River2K

IF I could start over at 15, some of the things I'd do differently would be: develop and maintain more friendships. explore and travel the world more after high school, before settling down and starting a family. join a good, friendly, bible-believing church in my early married years. take very good care of my teeth. They're expensive to fix and will cause great pain when abused. complete my 51 chevy pickup before graduating from high school. High school is the best time to have a cool car. After getting married, it's not so important. choose an exciting career

Scott, Thanks for your effort on the Pine Wood Derby software. Haven't used it yet but it looks awesome. "I have also been working on Scout Advancement Tracking Software that I would like to open source as well." Any luck on making the advancement software available? It sounds extremely useful. I would definitely be interested in incorporating its use into our troop. Thanks. Ken

AC, I too will become Scoutmaster for a troop in January. I asked for some advice on the following thread and found it to be very helpful. If you haven't read it already: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=36073&p=1 This forum has been my greatest source of new ideas, inspiration, and confidence. The other source has been the Scouts in our troop. Congratulations and Good luck in your new position. Ken P.S. I was born Sept 1963

My hat is sitting on a big rock somewhere along the Colorado River where it runs through the Grand Canyon. I'm on another 18-day river trip, a private trip where the participants do the work and pilot the boats. I'm not exactly sure what day it is or how far we've come. It's easy to lose track of time when passing through such a mesmerizing place. We've just pulled in off the river, soaked from running the last huge, exhilarating rapid of the day. The water is amazingly frigid considering its June and the temperature hovers around 100 mid-day. I'm drying and warming up on these rocks,

Sagerscout, Welcome to Arizona! I'm in the Tucson area so...can't help you with a Phoenix troop. Sorry you're having difficulty getting a response from "up there". I'm sure there are several fine troops in the area and you shouldn't have a problem fitting in. It's my perception that the majority of people in AZ are from somewhere else and easily welcome new people. Good luck. SHHH! Don't tell anybody, but Arizona is the best place to be in Scouts. The weather makes it possible to be comfortable outdoors all times of the year (IMHO). Deserts in the winter and mountains in the summ

I've got an MSR Pocket Rocket stove that screws onto the top of a Markhill 8 oz iso-butane/propane can and I've cooked about 8 meals for 3 people on this one can so far. The can is about empty. I might be able to get one more meal out of it. My stove puts out a fairly small flame. If your son's has a bigger flame it might use the gas faster. Ken

Big_dog, welcome. I haven't read the article but I have the issue in front of me. The title is "Pick a Platform" and the article seems to be about the different video game platforms, i.e. Xbox, gamecube, PS2, etc. The article doesn't review any specific video games, other than mentioning a few titles and their associated graphics. I love Boy's Life. It's always got great articles. Video games are big with today's kids. I'm glad to see the editors talking about this subject. It will really get some kid's attention. Why can't they produce a game based on a Scouting adventure

Our troop uses a 6 month limit. If a Scout hasn't completed a merit badge within that time he is required to start over. From what I'm reading here, this is not correct. Since I'm scheduled to take over as Scoutmaster in January, sounds like a change I may want to consider for the troop. My "common sense" tells me a MB SHOULD have a time limit though. Wouldn't a time limit help the Scout to be more responsible about completing a badge? Ken

Well, I made the commitment at last night's troop meeting to accept the position of Scoutmaster in our Troop. I won't officially take over until Dec or Jan so I have plenty of time to work myself into the position. Thanks for all the encouragement from those that responded to my questions. I believe I learned more here than I did at the district training sessions. I'm attempting to push all my fears to the back of my mind and concentrate on planning. If I can keep the 'doubts' out of my mind I believe I'll be successful. Ken

Electronic Technician for a major defense contractor. When things break or don't work, I figure out what's wrong and fix it.

I would agree with SM406. This thread reminds me of an ongoing conversation my Dad & I often have. Ill say, for example: I have to go to work, and hell say: No, you get to go to work, and then the argument (discussion really) proceeds between us on what Im really trying to say. My point being that Im required to report for work or lose my job. His point being that I sound as though Im complaining and have actually chosen to go to work (life being about choices and such), and that Im privileged to have the opportunity. Privileged in the sense that Im healthy enough to work, I have

Seems to me the Chartering Organization would "own" the troop. According to the definition of charter in the dictionary. I've always been more comfortable with using "our" troop rather than "my" troop when discussing the group. It seems more inclusive and less domineering to me. Ken

It would sure be interesting to go camping with this bunch! Diggereedo? Snoot flute? I've got to have my Lifesaver Wintergreen mints and Cat's Meow(sleeping bag) Also an extra garbage bag for my hobby of picking up trash when I'm hiking/camping.

"How about training a new SPL and what he can and should expect from his ASPL's ..." Can a SPL have more than one ASPL, like a Scoutmaster has many ASM's? Ryon: By your question I'm assuming you've had a difficult time with certain aspects of your position. Maybe you could make a list of the things you do and don't like about being the SPL and weigh the two. Are there more positives than negatives? Brainstorm ideas on how to solve or improve the things in the "don't like" column. Maybe you need better planning strategies, maybe you need to delegate more, maybe you need a di

Thanks for the excellent advice from everyone and the questions that were asked, especially the ones I havent even thought of yet and the questions I should be asking myself. The amount of support here is a real confidence builder, to say the least. The wisdom here has helped clear the haze from my mind and gotten me to concentrate on the real issues of accepting this position. Ill be talking to the current and previous SMs, Assistant SMs that have been there longer than myself, the committee chair, and a few questions for the organizational rep. I will continue to read the good

Rocketman "It wasn't me it was Julie!" Uncle Buck

Backpacking along the Black River in Arizona at 13 years old to earn the 50 miler patch with everything I needed to survive on my back. Ken

Hello all, I'm new to this forum and have been reading through the discussions the past few weeks. This is my first post. I've been approached by my son's troop to be their next Scoutmaster and am looking for any information that might help me decide if I can handle the job or not. I'm hesitant to accept the position, maybe for reasons I don't quite understand. I'm eager to be trained but I fear I don't possess the necessary personality to be an effective, inspiring leader. I have about 2 more weeks to decide. I would like to hear from those who have had to make this same