Going into week 7 (a few days delayed)

I’m  actually writing this post inside the Panera Bread in Uniontown.  I’ve been here for about two hours so far working on the slide show for the closing banquet.  I would post this from Panera as well, but I don’t have a wireless card for my computer, so it will be posted later, probably tomorrow after brunch.

It’s been a lot of fun here, we’ve been rocking out to oldies, and I feel all connected and 2st1 century (even though I’m not connected to the interwebs), it’s been fun, and the people watching has been enjoyable as well.

I have Liberty’s part of the first song done, I’m staring Freedom and then I’ll move to Indepenendce.  I think that I’ll use the second song for Central pictures, but I’m not sure what I want to do for the last song, I’m think I’ll do a combination of all the camps, along with some statistics about the summer, I think it would be nice to show some unity as a Reservation, but chances are, when I show that idea to people, they won’t like it, so I’m really not sure if I should do it or not.  This slide show has been such a production in and of itself.  Getting the pictures I wanted was like pulling teeth, and it seems like I’m hitting resistance with most things I try, mostly from the software I’m using.  Who knows, maybe I’m just worn out from the summer and fed up, although I have a feeling it’s somewhere between the two options.

Anyway, onto the normal post subjects:

I ate a frog leg the last time I went to the Chinese Buffet (last weekend).  As cliché as it sounds, it really did taste like chicken; just with less meat and a waxy white color.  It wasn’t bad, I’m really glad I tried it, but it wouldn’t be something I would specifically order, I’d rather have chicken wings.

Coming out of the Chinese Buffet, I happened to be passing a young girl (maybe 8 years old) as she was talking to someone in a car driving by.  Out of nowhere, the conversation became heated, with the little girl yelling a string of obscenities that probably would have made a sailor blush.  Maybe I’m getting to the point where I can shake my head in disgust at the younger generation, and maybe part of it was (to be stereotypically for a moment) the fact that I was outside the WalMart in Uniontown, but I was taken aback.

Wikia, the company that brought us Wikipedia and wiki software announced that they will be creating a search engine, allowing human editors to filter and edit, just like at wikipedia.  It was announced almost as a direct challenge to Google, and it will be interesting to see how it progresses.

We had a block party outside of the Potomac Homes on Tuesday night, which was a lot of fun.  We grilled corn, steaks, chicken and hot sausage, and all sat around chatting for hours on end.  We turned the music on and ended up having sack races, three legged races as well as games of bocce and horseshoes.  The evening ended with a projected game of hockey on the back of Andy’s house.  All in all, it was a great time, and I’m glad I planned it, although it did seem a bit odd to hear my boss “strongly recommend” to the people living in the houses (and Central Staff) to attend; I think they would have anyway, but I hope they didn’t just because they were told to.

The next day, Wednesday, was the 100th anniversary of World Scouting.  I was in charge of planning that with a former camp director.  The morning started off with a “sunrise” ceremony (flag raising, scout oath, rededication, but sadly no kudu horn) and at the end of program for an hour, the patrols could go around and do games and activities from Brownsea island and check out a mock encampment that was set up in the parade field.  That night, there was a slideshow of Baden-Powell’s life, as well as videos from around the world showing the world jamboree and how other countries were celebrating the day.  I think it was a very successful day, we tried to make it as useful and engaging as possible without disrupting program too much.

There were a few visitors of note in the past few days, the first of which is Alexander Barton Smith.  I worked with Alex in 2001, and didn’t really enjoy it.  He caused all kinds of unnecessary trouble just for the sake of causing grief, which annoyed me to no end.  He was very good at program (he was the Scoutcraft Director), but I do have to say that I never expected to see him again on property.  He seems to have calmed down a bit, but still out there and a bit crazy, I still didn’t feel like I could trust him to be telling me the truth all the time.

And then Tom and his new girlfriend Jess came up.  They got lost on the way (that’s what happens when you trust MapQuest and not your gut…and type in an address that doesn’t work with any mapping program…), but finally made it up.  We walked around Central for a bit, and then headed to Freedom to go to the bridge.  It wasn’t a clear night, which was a bit disappointing, but we still had a good time.  Afterwards we went to Lonestar for food and pie, which was nice.  I had a great time, and it was wonderful to see Tom and to meet Jess, I’m hoping we can hang out more when I get back from camp.

A researcher announced that he has come up with a solar power paint that he thinks will replace solar cells, and provide cheap solar power for anyone who wants it.  I hope he’s right, but I think it is still a ways off from commercial production.

I think that’s it for now, I’m going to work some more on the slideshow, hopefully get Freedom done and then get some dinner and put together Indy and Central, and then figure out what to do for the last one.

Catch everyone later, have a great one!