A Recap on Popular Posts

I thought I'd do  a recap on the most popular of my posts.
It is kind of interesting when you look at what is getting the most views.

So Constantly from week to week I find my post on Double Elimination to be very popular.



This is an interesting topic. I originally posted about double elimination due to the fact I was going to run a pine wood derby and wanted to be fair.  I would suppose that most people looking for information on double elimination end up on my post for that reason.  I think I also commented on what do you do with an odd number of participants.  It's worth a look and the excel files I created could be potentially helpful.  Just make sure you have all the possible combinations of participants ready on hand so you don't have to mess up the code fixing it on the fly.


Another popular post is the one I did on the Manaus, Brazil Temple and it the associated open house and dedication.
Though the number of people viewing my posts from Brazil comes in a lower 4th-5th this is definitely a popular post.  I did provide a version in English and Portuguese.  One way or the other the Temple in Manaus is definitely a marvel.  It is extremely beautiful and very unique.  Manaus itself as a city is very unique with it's history, location etc.  This is also the only temple to have a boat dock as many people in the Amazon rain basin and the Manaus area travel by boat.  Guaranteed many patron will be coming by boat to the "House of the Lord."




One interesting thing to note is where the people that view my posts are coming from.  The United States comes in first with Russia a second.  Germany is a close 3rd place and then you drop into places like Brazil and a hand full of other places.  I did provide on post with some online translated material into Russian.  It is not view much which is strange so most people active on the internet in Russia must know English.



Another popular post is one about suicide.  I guess many people out there are searching for material to help them understand what is happening when suicide comes knocking.


This is a sensitive subject and came close to home when a youth in our local church unit committed suicide about 2 years ago.
Everyone when searching for answers and support.   The information I posted from an Apostle gives a good perspective to the whole subject.
If your thinking of committing suicide there is help out there.  Someone should be able to help.  You don't have to feel alone.

Another highly popular post is that on Read the Book of Mormon.
We took up the challenge a couple of years back to read the whole Book of Mormon before the April conference starting right after the new year.  I would not say it was necessarily the most spiritual way of going about things.  In reality we were reading about 10 pages a day.  In many cases several short chapters but overall it was a good 70-100 verses each day.  We had our moments and there were days we missed or did not pull off the whole amount we needed to read.  We had to play catch-up but they gave us a few days in the schedule to help get up to speed.


Those days for the ones on track were great days to review a specific chapter in more detail.  That is what you should be doing for the 20 minutes a day of scripture study.  Using the footnotes, cross references, topical guide and other helps to get more depth and understanding.
 

Lastly my page on how to build a trebuchet out of PVC Piping is fairily popular.  It was fun to build back in the day but, we found fairly quickly a flaw in the design.  This trebuchet was never designed to handle a lot of stress and thus worked great for a couple of cub scouts but not for a couple of older scouts that are of the opinion the harder you work the arm the farther the projectile will go.



So we did come up with a version made of wood that should have solved the problem.  Due to design flaws it keep splitting the throwing arm.  That new design was finally abandoned with little or no interest in fixing it.  It may well be a great jumping off point for someone with an interest in engineering and water balloon launchers.

Buaidh - NO - Bas

The Boy Scouts of America and gay scouts

By now you have probably heard about the possible loosening of the regulation to not allow openly gay Scout leaders and members be members of the Boy Scouts of America.

Currently if Johnny has an openly lesbian mother that wants to be the den leaders she can't.  Same goes for Fred's openly gay dad being a leader in his local scout group.
Some will say it's about time that you get with the modern world and just let them join.  "What's the harm?"  "Why are you being discriminatory?"
Those kind of comments are coming from the gay supporters.  Though in reality they are what 10% of the overall population?



Is it right that such a small group of people push their agenda on the rest of the population?  Some may even equate it to the civil rights movement and getting equality in places like the Southern States.  Or the women's lib movement or Title 9.  But, are they really the same?    The Boy Scouts have successfully in the past make it a requirement to profess some form of religiousness.  The atheist could not get parts of the Scout Oath and Law thrown out because it made references to God.  Same thing on the orientation element.

Check out some comments by Bill Gates on the whole issue.  I hope just because he's someone that has been successful people don't just go his route without thinking of the consequences. 

"Should the Boys Scouts of America Change it's stance on Gay leaders?" - Gates - "Absolutely" - "Why?" - Gates - "It's 2013!"
Not such a good idea to just update things because it's a new year and we need to be modern.  I'm glad that the Boy Scouts are sending out questionnaires to it's leaders and members.  It allows them to see if people are hot to the idea of gay leaders and scouts or not.  I believe due to the fact that at least 60% of scouting organizations come from a handful or religions they are going to find out quickly things need to stay the same.  Yes, a few corporate sponsors may back out or quit sending money.  You'll have to get more from the rank and file but, since it is what they want they should be more then happy to hand over a little more.

So here would be the great compromise.

Why not ask Bill Gates who's flush with money and giving away so much to various charities and organizations to create the -
Gay Scouts of America. 
This would be an organization of and by the gays for the gays.  Just think of it.  They could have the sexual orientation merit badge and other related topics the real Boy Scouts can not even dream of touching.  They could even throw the whole youth protection element out the window.  Why?  You are actively promoting taking all kinds of people in and well "Buyer Beware" might just apply.
You are opening it  to everyone regardless of orientation - warts and all.



So Bill Gates has the money to bank roll a venture like this.  He has the funds to help them be set up for several years at the least.  It would be the grand experiment.  And then as their numbers grow they could prove they have a place in society.  Unfortunately, if they fail it would only validate why things need to stay the same in the good old Boy Scouts of America.

So why not weigh in on this topic.  How have you been responding to the questionnaire?  Do you think things need to be modernized in the scouting movement?  Or should the many years of experience that have worked be the guide?
Would it be OK to have individual units deciding if they want to have gay leaders and boys.




