m4 carbine

Nor’easter and more

by michaeltefft

The last two days have been exciting around here. What I thought would be a little rain and wind from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida turned into the worst Nor’easter I have ever experienced. As I write this the storm is still not quite over. But at least the high winds, heavy rain, and flooding are done. It seems there were two systems, one offshore, that came together to create an unexpected, at least by me, nor’easter. Winds in the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay reached 70 mph with flooding 7-8 feet above mean tides. Large parts of Portsmouth and Norfolk were under 3 or more feet of water. As of last night, 174,000 residents were without power. The Virginia Emergency Management Services likened the storm to a Category 1 hurricane.

In Chesapeake where we live, winds hit 50 mph but thankfully there was little damage and streets near us were not flooded. But large parts of Chesapeake were flooded, making travel anywhere almost impossible. This morning the winds are still pretty substantial but the rains have died down. It will probably be Saturday before we see any sunshine. I only took a few photos and a short video of the storm because I wasn’t dumb enough to wander far from the house. All in all it will be a storm to remember and I am thankful that we got off without anyone hurt or any substantial damage.

The only other news for now is that I was able to get to the range to try my new scope on my m4 carbine. I had a really hard time getting the scope zeroed as my first shots were so far off I could not see where they were hitting. It turns out they were very low and to the right. But after about 60 rounds I finally had the scope zeroed. It shoots about 2 MOA at 100 yards right now but I think if I get to the range again I can tweak it a little better. That is it for now.

Pool Time

by michaeltefft

We got the cover off the pool and were shocked to see that half the water in the pool was gone. At first we thought there must be a leak in the pool but it seems that the heavy rains pushed the pool cover down which forced water out of the pool. Next fall we will get a ball to go under the cover so that water cannot pool on it.

After filling the pool and adding chemicals we have beautiful clear, sparkling water. It has been much less trouble this year than previous years in getting the water clear. I have been swimming every day now and enjoying it. So far I have not even had to vacuum the pool except for the initial time.

I took my m4 carbine with the new 3x magnifier to C2 range and it worked great. I shot pretty tight patterns from 100 yards and am very happy with the  performance of both rifle and sight.

Dana and her dog have been staying here for a while now while she waits for the tenants to move out of our rental property. I will be glad when she finally gets to move into the house as I really don’t like her much and her dog is not house broken.

I spent a morning recently canvasing a neighborhood in Chesapeake for the Bob McDonnell for Governor campaign. Armed with pamphlets and our charm we visited 125 houses, talking about Bob McDonnell and the issues that everyone is facing with the economy and Obama’s controversial programs. Most everyone we met was friendly and willing to talk with us. I hope our efforts will help to get Bob McDonnell elected in 2010. The current Democratic Governor has been a disaster for Virginia.

The bladder in our storage tank for our well pump has been going bad,  causing the pump to run constantly. My brother Jon, who repairs and installs wells and pump systems, came to our rescue. He had me buy a new storage tank at wholesale price from a company they deal with and he came over in the evening and installed the new storage tank for us. Being the great guy that he is he didn’t charge us for the labor or the additional parts that he used. I have a great family and I owe my brother Jon a big favor which I hope he will collect some day.

Today I will try to get a professional dog sitter to take care of Max while we are on vacation in Hawaii this August. Failing that I will try to get one of the neighborhood teen boys to sit Max. I  hate to put Max in a boarding house as I am sure it is very stressful for him and I would not be comfortable with leaving him in one for so long.

We are really looking forward to our vacation if I can only  survive getting up at 3am for the long flight. It will be a long tiring day but it will be well worth it. On to Hawaii.

Summertime, and the living’s easy.

by michaeltefft

Went back to the optometrist and had my prescription changed and now my contacts are much better. I can read small print now without reading glasses as well as see at a distance. Overall I am very happy with them. Now if I can just get better and putting them in and taking them out.

I went to the C2 outdoor range in Pungo to shoot my M4 carbine. I have got the red dot sight zeroed in now. I finally found a way to mount my 3x multiplier so that it works with my red dot. Next time I go to the range I will have to zero it again. Then I should be able to use the sight well beyond 50 yards.

I have been using a battery operated pump to drain the water from the pool cover. There was a lot more water to drain than I thought and it has been a slow process. I hope to be able to remove the cover tomorrow if it doesn’t rain again. We are really looking forward to being able to use the pool again this summer.

Finally,the pulpit committee (of which I am a member) presented our candidate for minister for our church to the board last night. Things went pretty well but the board requested a meet-and-greet for Wednesday for our candidate. I am sure they will feel the same way we do about about our candidate.

That’s it for now. More going on but I’m tired of writing.