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ROFL BOX

Burnt Ends
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Posts posted by ROFL BOX

  1. 2 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

    Nissan Versa or Equivalent, has Hertz @ lowest price ($ 282 total) up to the same high price of $ 369 for National... but without the bonus points (2,400).

    So my question here is... for the $ 41.00 difference on the SWA site (higher price) vs. the CarRentals page, is there any big value to that?  We're not frequent fliers & my current SWA acct. has a whopping 2,742 points in it.  The added 2,400 points would come close to doubling that, but I don't know if that's worth the variable.

     

    Help out a schlub, y'all.

  2. 2 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

    Compact car selected, using all 8 available Rapid Rewards partners, prices vary from $ 323 (Dollar) up to $ 369 (National).  From prior posts, it appears that Hertz has the "whatever is in your aisle" option, but I don't recall if that is only if you're on their corporate program or a Hertz club member, etc.

  3. 10 pages... hard search.

    When we went to Virginia 2 years ago, someone from Shag gave me an assist for Enterprise Rent a Car... I can't find that info (thought I might have saved it on my computer, no bueno).  Did a search on the old site & I  mostly came up with the thread where all the Hertz users bragged about 5* gold status or whatever.

     

    Who's got the code hookup?  Shoot me a PM.  Will be in DC the 1st week of April.

  4. Had Blue & Gold + Step Up for Scouts on Saturday Night.  Troop got 4 Webelos Crossovers, all of them had probably every Adventure Pin & I think 2 of them have all of the NOVA / SUPERNOVA pins / patches, etc.

    The Pack lost their Committee Chair to the crossover & I'm gonna do my best to support the incoming Chair.  Considering you're lucky to have a Chair that might get 4 years @ best in position, it's kind of difficult to keep a quality unit with that sort of turnover.

    • Like 1
  5. Had the Spring JSN last night.

    I went into the school cafeteria across all the lunches & we "stickered" every kid in there.  I had someone from Pack 4 come out in case we had any interest from girls (our Pack is not a "Family Pack" yet), none showed up.

    I also had a fellow from Buda come over for any Hispanic kids & he brought his 2 Scout sons (one is Life & I didn't catch the other's rank but he is OA).  Dad is Venture Crew (he was in the green VC shirt) & I think he probably does Troop stuff as well.  Unfortunately, we didn't have any Hispanic in attendance.

    Overall, we got 5 signed & 1 parent said "we will come to a meeting & check it out; I have 2 HS aged boys & I don't know if we will have the time".  Either way, 5 for a Spring JSN is a good number all the way around.

    Having some Spanish family participation was one of my Woodbadge ticket goals (we were asked to promote diversity) so I will probably have to revisit that.

  6. SmartSide LP is the Masonite of Tomorrow.  It's essentially OSB with a vinyl paint on the exterior.  It's shit.  Don't do it & don't ever buy a house that has it.

     

    We do siding & recently completed a S Austin job.  While you're @ it, this may be a good time to stretch your budget & swap out some windows if you still have single pane units in place.  & YES, we would probably require a new house wrap vs. what you probably have - shitty felt.

    Ring me up (PM).

  7. Returned from Buescher State Park for the "Cutthroat Kitchen" campout; the Scouters were served pancake breakfast, grilled cheese lunch & steak kabob dinner.

    After breakfast was served to us, the adults hit the 3 trails (3 groups of 2) & placed 3 cards along the trail (each Patrol had their own trail) in a very hidden / semi hidden / very obvious location with a trail map & clues written on there so they wouldn't totally blow past.  This was for the dinner portion; everyone got the same ingredients for lunch & I don't recall how the breakfast parts were decided upon.

    52630683_10218699742114366_8423727445068

     

    Clues like "Don't let the clue stump you" for one that was hidden behind a cut Pine tree stump, etc.

