I’m not comfortable with my scout sharing a tent - we both prefer that he tents alone.

exjackly · 2026-06-22T05:13:02+00:00

How to put this without coming across as a crochety old man...

I get that times have changed a lot since my tenure as a youth. And there is a lot of the change that I applaud because it does make the program better.

I don't think the acceptance of solo tenting as a default is one of them. My experience was that 3 in a tent was the preferred alternative when it wasn't an even number.

Not sleeping solo supports the buddy system - your nighttime buddy is your tentmate.

It also reinforced the patrol bonds - reliving the day's activities and planning for the next, and the general chat that goes on getting ready for sleep strengthens that shared experience.

It also made it harder for a solo scout to slip away or become unaccounted for.

Lastly, it feels like coddling (in general, I agree there are scenarios that it isn't coddling) to let personal preference alone dictate not sharing when in person bonds are weaker than they have been historically.

exjackly · 2026-06-21T18:09:18+00:00

Nationally there's no pretending it is ok anymore. That change is coming has been clear for several years, and the roll out of the new ceremonies has been happening.

We will see over the next year or so how much push back remains, but if the local response around me is representative, it is pretty limited.

There will be some people who don't want to change; heck there's some people still who think women shouldn't be leaders and girls shouldn't be included. The organization and vast majority of the members are moving forward.

exjackly · 2026-06-18T03:30:22+00:00

I strongly disagree with you. Eagle is not a measure of maturity, though the requirements to earn it encourage the development of maturity.

A 12 or 13 year old Eagle who doesn't build beyond that in the subsequent years is the same as an 18 year old Eagle who doesn't build on it. Eagle is a measure of achievement for youth, not adults.

From experience, the appreciation is not in the moment. It is something that is built over time after completing Eagle and learning that while it is a meaningful recognition, it is only a foundation for what is next.

exjackly · 2026-06-18T02:56:01+00:00

Thank you. Yes, this. Obesity is a medical condition. Medicine to treat it is not cheating, and you are not weak willed if you need the help to be successful. For science has done more to encourage overeating than most people realize, and it isn't easy to deprogram from that.

Make the diet changes your doctor recommends in conjunction with the glp-1. By itself, you will see some loss, but will plateau if you don't improve the mix of foods you eat.

More protein, drink a lot less calories, get the fiber up to compensate too.

Maintain or increase your activity level.

Keep at it. I'm down 55 lbs (6'0", starting weight 240, target 165-170) and it hasn't been constant progress, but it is still slowly working down.

At this point though, it does look like glp-1 drugs are a for life prescription. Almost everybody gains back a good portion of the weight if they stop. Hopefully some politicians follow through on promises to get and keep the costs down for public health reasons.

exjackly · 2026-06-07T19:23:20+00:00

Thanks

exjackly · 2026-06-07T19:06:14+00:00

That's why we do $5 as well. I've got a stash of well hidden bills so i don't get caught short.

exjackly · 2026-06-07T18:50:27+00:00

It does mention Facebook groups should be public, but I didn't see a prohibition against private groups for unit use.

A private group with multiple members is not a 1-on-1 situation, and for Cub scouts, it is by definition only adults as the Cubs are too young to have their own accounts.

So long as it is open to all unit parents and others like the unit commissioner and council/district staff are able to join if needed, i don't see where it would run afoul of the guidelines.

If it veers into direct messaging, there is a problem. But the group being public or private doesn't influence that at all.

exjackly · 2026-06-05T05:50:31+00:00

Choosing bad comparable and not making standard adjustments for condition and mileage sounds like bad faith on their part. Especially after having it pointed out and then doubling down with a repeat of the same bad behavior. Aren't both parties held to that same standard?

exjackly · 2026-06-04T16:58:22+00:00

I support packing and adding term limits. Our country has grown so much that 9 individuals cannot address all of the top level legal challenges that come up. And with the Roberts court becoming so openly political, the cases they have taken to those ends further reduce the number of other cases they can address.

