Quality Time at Camp

Since I last posted I've been up to one of our Boy Scout Summer Camps twice (Bear Paw in Mountain, WI). It's a nice camp about 2 1/2 hours drive north and is ecologically similar to Lost Lake back in Clare, MI (lots of sand, pines, ferns and so on). Both trips were one night overnights on Fridays.

The first was to attend the Order of the Arrow Fall Conference (Conclave...). The highlight of the weekend was the work project of destroying a building. Our group started with about 10 guys growing to about 30 as members were drawn to the sound of destruction like moths to a flame. It took us less than three hours to take a cabin from being there to having nothing left but the concrete slab it had lived on. All of us were sore afterwards. It was also the dirtiest I have been in a long time.

I also took the opportunity to see Awase Lodge (the lodge here) induct members into the Vigil and see a different team perform the Ordeal. They both left something to be desired. While they were technically proficient, the ceremonialists lacked the stage presence and ability to inject life into the ceremonies that I grew to expect as a Chippewa Lodge member. In time I may take the opportunity to work some with this.

This weekend I returned to camp as a favor to our Program Director to help with Dad and Lad. That was not all that exciting, but it wasn't bad either. I ran the slingshot range until 5 of the 6 broke and then watched over the water bottle rocket station. I was able to leave early to head down to Brian's football game (they won 67-0).

Outside of camp, it's been a lot of working to get ready for the fall including a pair of Round-up/Popcorn trainings last week. Those were a lot more successful than last year. Hopefully we can keep the positive momentum we have built up into the end of the year.

Fly Air National Guard

Today I had the opportunity to go on an orientation flight with the WI Air National Guard. My district chairman is a Captain with the 128th Air Refueling Wing that flies out of General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee and was able to sign Brian, my district commissioner and I up for the VIP/Orientation flights that the wing has been able to conduct again following a hiatus after 9/11. Brian went in June with our state senator, while Mike and I went today.

The wing flies KC-135R refueling tankers. The planes are about 50 years old at this point and are expected to serve until 2040 as of the last published information. For more info on aircraft, follow the link in the first sentance.

The program started with a brief orientation about the aircraft and mission of the wing. Following this, there was a typical safety briefing, but with a lot more puns/jokes than what you see on an airline. We did have to go through screening, just like the airport plus we had all been cleared by the Pentagon prior to being officially invited. After that we rode a shuttle to the aircraft and got settled in. The seating on the plane is not airline standard, it is capable of carrying cargo as well as its fuel load, so the seats are easy to secure if needed and consist of canvas over steel pipes running along the fuselage of the plane. Thankfully we weren't required to stay seated long, just enough to get to altitude and then the descent to landing.

For the actual flight itself, we flew out to Nebraska and looped around to near St. Louis where we met up with the aircraft that were to be refueled (more on that in a second) and then headed back towards Milwaukee. Everyone had the opportunity to sit in the cockpit to chat with the pilots and see how the controls all functioned. Everyone was also invited to lay down next to the boom operator (the boom extends from the back of the plane to refuel the other aircraft, the operator flies the boom to line it up for the other pilot to connect to) and see how the controls worked.

The highlight of the flight was when the other aircraft arrived. We were very fortunate to meet up with a pair of F-117A Nighthawks out of Holloman AFB in New Mexico who were heading to an airshow in western WI. This apparently a rare occurance and the flight crew was as geeked as the passengers were. All of us got to take lots of pictures of the planes both from the few windows and from the boom operator position. I took about 50 pictures to make sure I got plently of quality shots. Click here to see some of the pictures posted on my Ofoto account.

From there on the flight was uneventful. That was one of the coolest things I have had the opportunity to do in a long time. I would certainly not skip another chance to do it again.

Coping Saws Can Bite

I decided to start making a new Pinewood Derby car for myself this weekend. That's a lot more work than I recall. It could just be that I am more of a perfectionist now than I was or that Dad did more work than I paid attention to. Since when does cutting with a coping saw take skill or effort? Given my challenges with using it this weekend I can't figure out how I did it at 7 years old. I did, as the title implies, nick myself with the blade; nothing deep or painful but blood was drawn. I wasn't too worried since I got a tetnaus shot two years ago with the whole auto-glass-in-finger-for-three-days incident. Now I am in the fine shaping and sanding process which also is a lot of work. I think I will just spray bomb it for the paint job, but I'll tackle that when I get there.