Buiadh - NO - Bas

Christmas in July

So I was viewing the local scout week email that is sent out to those signed up in our local scout council.  This email is full of information on upcoming events, council wide service projects and the like.
So I saw the section on Scouting for Food.  Not knowing when they would be doing it this year I decide to click on the link and view some more information.

Even though the event is going to be in October I noticed something that really caught my attention.

How much food will be collected in one day?

• In 2009, Scouts collected 144,013 pounds of food.
• In 2010, Scouts collected 163,079 pounds of food.
• In 2011, Scouts collected 113,617 pounds of food.

Can you see how little we collected this last year.  Almost a 1/3 less then the year prior.  The amount is still fairly impressive.  As of right now the economy in California is on the fritz.  It's not really getting worse per say but, at the same time you don't hear about to many bright spots.  You do hear about City councils wanting to ban the use of plastic bags at super markets and wonder how many jobs this might effect.  All in the name of some environmental cleanliness that may be blown out of proportion.  Not to mention those that kind of do recycle them as trash liners at home.  We'll just have to go and spend more money and not solve the problem.

So back to the topic at hand.  With the economy sputtering along it is no wonder the amount of food collected was not so wonderful.  I know our local cub scouts stood for a few hours out in front of the Local Albertson's and helped collect a few pounds of food.  But, it was not all that successful.  Money is just plain tight.

So I remembered that the local food bank Second Harvest  are the ones that receive the food and that they do tours.   Then I started to think about why not have our pack go on a tour of the food bank.  And in the process we can hold a local mini food drive and have something to deliver when we show up for the tour.
So I took a look at the tour schedule and saw they have one in the middle of July.  The tours are a bit early but, since school will be out by then we should have not problems attending.

And then that is when I remembered Christmas in July.   I guess Christmas in July is something that was developed in Australia.  They wanted to have Christmas when it was snowing or colder or something like that.  Though I'm not so sure on how much snow they get in Australia.   I also remember when I was on Scout Camp staff at Lost Valley they held some Christmas like gift exchange in July for the staff.  I think the main reason for this is the fact that the main caretaker/Manager of the camp was basically all by himself during the winter months and this was a fun way for him to celebrate and give the camp staff something to do.  The white elephant gifts were something else and the group large enough to make it fun.

So I began to apply the idea of Christmas in July to service.  Imagine as the holidays have long passed how low the food in the food bank must have gotten.  Many people feel touched around the holidays to help the less fortunate.  But, the less fortunate do not just disappear in July, or for that matter May or June or August.  They are there all year round.


In the past people with means would help more during the winter months and especially around Christmas and New Years due to the circumstances everyone found themselves in and the spirit of the holidays.  Now a days we have a more Urban and not so agricultural based society and thus we just head down to the local market and pick up a few things.  We have food that has been canned, produce and fruit that is available year round.  Things have really changed from just 6 generations ago.  What with modern refrigeration, and transportation that can move goods around the globe in a matter of days if not hours in some cases.

In the past the poor or less fortunate may have had the ability to go into the local forest and pick berries or wild herbs to help them get by in the spring and summer months.  They might even be able to glean food after the harvest has been gathered in.  But, with our more urban life style this is just not so easy to do.   He can in some cases plant ourselves a garden at home.  See the following link about other ways to live providently - http://www.providentliving.org/

So that brought the idea of having a mini food drive amongst the scouts and then delivering these food stuffs to the food bank when we go and have a tour.  Because as we well know  just a person or two doing something might not have a huge impact.  A handful of cans from 6-7 cub scout will not solve the problem or even make a dent in it but, if every group that came to take a tour showed up with 2 boxes of food stuffs think how quickly the problem could be solved.  It is like with fund raising.  Yes, the big fish do make things move but, collectively the smaller donations are what drives things.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints a very well oiled Welfare system has been put in place.  This program has been around since the early days of the church and was expanded or revamped during the great depression.   It is based on the Bishop's Store House.  The Bishop's store house evolved out of what was turned in for tithing.  It was not so easy to give the value of your increase in chickens for example so the local member would give the bishop his 1/10 in live chickens or related food stuffs.  The bishop would then redistribute this to those that were in need.  He might sell them if need be to provide the funds needed for the local meeting house etc.


Now a days there are local Bishop's Store Houses found through out the world.  These locations are staffed by volunteers and hold food stuffs (many of which come from church owned farms) to be distributed to those in need.  They cover the basics and there is not a lot of selection. Much less then a typical grocery store.  However, if one has been authorized by their bishop and had an order placed via the Relief Society president then they can access these food stuffs.  And it can sure be a help when your unemployed or the like.  For those items that the church can not source from one of their many farms the cost is defrayed by funds from Fast offerings.  Many of these store houses have been repositories that can quickly send emergency supplies to area effected by Hurricanes, Tornadoes, or flooding.  They have stashes of generators, hygiene kits and other necessary goods for right after a disaster.  And the church routinely ships good around the world to where ever there may be a disaster.  This is a great list of things they have been involved in over the last year

It's the Lord's system so it works pretty good.

So as we begin to get into the summer months think about having Christmas in July.  Make the day bright for someone that might be less fortunate.

Why not plan to hold your own food drive.  Contact your local Food bank and find out how you can help.  You might just be a God send to many of these people.


To find out more about Scouting for Food in Orange County check the link - http://www.ocbsa.org/events/scouting-for-food-2/

To find a Second Harvest Food bank in your area so you can volunteers or donate click here

I'd love to hear about your successes in hold your own Christmas in July.   So post your story in the comment section.  You might just be able to spark some more acts of kindness and charity.


