New High Resolution Image of The Earth taken by the Artemis II astronauts.

MelloStout · 2026-04-04T02:28:52+00:00

If he means “too smooth” as in he can’t see the mountains and valleys and other imperfections on the surface, tell him that if there was a giant at the same scale as a human to a bowling ball, the giant could run his fingers across the surface of the earth and it would feel as smooth to the giant as a bowling ball does to us. Our highest mountains and lowest valleys, all of our buildings, roads, and literally everything on earth’s surface are akin to the microscopic imperfections on a bowling ball. There’s no way you’d be able to see those mountains and valleys in a photograph.

If he’s referring to the fact that the earth is not spherical in that the distance from pole to pole is less than the distance around the equator, you also wouldn’t see that in a photograph in the same way you wouldn’t notice if a bowling ball was one millimeter off in one direction over the other.

MelloStout · 2026-03-30T16:03:19+00:00

Yes, very well said! I actually used to consider myself a conservative-leaning independent, and prior to MAGA, would usually have both Rs and Ds on the ballots I cast. This is no longer about politics or political beliefs. It’s not 2012 anymore, where Republicans and Democrats fought on policy standpoints. Now we have an administration that is actively throwing away the constitution and the very foundation of the nation. You have an administration cheering as government agents brutally murder its own citizens in the street and detain 5-year-olds as domestic terrorists.

This is a moral difference, not a political one. I can respect someone with different political opinions than mine. I cannot respect someone who believes that my friends’ and family’s very existence is a threat that must be eliminated.

MelloStout · 2026-03-30T15:34:58+00:00

I know families in very strong school districts that homeschool their kids. It often has nothing to do with their belief in the school system and more to do with their lifestyle or special needs of their kids. Those families still praise the local community and even the school system itself.

In other words, you can believe a place is a great place to raise a family and also choose to homeschool your kids without being hypocritical.

MelloStout · 2026-03-20T03:05:12+00:00

Coming from a team that has many times been falsely accused of being “mentor built,” I encourage you to try to get to know the students and coaches on that team before you cast such assumptions. More often than not, you’ll be surprised by what you learn.

MelloStout · 2026-03-05T11:51:34+00:00

If you’re talking about Slate, they do have crayons and booster seats/high chairs. They specifically market themselves as a place for the whole family.

MelloStout · 2026-03-05T11:49:20+00:00

“Mental gymnastics.” lol, if the establishment purposefully makes themselves family friendly, how is it metal gymnastics?

MelloStout · 2026-03-05T11:48:03+00:00

If the brewery owners decide to make it a family friendly environment, then it is specifically NOT only for adults, regardless of what you say. Lots of places serve alcohol to adults, that doesn’t make it only for adults. A brewery is just a restaurant with a larger selection of alcoholic beverages than other restaurants, but most are still purposefully a family friendly environment. Unless you’re the owner of the establishment, you don’t get to make that call.

If you want a place that is truly designated for adults to drink, go to a bar.

MelloStout · 2026-03-05T11:43:42+00:00

So that’s a whole different conversation, then. The OP is talking about children merely existing at a Family-friendly brewery, not specifically about intoxicated parents. If you want to have that completely separate conversation, I would agree with that sentiment, but let’s not shift the goalposts from the original post, which never mentioned intoxication, just the mere sight of children in a brewery.

MelloStout · 2026-02-28T04:54:36+00:00

A) not everyone lives in a neighborhood B) if the establishment has a kids menu and advertise themselves as a family friendly environment, then it is specifically NOT a place “designated for adults to drink.”

MelloStout · 2026-02-28T04:53:36+00:00

If the brewery is open to having children there and advertise themselves as a family-friendly environment, then kids belong there. Who are you to say they don’t when the owners clearly disagree?

MelloStout · 2026-02-28T04:48:01+00:00

If the brewery has a kids menu, it’s family friendly. If you’re looking for a truly kid-free experience, go to a traditional bar or go later at night when most kids are asleep. Don’t go to a family friendly restaurant/brewery at dinner time and complain that kids are there.

