Fat Old Guy

"I WONDER WHY THEY ARE CALLED TEMPORARY INSIGNIA? COULD IT BE THAT THEY ARE TEMPORARY?" Wow! I never thought of that but "temporary" doesn't have a time limit on it. I've seen "temporary repairs" that stayed in place for 20 years. There's no maximum amount of time that a temporary patch may be worn. It is temporary because, unlike other patches on your uniform, it may be swapped at will.

Hey Joe, Say what you want about my comments but get my name right. Did I say that you were a loud mouth who does nothing? I only said that quite often the loudest complainer do the least. If I had thought that you did nothing, I wouldn't have suggested that you stay involved at the District level.

"Many people will "flame"me for this but it seems to me the further one gets from the east coast, the nicer people become." I think that it is the further that you get from large cities. Go to a small town in Pennsylvania or North Carolina and you find nice people.

"There is something about it being a temp patch, that can be worn for six months." There's nothing in the insignia guide or any other documentation that I have that sets a time limit on temporary patches. I think that it is an old wives' tale because I've heard bother 6 months and 1 year but no one can quote a source. I'd feel rather silly wearing a Cub Scout Pow Wow patch from four years ago but if I had a camp patch from my youth, I'd wear it with pride.

"If you are in a troop, and you are part of the inside group that is in control, remember others have the right to give opinions... " Group dynamics are a fascinating subject. Often those with the loudest opinions are often those who are most willing to do the least. Backseat drivers, for lack of a better term. Comments and advice can be helpful such as when someone says, "If we leave at 5 instead of 7, we'll get to the campground before dark." Non-helpful comment are things like, "you know, you ought to find better places to camp" with no suggestions of what might be better. You

I'm not OA but I've been told that you can only wear the pockt flap for your current lodge. However, I believe that you can wear your sash. If you don't get a definitive answer here, take it with you and ask at camp. As for other patches. You can wear your square knot for your religious medal (if you earned one). I've never seen a prohibition on wearing of old temporary patches, so go for it.

Oddly, my son and I have always managed to return home when no one else was home. That give us a chance to umpack the car, hang the sleeping bags outside to air and get some laundry going without interruption. When Mom gets home the Thin Young Guy can tell all of his tales without me being casting a baleful eye at the car filled with junk and gear. We usually go out to dinner on that night because I'm the chef and after driving for five hours, I don't feel like cooking. :-)

"During the Eagle Scout Master Conference, can a boy fail if he does not know 100% his Tenderfoot, Secound Class, and First Class skills ? Can the Scout Master continue to ask for follow up conference(s) until he ace's these skills ? " I don't know about the SMC but around here the norm seems to be to grill candidates at their Eagle BOR on everything from "Who was Baden-Powell?" to "I've sprained my ankle, bandage it please." One wrong answer won't fail you but a series of answers that show you don't know the history of Scouting, first aid, scoutcraft, or any other subject may well send

I think that we have gotten too used to A/C but the world is much different place than it was 50 years ago. There's more pavement and fewer trees. I cringe every time that I see acres of woods being cleared to build houses. After the houses are up, they stick saplings in the yard to become shade trees in 30 years. That leads to the next subject, shade. Before there was so much pavement, there were more trees giving shade. I believe that trees also have a cooling effect on the air so a stand of trees will gives you a nice zone of cool. Homes were better designed for cooling witho

Where did I say "island"? I said reservation. This is one of those situations where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. You have a bunch of people walking around with one of the most deadly diseases known to man and there is no cure in sight. Far too many of these people engage in sex, bleed on people, etc.. You might as well give everyone a fragile glass capsule of plutonium. I know that isolation will never occur in this country but it would contain the disease.

