5-Mile hike

I had my first activity with the scouts yesterday. We took them on a five mile hike on the south-side of Mount Timpanogas just above the Orem Cemetary. It was a good hike, and we were able to get a couple of requirements passed off for the boys. (I had Meg take the picture when I got home. I thought it would remind some of you of my Dad, because he wore a similar hat.)

It was hot. Nineties hot anyway. We also got a great view of a wildfire burning on the other side of Provo Canyon. Saw lots of planes and a couple of helicopters putting out the blaze.

We underestimated the amount of time it would take for this hike. We met at 6:30 pm and didn't really get out on the trail till almost 7. It was about 9:30 before we were back.

I was impressed with the boys though. From my previous experience with taking scouts from this age group on the Greenwater trail at Wolfeboro, I expected them to show up with a can of soda in thier pocket and flipflops. They all had water bottles and decent shoes.

Each boy had to record that they saw or found evidence of 10 animals. That turned out to mostly be birds and insects, but we did see several deer. We also saw what I think was elk pellets, or they were from one pretty big deer.

It is an interesting group. Because of a lack of 11 year olds, we have combined three wards for our patrol. For this activity we had four boys and four leaders. A one-to one ratio. Not bad, but since my ward has the most scouts in this age group (currently three), my work is cut out for me on attendance.

Moving on

I have had some mild and expected changes in life recently. My church responsibilities are changing. I was in charge of nursery, which are the toddlers from 18 months to around three years old. My team finished a major project last week, training the U of U hospital nursing staff (2500 + people) into the modern age of computerized charting.

Leaving nursery is harder than I thought. It is easy to become attached to the kids. Not much is cuter than kids in this phase of life. They are developing a great deal in the way of communication and social skills. They are learning to talk and deal with other people hopefully in the less "me" centered ways of being the baby. It was fun being part of the "village" in helping to raise these kids. One of the parents told me that he wished there were two of me so that one could stay and take care of his daughter.

I am moving on, or perhaps back to Scouting, in being the eleven-year old scout leader. Last time I was an adult leader was with the Webelos, so perhaps I am progressing an age group at a time. The pros, I am freed up to help with the baby at church during Sunday School and Priesthood meetings, I can attend (supposedly) adult classes and discuss the gospel with those (supposed) adults. The cons, lots of meetings. I do mean a lot, and almost all of them during the week. Besides the weekly meeting with the boys (of which I think there are two), there is a monthly Roundtable training meeting (that one was specifically mentioned when I was set apart) and a monthly key scouters meeting with the unit leaders. Then there are courts of honor, planning activities, making sure the boys are progressing on advancement, having fun, and, most importantly, preparing to receive the Aaronic priesthood.

Work is a different issue. I have geared up for a year to roll-out this software. (My team has been working on it longer, I was hired specifically for this.) Creating online training, going over class-room agendas, meetings, planning meetings, pointless meetings, other meetings to plan future meetings, post-meeting wrapup meetings, two months of almost non-stop classroom training, and finally 12 hour floor support shifts for a week after roll-out.

Because of this there hasn't been much planning on what needs doing immediately after roll-out. My team-leader has been saying "relax, take it easy." Ok, then what. We have to plan on how we will train the docs for CPOE (computerized provider order entry). Docs don't want to come sit in a classroom, but I doubt the online training would be effective enough to really get them to where they need to be. Probably a subject for a future blog.