The weather has been gorgeous here with a lot of sunshine and comfortable temperatures. It's really hard to work from home when the weather is this nice, but it is easier since I can change into shorts after my last appointment and work comfortably. I did manage to get a bit of a burn on Saturday and Sunday between a midday football game and a long walk at the beach. In reverse order, the dead fish are finally gone at the beach and the lake water is almost warm now. Walking in the water was actually refreshing not shocking. The football game was Brian's second and out in Oshkosh at the UW-Oshkosh field house. Oddly, the field did not have home and away seating, just one big set of stands. They lost again, due entirely to turnovers courtesy of two interceptions and a couple of fumbles. Otherwise they outplayed the other team. I can't make this weekend's game as I will be at camp, but I do enjoy going.

The Lions actually won a game, albeit exhibition. I would like to see the Lions play this year. I have hopes that they can go 8-8, maybe better. Tickets go on sale on the 23rd so I will see what's out there and maybe get tickets. Several folks around here are looking to see if they can get tickets when they play at Lambeau in December. Brian is getting Sunday Ticket so I will be able to watch the games there (as long as the Cowboys don't play at the same time....) as opposed to the bar.

The only other thing of note for the last few days was another round of pasty making. This time I tried using homemade dough using a recipe from Good Eats. That's a lot of work. It tasted a lot better than the store-bought pie crust I've been using. My goal now is to refine the filling. Ground chuck cut 50/50 with ground buffalo gives good flavor, red potatoes, carrots, green apple and vidalia onion make up the other components. My challenge is in sizing the pieces. I've been chopping everything by hand which is a lot of work, I may try shredding next time. Ideally a food processor would do the trick, but I haven't seen purchasing one as a priority. I have a month or so before I make more so maybe I'll change my mind.

I'll post again later this week after I go on my VIP refueling flight with my district chairman's ANG unit. That should be a lot of fun.

Kind of like Pontiac

I worked in Pontiac for 2 and a half years. In that time, not one of my volunteers from the City was harmed in a criminal act despite the consistently high crime rate of the City.

Moving to Sheboygan I thought that this trend would continue. Apparently I was wrong. On Tuesday, I caught a brief story of a man being shot and killed by police while stabbing his estranged wife whom he had abducted the night before. I paid it little attention until last night when one of my volunteers pointed out that the wife in question is a volunteer with one of my packs. That was an interesting feeling. I don't know her extremely well, but she is a good balancing force in one of my most Scoutreach-like units. My first instinct is to make sure we send card over, but what would that say? "Get Better Soon, We're Sorry You Were Abducted and Stabbed" that's kind of weird. I'll probably ask the boss' opinion.

This was not what I expected to encounter in Sheboygan.

1, no, 2, oh wait, 3

Sporting events in three days. I think that's a new record for me. Admitted I do follow the Lions closely for whatever unfathomable reason, but sports generally is far from the center of my universe.

The first of the events was to go see Brian play in his first game on Saturday night with the Oostburg Rebels, a semi-pro team in the Wisconsin State Football League. This is a full-pads, standard rules football league that guys 18+ pay good money to participate in after they have passed the try outs. His participation in the team caused some management concerns from those I report to, but that seems to have died out some after I ignored them (the short version). The game was fun to watch. It was a mix between High School and College football minus the extreme rivalry. Nick, one of the other young guys on our staff, joined Brian's wife and I in seeing the game. I'm planning to go again this weekend out in Oshkosh and invited the staff in the area. Oh yeah, they lost and Brian is a defensive back playing the nickel. Watching him on the side line was a lot like seeing my brother at his games. Whenever he wasn't on the field, he was pacing the sidelines intensely following the action rarely without his helmet on.

Sunday I drove out to Appleton to see the Wisconsin Timberrattlers play baseball. Nick has season tickets just behind the home dugout so the view was good. The 'rattlers are a single-A farm team for the Mariners. There is a fair amount of team pride in the community and attendance at games gets up to over 5,000 some games. Besides being a fun game to watch, I got a chance to know Nick better and found we have a lot in common besides being the only two single people on staff. The 'rattlers won.

Monday was Cub Scout night at the Sheboygan A's baseball game. They're a semi-pro local team similar to the Rebels. One of the Cubmasters arranged the game to be free for the Scouts and families and had a bunch of door prizes to hand out. I got to schmooze a lot. The A's won as well.

Preseason football for the Lions starts Friday against Denver. Sadly I doubt that I will be able to watch it. On the upside though, my Lions flag came in on Tuesday so I can hang it in my front window on game day...or wear it like a cape...