter what silly loops I was wearing. I'm now racking

I never thought that my pursuit of being happy had anything to do with putting other people, rich or poor down? But that's just a personal thing. Ea.

You might want to take a look at what is happening at the PLC meetings? If the SM can work on the SPL, these meetings can be made so as they become the great sales pitch for what happens next. Working on ensuring that the P/L's not only don't want to miss the next activity but will return to their Patrols and sell it to the Patrol. Maybe finding ways of tying this into inter-patrol competition which the PLC can work on, might also help. I found that having an annual plan with themes for each month meant that at our PLC meetings we could work with the P/L's ensuring that they had the skil

I really wish that all of these silly loops could be done away with for good and never darken our doorstep again. I hate these things!! For people who are not involved in the BSA these loops mean nothing. So the message they send isn't so much about telling others it becomes more about feeding egos. If it really mattered and I wanted to know what someone was doing? I'd look on the uniform sleeve to see the patch. These loops are a silly waste of time. Eamonn

I think that I'd really liked to meet the old fellow. He has always struck me as being a fascinating character. Re: This pursuit of happiness. Every now and then I think it's worth while taking time out to take stock of what makes me happy and what causes me to not be happy. Last time I checked I came to the conclusion that for the most part I'm doing OK and am a happy little fellow. This being happy doesn't always happen by accident, it takes thought, planning and a positive attitude. It is kinda easy to stand up and say that things don't make me happy. So while maybe? I'm

This might tie in with the thread on Troop Culture. I have a very good friend who belongs to a family where everyone is deeply involved in Scouting. He married into a family where his Mother in law was the Cubmaster, his Father in law the SM and his brother in law an ASM. His wife helped out where needed. He took over as SM. It wasn't unusual when they went to camp for them to bring their little son along, even when he was a tiny little fellow. Before becoming ASM the BIL had been in Venture Scouts with me. A super nice fellow who when he had kids brought his offspring along.

Visiting Troops as District Commish was a great learning experience for me. As a rule I kinda tend to say the first thing that pops into my head. This often results in me with my foot in my mouth. Seeing someone do the job differently than maybe you might. Especially when you think that the way you do /did it was the right way. Can be a real eye opener. Trying to always remember that you are a guest and if maybe not a great pal of the SM, but a friend of the unit. (Does that make any sense??) Means that there are times in fact almost all the time when the best thing to do is say not

I'm trying to think about how many different Troops I've visited or been part of. Truth is that the number isn't that high. I think that it's somewhere in the 30's? Being as I served as a District Commish and member of different District committees, I think that this is maybe more than a lot of other people? -But I might be wrong. Many of us have our own idea of what a Troop is and how it should operate. Still I think that it's fair to say that there is really no set standard and each and every Troop is a little or sometimes a lot, different. The "Right Way"? Is just an idea

BSA24 I don't know where you live. I really don't care to know. But I'm glad that I don't live there. Over the years I've read a lot of twaddle in these forums. But this last post of yours beat just about all and every piece of twaddle ever posted. "There's no way in hades that I would try to work with the cops on something like this. Half of them are on the take from the mob (which is who runs these operations), and they are the ones that get sent out to burn your house down and shoot your family if you become perceived as a threat" My great fear is that you might voice t

qwazse Most units have some sort of an annual budget. A new member does get hit with having to pay the fees but after the first year the cost of these are built into the budget. If we are looking at approx $60.00 a year? That needs to be looked at and covered by events that raise funds or maybe it might be added on to the cost of activities? Waiting till your faced with rechartering and trying to get the all the cash at one time from a group of teenagers? Really sounds like a no win situation. Like it or not, these fees are the costs. The Crew youth Committee needs to know wha

Not trying to hijack the thread. But... While I've had some way of recording whats on TV ever since the early days of VCR's. Over the past year or so, since I got the box that came with satellite which offers me a way of recording just about everything. I don't worry or bother about missing anything on TV or stay home to watch anything. Maybe because I know it's there and available missing it on the TV is no longer a big deal. Maybe? Our Scouts and their parents know that or expect that we will always be there and missing something is not really a big deal. Last year I bought a

2601 Posts. I don't know and am never going to count how many times we crossed swords. I'm sure there have been times when you felt that I was a real twit. I will give you credit for standing up for Venturing, a program I have never had that much time for or much good to say about. Taking care of the needs of others is indeed a real heavy weight. I wish you nothing but the very best and pray that the big Guy up-stairs keeps an eye on you and for you. You can be sure that when I toddle off to Mass next week, I'll put a word in for you. Good Luck and Fair Winds. Eamonn

Wearing my parent hat. When we were first married, I wanted us to have four kids. As it turned out, we were only blessed with the one. A lot of people mainly people who didn't really know us said that my kid was spoiled. It's true that the cost of only having one child did make things easier than having more. Maybe the fact that I'd been really into Scouts and Scouting as a kid did play into what I was willing to spend on my kid and what he wanted to do? Maybe he did feel some kind of pressure to be involved? There were times when I provided a friendly kick in the pants when h