1- This is the best time of year to knock out 3 Merit Badges. All 3 take about 3 months. Family Life, Personal Management, and Personal Fitness are all required for Eagle. I suggest that you set up a record-keeping for all 3 at the same time and run your record-keeping for 14 weeks. (That is a bit longer than required. The easiest way is to set up a spreadsheet (like Excel or Apache OpenOffice Calc) for each MB. A notebook or accounting ruled sheet will also work. Recording all 3 every night will take about 5 mins. (Keep working on other MB requirements and advancement during this time!)
1B- Personal Fitness requirements # 6, 7, & 8. #6 & 7 at the top of the page and #8 is a running record.
1C- Personal Management takes several columns.
The first line of tracking: Starting with money on hand. (savings, checking, cash, piggy bank…)
First column: Date
Second column: Income for that day
Third column: Expenses for that day
Fourth column: Running total
Fifth column: blank
Sixth column: Budget plus or minus
Set up your budget on a separate sheet or above the first line of tracking.
1D- Family Life requirement #3
First column: Date
Second column: List of your daily duties & chores that you accomplished. Here is a good place to record your family meetings.
Note: I suggest that you start and run your recordings for about a week. Then meet with your MB Counselors to get the counselor’s approval on your recordings.
I: Why are Saturday & Sunday considered strong?
J: Because Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are weak days.
2- Let us consider the concept of clothing layering for warmth during cold weather. Wear clothes that are comfortable when hiking and working. Remember no cotton!
First layer: Underwear next to your skin.
Second Layer: Clothing – think shirt or trousers.
Third Layer: Insulation – think wool or fleece, sweater, vest, sweat pants, or sweatshirt.
Fourth Layer: Outer – think jacket, coat, and the like to block the wind and rain.
Sometimes layers 3 & 4 can be the same garment. Leave off #3 if the weather temperature is mild.
NOTES:
– While hiking or working stay a bit cool so that you are not sweating and soaking your clothing with sweat.
– Do not wear layers 2, 3, & 4 tightly. Let them hang loose to create the air pockets that insulate you from the cold.
– Winter stuff should come on sale about the time spring & summer stuff hits the shelves. For Scout-age folks – buy at least a size or 2 or 3 bigger than you are now. You will grow more than a little bit over the summer.
– You may even want to pack a spare change of clothes at the trailhead in your vehicle to change into when you get back off of the trail.
Hint: I usually only do “drive-thru” on my way home from camping. This saves everyone else at the eatery from smelling me/us…
L: What does Dracula call a flesh wound?
M: Breakfast.
3- Zippers! Tents, sleeping bags, pants, most jackets have them and some shirts. My personal maintenance routine is to spray all my zippers with WD-40 or silicone lube before using the item. (Let them season outside for a short while to get rid of the chemical smell.) The second trick to zippers is to put your thumb or finger ahead of the zipper pull when zipping or unzipping to keep the cloth out of the zipper. But it still happens that a zipper will get jammed. Take a deep breath and slow down. Grasp the fabric on each side and pull gently but firmly perpendicular to the zipper (mostly with your thumbs). Do not rip the fabric. Then (last resort) try to unzip the jammed portion. Duck tape for the fabric repair… when necessary.
N: What goes dot, dot, dot, croak, dash, dash, dash, croak, dot, dot, dot, croak,?
O: Morse Toad in trouble.
4- Do you have a small rope or a spare pair of shoelaces packed… You know just in case you need them. Waterproof the shoelaces so they do not get soaked and freeze in wet winter weather.
The trail is not always easy, But it is always rewarding,
Gaither