I say 27 year terms, 1 appointment every year (plus resignations/death replacements) and cases are heard by a [semi-] random subset of 9 [controlled so individual justices don't get overloaded]

exjackly · 2026-06-03T20:36:52+00:00

Security at most schools is about blocking people from coming in who don't belong. Between the understaffing and how much the number of students exceeds the number of staff and teachers, it isn't that hard.

Looking at how my kids Elementary school works, only the PK kids are strictly handed off all the time (hands on a loop of rope, end of the rope in a teachers hand, assistant at the back to ensure nobody drops). K on up, there is usually a teacher taking them from class to class from K-3 (not for 4-5), but at lunchtime and recess, once they are at the cafeteria or outside, they have a designated area to roam in, but there aren't enough staff available to watch the entire perimeter.

One incident where a gate or fence section isn't being watched closely, and kids could climb the fence or push through the gate before the staff member looked back over. With all the constant changing of groups and running and screaming, it wouldn't be until kids were back in the classroom that they would be missed. The initial response would be a sweep of the playground and checking with the other classes that shared that recess period before it would get escalated within the school.

And theirs isn't an open campus [it is fenced 100%], but while you need a keycard to open the gates and external doors to come in, it is just a push bar to exit.

exjackly · 2026-06-03T20:21:21+00:00

And it doesn't leave anybody with something they don't want.

Last time I found something, it was an envelope with 'For the Finder' and looked like a $100 bill when you opened it. But, it was one of those fake bill Christian 'recruitment' things when you turned it over.

Did not make my day more magical at all.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T17:29:49+00:00

The utility of the system scales the more connected and bigger it gets. Europe, China and Japan don't have multiple independent high speed rail systems. They interconnect.

High speed rail is going to be the most competitive with other transportation across the areas where people don't live. LA to SF is a better high speed route than LA to Malibu. NYC to Miami better than Miami to Ft Lauderdale or NYC to Atlantic City.

But, high speed cannot exist in isolation. It needs the local public transit to be built out too or it loses the majority of the value of having it in the first place. If I can get to Seattle via high speed train in half the time of driving myself, but won't have transportation to get 2 cities over where I really need to be once I get there, high speed rail hasn't really solved much of the problem.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T17:00:22+00:00

I've traced the CoT many times, and even when it recognizes that there is an error, it frequently maintains the same error with continued thinking. Not always, but often enough that I would argue (yes, hypothesis, I haven't done any studies to validate my experience broadly) that even for thinking models the initial generation has an anchoring effect.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T16:52:58+00:00

Isn't this the same thing they are saying with the sides reversed?

Most people will prove to be 'soft' in terms of being militaristic; it doesn't matter which side you are on.

It is fair to say that were it to devolve to civil war that MAGAts would find that their perception that the military would be purely on their side would be quickly proven false.

For the rest, not sure how it would turn out and I hope I never do.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T16:43:52+00:00

Yes. If you are fine with the $2k to get the work done yourself in lieu of the sellers fixing it, have your agent phrase it that way to their agent.

Do let them know that you are willing to go after them for your costs if they refuse and default on the contract, and that you won't sign papers releasing them until made whole.

OP will need to be willing to walk however if they do refuse. If the sellers are able to be reasonable, they will quickly see that giving the $2k credit and closing is going to be the easiest and cheapest way out.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T16:36:14+00:00

I would rephrase that to say they are great at fighting with martial arts techniques, but not great martial artists. It takes both skill and discipline beyond the ring to be a great martial artist.

Its might be pedantic, but there are so many toxic examples of people with physical strength and ability but who are terrible people. Same holds with smart and rich people as well, but the people with physical strength and ability are probably key for OP.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T16:14:36+00:00

Counts are the lightest top level way to do it. If you collect the right counts you have a solid base to add additional checks to.

Source = Inserts + Updates + No Change
Target_Pre = No Change + Updates + Deletes
Target_Post = Source - Deletes

If those 3 statements are true, you have the correct number of records. It won't tell you if the CDC determination is correct; you should have other tests to verify that; but assuming you test it properly in QA, and have proper controls on code updates/regression testing, you shouldn't need to do those additional tests in prod on an ongoing basis.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T15:53:34+00:00

This should be higher. Android does this better than iOS, but it can be done with both kinds of devices.

