scoutldr

As an animal lover, I feel your loss deeply. I am a cat person. I seem to connect with cats on an almost telepathic level. Stray cats will let me hold them when no one else can get close. We understand each other, like another human can''t. My first cat, Sydney was an SPCA special. Shortly after getting married (at age 20!), my new bride got the maternal urge. Not being ready financially or mentally, I said, "how about a kitten?"...so off we went to the SPCA. Thirteen years later I had to hold him while the vet administered the injection. It was, to this day, the hardest thing I ever had to do. I missed three days of work. My current buddy, Sam, the black alley cat, is almost 14. He got his name because we found him in the gutter at Sam''s Club on Thanksgiving eve...a frozen furr ball all of five weeks old. I know the day is coming, but I can''t stand to think about it. He has slowed down, but still wakes me up at 0515 sharp every morning to go to work, and when we are sick, he''s there by our side in the bed like a faithful watchdog. We have conversations regularly, and he talks back in a language that only we understand, but the meanings of the meows are unmistakable. My wife swears that when he goes, there will be "no more animals" in her house. I hope she''ll be happy living alone. It seems the "new lady in your life" was sent for a reason. God will fill the void if you accept the gift.

So, if I send Johnny an e-mail once in a while, or "regularly", and he still doesn''t respond or show up, he''s considered "active"? So, it is really just about the numbers. Horsehockey.

As a health professional who deals in this stuff, I have to say the risk is minimal. As long as the boys are not chewing on the things, there is little chance that the lead will enter the body. Keep them away from little ones, who put everything in their mouths. This recall is just a CYA move to make the lawyers happy.

As I tell others in my profession, "if you hold yourself out to be an expert, you have a duty to be one."

What, has the BSA hired someone in Irving to think up ways to alienate the volunteers? They''re sure doing a good job of it. Just another factoid to reinforce my decision to retire beadless. What a crock.

So, the older scouts are willing to forego any further advancement (no POR)?

In response to the original question...I think several units would fold, including my own. Not because training is a bad idea...but because as volunteers, we don''t respond well to threats and ultimatums. We get enough of that at work, and I''ll be durned if I''ll put up with it in my "free time". I resigned my seat on the District Committee for this very reason.

As a practical matter, awards should be presented at the monthly Pack meetings. With 150 cubs, if we had held them all until the B/G, no one would have gotten home until 1 am. At the troop level, we present the pin the same night as the BOR. Patch and card are presented at the quarterly COH.

Amen, Eamonn. It seems like yesterday that my boys were Wolves. I can''t believe that they "aged out" at 18 over 11 years ago. I''m still plugging along, wondering what the scout''s dads have to do that''s more important than spending quality time with their sons. We (my fellow SCouters whose sons have aged out) have decided to get this group to Eagle and then pull the plug. As of last Monday night, they are all Life, no thanks to the "drive by" parents.

I wasn''t aware that amoebae formed spores and could survive dessiccation.

Haven''t heard of any revisions. Our UC sat down with us at recharter time almost a year ago to set goals. She hasn''t been back to tell us the requirements have changed. BTW, our unit probably will NOT be quality unit for the first time in 15 years.

Welcome, ScoutDadof5. Whew...makes me tired just to think about it! http://www.scouting.org/awards/centennial/14-190.pdf Likewise, there are Commitment forms for District and COuncil. Your Council should have these on line, or in the office.

Have to agree that the red berets were "dorky", especially with the mop hairstyles of the 70s and today. We have an elderly Scouter in our council, who has to be 85 if he''s a day. He proudly wears his vintage green uniform complete with original 1937 Jamboree patch that he earned as a young scout participant. He personally met BP, James E. West, Dan Beard, and Green Bar Bill. I would never tell this veteran Scouter that he''s "inappropriate" or a "dork." We do have some Scouters in our council who reside in the neighboring state, but are nonetheless in our council. They refused to adopt the new CSP, and instead continue to wear the red and white strips for their city and state on the ODLR uniforms. Now, that''s inappropriate...but nonetheless none of my business.

Water temp. It sounds like Lake Wobegon is safe.

Incidence rate of rare and fatal brain infection from amoebas in lake water is increasing. http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/04/amoeba.lake/index.html PS: the article erroneously calls it a "virus". As we all know from high school biology, an amoeba is a single celled microscopic animal that lives in water.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

How strongly do we feel about it? Just refuse to put anything "made in China" on your uniform. I have started "boycotting"...I regularly pass up clothing now, especially at Costco, marked "made in Vietnam". In the mall on Sunday, waiting for a dinner reservation, I was looking at a new SAAB suv on display. It looked suspiciously like a Chevy Trailblazer, and upon inspecting the sticker, only 14% of the car was made in Sweden. Engine was from Australia, tranny from Japan, etc. And it was "assembled" in Ohio, I think. "Buy American"? It''s impossible.

Jayne, welcome to the forums! I like your style!

info is correct...it''s Council-dependent.

No offense intended, but is this MB being done under the guidance of a qualified, registered MB counsellor? If so, he/she is the one who should be answering these questions for you.

Unfortunately, for the vast majority of people who bother to vote, their opinions are formed based on 1) what will this President give ME in the form of govt handouts, 2) who is the "cutest" or 3) whatever the poll workers can manage to badger into their brains on their way into the polling place. If you listen to any of Hannity''s "man on the street" interviews...it''s very frightening. Those of us who study the candidates and the issues, trying to cast a meaningful, thoughtful vote are wasting our time....because there are 50 morons out there waiting to cancel each one of us out.

So they blur out Google Earth. The address and phone number of the White House is all over the internet. Or they could just ask the cab driver, Mohammed. Every school kid used to know it was 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Now they don''t even know there IS a White House or who lives there (except for the untainted homeschoolers, of course). BTW, for detailed directions to the Naval Observatory, including a Mapquest map, see: http://www.usno.navy.mil/directions.shtml Public tours are available.

This is the OSHA regulation: "Unprotected sides and edges." Each employee on a walking/working surface (horizontal and vertical surface) with an unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above a lower level shall be protected from falling by the use of guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems. OSHA does not legally apply to scouts and volunteers. It would, however, apply to "employees" (camp staff, ranger, etc)

I think some of the best Presidents had no "qualifications" or prior experience.

Good point, OGE. Could it be that Climb On Safely training is required? (I''ve never taken it, so I don''t know). I just read the G2SS section on climbing and it''s clear it''s intended for rock/mountain climbing. I also found this in bold: "Technical tree-climbing with ropes or harnesses is not authorized as a unit activity." If the trees are lashed together into a tower, does that make a difference? Seems like we need a clarification from National on this point. It''s certainly not clear.

I never thought that they might need to call their college admissions counselor on a Saturday. I guess if that ever happened, I''d be happy to let them use mine.