    52011235_10218699768555027_8743517077702

     

    This next pic is the ASM logging where we hid the individual cards.
    52415875_10218699769795058_6342412131949

     

     

    52765490_10218699770435074_9891251442931

     

     

     

     

    Once they came back from their hikes (one was 1.53 miles, another around 1.75 & I think the 3rd was 1.8ish), they exchanged the 3 cards for ingredients.  The 1st Patrol to return got their 1st pic of seasonings / sauces; everyone got the same amount of raw material (steak, veggies).
    We graded on:

    • overall participation from the various members of the 3 patrols
    • presentation (appearance + their description of what was served, how it was prepared, ingredients, etc)
    • originality
    • taste

    Overall scores were a 63, a 51 & a 50.

    - Blueberry pancakes (blended into the batter / pancake) w/ bananas arranged in an arc & fresh blueberries dotting the "V" areas where the bananas touched. (winner)

    - Strawberry pancakes where the strawberries were reduced in the pan vs. a sugary compote that was squeezed out of a bag + also a banana added side.

    - chocolate chip pancakes that were a semi-burn hot mess & sausage that was cut into an asterisk appearing shape (& one of them had some sort of tree shaving that somehow landed on there).  Sided with banana slices & the chunks shown in the pic was described as "brownie" but it seemed more like a piece of chocolate bar with chunks hacked off.

    52123832_10218699767034989_1510694689840

     


    Food was prepared by 2 of the 3 Patrols via the new Chuck Boxes & damn those rigs are sweet.52113315_10218699746834484_8335074239132

    (I'm posting some pics that are cross referenced via my post on FB, so please let me know if they doesn't show up).

    52328348_10218699747794508_7685444106146


    Lunch (winner pictured) was

    - Crisp bread, silky smooth with 2 types of cheese) & pan heated / mapled apple chunks.  (winner)
    - Soft bread, looked crisp but maybe they used too much margarine? with pan glazed apples (cored & sliced), a 60 - 40 split with the mapled ones; the better sammich tipped this vote.

    - An attempt @ a sorta pizza grilled cheese.  Bread top & bottom, interior with cheese & pepperoni + pizza sauce.  Did not work, was a concoction worthy of 3rd grade cafeteria.  Had peeled & sectioned oranges encircling.  Still ate.

     

    52051172_10218699775075190_3676547560777

    1st place above.

     

     

     

     

    52016113_10218699776875235_1114032044620

    3rd place / still ate pictured.

     

     

     

    Dinner was

    -Steak kabobs.  Damn near identical scoring for 2; the rice set it off for 1 out of 2 Patrols, 3rd Patrol didn't even show up with rice, had to make a hasty getaway & it took them close to 15 minutes to figure out how to make minute rice.  & Then their meat wasn't just cold, it was Tartare rare.  & After they left & came back with cooked food, they then figured out how to bring us MORE meat & ended up bringing over something like 6 additional servings.

    They also made breakfast for us on Sunday, but that wasn't scored.

    The winners got "The Golden Spoon" which is a plastic spoon spraypainted gold & had "2019" written with marker.  The spoon is to be placed in the pen slot for the L pocket (rank side).

    The stuff done today completed around 90% of the work for the Cooking MB for all who went camping.

    . . . . . .

    The fellow who is taking the SM reins got to sit in on some SM Conferences, saw how that goes, was there while we had 4 newer Scouts go over stuff so they could check off boxes re: rank advancement to Scout (one of them is a friend of my son & this Scout is now in his 3rd week after deciding to bypass baseball this season).  Another of the "1st year Crossover" Scouts completed his 2nd Class stuff & he was very excited to get that going.

    Weather was a big surprise because the forecast didn't call for it to be anywhere near as cold in comparison to what we got. 

     

    On the other side of the reserved spaces area from where our Troop was, apparently there was a Cub Scout Pack from the Sam Houston Council & there were something like 50 Cubs that had ONE single couple set in the middle of the Cubs... I have zero idea how that happened, but I feel for that couple.

     

    All in all, it was a great time.

