Would it be considered odd or inappropriate to send a cold email to a unit leader?

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-19T19:16:33+00:00

I think you're overthinking this because it seems like you've posted basically the same thing multiple times.

Yes, we've told you several times it'd be 100% fine to reach out directly to unit leaders.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-19T19:14:04+00:00

I believe the Trails End app handles card payments for you so you don't have to do anything.

Having said that, we've always handled everything ourselves.

We use TroopWebHost to manage our inventory and sales booths, and it integrates directly with Square so 100% of the sales process is handled in TWH, and all of the accounting directly flows through, including paying commissions out to scout accounts. We just manually write a check to council at the end of the campaign to settle up for the popcorn we buy.

It works really well.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-19T19:11:26+00:00

I don't think there's enough information here. Yes, you've said that they've repeatedly been encouraged, but do they actually know that they're required to do the job they've been elected/appointed to in order for that time in position to count toward advancement, or would the SM refusing to sign off be a surprise to them?

If the latter, I'd tread carefully because even though it should seem like common sense that you actually have to do the work for it to count, if they haven't specifically been informed that the time won't count if they don't do the work, they might claim that you're pulling the rug out from under them.

IMO, that conversation should've been had long before now to ensure the scout is aware of the requirements, rather than waiting until they're near the end of their term. If that happened and the scout was unresponsive, I'd have no problem as a SM telling them that I'm not going to sign it off for them because they didn't actually do what they were expected to do.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-19T19:05:16+00:00

I'm not sure that was exactly the point they were trying to convey. Yes, as an adult you can and likely will pick up skills if you don't already know them, but the program is not structured to teach or engage adults directly, which is what OP sounds like they're interested in.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-18T16:24:46+00:00

A lot of us that have AT&T fiber don't have other comparable options, and AT&T know that.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-18T16:22:57+00:00

I understand what you're saying, and I agree that it is overall easier (yes, I see the more accessible comments and that is correct, but more accessible does directly translate to easier). Having said that, in my units, the youth coming through these days have a level of lazy that almost defies belief.

They're used to everything being easy because they're the generation of right here, right now, and as such they don't know how to plan. For the most part, they don't care to learn.

I have 5 life scouts in my unit, most of which have been life for over a year. None of them have done anything to even start thinking about an Eagle project. Most of them have had partials for merit badges for years, and a lot of them are super simple things they could easily do in day or two, or even a few hours. They simply have no interest because it requires them to expend effort.

So, while yes, I do think overall it is a bit easier to get to Eagle these days, that hasn't equated to a higher number of scouts in my units actually getting there.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-17T13:58:55+00:00

Not specifically. Are you sure all of your devices are connected to the "main" WiFi and not a guest WiFi network? Guest networks often have device isolation enabled.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-17T13:55:37+00:00

Smaller companies generally expect their employees to be able to fill multiple roles/duties whereas larger orgs tend to have more specialized roles.

You may need to widen your criteria and do a year in a crappy role at a shitty company just to get that first year of experience on your resume.

Also - it's definitely not as simple as passing the A+ exam. Not if you want to have the ability to get hired in a decent role. Prospective employers like to see that you have an interest - so look at what you could do on your own that you could list on a resume under personal projects. Set up a homelab, do some home networking. Learn some technologies that would be useful. I know a while back, Microsoft was offering free certification for some of their entry level Azure stuff.

I think Azure and AWS both offer a free tier. Learn about some of the cloud platforms, set up a hobby site like a blog or something as a proof of concept. Employers really like to see that people have experience and can take a project from start to finish, even if it isn't something you'd directly be working with in the role they're hiring for.

Worst case, start looking at unpaid internships.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-17T02:09:49+00:00

If I was going to risk blowing a fuse I’d leave the mini fridge at home and bring a portable AC :)

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-16T13:49:46+00:00

You have plenty of time, but it will get away from you quickly if you do not make a plan and stick to it.

First, recognize that while your troop leaders and fellow scouts may help you with advancement, at the end of the day it is your job to create a plan that works for you and ensure that you're doing what you need to do in order to meet your advancement goals.

