Virginia

I Love Where I Live

by michaeltefft

I have lived in the Hampton Roads area since the 11th grade, which means since 1966. You figure out how old I am. Before that, as a Navy brat, I had lived in Newport, Rhode Island (my birthplace), upstate New York, Texas, Florida, and finally here in Southeastern Virginia. Although the area has seen tremendous growth since I first came here, not all of which has been good, I would still be hard pressed to find a better place to live. We are very close to the ocean and a 4 hour drive to the Appalachian Mountains. There are no really big cities in Virginia, which is fine by me. It is not as rural as it used to be, but it is still a wonderful place to call home.

There is a lot of history in Virginia, a lot of it very close to where I live. From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the first English colony at Jamestown, to the Lost Colony at Roanoke, North Carolina, there is a lot to see and do, and most important of all, take photos of. Yesterday I took a little trip up to Smithfield, which is a beautiful, quaint town with lots of Colonial and Victorian houses and shops. It is also home to the world famous Smithfield Meats. Smithfield is also home to St. Luke’s Church. Historic St. Luke’s is the oldest church in Virginia and oldest church in British North America of brick construction.  Anyway, as I said this area is a photographers delight and Smithfield is a typical example. I hope you enjoy some of the photos I took of the area.

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.

More stuff to report

by michaeltefft

I have been very busy since my last entry here. I took my new AR-15 to the outdoor range in Pungo yesterday and zeroed the sights. I fired a total of 60 rounds from the AR-15 and it is a sweet rifle. I also fired a couple of magazines from my Glock. I am getting much better with my Glock and I have the riddled targets to prove it. I was a little intimidated about disassembling and cleaning my rifle but it proved much easier that I thought. I actually managed to get it back together in working order. This weekend I hope to go shoot with my brother Jon at a friends house in North Carolina. His house backs up to the Dismal Swamp and you can shoot at targets setup on a berm he has out back.

I also attended a mass meeting of Chesapeake Republicans and was elected to be a delegate at the upcoming Virginia Republican Convention in Richmond this May. We will be electing candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General. I will also be manning a both at the gun show in Scope this weekend. The booth is for the Virginia Civilian Defense League, a 10,000 strong state organization to support gun rights and the Second Amendment. While there I may try to pickup a scope for my new rifle.

I am also very busy in church. As an elder I will be performing Communion this Sunday in addition to preparing the Communion table. We rehearsed last night for our annual Last Supper performance. I have participated in that for the last several years. I am also on the Search Committee to find a new Minister for our Church. It is going to be an uphill battle to find a Minister and may take a year or more. We cannot afford to pay what most ministers are asking for today.

I almost forgot that I now have a new Dell Mini 9 netbook computer which I bought last month. I am in love with it and can now surf the net from anywhere in the house. Did I mention that I am now almost broke from all this buying. Obama, where is my stimulus, I need it. That’s it for now.