Buaidh - NO - Bas

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner

As usual now is the time for the Blue and Gold Dinner/Banquet held in place of the typical Pack Meeting.  This annual event helps to celebrate the anniversary of Scouting and the Scouting movement.

One of the main things as Cub Master is to make some kind of statement and/or speech that relates to scouting and it's origins.  it is also a time to reflect on the year and give a kind of preview of the year ahead and where we as a group want to go.

So I've been having fun trying to find some information to use at the upcoming Blue and Gold Dinner.  I'm going to include a few things that I found and hope that some of them can be of use to those out there looking for resources.  One of the main resources in the USA is the Baloo Bugle.  This monthly resource has information for both the Pack meeting and Den Meetings.    There are tons of run-ons and skits that can be useful.

In the past we have done or had some major presentations for our Blue and Gold.  I made sure to get the local Order of the Arrow Chapter Dance team to come and present for our Blue and Gold Celebrating 100 years of scouting.  I was scheduling them way back in December to make sure I could have them.  Unfortunately, they got there late due to getting a little lost.  It all worked out well in the end.


And now the information.

History of scouting - skit of sorts (source - Baloo Bugle)

This is a 2 person play.  Grandpa is sitting as his grandson enters the room.  You could add more people by having more grandson Cub Scouts.

For the parts -
S is the Scout's part:
 G is the Grandpa's part.

S:      Grandpa, were you ever a Cub Scout?

G:     Of course I was!

S:      What was Scouting like then?

G:     Well Cub Scouting began in the United States back in 1930. Of Course it and the Boy Scouts were around in other countries since 1907. The Boy Scouts troops started in the United States in 1910 but there were unofficial Cub Pack in America as early as 1916.

         At first, we were just called Cubs and our leaders were called Cubbers. A Cub Scout was a Boy Scout who had been a Cub. In the earlier days, the dens were run by Boy Scout den chiefs, and about 1936 Dan Mothers started to help the den chiefs. I recall that in 1930 you could buy the entire uniform, all of it, for just $6.00! That was still a lot of money back then though, Den chiefs had to sign off the requirements – not your parents.

         The ranks were Bobcat, which was a small pin like the pins you can earn, and then there was Wolf, Bear, and after bear you were called a Lion. Webelos originally stood for “Wolf Bear Lion Scout.” BSA replaced Lion about 1967 to make it easier to transfer to Boy Scouting. In 1967 there were a lot of changes to the program! We had “Parent-Cub Dinners” as far back as 1933.

         About 1941 they started to be called “Blue and Gold Banquets.” You had to be 9 to 11 years old to be a Cub Scout. In 1949 , they allowed 8 year olds to join, We added about 150,000 boys that year! Tigers were the most recent change- It was added in 1982.

S:      Boy things sure were different back then!

G:     Yep, but we had a lot in common with you today! Cubbing was a lot of fun back then, and it still is now!

This next one focuses on lifting up thy brother, setting an example.
Since we had some issues with respect in our dens we are focusing on helping the boys be respectful, uplifting and provide more service.

I Wish I Was That Brother

Upon graduation from college, a few years back, a young man received a gift from his older brother. It was a shiny brand new Packard. The car of his dreams! One morning as he approached the car he saw a young lad of 12 peering through the windows into the car! Obviously enthralled with the car, the lad didn't hear the young man approach. "Is this your car?" the lad asked when he noticed the man. "Yes it is!" the man responded! "Wow! This is a nice car!" remarked the lad, "How much did it cost?" "I don't know!" answered the man. "It's your car, but you don't know how much it cost?" exclaimed the young lad. "No," stated the man, "you see, my brother bought it for me!" "I wish...I wish...I wish" stuttered the lad. The man thinking he's going to say, I wish I had a car like this. "I wish I was like that brother!" finished the boy!
Amazed at the lads response he offered to drive him around the block! As they were driving, the lad requested if he would drive him home. Thinking he wanted to show off that he was riding in a new car to his friends, the man agreed! They drove more than a few blocks to where the boy lived and as he turned onto the street the man noticed that it wasn't the best kept neighborhood! The houses were dirty and broken. He pulled up in front of the boys house. "Please wait," the boy yelled as he ran into the house! "Oh, he's probably going to get his family to show off the new car", the man thought to himself.

How unselfish this boy was....to be the kind of brother that looked after other first!
What kind of Scout are you...Are you like the older brother!
source - http://www.netwoods.com/d-smminute.html

Another from the the scoutmaster minute site.  This one is good for showing how our influence can spread, and the worth of a boy or person.  Each one matters or we matter to the one, though it might not seem like it at the time.

One Day At A Time

A friend of ours was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean.
As our friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.
Our friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said, "Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing."
"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."
"I understand," my friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"
The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"

• Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen taken from "Chicken Soup for the Soul"

There are hundreds of thousand (millions) of boys around the world who can benefit from the Scouting experience. We can't reach them all, but even within our own groups we see our task overwhelming, not making any difference. However, to that one boy in your den, pack, troop or post who looked to you as a role model, a friend, an inspiration (even if he never told you) you've made a difference!
You Do Make A Difference -- in making our world a better place to be....One Boy At A Time!
source - http://www.netwoods.com/d-smminute.html

And a couple of last ones.  A great quote from Lord Baden-Powell Founder of scouting.


Be prepared
The end is character with purpose.
Just like Saint George of old the Boy Scouts of today fight against evil and unclean.
There is no religious side of the movement; the whole of it is based upon religion.
As a scout, you are obliged to do at least one good turn every day.
You can smile at the rain if you have pitched your tent properly.
Scouts learn endurance in the open. Like explorers, they carry their own burdens and 'paddle their own canoes.'
A scout is 'clean in thought, word and deed.'
The scout movement is a world-wide brotherhood.
A boy learning what he can as a scout, has a good chance in the world.
Obey the Scout Law.
Baden-Powell Chief Scout of the World.

