Getting set up

100 years of Scouting

....unimpeded by progress. It is the 16th of July and I'v made my way to Fort A.P. Hill near Bolling Green, Virginia. It is the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. It is time for the Jamboree. I'm down here with my Wife and 6 other guys, we are known as the Gophers. We go for what ever, and we spend a majority of our time on the road between A.P. Hill and the airports that service the Jamboree - Dulles, Reagan National, and Richmond. On a given day we will cover 300-600 miles. We will spend a week getting all the staff in here, then we will instantly start taking people out for family emergencies, illness, etc. In the next 4 days we will bring in 1700 adult/staff, which help put this event together for about 30,000 youth. This is the last time we will be at AP Hill. Congress declared that if the US Army couldn't support all non-profit organizations, then they can't support the Boy Scouts.

I meet a New Friend Every Weekend

About 4 years ago My Father mentioned that he was having issues remembering things.

Dad was born on the 21st of June, 1924. His name is Delwin Leroy Goheen, he is the second of four children born to Maurice Sebastian and Clara Goheen. He was born in Osborne County Kansas. He was not born in a hospital, but in a house. Dad served in the US Navy during World War II, and his ship sailed the Yangtze river - an LSCL # 73. Dad exemplifies "The Greatest Generation". He was a philosopher in his own way. He set his standards high, and he always tried to exceed his standard.

In my teens I often helped Dad as he hired out at night an weekends to make enough money support a wife and five kids. Back then I expect the food bills were enormous. Dad wired houses, fixed swamp coolers, built things, painted things, fixed lights and more. Each time we went to someone's house Dad made sure we wiped our shoes, or removed them before we went in, and we cleaned up so it looked as good or better than when we started.

Dad is a Distinguished Rifleman, and in fact the Kansas State Rifle Association has a Trophy named in recognition of his accomplishments and support.

But, Dad doesn't remember any of that. At first I noticed his short term memory was not working. We could talk in our weekly phone calls about what he did years ago, but not about what happened the day before. Then that memory started disappearing. Now I call him on Sundays and each time I call it is a brand new conversation with a new person. I introduce myself, and he is polite, but he really doesn't know who I am. We chat about the weather, his health and what he's been doing. He is pretty good on the health part, at that moment in time, but everything else just happens.

I've talked to staff on may occasions and they say he is very helpful, quiet, and polite. When given an opportunity he likes to go for rides in the care center's limousine. They like Del. I enjoy meeting my new fried every weekend, I hope in enjoys the calls.

Yeah I understand - Climate Change

In the past 5 days I have spent over 16 hours shoveling snow. This winter has provided this area of Virginia the most snow in recorded history for a winter season.

Simultaneously, the paper no longer refers to it as "Global Warming". It is now climate change. Do I believe the climate is changing. Yes. Am I the cause. No! I'm sure there are lots of reasons for the climate change. If you put 60 people in a room, the room will get warmer. If you add a billion people to the population it probably will cause a change. The weight alone might change the orbit. And don't get me started on the hot air from capitol hill.

It isn't really cold, there's just lots of snow. For the first time in a week, a plow actually came through the neighborhood and, he did a nice job. Free coffee, Cheetos and a cold coke for the truck drive, and my thanks. He didn't plow it into my driveway. What a guy.

I started planning my next scuba trip. Back to Bahamas on Blackbeard's . Right now I can buy round trip airplane tickets to Nassau Bahamas for $285. Add that to the fact that I'm diving with Greg Justice and his GMU bunch, and it only gets better. Note to self, remember to take some bourbon, I'm not wild about rum, but the Red Stripe is always good at the end of the day.