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're right, there are too often those in a group that no one wants to cross. Not just Scouts, any group. In Scouting, they usually are there only for their child and if they help another child along the way, that is just incidental.

If you like the Scouting program but just have issues with your troop, don't just walk away. Find another position. District Committees are usually looking for help and, if nothing else, it will irritate those in your troop that don't like you because you'll be percieved to be higher up the food chain than they are. :-)

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 the Scout away disappointed.

As for "failing" a Scoutmaster Conference, I've known Scouts to be sent away with their book unsigned for lower ranks because they exhibited a bad attitude or hadn't met the requirements for "active in the troop."

All this may or may not be by the but is a Scout who can't tie a square knot really Eagle material?

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 without A/C. Remember big porches with big awnings? Back before A/C houses were built with windows on the front, back and sides. If you opened a front and a side window you were almost guaranteed a breeze through that room. New houses have very few side windows and those are usually tiny. No breezes.

Some years ago, I learned to live without A/C in my car. My A/C died and I didn't want to shell out $2,000 to get it fixed so I went without for three summers. The only time that it became a problem was if it rained because I'd have to close the windows and modern cars aren't well designed for fresh air ventilation.

I don't think that its gotten hotter, we've just changed the way that we live.

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 the back of the knife (see where the name comes from). A liner lock's blade is locked in place by part of the handle liner which is in the slot where the blade rests when the knife is closed. Liner locks can be closed with one hand which is why they are BAD for youngsters. I'll say that again. Liner locks are BAD for youngsters.

Why are liner locks BAD for youngsters? The unlocking action puts part of the body in the path of the blade and an injury can result if the blade is closed too quickly and the thumb isn't gotten out of the way.

Lock backs allow you to unlock the blade with all fingers in a safe place.

At a training event a few years ago, the trainer espoused that lock backs were bad because they are weapons and that Swiss Army knives are good because they are tools. Say what? A knife is a knife and a I explained above, a lockback is a safer tool.

This same trainer didn't like buying kids good knives because he believed that if a knife got blood on it from an injury, it should be destroyed with other biohazard materials. Washing it never occurred to him.

Recommendations? I'd go with a lock back knife with 2 1/2 inch drop point blade. Buck makes a nice little knife called the "Buck Lite".

Avoid serrated blades, even partially serrated blades. Serrations allow a knife to cut through rope very easily but they can make nasty injuries. Serrations are also useless for whittling.

Bear in mind that you can get a good knife for $15 and a crappy knife for $25. Unless you are an expert, buy reputable brands from reputable dealers.

Decent knife brands are

Buck

Gerber

Camillus (they make the Cub Scout Knife)

Victorinox

Wenger

Benchmade

Spyderco

Boker

Kershaw

Opinel

Most of the big gun companies have knives with their names on them and they are usually pretty good. Examples are

Colt

Smith & Wesson

Beretta

Remington

There are others but they don't come to mind.

"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 was a professional Scouter at one time and has earned every award that Scouting has to offer. However, Walton is never pedantic or arrogant and never misrepresents what others say to make his point. Mike can quote chapter and verse of BSA policy but, this is the incredible part, he doesn't agree with it all.

I just call them as I see them.

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 know but we do have a need to know and if a parent doesn't want to disclose information, perhaps the child shouldn't go on outings. We need to know anything that may put a child's health at risk or even when skipped meds will cause a gross behavioral change as shown in the story about the kid with depression.

Having an idea about severe allergies can be important as well.

Insist on accurate medical histories. Whoever is leading the expedition and whoever is responsible for first aid should review them so they are familiar with conditions that could become critical if medication is missed or treatment is delayed.

The committee chair doesn't need to see the records and neither does the treasurer. Everyone who does have access should simply use common sense when dealing with the records.

"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 covers. Big deal, I've never needed to deal with it. That's why we have people like you. Most of us have lives outside of Scouting.

When I see flaws in your reasoning, I will hammer it just as you lecture others. When I find the dictates of BSA to be silly, obstructionist, or counter-prodctive I will criticize those as well.

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?