 -----------------------------------------------

How many good deed examples can you give that impacted the world?
"This I believe: A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a boy."

http://www.netwoods.com/d-smminute.html

Hope some of these have been helpful to someone stopping by.  And if you have one you'd like to share them by all means leave a comment so that we can see and read what you have.

Scouting can be so fun.  We can help the boys to learn life skills, respect to others, service and it's uses, and help them spiritually mature all while having fun in a clean, safe environment.
For Scouting fits so well with established religion.  It is like the activity arm....... but it can be so much more.


Buaidh - NO - Bas

Leap of Faith

I was talking with another member last night at my home in regards to making some changes.... job, and the like.

One thing that came up is the Lord wants to bless us, but, can not simply serve us up everything on a silver platter.  There is one little element that plays in to the ability for the Lord to bless us - Agency.  Also as we exercise our agency (our ability to choose for ourselves) we have the consequences of our actions and the need for us to make decisions.  Thus if the Lord simply provided all that we asked for in some respects he would be negating agency and our ability to choose for ourselves.
This is were the second element comes in.  The element of faith.  As we do all we can, live the commandments the best we can, and serve in the church etc. the Lord will in the end bless us and fill in the gap.  He'll help us to bridge that which is missing as we make our full effort.

On the other hand, Satan the father of all lies will do all he can to discourage us and make us feel less then we should.  There will at time need to be some real Godly sorrow for mistakes and efforts on our part to repair the damage we have done.  Sometimes this may involve even repairing our own self worth or coming to a realization we are spirit children of Heavenly Father and we really does loves us and want us to return to live with him again someday.  "Thus, opposition and the alternatives that come with it are essential characteristics of our existence, for if there were no opposition and no alternatives from which to choose, there would be no agency, and the “wisdom of God and his eternal purposes,” as well as His “power,” “mercy,” and “justice,” would be destroyed (2 Nephi 2:12)."
Why Agency?  by Charles Swift Ensign February 2012.


So in the end I came to the realization that we need to take that leap of faith.  To have confidence in ourselves and our abilities.  To take the step into the unknown (which can be very scary) and push head not having a perfect knowledge (i.e Faith) of how it will work out.

It has been brought to my memory the accounts of the life of Christian Moosman one of my ancestors on my mother's side of the family.   He was born in Switzerland in the mid 1800's and eventually was baptized in the LDS church.   This did not go over very well with some relatives and former colleagues.   So eventually he went to Italy to join some saints there and immigrated to Zion.  In and around this time he met his wife among the Italian saints and there were married shortly there after.
Now there reason he come to mind is not so much his hardships and struggles but, more his faith in his actions.  We look to our noble ancestors of this time frame (1800's) and see so much faith as many of them traveled long distances to join with the saints in Zion (Utah).  And we well know that life for these people was not easy even after finally arriving in the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding communities.   In reality it as darn right hard.  And then on top of that many were called on "Missions" to colonize or populate far flung parts of the Utah territory or surrounding areas.   Thus was the life of Christian Moosman and his family. 

He had to exercise huge amounts of  faith as he resettled more then one to some rather inhospitable locations.  In many instances these were simply very big leaps of Faith.  Was that priesthood leader that called them on their mission really inspired?  Could they really make a living in the Utah desert?  These were their leaps of faith such as was life in those days.

In our modern age we are less likely to travel half way around the world to start a new life.  But do we still have to take those leaps of faith?  How about in our callings we receive at church?  How many times have you been extended a calling and thought after accepting it that you have no clue what you will do or how you will fulfill your obligations.  But, in the end things seem to come together as they should albeit, not always perfectly, but in a manner that is pleasing and fulfilling for those involved.

I have seen this in my calling as a Cub Master.  When I began I had no clue what I was doing, even though I'm am and Eagle Scout and recipient of the Arrow of Light award.  My first pack meeting was a mess and it did not help we had a group of children interrupt things in the middle.  Now I'm a bit more wiser, have a few years experience under my belt and things run a lot smoother.  Curve balls are still sent our way and we do have to make some last minute changes and the like.  But, I also see those moments of inspiration.  Promptings regarding things I should be doing, people to contact and the activities to suggest.  They have not all worked out as I expected them to.  Nor should they... we are always adapting things to our needs.  But, I've had to take small leaps of faith.  Leaps like when I decided for the first time to participate in Scout-o-Rama. 
Leaps in planning various other activities (some of which turned into miniature disastures).

Now I've learned I need to take other leaps of faith in other aspects of my life.  Like polishing skills for a job change, reaching out to fellow saints for help, extending myself in other ways and the like.  I have to take that leap of faith that things can be better and that I need to get the ball rolling.  That there are blessing awaiting me that I could never dream of having, like fruit ripe on the tree waiting to be picked.   I also have to have that faith to be able to keep Satan from messing around with God's eternal plan for me to much.  To make sure that I can keep him at bay so that in the end I do not turn “miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2:27) that he wants me to.

"So we ask ourselves, “Who are we going to believe in our search for happiness and well-being?” Will it be Satan, the author of all lies and deceit, whose single objective is to destroy us? Or are we going to believe a loving Heavenly Father, who is the source of all truth and happiness, whose sole objective is rewarding us with His eternal love and joy?

We may come from humble circumstances, have limited education, and may even have what we consider unimpressive worldly accomplishments. And because of Satan’s deceit, we may at times feel unimportant, insignificant, or incapable. But let us never forget—we are the ones chosen .... of God, we are His called, ...., and that makes us somebody."

Satan's Bag of Snipes - Bishop Richard C. Edgley


So will you join me in making that leap of faith?

Buiadh - NO - Bas

Catapult Competition Time Again

Once again my local Cub Scout Pack is coming upon our annual catapult competition.