    • Like 1
  8. If there is a day Summer camp in your District, a selling item for Spring recruitment is the ability to attend day camp (usually only 3 or 4 days) if you're a registered Scout.  You should also try to get any & all Scouts to attend @ least ONE activity per month - 3 months - over the Summer so the Scout can get the Summertime Activity Award (patch).  Even if it's simply grilling hot dogs in a park, provided y'all get together this is available.

    outdoor-activity-award-patch-300x161.jpg

    It's a great way too stay in contact with the Scouts & I'm sure the idea is to prevent drifting off & not coming back to the Pack.

    For the Pack, it's beneficial to get folks in @ the Spring JSN (Join Scouting Night) & hopefully you can get some leadership now so that once Fall hits, there's a bit of structure already in place.  Once you're an established Pack, your Spring JSN can possibly get you a Lion or Tiger / Bobcat leader as well & carry them through & starting the Fall Scouting year.

    What will your role be?  Cubmaster?  Certainly it's a large task to undertake as CM for a new Pack; once it's a rolling thing & maybe into the 2nd or 3rd year, whomever has the role should find that being CM is a lot easier than being a Den or Webelos Patrol Leader.

    IMO, a Pack lives & dies on the Committee Chair.  The # 1 focus should be on getting your Charter (or Recharter on an annual basis) going & get those registrations in.  Be sure to ask the DE for assistance on that & the Unit Commissioner if the DE seems to be too green @ it.  Hopefully you have the UC on your short list of people you're in frequent contact with.  Attend Round Table when possible; There's only 4 of them left for this Scouting year.

    If there is a day Summer camp in your District, a selling item for Spring recruitment is the ability to attend day camp (usually only 3 or 4 days) if you're a registered Scout.
    For the Pack, it's beneficial to get folks in @ the Spring JSN (Join Scouting Night) & hopefully you can get some leadership now so that once Fall hits, there's a bit of structure already in place.  Once you're an established Pack, your Spring JSN can possibly get you a Lion or Tiger / Bobcat leader as well & carry them through & starting the Fall Scouting year.

    What will your role be?  Cubmaster?  Certainly it's a large task to undertake as CM for a new Pack; once it's a rolling thing & maybe into the 2nd or 3rd year, whomever has the role should find that being CM is a lot easier than being a Den or Webelos Patrol Leader.

    IMO, a Pack lives & dies on the Committee Chair.  The # 1 focus should be on getting your Charter (or Recharter on an annual basis) going & get those registrations in.  Be sure to ask the DE for assistance on that & the Unit Commissioner if the DE seems to be too green @ it.  Hopefully you have the UC on your short list of people you're in frequent contact with.  Attend Round Table when possible; There's only 4 of them left for this Scouting year.

    Have y'all decided if you're going to have a Lion Den? (Kinder)  What about a Family Pack (girls)?  If no to either of those, be sure to have answers as to the nearest Pack that they CAN look to for those options.  If there's anything I can do to assist & will take less time than posting  here, send me a PM with your contact info & I'll call.

    Congratulations on this patch that you get to wear:
    7c294247a1d6a6d9bc9f050cd5db6a97.jpg

    • Like 1
  9. Oh, & our Scoutmaster is stepping [down / aside] after Blue & Gold.  His son hasn't Eagled yet but is on track for sometime this year & is just now 16, so there is time.  I think Dad has been SM for around 3 years & IMO, he is a great guy for the role.

    The current ASM isn't moving "up" because he likes to work more with the Scouts than the parents (even though I think he would be a great SM as well).  The fella taking over the role has no prior Scouting leadership experience, however I think he has a great temperment for it.  When this was announced @ the Troop meeting Tuesday night, the ascendant told me he was going to lean on me for help.  I think that is because I'm into more of the minutiae / fine print & overall nuts & bolts of Scouting rules, regs, etc.  I have no concerns assisting him & do obv. hope for the best.  My only concern (if that is even the right word) is him taking the top spot with no prior Scouting leadership experience.

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