Making it through another year, '23-'24

[Hilltop366]

Top right just under the "We are getting there" 

Updated Topics

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

    Is it true the most requested song at the Hoot was Five Speckled frogs? It goes -

Five little speckled frogs
Sitting on a hollow log
Eating delicious bugs and flies
Yum Yum
 
One jumps in the pool below
Glurp Glurp
Now there's only four speckled frogs
 
(Lyrics repeat three more times)
 
 last chorus –
 
One little speckled frog
Sitting on a hollow log
Eating delicious bugs and flies
Yum Yum
 
He jumps in the pool below
Glurp Glurp
Now there's no more speckled frogs
Oh Man!
 
   I heard most of the musicians had pre-K grandkids. ;) :-\

[Old Greenhorn]

No Howard, I have never heard that little ditty. My PC is giving me issues right ow and I can't play and get any audio out of you tube videos right now. I'll work on that. The truth is Ashokan is run by longstanding world class musicians who write, perform, compose many types of music. They tend to write their own stuff and they put some pretty good effort into it because they have at least two groups of school kids per week every week through the school year, plus youth summits and things like that. They provide music for all of these events and although it is not all new for each event, it does tend to be tailored to where they are and what they are working on. If you like, I can slip a note off to the CEO of the foundation (pictured in my last post) and ask if they can find a way to roll "five little speckled frogs" into the music rotation. But I have to hear it first so I can speak to it's  composition qualities.

 Hilltop is right and I have been relying on the 'unread posts' button since the other menu went away. I used to use the 'most recent posts' selection on that drop down menu and really miss it so I could read everything chronologically. "Unread posts' is as close as I can come, but it's nowhere near the same. 
 There are a few things I am missing too, but frankly, that's just me and I know Jeff is exhausted (or should be) so I am not listing things I have questions about yet. I know the drill on this stuff and now that he is past the big onslaught, he is likely working on things he wants to 'look right' or 'work right' and I am sure he has a long list himself that he adds to daily or so. Some of these small things we see as users can take several or many hours to fix as an Admin, such as the 'more button' for emogi's. I do notice my reading and posting habits have changed a little because some things I am finding not as easy to do, but other things are much easier. I miss the bookmarks, I used those a lot and it means I have to hunt around to find 'important to me' threads. Also, I had bookmarked a lot of threads that are helpful to me when I have issues with certain things. Even if the bookmark feature comes back, it will take me a long time to find that stuff I have bookmarked previously. I am certain there is no way to bring back the old ones. So I feel a little disconnected on that stuff now. But it will smooth out over time I am sure. Any little bothersome things us users are experiencing are nothing compared to what Jeff and his team are going through. My suggestion is to poke around and find what's changed and try to find a way to adjust your habits and create a new way to enjoy and navigate the forum. The value here is in the folks we have and the wisdom they share. That hasn't changed a bit and I hope it never does.
------------------------------

 It was a pretty good day here today for me. Usually the 'day after' from the Hoot is lost to me and I will confess I slept until 8am this morning, which I truly needed. I spent most of the morning catching up here. The shop came back up to temp easily. Last year it took until Wednesday because of the extreme clod temps it saw when I was away. So I felt well, was caught up on chores and got some work done on the sewing machine legs, but ran out of paint. SO I made a town run and got a little more done and I also did a little work on other projects and reloaded the firewood carts which were empty. In spite of the very rough night I had Friday, this has been my fastest festival recovery. Tomorrow is full steam ahead for general work. The sunshine is very helpful, regardless of the temps. I was getting pretty sick of grey skies after two weeks of it. Very depressing.
 BUT, tomorrow is another day!

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

  Remind me the next time we meet and I'll try to sing or hum the tune to you. It won't be as good as my 4 (almost 5) y/o gd did all weekend but at least you can get the beat right. Trust me - when you hear it enough it sticks with you.

[Old Greenhorn]

OK, I get the picture. After several decades in Scouting working at several camps I have a PLETHEROA of these type songs floating around in the back of my brain. All cataloged by age group. I am sure I will hear it before we meet again, but in case I don't, hold that thought.  In fact, I think you hit a trigger, not unlike PTSD (but much more pleasant) and I will be running those songs through my head as I try to sleep tonight. So thanks for that.