Originally this was developed to help us eventual build a bigger fully functioning catapult to be used at our local Orange County Council's Scout-O-Rama.

PVC Teamwork Trebuchet

It was also a way for me to wear my Kilt.  I have few opportunities that seem appropriate to use my kilt and especially my semi-formal Argyll Jacket.  So this annual competition was developed.

In the beginning it was decided to also use this event as a possible recruiting vehicle.  All the teams had to have one current cub scout and someone else (usually ended up being a parent or sibling).

This year there are no restrictions on how many if any have to be on the team.  I've also had some size restrictions to make sure we don't have someone with an over sized catapult and win the distance portion hands down.  However, when I put :

"wLauncher(s)  MUST  be 1 ½ cubic feet max"   I got an interesting result.  One

astute father got me on the cubic feet term.  He got me on the no more

then 1 1/2 foot in the height/width/length (the original idea).  In reality he

was a little longer in one area then I expected.  But he was 1 1/2 foot

cubic since the others were shortened accordingly.   So this year it is

very clear the only restriction is the length of 1 foot minimum.

I also decided to have them include a certain part supplied by me.  I
gave no specification on how to use the part and even that it has to be an intricate part of the catapult.  For all I care it can be just tied or glued to the side.


It shall be fun how the "rules" are interpreted.  I'm always thrown for a curve but, it is not all that bad.   


To make things fair in some respects we end up doing two parts to our competition.  One is for distance.  The highly powerful engines are great at this part.  Our first year we had one that was flinging to the far side of the hall (well over 30 feet) and hitting the wall.  He was way ahead of everyone by points since most people were not even getting close to his throwing distance.   However, as we no if you have an overly powerful engine how in the heck are you going to actually hit the castle wall you need to demolish?


So that is why we also put in as our second part a piece on accuracy.  What this means is the way you get more points is by hitting a target, landing a certain distance, or making  your shot do something specific.  The first year due to some high point targets that had randomly been place on the tables we had a near upset.  One of the weaker but, more controlled engines hit on high point target.  It may have been a near fluke, coincidence or some good planning but, with that point addition they sat within 50 points of the leader.  Now the leader was the wall hitting high powered uncontrollable engine.  But, it helped to prove a point.   You need more then just power to be successful.  However, due to the over powering of the distance point system the power guy still won.

Last I felt like I had time and decide to get out some of my old Playmobil toys and build a Tower House and included some of the figures.  I made this for the accuracy portion of the event.  I even included some invading viking like my ancestors would have had to deal with.  You lost points if you hit them instead of the building.  You also got more points if you hit the defenders or the high tower.
This proved to be very challenging as few if any hit the tower house.  One team lost points due to hitting their attacking squad.




So what benefits has this competition provided to our Pack.

1. Chance for Webelos to complete a requirement for the Engineer Activity Badge
2. Chance for boys to work with their adult partner (even had a surrogate father get involved)
3. Helps to teach the principles of planning and strategies
4. Helps to show how one can be a winner at one thing and no another (IE. accuracy not distance; visa versa)
5. Helps to have a goal to strive for.
6. Helps learning to follow the rules.
7. Winners and losers (To many school don't want to have any losers.  Life is not that way!  We all have set backs)
8. What boy would not want to build his own catapult?

 And one last note - Stay tuned for updates about the Racing4research event associated with 24 Hours of Daytona coming up at the end of the month.

Buaidh - NO - Bas

Youth Protection

As a scout leader one of the many trainings we must complete is Youth Protection.  This training is as much for the protection of the adult as it is for the youth. 

Now you wonder why we even have to bother with such training, right?  Sadly, a few rotten apples make life a mess for all the other adults with good intentions.   And sadly a few of those rotten apples have been from my church.  It's not to say that all the adult volunteers are to be suspected of anything just because they want to help in an organization like the Boys Scouts.


With the recent revelations at Penn State I'll bet a million people will reconsider sending their kid off to some summer or spring break sports camp just because they are afraid something might happen.

Clearly the system failed in the case of Penn State.  Multiple people including a janitor told higher ups of some misdeeds.  However, I'd tell not just the president of the school or the director of athletics if I saw a man doing the inappropriate sexual acts with a boy in the locker room.  That already raises to the level of - TELL the POLICE and TELL them NOW!

I'm not sure things have changed all that much in the last 30 years.  I mean are there more child molesters in the world today then back then?  For that matter are there more today then in the 1800's.  It appears that in 1800's England there was an epidemic of child prostitution.  So is it really worse?  Are we more keenly aware of what is going on around us?

Back in my day we had Den Meeting at the home of one of my best friends.  His mother usually ran the meeting.  There were rarely extra adults present.  Contrast that to our meeting two nights ago.  We had three adults present for 4 boys and at least one parent was within a stones throw distance in the building due to travel issues.

It makes it fairly hard for someone to start accusing misdeeds when you have an adult to youth ratio at that level.    Sadly, things have gotten to that level.  Nary a person dare be alone with a child out of fear of rumors, accusations and the like.  Even some of the leadership in our local units have a second adult outside their office when interviewing people.  Just in case something gets out of hand or it a man interviewing a female.
We have to actively be a part of the life of our youth; of our children.
It appears the guy out of Penn state chose justly the people lacking a full set of parental support as his victims.  He knew that it would be harder to be caught since fewer people were on the look out.
But, one boy's mother was watching, participating and she did not take it sitting down.  Sadly, the system failed her.

How can we live in the world but, not of the world?  How is it that we can really protect our youth from all the issues they face today?
How can we protect them from inappropriate media, friends, activities, drugs and all the other bad influences that exist?