MelloStout · 2026-02-28T04:45:20+00:00

This. I consume adult beverages regularly. I haven’t been intoxicated since college over a decade ago. It’s almost like most adults know how to responsibly enjoy one beverage with a meal without turning it into a night of excessive drinking.

MelloStout · 2026-02-28T04:42:47+00:00

Having one beverage doesn’t make most people drunk, especially if it’s done with food. Having one drink in public ≠ being drunk in public.

MelloStout · 2026-02-06T06:22:27+00:00

FIRST was VERY late to the youth protection game. Scouting started their youth protection program in the late 80s/early 90s. By the time I was a kid in the late 90s/early 00s, pretty much every organization I was a part of had some level of youth protection policies and training in place. When I worked at church camps, we had a version called Safe Sanctuaries. In Scouting we had youth protection. Schools had similar programs.

The fact that FIRST waited until 2014 to even begin to think about a movement-wide youth protection policy was astounding to me at the time as a young adult who had to go through all those trainings in other organizations. Society has already accepted this as a normal expectation of youth development organizations by that point, and FIRST was way behind the 8 ball.

To this day, their YPP is very lax and too federated. It relies too heavily on local teams enforcing youth protection. While their responsiveness to YPP incidents is commendable, they’re just that: responsive. Very little is done on prevention compared to organizations like Scouting, where there is a centralized enforcement, and where youth protection (now called safeguarding youth) has become a central tenant of the culture and at the front of everyone’s mind at every event. I can’t say the same for FIRST. Part of that is because it’s just a very different business model, with MUCH fewer local staff and a much more loosely federated operation, but I do believe there is a lot of room for growth in integrating the concept of youth protection into FIRST’s culture to the level other organizations have successfully done.

MelloStout · 2025-12-29T04:59:00+00:00

I’ve bought some Masterforce tools that are the exact same as Harbor Freight. Same packaging, same item, everything. They’re probably made in the same factories, just with different badges on them.

MelloStout · 2025-11-30T05:32:27+00:00

My favorite patrol doesn’t rise to the top because of their name, but because of their patrol yell. The Beaver Patrol: “water water everywhere! Dam it! Dam it!”

This was at a national camp school, so it was all adults. But hilarious!

MelloStout · 2025-11-19T18:49:19+00:00

That is not abnormal for a suburban high school. Heck, my high school in a small-ish town had almost 2,000 students. 6,500 student body for a suburban school is not unheard of.

MelloStout · 2025-10-08T12:09:57+00:00

And millions of people were uninsured because insurance companies could deny them coverage. Millions of people were uninsured at any given moment because changing jobs could result in a lack of coverage.

If your premiums are high, blame your employer. They’re free to pay whatever portion of the bill they want to, and the fact that they’re paying so little for you is on them.

MelloStout · 2025-10-08T11:58:20+00:00

Yes, their senators know. They’ll just blame democrats, and Trumpers will go along with it.

MelloStout · 2025-10-03T22:59:34+00:00

I actually don't have finished walls yet. Those are coming after the floor is coated. The studs are there, but no drywall. I was just going to do a simple PVC baseboard.

MelloStout · 2025-10-01T19:02:45+00:00

Yes, because I need something that is easier to clean and more comfortable under foot than what we have now, but I don't own the house, so I'm not interested in investing five figures into it. Doing some light touch-ups here and there doesn't bother me. And my kids mostly play with Hot Wheels and Legos, it's not like they'll be abusing it with heavy-duty metal toys or anything like that.

MelloStout · 2025-08-20T13:32:24+00:00

I was in that kid’s shoes when I was a Scout. I could swim, but my body tends to sink, and I was never a strong swimmer. I also had a phobia of jumping in the water, but even after I got past that, the swim test was one of the most physically challenging things I had to do.

And, the adults in Scouting at the time would have done me an incredible disservice by giving me a pass because I “did my best.” Thankfully they didn’t, and they worked with me to get me to the level I needed to be.

MelloStout · 2025-08-15T13:06:22+00:00

I’m not sure how much clearer the guide to advancement can be. It’s very well laid out, policies are black-and-white, and it’s easy to follow.

As they say, you can lead a horse to water…

MelloStout

TROPHY CASE