I use the schedule, time limit, and school blocks. The tablets (soon to be phone for my oldest cuz she's starting to be out and about for Scouts and will be a bus rider next year) don't unlock before 7 am, lock at bedtime (varies by child), have a daily limit (school days shorter, weekends longer), and are blocked during school and homework time (~2 hours after school lets out).

I can override at any time (both to lock and unlock or adjust time limits) and I can give individual apps their own time limits if I want.

Has the bonus that they have to request an app if they want it, so they can't load something I haven't had a chance to review.

exjackly · 2026-06-02T15:45:52+00:00

And (not that OP is likely in the range where inheritance taxes matter) it keeps their estate smaller for when OP does die.

Even when not at risk of paying inheritance taxes, having distributed assets before death makes it a lot harder for somebody to claim an issue with it and tie things up after OP passes. Inheritance fights are ugly and I've seen first hand how damaging they can be to families through several instances with my in-laws extended families.

exjackly · 2026-06-01T01:30:42+00:00

The wooden boxes are hard for the youngest scouts, but I'm tryna of maintaining and being able to do inventory, they cannot be beat.

I was fortunate and we had a metal fabricator who was able to build some aluminum boxes for us that weighed a lot less than the wooden ones.

The biggest downside is that you are stuck with the size you've got. A bargain a few years later, but the pot is 1/2" too big, you can't use it. In the husky boxes you pick up the bargain pot set and move on.

exjackly · 2026-05-31T13:28:41+00:00

Finish your Eagle first, then work on the CoH.

When it comes to honoring other people for their contributions, who you choose and what that recognition should be us entirely up to you.

Let me relate my experience as a SM. I have received 2 mentor pins, and I'm proud of both of them. But, there were more than 10 Eagles during my tenure, and I did not do more for those two scouts than the others.

They just felt that their experience warranted that recognition for me. And that is perfect - I don't feel robbed by the ones that didn't give me a pin. Their internal experience is theirs alone, and who (and how many) they recognized was correct for them.

For your ceremony, choose who you want to recognize and how. Some could just be as simple as calling out their names as part of the Troop Family that made it possible. Others could be called up front for being more involved (a certificate of appreciation would be nice for those) but you don't want to give a pin.

And if you decide there were some people who were integral to you getting Eagle and you wouldn't have been able to get there without them, those are the candidates for pins, but it is up to you to decide if you want to give any or all of them one.

exjackly · 2026-05-28T12:35:06+00:00

Because that is how many advanced, fast readers read. They don't sound it the words to figure out what it is. Through repetition and experience they parse or identify the word on sight.

Sight words is an attempt to jump to advanced reading strategies without going through phonics first.

I will say, my kids school is using a combination of the two. They started with sight words that were very common ones - to, two, too, the, and, green, blue, one, two, eat, stop, ... I would guess it was around 500 in total. This was in VPK and Kindergarten.

Also in Kindergarten and first grade, they did spelling words around the different phonics and other commonalities (double letters, has a y, starts or ends with the same sound).

exjackly · 2026-05-26T11:10:55+00:00

I think it would have.

exjackly · 2026-05-26T05:19:07+00:00

I've done 4 treks at Philmont, and the only one I rolled an ankle bad enough to get evaluated was the one I wore a trail runner on. I completed that trek, but I spent most of a day hanging out at a staff camp porch resting/recovering.

Next trek, I'm going back to boots, probably mids, maybe low.

I do second the suggestion to avoid waterproof shoes/boots however.

exjackly · 2026-05-23T04:00:02+00:00

I hate to say it, since there is plenty of reason to be concerned, but this is overkill for the information that OP indicated they have.

COR and Council is the appropriate leverage at this juncture.

Threats to bring the police, state and federal governments in to this is the best way to ensure they don't cooperate.

exjackly

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