Sentimental Like a Rock...

"You're about as sentimental as a rock..."

That was how my district commissioner described me today. I laughed when he said that. It's actually pretty apt. We were talking about another tradition that doesn't serve the interests of those it is stated to serve. I, of course, vetoed the idea as presented, which is probably why whoever commented on the idea to our commissioner didn't talk to me about it.

The statement is more true the more I think about it. I like recognition, sure, but if I am going to be recognized I want it to be for something noteworthy, not what I am supposed to do. Once I've been recognized, that's great time to move on. Conferences are another thing. I have never understood the tear-filled goodbyes after a week-long conference. Sure, I've met some good people at conferences, but not enough to warrant any deep emotion at the end. I will admit to having a few (2) friends that I have kept in touch with out of numerous conferences I've been through.

The only time I am sentimental is when I have had something or been a part of something for a long time. Things like my cars, Chippewa Lodge, the engineering office at Oakland, trips with friends, etc. (No, those are not in any particular order.) To each their own, I suppose.

One short note, I got my replacement printer today. It's a newer, nicer model than the one that died oddly enough. The only downside is that the ink cartridges are different than those of the printer it replaces. My old standby is moving to the living room with my laptop since it has ink, I might as well use it.

Stupid Printer

One downside to working at home is a lack of redundancy in office equipment.

You can imagine my temper tantrum when my printer died today. I was attempting to print a couple of letters that I needed to get in the mail when it decided that printing in blue or black ink was not something it wanted to do. Not cool. I tried all of the usual print head cleaning and failed and gave up until I could go buy ink. Eighty dollars in ink later I tried again. Still no joy. I actually called tech support and got an Indian (dot, not feather). Suprisingly she was helpful. I have owned the printer one year and one week, the warranty is one year. However, there is a grace period so a new printer is on the way with new ink.

The problem is that it won't be here until next week which just doesn't cut it when working from home. Thankfully I am a bit of a pack rat and had my old printer stored in my closet. Twenty-five dollars in ink later, I can print again.

Technology is great until it dies.

In Like a Lion....

You have got to love the typical Midwest March we've had already. First, it snows some more heavy snow, then it gets up into the 50's melting all of the snow finally heading back into the 30's all in a couple of days. I've actually seen more thunderstorms in the last few days than I had since I moved here. There were 3 good ones within 24 hours this weekend.

The one Saturday night that I drove through was particularly good. It had hail, high winds and lightning that lit the world like a flash bulb. That storm was one of the worst I have driven through and I think I took the longest path through it. Happily, Bucky did not sustain any hail damage.

Since then it's just been really windy, averaging around 20mph and gusting up to 50mph. It was snowing when I came home tonight and was 48 degrees and sunny this morning. The weather has actually made the farmland really ugly with lots of standing water in rough, muddy fields bounded by trees without leaves for miles and miles. The snow at least made it remotely pretty. I love the midwest.

Outside of the weather, the only adventure of note was our Council Annual Dinner on Saturday, the longest such event I have been to. I left for it at 2pm and got home at 10:30pm. Taking out the 3 hour round trip drive time, I was there for 5 and 1/2 hours--all pretty unexciting. The actual program was over 2 hours plus dinner and the reception time and the post-program. At one point during the program I caught myself dozing off. The only entertaining moment was the really cheesy closing video with some Lee Greenwood-like song about "why we're Scouters". It made the Cub Scout Rocks video look good. With that event in mind, our district dinner is next week so I'll have my chance to make sure our event is efficient.

Enjoy the weather.

Salmon of Doubt

I need to learn to let go, it would certainly help me sleep; something I should be doing now. However, that is not something I am so good at.

I have been involved in leadership positions for a long time and each one has its challenges, none of them easy. The most challenging of all is leading change. As a young person of my generation change is something that I've grown up expecting, yet the organization I work for is one of the most tradition driven groups in the country outside of religion. My natural response to fixing things that aren't achieving the goal is to change them. Obvious, right? Apparently not so much.

