After Cubs last night we had a quick parents evening about our summer camp next year. Its going to be a bigger longer one than normal for a full week, we don't normally take Cubs away fro more than 3 nights (more's the pitty) and its jointly with Scouts and Explorers. We're going to the New Forrest to Hampshire's County camp. It looks really great. www.h007.org.uk gives loads more info.

The highlite looks like it will be a trip to the World Jamboree.

What i found difficult was getting it across to the parents just how special a jamboree is. I came back from Eurojam totally changed, I had simply never experienced anything like that. When I got back I wandered round with a daft grin on my face for weeks.

When I tried to get that across to the parents I just don't think it sank it. Shame really because I think some of their kids might miss out.

I've scrapped what I originally put in this post because frankly what I wrote was not very diplomatic.

Lets just say though that today a couple of people were feeble in the extreme and got right on my nerves!

I don't seem to have stopped today!

Started off early! got woken up in the wee hours by my loved one and friend coming back from clubbing!

Then it was the great HQ clear out, over many years we have accumulated junk of every size and description, mostly in the attic. With the day coming when the roof will finally be repalced (dear God, one day please!) we thought it was time we cleaned it out.

We pulled out everything from the useful (some ground sheets and pegs long thought lost), to the manky (a couple of really nasty old sleeping bags) to the just bloody strange (a manequin and a couple of suitcases!). Needless to say we have filled a very large skip and there is plenty of room for more, a new skip will be here for next weekend when thr job continues.

I have spent most of this afternoon doing admin and its still not all done. Akela, it seems, is never off duty!

Get a night off of Cubs tomorrow but group leaders meeting on wednesday instead. One day I'll say no to something. I mean it!

I despair!

On Saturday I and some friends will be going to the England V Macedonia football match in Manchester. Getting home from work I found that the envelope with the tickets in had arrived and like a child on Christmas day I eagerly ripped it open.

As well as the 3 tickets (North East quadrant, upper tier if your interested, the vertigo seats!) there was a leaflet with travel advice and I nearly banged my head in disbelief.

Picture this, at approx 7pm on Saturday evening, still relatively early I'm sure you'll agree, around 75,000 people will empty put of a stadium in our third largest city. This is a city that is normally around 2 and a half hours by train from our largest city and one hour from its second largest. The stadium, while not right next to the main station, is very wellc onnected by tram and bus to it.

And yet, despite all this, arrangements have been put in place, partly due to engineering work, only 3 trains will go directly to London (and even then will terminate at Harrow, right on the outskirts) and one to Birmingham.

Everyone else will have to drive. That will be in excess of 70,000 people.

What an an utter disgrace, think of the congestion and the pollution as well as just the shear bloody inconvenience. We live in a modern civilised country which is supposedly worried about climate change and yet the powers that be cannot get their heads together and arrange proper travel arrangements to a major sporting event.

Who ever is in charge of this fiasco should be sacked.

Tried a few new things at cubs on Monday and one of them was to simply read part of "The Jungle Book" by candle light. I wasn't sure how well it would go down but by the time I finished I had them eating out of my hand and begging for more!

They were gazing in to the flickering candles and hanging on every word and I think that this is one of those moments where I really managed to reach out to the kids. It was magic!

So like you do, after a hard day of gluing and cutting to get stuff ready for Cubs on Monday and I toddled down to the Carlton Arms with Baggy. Nothing to write home about except for something that quite upset me.

The Carlton is what you would call a comunity pub, it really is where local residents just to go to hang out, its not exactly a night spot! And there was as usual quite a mix of people in there including a rather strange looking couple of people on one of the sofas. One of them went home leaving a girl there who I guess was in her early 30's. She did a lot of rocking herself backwards and forwards and made rather odd whimpering noises. She went from person to person in the pub having the same conversation. Saying she was saying that this year she was going to get a good education, she knew someone that was going to help her, and that she wasn't learning anything as she was.

She had this conversation with me and I talked to her a bit about it before she wandered off.

One thing that upset me was how one or two people totally blanked her, i don't mean got rid of her quickly but actually completely ignored her, she spoke to them and they turned their back. I was disgusted. Now clearly this girl was not well and I hope for her sake that she is getting professional help and it might be rather to difficult to find youself having to make conversation with some one hwo may come across as a little strange, but to blank some one, whoever they are is awful. It is totally out of order and totally shocking.

The other thing that it made me think about was how we can't take on the world's problems on our own. There are many people in this girl's situation who clearly need help and a friend to help them out but not one of us on our own can help everyone. It takes communities to help people through their problems and last night I saw a community turn its back.

I was horrified.