I like what I read in the October 2011 General Conference talk by Elaine S Dalton General Young Women's President of the LDS Church.
"You are your daughter’s guardian in more than the legal sense. Be present in your daughter’s life. Let her know your standards, your expectations, your hopes and dreams for her success and happiness. Interview her, get to know her friends and, when the time comes, her boyfriends. Help her understand the importance of education. Help her understand that the principle of modesty is a protection. Help her choose music and media that invite the Spirit and are consistent with her divine identity. Be an active part of her life. And if in her teenage years she should not come home from a date on time, go get her. She will resist and tell you that you have ruined her social life, but she will inwardly know that you love her and that you care enough to be her guardian."
Read - Elaine S Dalton Oct 2011 Conference Talk

Imagine that - a father actually going down and finding his child that is late from a date and dragging her home.  Most if not many would think you a prude.   But, in reality you are showing the kind of attitude or respect you are expecting from the child and their date.
My wife got a bit of that when we were traveling around in Brazil before we were even engaged.  Most if not all the people she worked with thought it prudish to have a separate hotel room while both of us were in another city visiting.  No one would really have known.
But, it is the principle.  Honest/Integrity - Doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

So we take the training, hold to the standards, not because they are fun, enjoyable or plain neat.  They in reality can be a bit of a pain.  We hold to the standards because we know they the right thing to do and will in the long run protect our youth.

Buaidh - NO - Bas

Are Kids over Scheduled?

I currently have a position as Cub Master in the local Pack.  We have only a hand full of boys since we are associated with the local church and that is how we recruit.  Nothing really outside the church membership.  Thus our numbers have not reached over 5 boys in the 2 1/2 years since I was called to this position.
During this time I have fought with the ever constant problem of other activities interfering with our meeting schedules.  Things like Baseball, Soccer, Piano Lessons, Choral groups and the like.  In your area the list could go on.  All worthy activities right?  The problem is we seem to take a back seat to some of these other activities.  We have had boys that don't show up for Den Meetings for a a month at a time since it is not working with the current baseball schedule or games and/or practice.

So are we over scheduling our children?  Are we signing them up for way to much stuff?  Are we trying to pass of our innate need to parent on someone else?

I know that in today's world there are the single parents that have to fill up activities or day care while they are off at work.  And then there are the families where both parents work to make ends meet.
But, then there is the classic "Soccer Moms" thus named since they are racing all over town dropping off their kids at some soccer event.  They spend a large portion of their day ferrying their children around to their million activities.  And they are likely the same ones that are waiting line at the local In-n-Out burger drive-thru that almost always has a line.

Have we forgotten how to interactive properly with our children?  Have we forgotten how to use cooking dinner as a teaching moment by deciding to place our kids in a cooking class.  What will they learn there that you could not teach them while at home.  Imagine the interaction and learning that would occur as you help your child pick out a recipe; fine the ingredients already present at home and then shop for the remain items and finally cook the food!

or how about the young 3-4 years olds doing cheesy ballet at the park with an instructor.  Can't mom do hopping and the like with their child anymore?  Or do you have to get your exercise at the gym and your child in a structured overpriced class you could just as well do at home?

So as we struggle to find a good meeting time that will get the most boys to our meeting we sit and wonder..... what is really more important.  Cub Scouts or something else?  And/or why can't you find a way to do both?


Buaidh - NO  - BAS

Cub Scout Space Derby

Well back at the beginning of the month we held our Space Derby.
This was the first time I've run one of these as a Cub Master.  There were a lot of things to resolve.  Compared to the rain gutter regatta this was not a walk in the park.

First I found out we were going to have to build the rack to hold the lines to run the rocket on.  We based it off of the information provided in the cub leader how-to book Cub Leader How-to Book I decided to make the rack of the Inverted "T" format.  This seemed simpler though I did add the gating system on to one side.  More on that fiasco later.  There were problems through out the process.  Nothing seemed to go as expected. And since this competition required such a technical track just like the pinewood derby you add an additional element that can go wrong.

And you have all the issues with the rockets.  These rockets require a set of rubber bands inside to make the propeller function.  That in itself create issues.  We had mostly broken rubber bands at the end of the night.  You also have issues with weight.  Several of the rockets could go no more then 1- 1 1/2 feet max even with the propeller wound 100 times.  They were just to heavy or unbalanced like the one I created.

Strangely we have some of the parts coming unglued as well.  We are not sure if it was the type of glue used, lack of glued used or a combination of the two.  We had the plastic carrier piece that fits at the top of the rocket come out on at least 2 rockets.  One was put in with Gorilla glue and eventually came out.  It may have been something to do with plastic to balsa wood.  Hard to say.

Not much was consistent at the event.  Just problem after problem.

The rack was giving us tension issues.  The fishing line has to be tight or there can be some sag in the line and performance issues shortly there after.  In the end we have a person on each end holding back the rack. It tended to want to bow inward and stability being and issues we could and did have the rack fall over more then once during the night.
We also had issues with the courier mounts.  Cheaply made out of out plastic the ones we got from the scout house had to be hot glued to even get some use out of them.  Some one has to design something better.  Expecting to have 2 small plastic knobs hold a critical piece together does not make good engineering sense.  I know that due to weight the whole thing could flop if the couriers were not designed as light weight as possible.  possibly a thin aluminum one would work better.  Just too many things that could and did go wrong to make this worth the effort.

It would be better to do a rocket launch for height then this event in the future.  I'll be sticking to the Rain Gutter Regatta when we decide to do big events like this.  The major issues with this is how to drain the gutters.  Mild compared to the Pinewood Derby or Space Derby.  And if outside how to make sure you have a level location and not let the wind effect things to much.

I did find a good multi-lane round robin scheme.  See Below.  This allows the person to race on each lane at least once and also against each other participant.  Good for 7 racers.

		Lane
	1	2	3
Rocket	1	2	4
number	2	3	5
	3	4	6
	4	5	7
	5	6	1
	6	7	2
	7	1	3

So put this down as one more learning experience.  I'll include pictures or the like in a future post.

