Tag: cub scouts

If At First You Don’t Succeed…

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

If you haven’t received a visit already, a Cub Scout should be coming through your neighborhood, door to door, selling Boy Scout Popcorn. They’ll be fulfilling their part of the Law of The Pack (“The Cub Scout helps the Pack go”) and is their main (and usually only) fundraiser for the year. I hope you’ll consider supporting this fine organization. Also, the Chocolatey Triple Delight is just about the best thing to happen to popcorn EVER. Word of warning: the package says there are 17 servings; I consistently find only three.

In addition to “help(ing) the Pack go,” the boys are also aiming at membership to the $600 Club – sales of this level gets the Scout a variety of prizes: choices of several different Gift Cards, tickets to a Cincinnati Cyclones hockey game, and a very cool little gadget called a Zyclone, which David Letterman seemed to master almost immediately:

Me, I was lucky to clear a couple of feet with my Zyclone (yes, I have one…as our Boy Scout District’s “Popcorn Kernel,” I have one to show off to the Scouts…and it’s a great little perk, I might add), but with a few adjustments of my aim and a little finessing of my technique, I became almost as proficient as my nine-year-old son was on his second shot.

That’s the way it is with a lot of compressed air product applications, too. A Super Air Knife may perform better if you mount it at a different angle or distance from the part(s) you’re trying to cool, dry, or blow off. There are a couple of “tips and tricks” to get a better conveyance rate from a Line Vac. If your Reversible Drum Vac isn’t pumping like it used to, there are quick and easy things to try before replacing it. Same same for Static Eliminators, by the way.

So, if your aim needs adjusted, or your technique finessed, give me a call. I may be relatively new at this, but my learning curve is steep, and I’m eager to share the wealth of knowledge I’m accumulating. If I don’t know the answer, I’m surrounded by those more experienced and knowledgeable than I, who are just as eager to help. And if I just can’t find the answer, I have a Zyclone of my own to put theory to practice with.

Oh, and if your question is about EXAIR products, that’s OK too…if I don’t know the answer, I can tap the brains & know-how of the rest of the Application Engineering team, as well as the resources of our Efficiency Lab to get you the answers you need.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Tupperware In The Woods

Published on by Russ Bowman1 Comment

I use multi-million dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods. What’s your hobby?

OK; I stole that from a t-shirt, but in case you didn’t already know, the hobby in question is geocaching. And I geocache. Last night, in fact, I introduced my Webelos Den (Cub Scouts entering the 4th Grade this year) to the activity.  I put some Boy Scout patches in Zip-Lock bags (Regina won’t let me use the “good Tupperware”), and hid them in the woods & field across the street from my house, creating Waypoints with my Garmin E-Trex Venture HC at each location for them to follow. All in all, we trekked about 150 yards to find the three patches.

I have found my share of “Tupperware in the woods,” though – my trusty E-Trex is near the top of my camping trip checklist. But it’s not just for camping – there are plenty of ‘caches to be found in all levels of civilization. I’ve found them in industrial parks, and on city streets – whoever came up with the “lamp post geocache” was a mad genius. Wherever a ‘cache is hidden, it’s intriguing to see what’s enclosed. Usually you’ll find an arrangement of trinkets and a small notebook to record your visit.

For a few months now, I’ve been diving deeper into the Twitterverse – searching out items of interest from those I’m interested in enough to follow, and re-tweeting them to those who have been gracious enough to follow me. I even manage the occasional original post. Along the way, I’ve become an active participant in “Follow Friday” – look for the #FF in your Tweet stream. It’s a great way to expand your network – and your influence – by tapping into the networks of those already in your Circle of Tweeps.

Turns out, #ff was just the first of a few recently launched methods to help us all grow our social networking prowess and influence. Back in February, #FBLT (Facebook Liking Tuesday) was introduced – by one of our #ff mainstays, by the way – and all of our “likes” are growing weekly. Newer still is LinkedIN Connect Thursday, or #LICT. Check it out tomorrow.

I’m going camping again this weekend, and much to my best friend Andrew’s chagrin, I’m bringing my E-Trex (he’s an unrepentant muggle.) Along our hike, I’ll make brief stops, as the satellites guide me, to marvel at the trinkets (maybe I’ll even take or leave one) and write a brief note in the obligatory notebook.  I sure hope the last person left the pencil behind.

However your interests are fueled, I hope you never stop looking for the next one…whether it’s found in a cleverly placed piece of Tupperware in the woods, or in a less-than-140-character posting of a fellow Tweep, or (I’m going old-school here) a conversation with a new acquaintance at a real live face to face social function.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
39.275761, -84.349582

The Things You Remember

Published on by Russ Bowman1 Comment

Well, Cub Scout camping season officially kicks off this weekend, with an event known as Webelos Outdoor Weekend. It’s the first time that Cub Scouts in the 3rd grade or older are allowed to go camping without a parent tagging along, so there’s a sense of adventure for the leaders as well as the boys. I’ve been at this for five years now, and was fondly reminiscing about the Cub Scout campouts we’ve had.

On my first Cub Scout camping trip, we got way out in the country, away from the city lights, to watch a meteor shower. We had a great campsite, on one of the boy’s grandpa’s farm, and the weather was great. Brian, one of the other dads, was real outdoorsy – he made Survivorman look like Felix Unger from “The Odd Couple.” Anyway, the meteor shower was supposed to peak around 4:00am, so we bedded down early, and got up around 3:30am. I counted two meteors before I fell back to sleep, spilled my hot chocolate in my lap, and went back to the tent to change my pants. I crawled back in my sleeping bag, and woke up to the smell of frying bacon.  Brian got a job out of state and moved away soon after that.  I seriously miss him.

Another time, we had a “Spy Mission” theme for our campout. We divided up into teams and tracked down clues, broke codes, did covert ops in the woods, and made marshmallow guns. I bet the squirrels and raccoons at Stonelick Lake still anxiously await our return.

We’ve camped under the stars in left field at Great American Ballpark, following a Cincinnati Reds’ game. Turns out, the grounds crew won’t let you stake down a bunch of tents in the outfield of a Major League Ballpark. We’ve slept in the shark tunnel of the Newport Aquarium. When the lights go off, you can only see shadows going through the water, but it sure seemed like the rules were “every fish for himself.” We spent the night at King’s Island last year – the park kept certain rides open late just for the Scouts. My oldest son and his best friend goaded me into riding The Vortex until I almost threw up.

They’re calling for some not-exactly-dry weather this weekend, and there’s been some disappointment expressed about that. Me; I wouldn’t have it any other way. Last year, the Pack’s Spring Campout got cancelled when the river flooded the campground. Yes; a month before the driest summer that I can recall descended upon us. The spring before that, we made it to the campsite, but had to pack up & leave just before midnight, because tornado warnings were being issued all over the area – almost everywhere, except where we were. When we got home around 1:30am, my lawn wasn’t even wet.

To be honest, I had to page through the Pack’s scrapbook to recall some of these events. Nice weather is great for camping; no doubt. When nothing out of the ordinary happens and everything goes as planned, it makes for a nice, fun outing. But I asked my oldest boy and his friends what their most memorable campout was, and they said: “The Webelos Outdoor Weekend where someone’s tent blew through our campsite while we were trying to light a fire to cook our dinner in the rainstorm.” Those are the ones you get the best stories from – the ones that, God willing, he and I will tell my grandsons about someday. While we’re hunkered down in a tent, riding out a monsoon, no doubt. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair