Kiff and All things Kiff

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250px-Kiff.jpgAbout Me

Hello Reader my name is Chris Meadows, AKA Kiff

I would like to say this is because of any one of the resons below:

  • I was the inspriation for Matt Groening Ltn Kif Kroker
  • I once met a South African surfer  and he said “man your so Kiff.” Kiff being south African surfer slang for ‘cool’.
  • Kiff is a word that is derived from the Afrikaans word for poison,`gif’. This was used by coastal pot smokers to describe a strain of natural skunkthat is called Durban Poison Gifs.The word evolved into kiff,amongst english speaking Natalians describing anything that is bad or wicked or simply the best. I am simply the best
  • Kiff is an american term for the THC crystals often found on a properly cured high quality marijuana plant. The buds are ground, the kiff sifted through a mesh and then it is pressed into hashish with a pollen press. I was working with an american who thought I was so high quality that she called me Kiff

However the actual reason was that when I was little I could not say Christopher I said Kiffiffer and thus Kiff was born.

I am 33 (or I was at my last birthday) I was born in Fraserburgh in Scotland, so I claim myself to be Scottish even though I only lived there for 2 months – To caveat that my mother and her side of the family are Scottish so it is not a totally wild claim.

After 2 months on this earth my parents whisked me away to the Far East to a place called Brunei ,where my father had obtained a teaching post at a technical collage. We lived out there for six years and both of my brothers were born out there. At the age of six we move back to the UK where I grew up in Wrexham North Wales.

I attended the local primary and secondary schools and the sixth form college before heading off to Sheffield Hallam University.

I work for a company called Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd as a Senior Engineer; don’t ask I have no idea either. However if you’re really interested I have attached my CV.

I live in Bristol in the South West of England with my lovely wife Clare and we have a daughter.

About this Blog

I love the idea of writing a Journal but for some reason I never find the time. I guess it is the idea that someday people will look back and read your thoughts.  The problem is unless you are famous or the Queen no one really wants to know so I never quite get started.

It is the same with a blog – the idea of journaling the every day life of Kiff seems like a great one however when you really get down to the nitty gritty my life is really not that exciting. So I sometimes lack the impetus to keep posting but I keep trying.

Although this will be a blog about everything and nothing, there will be a strong scouting theme running through it. I have found a number of scouting friends on the internet and I think that posting about Scouting will give me the driver to keep posting.

If you were a reader of jabbering all day long VII – I am afraid that there was a crash and my ISP (Plusnet) lost all my data so I am having to start again. I have some posts as text documents so I may post them again if they are still relevant.

Scouting

To say I am heavily involved with the Scout Movement is maybe an overstatement but;

I have been a member of the scout association since I joined as a cub in 1984. Since that time I have progressed through the scouting movement, gaining my Gold Arrow, my Chief Scout Award and my Queens Scout. Scouting has given me opportunities which I would otherwise never have been able to undertake.

In 1991 as part of a local ventures scout group (having fundraised all the money for the trip) I travelled to the south of France to walk to a height of 12,000ft in the Pyrenees. In 1993, following a Voice for Young People course at Gilwell Park, I was asked to be the “Voice for Young People” representative on the “In 2 the Spotlight” sub committee who were tasked with putting on a large Gangshow at the Royal Albert hall. During my role on the committee I was asked to be the “Voice for young peoples” representative on the National Activities Committee – a post which I held for two years.  In 1998 scouting also gave me the opportunity to join the International Camp staff programme in the USA, where I spent 3 months working on a Boyscout camp in Wisconsin. Most recently scouting gave me the opertunity to be part of the 2007 World Scout Jamboree as a Unit Leader of one of the two Avon Contingents.

The above is not just a list of activities which I have taken part in through my involvement with scouting, but more of a scouting upbringing that has taught me valuable skills such a team work, leadership and the ability to have fun and enjoy what you are doing, while also given me a good grounding in what scouting is about and how the Principals, Purpose, Policy and Strategies of the movement apply to young people.

During my adult scouting life I have held appointments as an Assistant Cub Scout Leader and am currently one of  the Scout leaders with the 43rd Bristol Scout group.   Most recently I was invited to lead a group of 36 young people aged 14 – 18 to the World Scout Jamboree in Highlands Park, Essex. The leadership team for this event consisted of three other adults who required a large quantity of motivation and strong leadership in order to provide the smooth build up to the event. As part of the build up we made 36 young people of varying abilities ready to experience something that could be described as a once in a life time experience.

On looking back at the 2 years of build-up to this event I realise that as part of it we, as a leadership team, had to enthuse 36 young people to commit to something that was in their minds a long way away. We had to listen and guide parents through the trials and trepidations of raising £1000, on top of that we were trying to engage with businesses and the local community in order to fundraise an additional £17,000 in order to provide the training and equipment to give these young people the time of their lives.

Last year I took on the role of Assistant County Commissioner (ACC) for the Scout section in Avon and I am possibly moving to be Assistant County Commissioner (ACC) for Explorers in the not to distant future.

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Kiff

©ChrisMeadows2012
Hello Reader – Are you new to Jabbering All Day Long can I suggest that you check out our Starter for Ten Page which will hopefully give you a guide  as you take your first couple of footsteps around this site.

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