Buaidh - NO - Bas

Space Derby

To mix things up with our Cub Scout Pack we decided to run a Space Derby.  We've run several Rain Gutter Regattas since I've been Cub Master and will do so again in November.

This space derby should be interesting.  Much like the pinewood derby the design has all to do with winning and not so much your ability to blow or the like.

We've even decided to make a more family friendly event and have races for the adults.   I've seen many a complaint out there that the fathers not have the chance to place their grand designs into action.  Remember since this is an event for cub scouts the boy gets the final say.

A great example of this getting out of hand is the down and derby film. One father just about loses his job and several have their families move out on them around the time they decide to do some illegal breaking and entering to acquire the world record holding cart and reverse engineer it.


We are even going to have some food and contests for best Alien and Space Traveler outfits.


Now the only thing we have to figure out is: A) is it better to do the track system they provide in the den-leader how book or B) just string the line across the gym and fasten it to the present hook holding up the pads on either side of the room?

Stay tuned in the future for more on this event.  We may even have space academy ID cards depending on what we can pull off.

Here is sample of our flier

Sample Space Derby Flier

Buaidh - NO - Bas

The final verdict on the Trebuchet

Well we had the trebuchet up and running for our local area Scouting event.  Huge event with 20,000+ people.
Sad part is we broke the thing the night we were setting up.

Does not help the throwing arm was put on backwards.  The main part of the arm split right down the middle.  This was a precursor to what was to following.

So in the morning we fix things and had it up and running.  Worked great for the first 10-20 flings.   Not much distance on our water balloon but it did work and people were having fun.  Then disaster struck.

We broker the trebuchet again.  Almost identical break to the prior time.  A split right down the middle of the main part of the throwing arm.  The shorter stabilizers in the front were not effected.

 

In the end it looks like the bolts used to hold things together were the real culprits.  Each of them was causing alternating forces on the main part of the arm.  Even though this was not all that big the arm had enough mass to cause a lot of force.  Thus the first bolt was working to keep it from going forward.  The other bolt was working with the forces caused by the front section and heading in the other direction.  Thus the ultimate result of the 2x4 splitting.

I'm not so sure that multiple bolts on each side would solve the problem.  You might stave off the issues but your still dealing with a lot of torque and forces being applied.  I also ran into signs of cracking/splitting in one of the corners of the base.

That I guess is the risk of thinning a 1 1/2 inch board down to 3/4 inch.  Just shows how much force is applied even by a young kid.

One person suggested in the future to have some type of metal band around this questionable section.  This would hold the wood together but ultimately does not solve the issue of the split.

It looks like most regular trebuchets have one solid  piece for the throwing arm.  Since we want this to be rather portable and have it fit in the trunk of a car like the Ford Focus it is kind of hard to go this route.

Some even suggested have the main part of the arm extend all the way to the front.  Not sure on this as well.

What is interesting to note is the fact that most of the regular trebuchet designs all work around one axle with next to no support.

But, how do you make this work so that two persons have to jointly pull down on the bar that is acting like the counter weight.  Since there is a good ratio on the height of the axle, to the lengths of the parts of the throwing arm, etc it's make it hard to have anything that works for smaller kids.

So maybe in the end you have to have some kind of adjustable arm or attachment to the arm so accommodate smaller/shorter people.

I did find a good version with full instructions on the web for a trebuchet that flings tennis balls and the like.  It's smaller and does not appear to have anything over 60 inches long.
It is worth taking a look at.

Ripcords Tennis Ball Trebuchet













Buaidh - NO - Bas

Updates on the Trebuchet

Well we began the build for the Trebuchet.
Not as easy as it seems.

One of the biggest problems is the Notches that have to be made at the ends of multiple boards.
For one we figures out that a 2x4 is not really a 2 inch by 4 inch by 8 foot board. it's more like 3 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches. In the end I'm not sure if the 1/2 inch may weaken some of the beams.

Also it is not so easy to cut out those pieces especially, since they are on the ends.
We will be using a table saw and having to be careful to not over cut. There may be a better power tool available to use; we simply don't have access to it.
It seems like a fairly simple design and thus should be fairly easy to assemble in reasonable time. Next week we plan on having some contests on assembly to see how fast people are. With color coding of the various sections it should go fairly quickly.

We also found/obtained a piece of pipe that would be used to build chain link fences. It is thin walled but sure seems to have strength. The other good part is is cost less then $20.
With an over all cost or around $100 each element can't be all that expensive.
We also found the bolt all have to be hex heads and not carriage bolts. Flush, flat laying parts are essential.

Stay tuned for more.






Buaidh - NO - Bas

The Team Work Trebuchet

I'd like to finally post something regarding the Trebuchet that we have been building with the Cub Scouts for Scout-O-Rama.

Last year we built one that basically followed one found at the makezine.tv site.  This design by John Park utilized PVC piping.  I immediately saw a flaw or safety risk in that design in relation to using this with young boys.  There was room for someone to pinch their hand or fingers due to the format of the throwing arm.  This is very evident from the diagrams and pictures in his documentation and video Makezine.tv PVC Trebuchet Documentation

So we took his design as a basis and made some modification in the area of safety and design.
The first issue resolved was the throwing arm and how it was activated.  To avoid pinching hands a cross beam was added.  This also forced the trebuchet to be used two individuals.  There have been some that wanted to be smart and use it solo (Not recommended).

Next we resolve the issues with the payload.  In John Park's design you have a simple peg or hook at the end of the throwing arm.  All the balloons you launch have to have a sting tied to them that goes with the hook.  Anyone want to tied strings on to 400+ balloons?
So a simple bucket/bowl was attached to the back end of the throwing arm.

This arrangement works find for 6-10 yr boys and even some adults.
It does not work very well for 14-17 yr old Scouts or adults looking to set a distance record or not paying attention.

