Gold Winger

"If a young couple is involved with a Crew and the wife is 20 years old and the husband is 21, they cannot bunk up. She would need to register as a youth and the husband as an adult." I read once that a married Venturer even if youth aged is considered an adult.

" I would like them to get a 150W equivalent though... my bedroom lamp for bedtime reading, and my reading corner in my living room..." They have them at Home Depot. I bought one for my living room but it isn't really as bright as a 150 W inka-dinka-doo bulb. I also had to do some surgery on the harp to get the bulb to fit into the socket.

Ed, http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=12280

This strikes me like the other 'popular' activities of the environmentatlists. Pick up litter day. Don't drive day. Etc. It sounds good but doesn't accomplish much. We're much better off looking for ways to reduce energy consumption. For example, that old fashinoned CRT TV of yours uses far more energy than a new LCD TV. So it behooves you to go buy a new TV :-) Seriously, there are many ways undramatic ways to save energy. I've replaced nearly every light bulb in my house with the CFL bulbs, the curly fluorescent bulbs that replace regular bulbs. My electric bill has been cut nearly in half. Plan trips to use less gas. Back in the 70s, when the first gas shortages happened, people planned ways to combine trips to use less gas. That went away. Stop buying gas hogs. It amazes me that despite the current price of gas, people are still buying the big 4x4 trucks to assuage their egos. There are a few who actually need them for work but most are never going to take theirs into the mud and will never haul anything more than groceries.

" The best judge of the quality of your contribution to scouting comes from the boys, not from other adults handing out knots." That's only if you are a unit Scouter and then only if you interact with the boys on a regular basis. A CC could have virtually no contact with the boys but be a regualar dynamo behind the scenes. I really doubt if many boys could tell you who the CC is. Heck, district Scouters labor away organizing popcorn, camporees, bike-o-rees and the rest and few, even the unit Scouters even know that they exist.

Many consider by-laws unnecessary. I don't know about that. My son's troop doesn't have a formal by-laws but it has some simple rules like "barring exceptional circumstances, permission slips must be turned in a month before the event." Others are things like "if you don't show up for the prep sessions, you don't go on the hike." That one applies to adults and youth.

That's not really a board of review, that's just a test of the requirements. The Den Leader is supposed to verify that the Webelos knows all of that before he signs off. A Board of Review is a totally different animal.

It's not part of the process. However, if you just want to sit down with the Scouts and have a chat about what they thought about Cub Scouts and what they enjoyed and didn't enjoy, I don't have a problem with that. Heck, it might even be a good idea.

I wonder if BSA has a problem with NyQuil?

Hops, be careful. You just dared to disagree with Gern, now he's going to mock you and possibly cite his resume as well. Let's look at the situation. This young lady is on spring break and wants to do something different. She wants to go rappelling. Most young and invincible people who haven't done it think its fun. Heck, I was at Philmont with a bunch of Airborne guys who did the climbing and rappelling with the Scouts and they thought both parts are fun. In a classroom settin it's not that risky. She's not going to rappel off the Sears Tower in a blizzard or something equally foolish. (This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

Those were kinder and gentler times and not everything had been declared evil. I'm sure that back then, your father had a couple beers and that was it. Now, with the excess of excesses that we see, too many would be getting drunk and falling into the fire. Oh for the kinder and gentler times. Even if we didn't have health care and cable TV, people had common sense and generally had manners.

So what would you do when you have a Hindu Scout who says, "In my life, I reverence and worship the gods Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma"? Remember what Greg Shields said about worshipping a rock in the back yard?

Sorry Ed, it's God to you but to BSA it is "a god." BSA doesn't care if you worship God, Allah, Thor, Hephaestus, or Vishnu.

" If you get caught, it really makes no difference." Since there seem to be no penalties, what does it matter?

Gern, That also describes hang gliding, sky diving and SCUBA diving as well. Auto racing, aerobatic flying and just riding a motorcycle could be included. Riding an roller coaster or ferris wheel. The list is endless. Heck, one might even includ rock climbing.(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

Found this on MSN.com today http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23631411/?GT1=43001

Glop is good if you are tired and hungry. At Philmont we had some interesting meals consiting of things like chili with ramen noodels and green beans. I was tired and hungry and it was good. There is a time for good eats and a time for just eating.

I think that it is fine, appropriate and to be expected. Nope. Yep. Not at all. What would make you think that this involves the separation of church and state?

However, if one is not drinking the beer but it is an ingredient for a dish, it is not a beverage. This is one of those instances where you need to look at the spirit and intent of the rule. Is the rule there to keep people from cooking with the beer? No, it is there to keep people from drinking the beer. As for "contolled substances," Adderall is a controlled substance. Does that make it prohibited? Noooo. Once again, there are exceptions to the rule.

Why? Is there a rule prohibiting non-alcoholic beverages? I'm not even sure if cooking with alcohol is prohibited.

It is just like wine in a receipe, it adds flavor. You'd have to ask Alton Brown about the chemistry of alcohol and meat. I do think that you'd be able to tell the difference. You could try it with a couple bottles of near beer like O'Doul's

My son's troop always had a Scoutmaster fund that could be used to help out a Scout in need. Being a well heeled community, there weren't any Scouts in need. Not quite true, there was a single mom who didn't make much but she never asked for financial assistance and wouldn't accept it if offered. Her sons were in uniform, at every meeting and went on every campout including summer camp. Never a whimper about cost. The whiners about the cost of Scouting were the lawyers, doctors, and the macho guys who drove the big off-road trucks that never got dirty. Funny thing about that. We asked one dad who had the giant 4x4 truck with trailer package to drag the troop trailer for a campout. "No way, it will get dirty" was the response. LOL!

Spelling check. I think that you're talking about rappelling or as the Euros call it "abseiling." Look in the yellow pages for outfitters and call one of them and ask who/where offers classes in rock climbing and/or rappelling.(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

Four hours isn't that long. Look at how long kids will sit in front of the TV.

ScoutingMom, if Bob White says that it isn't adding to the requirements then it isn't adding to the requirements. Plain and simple. :-)