Tag: hobby

Boy Scouts of America: Over 100 Years Later

My First Edition Copy of the Handbook for Boys

I bought this original Boy Scout Handbook, and another, two years ago. The one in better condition I gave to my father as a Christmas present and a reminder of all the great times we shared in the Scouting program. I’ve been flipping through mine recently and noticing some things.

Boy Scouts have been around for a long time. Here, in the United States they were incorporated on February 8, 1910.  The oldest Scouting organization, in the United Kingdom, was founded in 1907. I ‘m somewhat surprised how much of Scouting has been retained over the past 1oo hundred years. The Boy Scout oath, law, and motto have not changed since that time but many other things have, from rank requirements to merit badges. I thought I’d share a some of the ones I found just flipping through the book.  (I wish I had my old Boy Scout Handbook from when I was in the program, as well as a current edition just to compare, I’m doing this from memory… If you want a good, cheap resource for outdoor and first aid skills a Boy Scout Handbook isn’t a bad choice, by the way.)

Some of the Merit Badges one could earn then but no longer:

 

The Cement Working merit badge

Cement Work, handicraft, beekeeping, blacksmithing, foundry practice, invention, pathfinding, signalling, and taxidermy.

 

A few requirements that didn’t make it into this millennium, They probably didn’t make it through the ’70s: make a round trip alone (or with a fellow scout) to a point at least seven miles away going on foot, or rowing boat. Or, construct a raft which will carry two people and their duffle safely, and demonstrate his ability to make practical use of it.

 

Fixing My Playstation 2

12 years and going strong!

I don’t recall when I picked up my PS2. If I recall correctly, and as time goes on that becomes harder and harder, I picked it up in 2002 which makes my console nine years old. Through those nine years it has faithfully played every CD, DVD, and PS2 game I’ve put into it. Well, that was the case until last month or so… Then it started giving me intermittent “disc read errors” that slowly, but surely devolved into complete inoperability.

I have a slim PS2 that has been sitting in a box for years. But, I was not ready to give up on my old one, especially since one of my goals this year was not reduce the amount of waste I generate. It is not easy to recycle advanced electronics and companies are not (yet) taking them back to recycle.

I poked around on the internet and found a guide at ifixit.com that guided me through the process and all it cost me was an #00 phillips screwdriver.

The bottom of the PS2 with the screw caps removed.
The opened case, the optical drive is on the right.
Optical drive with its cover removed. All it took was a little rubbing alcohol.

The whole operation only took 30 minutes or so… and I’ve been running the PS2 through its paces and it is working fine. I hope to get another nine years out of the console before I need to take a look at it again!

It’s me Swimming… and Critiquing

A note: If you don’t want to see men and women in speedos swim do not watch the above video.

I’ve been swimming with the Davis Aquatic Masters now for over a year. I’ve enjoyed the program, and the people in it. So much so that I now serve on the Board of Directors.

The above video is just one of the many things DAM is doing (besides putting on an open water swim every year, raising funds to fight cancer, and annual food drives) for its members and the community. Seeing your stroke is vital to improving it. Thankfully, according to the coach, mine isn’t too bad.

I’m the first person you see swim across there, D is the fourth, and then I’m the seventh. Once it switches to a heads-on view I’m again the first. I have a tendency to bring my arms to far over on my stroke extension. if you draw a line going from your shoulder straight out in front of you they’re not supposed to cross over. Mine occasionally do. I also have a tendency to ignore my kicking, defaulting to a single 1/1 stroke/kick ratio. The ideal is 4/6

Compost Woes: Fine-tuning My Compost Pile: The Search for Black Gold

 

Not a pretty picture

 

We’ve had our composter now for a year-and-half or two years I think. It is definitely its second winter. Unlike last winter though things aren’t going as well. Instead of things breaking down and turning into a nice mulch I can spread into the garden. They’re turning into a stinky sewage. I’d like to blame this on the cold and rain but I don’t think they are completely at fault.

Our household has recently (the past six months) started composting everything possible. This means a lot of “green” is going into the composter. According to what I’ve been able to find out about composting all this “green” needs to be balanced out with “brown,” if you want the ideal environment for composting to occur. I’ve been neglecting the brown and throwing in a lot of “green” recently and things have gone sour.

That is okay though because I’m getting a little help from the United States Government:

 

The 1040EZ also known as "brown"

 

The Post Office had stacks and stacks of these packets sitting there waiting for John Q. Citizen to pick them up if they needed some tax assistance. I grabbed 20 or so figuring that’d help. I cut off the glue binding to the packets and shredded them:

 

A stack of about half of the paper I shredded

 

After the paper was shredded into the bin it went:

 

In two weeks this better look like compost...

 

Composting hasn’t turned out to be the simple formula I thought it was: scraps in, soil out. It takes a lot more tweaking and guesswork. I’m still getting the hang of it. If adding paper doesn’t do the trick I might have to get some straw or move the composter so that it gets more sun.

I never thought I’d be experimenting with the “art” of composting.

P.S. Love that title up there don’t ya?

 

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