[WV Sawmiller]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSC-gHBU_d0

   I see there are more words my GD left off.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, I got it Howard, but as I said in the last post I cen't get youtube to work right now, so it will have to wait.

[aigheadish]

Thanks guys, I posted my question here because I didn't want to bother Jeff and Co. with the question and there are a bunch of you guys reading this that seem to have a good grasp of how the update is going. The Unread Posts button isn't really what I'm looking for but it's an option besides scrolling through "My Posts". 

I've attempted to run forums (very unpopular and unpopulated) but I know what a drag a lot of it is. I'm not in a hurry but was curious if anyone else had found that magic button. 

[doc henderson]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZHc5oK4ITo

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

   I take it that was from the Grammy Awards.

[doc henderson]

It was a great campfire song in scouts, but those videos were difficult to understand and generally only good if you were sitting around a campfire.  wanted Tom to have to hum along and have to occasionally stop what he was doing to do the goggle move.

[SawyerTed]

,@#$&*:'!!

I know better than to listen to something like that!  Now I have an ear worm!  It will be with me all dadgum day!

[SawyerTed]

Gonna have to sing I Know An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly to get rid of it! 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Sounds like it should make the top ten.

   Reminds me of the time when I was a kid and a fish bait cricket got free and jumped down Miz Elsie's dress. That old lady had some moves in her we never expected to see. She ran the local country store near us and kids came up and bought a dimes worth of crickets but did not have a cage for them so she tried putting them in a small brown paper bag but one got out.

[Hilltop366]

Thanks guys, I posted my question here because I didn't want to bother Jeff and Co. with the question and there are a bunch of you guys reading this that seem to have a good grasp of how the update is going. The Unread Posts button isn't really what I'm looking for but it's an option besides scrolling through "My Posts".

I've attempted to run forums (very unpopular and unpopulated) but I know what a drag a lot of it is. I'm not in a hurry but was curious if anyone else had found that magic button.

Right next to "unread post" is "updated topics" which I believe is only topics that have new replies that you have posted in yourself. If I understand what you are looking for I think that is it.

[Old Greenhorn]

OK fellas, you forced me to fix my youtube issues so I could listen to these gems. Ted's right, I should have known better. Howard, I have never heard that one before. It's a little on the young side for most of the kids at the Askokan Center, but for Hoots with a young crowd it might fit. Morning shows are always for kids and families. This year we had a group of Uke players that weren't over 7 years old and they were pretty good.
Now Doc's tune was burned in my brain a very long time ago. Campfires and dining hall tunes (always a song after dinner at camp, it's a rule). Rather than be stuck in my ear all day I will likely be running through the repertoire of sings I have not heard in a long time. Such as his one from the 'pre-politically correct era':

My mental catalog used to be pretty long a few years back, but it is getting trimmed over time. Maybe that's a good thing. :coolsmiley:

[Resonator]

I know better than to listen to something like that!  Now I have an ear worm!  It will be with me all dadgum day!

Be careful when someone says: "You wanna know what song has been stuck in my head all day?..." 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Glad to share with you Tom, et.al. My 4 y/o (will be 5 in 2 weeks) granddaughter was gracious enough to share with me and I figured you guys needed the same level of attention.

[aigheadish]

@hilltop you got it! I thought I clicked on that one on the first or second day that the new forum was up and that it wasn't what I was looking for but upon looking again it is! Thank you!

[Wlmedley]

Tom, I wish I hadn't listened to your tune.  I eat sausage most every day 

[Old Greenhorn]

