Youth campouts

This last week was an opportunity to go to Goblin Valley. I am an assistant scoutmaster of boys from 14 to 16. I have to say that although they are good kids, they know very little about being in the outdoors. Perhaps that is because they have no interest in being outdoors, just in playing video games and riding skateboards. This is unfortunate.

The day of the trip I called the scoutmaster to check on food. I was bringing instant oatmeal and tang, left over from other trips. He said "Oh, perhaps I had better get some milk and fruit fro breakfast." After agreeing that would be good, I found that of the three meals, two would be at fast food joints. Not a good tradition for survival situations. No fast food along the trail, as far as I know. it would be good for the boys to learn to cook outdoors and take ccare of themselve instead of depending on the leaders to not only provide the foosd buyt prepare it, serve it, and clean up after them. That is what happened. Of course, all I did was bring the food, boil water, and provide garbage containers.

The boys played capture the flag, and after some loud talk settled down about 11 p.m. At three a.m. one of the leaders came to me asking if we had a spare tent (I had four). It seems as if one of tthe younger scouts had an adverse reaction to the fast food, and suffered projectile eructation. sprayng himself and the other two boys liberally with the partially digested remnants of his meal. This was truly unfortunate. It was cold, he had to get his hair washed, the tent and three sleeping bags were unuseable, and we needed to get them all back to sleep. Luckily I had brought along three spare sleeping bags and the boys were redistributed in other tents. The tent was not salvageable, and was retired from use.

We traveled through Little wild Horse slot canyon the next day. A fun trip, but I needed to get the boots broken in a bit better next time. I used to carry a 60 pound pack for a total trail weight of about 240. I still have a trail weight of 240, but I can only carry a 20 pound pack now. It works on the hips, mostly.

I will post some pictures of the trip and other things as they come available.

Basics and definitions

Given the vast experience I have obtained sometimes painfully, I thought it would behoove me to tell you some of the things I learned and what I tell my kids.

First of all, definitions: (to be added as I remember them)
Experience: the things you learn by doing things wrong
Mature: old enough to know better, but still willing to have experience
Vast: I keep getting experience even when I am not looking for it


Things I tell my kids when they leave the house: ( all the kids are married and launched, but they still come over)

Stay between the white line on one side and the dashy line on the other side
Keep the shiny side up and the greasy side down
Remember mass, momentum and inertia
Don't follow so close, don't drive so fast
No swerving and darting
I will buy your first car, (my choice) but you get to pay for maintenance and insurance

Other things which are good to know:
Righty tighty, lefty loosey
Always carry an emergency kit in the car
No texting while driving
If you can't remember the last five miles of road, stop and take a nap before you never see the next five miles
A cheater bar has many uses
When I tell you is time to change your timing belt, it is time to change your timing belt
Just because something costs more does not mean it is necessarily better
Unless it is unavoidable, try not to put new parts in used cars
If it was built by a man, it can probably be fixed by a man (or woman)
If it doesn't work, and you are told you need a new one rather than repairing the old one, you might as well take it apart and try to fix it yourself. You don't lose any money; after all they told you you needed a new one. If you fix it yourself, you learn something and it is much less expensive.
No matter how expensive the car is now, eventually it will end up in the junk yard. It is just a hunk of tin which you will replace. Treat it well so it will be serviceable, but don't worship it.

Things not related to cars:
Do work for others for free: they will be appreciative and will owe you.
Never expect to cash in those things you are owed.
Work for free or for full price. That way neither party will feel cheated.

A new doctorate in leisure!

I know, I know. Few people know you can get a doctorate in playing around. I didn't know until late in my college career. This required changing majors yet again years ago, and means I have been in school a lot. My kids tell me it is grade 29, but I finally did graduate after many years. Only if you are interested in the why it took so long will I even approach it.

There were many obstacles, and it seems the latest is the economic turndown worldwide. Wouldn't you know that right when I become "qualified" to teach in higher education and apply with full credentials to the 17 or 18 jobs posted that there is a hiring freeze affecting almost all the institutions? This means all of the desperate candidates concentrate on those few who did not freeze, and the few are inundated with applicants. Having been on hiring committees, I know the process is not so much selecting the right person as eliminating the ones who do not fit, at least in the first stages. Only then do you really start reading those resume's.

So, what to do??? There are other jobs available, but they would interfere with playing this summer. The academic job market advertizes a year in advance, so unless there is a change in heart among the frozen institutions, my next application season starts in August 2009. Nothing for it but to start my own business of playing! I have some ideas, perhaps too many, so I will try to narrow them down in the next few months and see which are feasible. Stay tuned if you are interested!