Mainly what became clear is the fact that a lot of stress is place on the cross beam and throwing arm supports as they make contact.  John Park's original design does not have the issue of stress since he has no cross arm that contact with the supports.  Fix one problem or issue to create another right?

With the physics involved you find that the more downward force you can put on the arm the more motion and momentum you have at the payload site.  This is especially true in this case since we are dealing with human force and not a counter weight.


In a real trebuchet you have an optimum level of counter weight to projectile weight and throwing arm length.  Siege engineers back in the day could work out the proper proportion to achieve the designed distance and effect.  Does no good to be able to fling your projectile 1500 ft. if you have to use a 1 pound stone to do it.

So we were stuck with force provided by 2 participants (lopsided at times) in the place of our counter weight.  This caused a lot of variation in the distance the water balloon would fly.  But it allows a lot more participation compared to the one you only pulled on a rope.

In the end the first break came when we had 2 volunteers break off the cross beam at the juncture to the the throwing arm.  We were able to temporarily fix this with duck tape and apiece of pipe we had laying around.  Then the final unfixable stress came when we had an over zealous scout of about 15 yr tell his buddy "the harder you force it down the further it will go".  True in theory but there are limits.  You don't want to cause so much force that the equipment can't handle it.
The arm finally snapped around the area for the bolt that holds the arm to the supports and acts like an axle.  At that point the day was shot.  We did have the pleasure of making the scout stand around for 20-30 minutes trying to figure out how he was going to pay to fix the launcher. Then we forced him to pic up all the spent balloon pieces in the shooting range.

So why bother to fix and make it out of pipe again.  It would not work to restrict usage on a size or age basis.  Try explaining this to some 13 yr old you are afraid might break it.

I liked the basic design of the PVC pipe trebuchet and the modification to have it used by 2 people. I liked also the idea of it being portable in pieces.  However, I needed to make sure the new design would hold up against some fairly large stress and strain.  I also wanted to keep things fairly portable so I could put it all in the trunk of my Ford Focus.  Cost was also a factor.

So I set about changing things to be built with wood.
Now the most common wood is your standard 2X4 stud.  They come in various types so I'd just have to pick a harder wood and not use pine even though that probably would hold up better then PVC piping.  Utilizing this common size would also cut down on cost - about $2.50 per 8 Ft. stud.  The longer the board and the harder the wood the more you pay.


Also since this whole machine in wood would be much heavier it helps with  issues of bucking when in operation.  No more need to have an adult with a foot on the back to hold it down.


You can find the full documentation on the new revised Team Work Trebuchet here.


One of the main issues I dealt with was how to connect the throwing arm support to the base.  They are essentially at a 45º angle.  I could have built in notches or done some type of fancy dove tail like fitting which leaves you high and dry if something break.   So "L" brackets were chosen.  One of these on each side of the support should hold it into place.


The only odd variable in all this is to find a good cross beam.  Most black iron or galvanized steel pipe that is the requisite 10ft length is very expensive.  When 1/2 the cost of your project is just one bar you have major issues.

That is one thing I'll have to find an alternative to that is sturdy and not bendable like cooper.


Again the full documentation for your use can be found HERE

I'll post additional information on how the build went when we finish it in a couple of week.
So far the cost on the project is ticking towards $100.00.  Not to bad for a portable human powered water balloon launcher.


Buaidh - NO - BAS


 
 

A word about Double Elimination and the Pinewood Derby

I current serve as Cub Master in one of the local cub scout packs.  Unfortunately our numbers are really small so we combine with another unit.  We then decided to join in with a different unit to hold a Pinewood derby.  For all the effort, issues and mistakes the boy really enjoyed the event.

However, it was not easy and there could have been a lot more problems.  For one we ended up with a moving target when it came to the number of participating Cub Scouts.  And have you ever tried to run double elimination on an odd number of participants with multiple lanes?






I learned after this that unless the number of people involved is fairly large doing round robin style is the best.  In round robin you have each person compete against all the other players.  Easy to figure out the heats when only doing two lanes but, a little harder for 3 and 4 lanes.

There is a great site that has both 3 and 4 lane heat sheets for various numbers of racers.
Round Robin Heat Sheets Pinewood Derby

Now the reason I ran into so much trouble with double elimination is that you have to separate the winners from the losers.  How do you do that with 3 cars per heat?  You always have an odd man out.  Do you keep only the best and keep dumping the others down in the losers bracket?
Normally those in the losers bracket keep going till they lose their second race, then you have new people entering as they lose out in the semi-finals etc.  Sadly in all this you have the issues of a bad lane, etc that can taint the competition at least from the parents perspective.

So I created a funky system loosely based on the methods used in the FIFA World Cup.
You have several heats that switch the winners and losers so you've mixed it up for the second run.  Gets kind of hard when you have odd numbers of racers or heats.  Then I had a raw score taken for the two races.  The lowest scores were given the lowest rank and that determined who headed to the semi-finals and who went on to compete for the Golden Wrench (slowest car).

Now I also decided to do the round robinish stuff in the final and golden wrench last heats.  In part due to the fact I planned things out for 15 racers.  The version for 16 racers using 4 lanes works much better after you have the rankings.  See the diagrams below.

Now if you can understand the diagrams a bit you will see quickly why round robin is best.
Everyone would get to rotate lanes and competes against all the other racers.  There is no possible issue with saying well I never went up against so and so and therefore, I may be better.
So for the future I'm sticking with the round robin like I did for the Rain Gutter Regatta.  Far superior method of running races.  If you'd like a copy of the excel spread sheets with the race information just leave a comment and I be happy to get you a copy.

I'm including a link to great movie covering the subject of the pinewood derby called "Down and Derby".  Enjoy   BUAIDH - NO - BAS
















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