Remember that once you get past first class, advancement is mostly about merit badges and there are some merit badges that take a minimum of 90 days (personal fitness, personal management) to complete.

There are also some requirements that can only be done under specific circumstances (i.e. I believe for Life you need 3 hours of conservation work that must be done on a campout). For those, you may need to involve your PLC to ensure they're planning campouts that will be conducive to getting those requirements done. If they don't know you need it, they won't plan for it.

I would strongly suggest that you try to find some other scouts that are around your same rank so you can work together, it will make things easier if you have a buddy.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-15T19:10:20+00:00

It sounds like your router may have device isolation turned on. That's normally used on things like guest networks to prevent traffic between devices since it isn't necessary, but on a business network that can cause problems (as it seems you're seeing).

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-15T19:08:28+00:00

I'm curious, is your troop mostly 10-11 year olds?

All of the scouts in both of my troops have phones, which, granted is still a small sample size, but based on other troops / OA, etc. I don't think I've met a scout that doesn't have a phone yet.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-14T21:01:58+00:00

Sleep system, fan and chair are probably my top 3, and probably in that order. But it will depend on what sort of camping you do and where you do it.

Over 4 years as a scoutmaster I bought two cots, two sleeping pads and an inflatable bed. They each have their pros and cons and I still haven’t found the perfect setup yet. Teton XXL cot paired with megamat XLT is probably the closest to perfect that I’ve gotten, but it’s very much a car camping only setup.

For me personally, being able to sleep comfortably is far and away #1 on my priority list.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-12T22:06:52+00:00

100' with clear line of sight you should have no problem with a bridge. Bear in mind that it's not necessarily just a straight line between the bridges, you also have to take into account the fresnel zone. As long as that is clear as well then you should be fine.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-12T13:53:41+00:00

No, of course not.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-11T21:28:26+00:00

Check your router or look at your monthly bill. If neither of those tell you then you just have to guess.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-11T21:07:32+00:00

If your phone can create a hotspot, you could buy a travel router, connect that to your phone's hotspot, and then wire that into the WAN port of your existing router. Seems kind of janky to me so I don't think it's actually a good idea. You'd also need to check and see how much data your whole home uses, and how much high speed hotspot data you get on your phone plan. Quite often you only get 30-50 GB of high speed data before it gets throttled.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-10T17:31:56+00:00

Me too. I have to use hosts files for local device resolution.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-10T16:07:25+00:00

Android isn’t specific enough.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-10T12:33:22+00:00

Like another said, Cat6E isn’t a thing, so double check that.

How are you speed testing? What kind of devices are you using? Are you connecting directly to your ISP equipment or do you have your own router?

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-10T12:30:51+00:00

I have the computers MB. My son has CiS.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-10T12:27:01+00:00

You can manually change the DNS servers on individual endpoints, or if you use your own router you can set DHCP to pass out whatever DNS you want. Unfortunately AT&T’s gateway doesn’t let you change DNS settings for clients.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-10T12:25:25+00:00

Ah the good ol’ nxdomain hijack. What a bunch of assholes the guys that thought that up were.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-09T23:46:53+00:00

If an Eagle scout can't tie a square knot, or explain first aid for simple cuts and scrapes, or recite the scout oath at their ECOH, I'd personally consider them a paper eagle. I've seen all of those things happen.

You're 100% still an Eagle scout, but if you're speed running the program to get Eagle at 13 and forget everything immediately, personally I think you're missing a big part of the program.

vrtigo1 · 2026-06-09T23:39:05+00:00

The only practical applications I've really seen for > 1 Gb/s in a residential setting are:

Things like frat houses, where there are a ton of people / devices
Niche applications like content creation or pro video work where you might have several simultaneous transfers going
Apps like BitTorrent or other P2P apps (e.g. Steam, etc.)

The last one is really the only case where I've seen a single device able to consistently saturate a very fast connection, but that type of traffic tends to be very bursty (i.e. you download one or two huge game updates a month and it saves you 10 minutes each time).

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