I have more than a few pocket knives and most are lockback knives. Why locking knives? A locking blade is far less likely to inadvertently close on your fingers. Unfortunately, very few of the knives with gadgets like the Cub Scout knife or the Swiss Army knife have locking blades. I have found one Swiss Army knife by Wenger that does have a locking blade. Victorinox o made a Swiss Army knife with a locking blade but I believe it to be discontinued. Most locking blades fall into two categories, lockback or liner lock. The lockback is the classic Buck knife that require a lock on

"No, FOG, what this boy is guilty of is using a dangerous woods tool as a play thing, and in an extremely inappropriate manner at that." All of which falls under the general category of stupidity. Stupidity takes many forms including but not limited to driving your car into a lake to see if it will float, getting your girlfriend pregnant because your buddy told you that briefs make you sterile and playing games with a knife.

"FOG, you never understood why some people get paranoid about revealing their medical histories?" Yep. I keep what I know about others to myself but I don't understand the fears of other people. As Popeye said, "I yam what I yam", my diseases are part of what makes me ME. As for the HIV positive, they should be put on a reservation in Utah so they can't infrect anyone else (standing by for the flames).

OGE, most people are afraid to let it be known that they have negative feelings toward anyone unless others come forward first. I've known people to privately state that they dislike and distrust someone but when it comes to making a public statement they loooove the person that they didn't trust five minutes earlier. Why? Fear. Fear of being on the outside. Fear of reprisal. Fear of being alone. On the flip side of Bob White, there is another fellow, Mike Walton, who posts on other Scouting groups. Like Bob, Mike is very knowledgeable about Scouting, perhaps even more so since he

Lightweight tarp and firestarters.

Oh dear me. A bunch of people that I don't know, may never meet and may not even exist don't like me. What will I ever do? I know . . . I'll just keep calling them as I see them.

Hey SM406, mind your own business. Bob White is a pompous bookthumper that loves correcting others when they "step out of line" but he can't take what he dishes out. Hey NLD, go look up the definition of "troll," like many others on the internet you are misusing it.

I've never understood why people get so paranoid about their medical histories. I have high cholesterol, high blood pressure and I'm nearsighted. Big deal. My wife had cancer. So what? Stupid people lie on medical history forms. It is especially stupid to lie about conditions that could be life threatening. If I don't put down that I take Lipitor, it isn't likely to create any major problems in my life. However, as others have pointed out, if you hide a condition like asthma, allergies, or even ADD, you may be opening a big can of worms. We may not have a legal right to

"And when have I ever been disingenuous?" Thanks, I haven't had such a good laugh in days.

See Mr. White, that wasn't so tough. You finally gave me a direct answer to my question. Why do I take issue with you? You're a pompous, arrogant, pedantic, closeminded bookthumper and I mean that in the kindest way possible. You're disingenuous, evasive adn a few other words that don't come to mind right now. And do you want to know something else, other people here agree with me. Referring to your email, I know much more about Scouting than you think. I just don't think that everything that comes from Texas has the weight of holy scripture. So I don't know what our insurance co

Saltheart, not long ago we took a Scout to the hospital for stitches. Mom couldn't be reached by phone and the doctor stitched him up anyway. He even gave him antibiotics. Maybe you guys just need nicer doctors. As I asked before, if the parental permission is useless, why have it at all? It isn't needed for life threatening situations because in those cases permission isn't needed to treat.

Oh neicie, you're just peeved that we're not talking about you anymore. :-) BTW, the word "Scouting" isn't copyrighted, it is trademarked. There is a difference. AFIK BSA does own the word Scout as it pertains to youth groups. They can come after you if they belive that your use of the word dilutes their trademark.

Mr. White, you remind me of a fictional governor of Texas ( "I love to dance a little sidestep").

"As far as as the parental permission it is all well and good but even so no physician i the country will treat a minor for a non-fatal injury without first speaking with the parent or legal guardian, or a court order." You know this from speaking with one doctor? In any case, doctors only treat non-fatal injuries. Once they become fatal, the doctor stops treatment.

" All of the BSA accident insurance policies cover eligible guests" What is the definition of an eligible guest?