:wiseguy: Sorry Bill, I too have two nice patties every morning with eggs myself. Never made the mental connection. As with many of these campfire songs there were often 'alternate lyrics'. For that tune I vaguely recall one about grinding up young scots and cubs and turning them into something better, but I can't lay my head on the words.  The version I do know came out of the Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation, which is now gone. It was the national training center for everyone from Scout Executives, professional Scouters, camp directors, Wood Badge, National Camp School, National Junior Leader Instructors Training camp, National conversation, etc. It was a selective group of non-professional people that were allowed to attend programs there. My Dad took his Woodbadge course there, and I took the NJLITC program as a youth after making it through the interview and selection process.
 At any rate I told you all that so I could tell you this: That version was called "The JLT machine" and had to do with Old Mortimer taking young Scouts and throwing them into his machine 'to never more be seen, for they've all been ground to Leaders in the JLT machine". We used the song locally at Junior Leader training programs and it's that version that comes to mind when I hear the melody. I don't know if they use "Dunderbeck" any more because it might 'scare the children'. :-\ There was a lot of that stuff going on at the last turn of the century which also helped me find the door out and move on, sadly. But I digress....  (BTW, if anybody reading this collects Scouting memorabilia, we should talk, I have some 'stuff'.)
------------
 Pretty good day today. I didn't get a lot done and still doing my late morning starts, but I finished painting up the sewing machine legs and put them together, layed out the holes for the table top and installed threaded inserts (from RiteLeg) then got the top prepped for finishing.
 But the fun part was that I have a bunch of cookies with the centers rotted out and I have sanded them flat and put a mirror in a pocket on the backside and sold a few. I have one or two in work, but a bunch more cookies. They take me a long time to sand flat after they are dried (4 years now). Well today I thought to try running a few the drum sander. Because these are chainsaw cut they are not parallel front to back, so the sander takes a little while to get them cleaned up but geeze louise these things come out nice and I just keep feeding them through and taking another pass. With my belt sander I work on one as long as I can, then do more the next day, and it take a while. I did 3 cookies in about 1/2 hour today and they are beauties. I will do more work on them with the ROS down to fine grits because bringing out crisp lines between the rings is what really makes these things pop. I will say that this was a nice project that took a lot more hours than it should, now it just got a whole lot faster. So yeah, today was a winner.
 Tomorrow I am hoping, is another day.

[Nebraska]

Great now the Sausage machine song will follow me to work today.  

[beenthere]

The sausage machine song has followed me since in the early 40's when my father was a scout master and taught me and brothers this song. The tune and the words in this video are what I remember (a bit different from the Eastern version of OGH) and taught my 4 kids, 6 grandkids, and now when I have a chance, to my 8 great grands.
Sometimes I've heard it as Johnny Rebeck instead of what I learned as Johnny Verbeck. Makes no difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y9LNpcVTqw

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, just a little catching up here. Last week I was kind of pre-occupied with my friend who was in his final days. I went for a visit Wednesday and tried to get back on Friday but it wasn't good timing for him. Saturday I tried again and spoke to his caregiver who said he was about at the end and not really awake much. As we were texting I got a call from some musicians I know who asked if I could help set up a visit so they could play some 'quiet room' music for him. I thought that might be good for him and so did his caregiver and we arranged to be there in 15 minutes or so. But then the caregiver called back and said my friend was not 'up for it' and really no longer knew where he was. We all bowed to his wishes and stayed away. He passed at 3am the next morning. SO he is in a better place now and his suffering is over. I checked in on his caregiver for the next few days because I knew he was wore out. So this week I have been thinking about him and the past years.

 Having a hard time in the shop getting motivated about anything. For some reason it's been tougher to get it up to a comfortable working temp before the afternoon. I think I am just too stingy with my wood. I have been bouncing from project to project not really too interested in anything. I finished up some more boxes but still need to drill the holes for the screws. I finished clean and paint on a set of swing machine legs and they are ready for a top. I worked on the top and am getting near finishing it:



 It's just 17x30x1.5" ERC. I just need another coat or two.
 I started another set of sewing machine legs yesterday but these have a lot more parts and screws to clean, it will take a while and is tedious. Not sure what the top will be on that one. Maye Sycamore?

 Got up at 4:30 this morning, couldn't sleep. Stoked the shop stove in the dark hours and it is coming up. So I should keep moving ahead today.

 For a few months now I have been searching for an enclosed trailer for doing shows and checking around pretty frequently. I think I found one last night for a price I can afford. The listing person didn't think it would sell that fast and hasn't gotten the title in the mail yet. So we agreed to wait on that before I drive an hour and a half to inspect it and make the deal. I just hope they don't sell it out from under me, but given all the issues I have had with marketplace, I would not be surprised. Something in the back of my head tells me this may go sideways and I am prepared for that. I am just surprised they agreed to hold it until they get the title. It was only listed for 3 hours when I found it. If I get it, I get it, and if I don't, oh well, there will be others.

 Time to make breakfast and get to it.

[aigheadish]

Sorry to hear about your friend Tom, it sounds like the music would have been real nice. 

The top you've got there is beautiful!