I should know by now that expecting people to give up traditions because they are ineffective is harder than building something new. Usually this stems from losing sight of the goal which is something forgotten in Scouting more often than it should be. As an organization and as a member, I want to see more youth participate and stay involved in the best youth serving organization in America. To do this takes volunteers who don't always take time to look beyond tradition to understand that their cherished traditions may not be serving that goal. It's like herding cats to a litter box.

I spend a lot of time thinking things through before making drastic changes and then worry about whether I'm doing the right thing. I do honestly try to see all perspectives, but return to the "people are entitled to their wrong opinion view" an awful lot after those thought processes. The worst part is the question of whether the desire to make the change is driven by an honest, definable need to increase effectiveness or sheer personal ego driving a substantial change just to prove I'm right. Rarely is this something that anyone can help with, every time I try asking, I get a lot of opinions. It boils down in the end to making the call and going with it--"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.".

This is where I think they get the "It's lonely at the top" theory from. In a job where the volunteers in theory run the show, the professionals have to carry an awful lot of the load. When you think about it, an era for a district or council is referred to more often as the professional's administration not the volunteer chair's. To wit, every volunteer compares the professionals to each other and harps on what the past ones did or didn't do well. While I enjoy having the ability and position to effect change, it still gets tiring after a time to be expected to make the right decision every time.

I suppose that all I can do is do my best and hope it does the trick, a concept that doesn't sit well with a closet perfectionist.

Thanks for reading my 100th post.

Why I wander, perhaps

I like to go places and get cranky when I don't go somewhere different regularly hence the regular road trips and plotting involved in trainings I attend. As an engineer is wont to do, I was analyzing this the other day and came to the conclusion that Scouting is the greatest factor in my desire to go places.

For those who were in active Scout troops, you know that your troop calendar had monthly camping trips and longer summer trips. For those who stuck around longer, there was camp staff or NOAC or Jamboree or an assortment of other trips. What it boils down to is that for 7 of my formative years I was away from home on a trip at least one weekend a month and then for some portion of the summer. By the time I was in high school I sought them out and found other trips to add to the Scouting traveling. This was my exposure to areas outside of MI and visiting relatives in California.

Thus I reached the conclusion that Scouting built the expectation of regular trips as a side effect of a good program. The same trips also helped other ways (self-sufficency, road navigation, adaptability and preparation--"The Moose Who Prepares for the Journey"...). Funny that wanderlust is not something we list as a Scouting outcome.

In other more mundane aspects of life:

• Went and saw the Groove Hogs, a great local blues band, on Saturday night. It was the first time I have intentionally went on my own to a bar and stayed for 3 hours regardless of the company. I didn't stay for the last set partly from being tired and partly because drunk Baby Boomers dancing are a little much to see on an empty stomach.
  
• Also, did the first hike of the season Saturday. Man, I felt out of shape. I did a 3-mile loop at the state beach. The beach part was fine with the frozen sand, but the dune cord-walk (boards connected by ropes to protect the dunes) was not a good plan being that it was partly snow and ice covered. It did feel good to get outside again for the fun of it.
  
• Had my first run-in with health care challenges. Being that I have made good use of my insurance I'm actually suprised it didn't happen sooner. I received a bill for a treatment I had last January in MI that I thought was paid for, but the insurance paid what they thought they owed and the hospital just realized that the amount was less than they thought they owed. Since the insurance company ignored their first two attempts to fix this, they billed me. Bastards. I freaked when I got the bill and called both parties to see what is going on. The hospital had been aiming for my response so that I could mediate and have the problem solved. This is stupid and bad customer service on both sides and both heard about it. In essence, since they can't pick up the phone to solve the problem they bill me and expect me to solve the problem. In theory, the insurance company is supposed to work this out by month end. Bastards.
  

That's all for now.