Trevorum

Tonight I want to talk about a friend we all know. Or think we know. In this troop we've all sat around many campfires, warming ourselves on rainy afternoons and on frosty nights, cooking our hotdogs, and just letting the friendly crackle of the flames and the comforting glow of the embers make us feel good about being outdoors, about ourselves. Last week, as some of you have heard, in the middle of the night my Ford truck spontaneously exploded. The flames were so high that the tree it was parked under caught fire. Thankfully, no one was hurt. I am very glad that the truck wasn't parked in a garage because the flames were so intense they would have burned the whole house down. As it was, our whole family was out on the front lawn at 2 in the morning watching the fire department put out our blazing truck. I guess there are several points to this story. One point might be that friends, like fire, have several sides to them. We might not really know them until something unexpected happens. But the point I want to leave you tonight with is simply this: Be Prepared. I want each and every one of you to go home and talk to your family about what you would do if there was a fire in your home. Make a fire plan. It can save your life.

This touches on one of my buttons - adults who do everything to help boys earn their merit badges EXCEPT for answering the actual questions and doing the actual activities. IMHO, we can provide a rich learning environment and provide ample opportunities for scouts to earn MBs without holding their hands all the way. For example, the Scout should be responsible for contacting a counselor and bringing a blue card signed by the SM (except for summer camp and MB universities, etc.). Also, if a scout winds up with an incomplete, it should be HIS responsibility to know what requirements he still needs, and to follow through with them. Adults may want to track such incompletes for management purposes, but it is NOT our responsibility to remind Billy about his incomplete. If he never completes the MB, it is HIS responsibility.

With summer camp coming up quickly, this is a good time to talk about laundry at camp. Some kids are fastidious but others just don't have a clue. The jelly spilled down the front of his uniform during lunch on Monday will still be there when he goes home on Saturday. And we hear, "Wash clothes? You're kidding! We're just camping!" How do you convince these fellows that "A Scout is clean" means doing their laundry at camp? We always try to take the opportunity to teach these youngsters - who may have never done a load of laundry before in their life (!) how to wash their uniform. We modify the standard K.P. routine, using three 5-gallon buckets and a toilet plunger.

That worked! But we'll fondly remember that missing underscore.

Mike, excellent database! It will be a chore to update, but will be quite valuable when done. I'll PM you with some info about our council.

What is curious is that in your post count, your double posts are each being counted ONCE, not twice. I have no idea what that means but it is curious.

Gern, Don't let it prevent you from participating! We want to hear what you say! We will just politely ignore your redundancy. When I was new on the forum, I suffered from the dreaded TPS (Truncated Post Syndrome) for weeks but it mysteriously resolved itself. These things are beyond the ken of us mere mortals...

Hi Gern! Hi Gern! Still having trouble with DPS (double post syndrome), eh? I empathize - for my first several months here, I suffered from the dreaded TPS (truncated post syndrome). It went away mysteriously, but taught me to be succinct. Reportedly, Ford is denying all responsibility, for these spontaneous combustions, but a class action lawsuit has been filed. We showed the pictures (ain't digital great!) to a lawyer friend. He passed them around his office and everybody wanted the case. I have faith that eventually justice will prevail, but these things take time. And the inconvrnience is pretty substantial. We actually used the truck for ranch work

But what is truth? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours? (oops, wrong thread again. But, I figured OGE would appreciate the quote!)

UNBELIEVABLE!! The CNN headline this afternoon is: "Ford document: Millions of vehicles have fire risk part" ... "Several fire investigators hired by insurance companies and auto engineers consulted by CNN say a $20 switch is causing some Fords to ignite." Why couldn't I have replaced that part YESTERDAY ??????????? arrrghh!

Semper, To be honest, the lesson I was thinking of was more along the lines of "Never buy a Ford PoS!"

Semper, that's beautiful... (sniff) ... Thank you! Ed, uh-oh. I think you're own your own, fella. You may have your own "3rd" coming !

Rooster, I know we disagree on some 3G issues, but I am genuinely relieved to know that you do in fact appreciate the value of diversity in human social groups. Things would be so much less interesting if we were all the same, looked the same, thought the same, believed the same, voted the same.

In our troop we have a young fellow with Aspergers Syndrome. He's not a 'goofball' by any stretch, but he is still very different from the other fellows. His sense of humor and humor timing are different for example and he has some odd mannerisms. He is probably the most intelligent youngster in the troop but he has some difficulty with social behaviors. When he joined at 10, his father and I talked at length about his social skills and the possible problems in relating to other guys, especially in camping situations. Today, four years later, this guy is a Life Scout and an ASPL and is one of the most respected Scouts in our troop. I hope the Scouting evvironment has provided him with a safe place to be himself in the company of other guys his own age. He's still a bit odd, but he has ironically helped the OTHER guys become more mature in their interactions with other people. Our troop is far the richer for having him as a member. Like another poster said recently, "diversity is a fine thing".

Wow, that's an innovative idea! Soliciting contributions through paypal! I hope he is successful. hmmm... this makes me wonder if a project could be auctioned off on eBay to the highest bidder. Say, "TWO PARK BENCHES, CONSTRUCTED AND INSTALLED." Nope, it wouldn't work. You'd have to restrict bidders to charitable and non-profit institutions and they won't allow you to do that. (just kidding, everyone!)

Didn't we flog this one just last month?

Yes, no injuries. If this had to happen, it was the best time and place possible (no one driving, middle of the night, not garaged).

I always assumed that the rule of 3 meant to you, but can I count Ed's disaster too? That would be 2 for both of us (Ed you may count mine). Now we just need to find a third...

(Disclaimer: this thread has nothing to do with Scouting.) Early this morning at 1:30 AM, my Ford F150, parked in my driveway, spontaneously exploded in a ball of flame. The fire department came and put it out. They said it was electrical. A charred shell remains. I had heard about this happening to Fords before but, like a smoker, I told myself, "It won't happen to me." There's a lesson here somewhere, maybe a SM minute, but I'm too tired and stunned to think what it is.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for 'GoofBalls'. When I was a Scout, my best friend was this kind of kid. On one campout, he got up in the middle of the night to visit the latrine and got lost. He woke up the entire camp with his plaintive wails for our Scoutmaster, "Mr. Hilton! Mr. Hilton!". We ribbed him about it for years. He's now an award winning screenwriter in Hollywood.

Ed and others, You may find interesting this comparison of Buddhism and Christianity on the Religious Tolerance website: http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism4.htm The main page on Buddhism is at http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm

Gern, Gern, Welcome! Welcome! Affirmative. Affirmative.

To directly answer the question, IMHO, "too much" is when the troop's adult leadership can not provide adequate supervision, driving, etc. for troop activities due to being stretched too thin. Few leaders will be able to (or inclined to) go on every single troop activity. Depending on the size of the troop, the number of adult leaders, and how often they "rotate" in and out, "too much" will vary considereably between troops. Our troop is lucky to have many SAs; as a result we have enough leaders to be able to camp every month, attend 2 different summer camps and 2 high adventures plus a winter camp. That's nearly 50 days & nights of program per year.

And what about past lives? Maybe Shirley MacLaine is smarter than we think ...

Excellent thread. I've much enjoyed everyone's thoughts.