Summertime, and the living’s easy.

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.

 

In over my head.

I hope I am not in over my head at my church. I seem to have
a penchant for saying yes to everything my church asks me to do. Right now I am
chair of the interim team which is tasked with writing a mission and vision
statement and a behavioral covenant. I am also a member of the New Beginnings
committee and am co-hosting 4 cottage meetings over the next month. In addition
I have recently become a deacon of the church and have volunteered to help with
communion this month. Last but not least I have accepted the position of
Outreach director. Oops, one more thing is that I have volunteered (very
reluctantly) to go back to Gulfport
in March for another week of disaster recovery assistance. I think I need to
stop volunteering for things for a while. I have stopped helping feed the
homeless at the Oasis every third Wednesday of the month but that is only
because I keep forgetting to get up at 5 am. Guess I am making up for all the
years when I did nothing for any church or God and volunteered for almost
nothing.

 

Heading down south.

I am leaving early tomorrow morning for Gulfport, Mississippi. I am flying down with three other volunteers from my church. We will be staying in a mission church for a week while we help with the re-construction of houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Gulfport suffered as much damage as New Orleans but has received much less publicity and much less federal aid than New Orleans. Most of the cleanup has been done by the residents and volunteers like us from all over the world. We will be sleeping on the floor of the church with pads and sleeping bags. The church will provide meals and facilities for showering, etc. I am somewhat apprehensive about going as I have not done 8 hours of manual labor since I was in my twenties. I just hope that I will be more of an asset than a hindrance. I don’t know what to expect as far as the damage that still remains from Katrina but I understand it is still pretty extensive. I think I read that the Federal government wants to buy 17,000 of the damaged homes in Gulfport and destroy them in order to build a barrier system to help mitigate damage from future hurricanes. I expect this trip will be a memorable one that I will look back on as one of the best things I have done in my life. Wish us all luck while we are down there.

 

Where is Fall, and other things

As I write this it is the 5th of October. The daytime temperatures all week have been in the 80’s. Next week the daytime temperatures will be in the upper 80’s to 90. I wonder when Fall is going to finally make an appearance? Work has been hectic but I think things are going to settle down soon. I helped my brother Skip move the other day and I hate to say it but I feel kind of sorry for him. I don’t think he has lived in his own house since the days when he was married. He is finally moving out of the place where he is staying because he is trying to get away from his roommates. I moved most of his possessions to his new residence in just one truckload. He doesn’t seem to own much or have much furniture. His new roommate seems much nicer than the ones he used to have. This Saturday we are all going to meet at a restaurant in Virginia Beach and celebrate Skip’s 63rd birthday. It is hard to believe that all those years have passed. Anyway, I noticed that his TV is really old and beat up so Teresa and I bought him a new Magnavox 19″ Wide-screen HDTV LCD television for a birthday present and a housewarming present. It is not the most expensive TV but I think he will like it.

Church has been keeping me busy. I am involved in the technical aspects of moving our Sunday service into the 21st century with inspirational videos and projecting the lyrics of contemporary Christian music onto a screen for the congregation to sing along to. Our Fall bazaar is this weekend and I helped with the chopping of the vegetables for the brunswick stew that we will be selling. Teresa is contributing by baking a cake to sell at the bazaar. That’s it for now.

 

Another vacation

I am headed to Shenandoah National Park with my brothers Chris and Jon. We will be camping on Skyline Drive at Lewis Mountain campground. It has been a few years since we last went camping so I am really looking forward to 4 days away from it all. I have charged all the batteries for my camcorder and digital camera and I plan on documenting the trip. I also plan on having fun and letting go a little. Work has been a little hectic lately with me filling in for our IMO who is on two month maternity leave. I hope these 4 days away from it all will help relieve some of the stress. I will be back Sunday and I will be busy processing the videos and photos I will have taken. There is much more going on in my life but that is for a later entry.

 

This and That

Tropical Storm Gabrielle was a non-event here. All we got was a little wind and a little rain. We have gotten much worse weather from a thunderstorm. I did go over to Ocean View in Norfolk to see what the bay looked like with Gabrielle approaching and there were some impressive waves for a bay. I will have a short video up on YouTube which I will link to later. My iRiver Clix 2 came and it is going right back. I have not been able to get it to work for more that a couple of hours before it locks up. Then I am unable to unlock it for days. So I have an RMA number and it is being shipped back tomorrow. I really want to get my hands on a good one because when it did work it was a fantastic piece of technology. Summer is slowly coming to an end and the weather is getting too cool to use the pool after work. It is still great on the weekends but it won’t be for long. I am going camping next week to the Blue Ridge with my brothers Jon and Chris. We plan on leaving Thursday morning and returning on Sunday. I have not been camping in several years and I am really looking forward to it. That’s it for now.

 

Gabrielle paying a visit

Tropical storm Gabrielle is paying us a visit here in Chesapeake,
Virginia. Gabrielle started out as a sub-tropical storm but has since
strengthened to a 50 mph tropical storm. The forecast path has kept
changing, first bringing her closer to us and then further away. This
morning the forecast is bringing her closer to us and it is starting to
become cloudy and windy. So I guess the next couple of days are going
to be interesting. About the best we can hope for is that Gabrielle
changes her mind and visits someone else.

 

No Joy

Well, my Clix 2 has not arrived yet. I just checked its status at UPS online and it has arrived in Maryland from California. According to UPS it is scheduled to be delivered on Thursday. In the meantime I have been pretty busy. As I promised myself after returning from the LDRS in Nevada I bought a model rocket kit this weekend. The kit included a rocket, engines, and launching system. I built the rocket on Labor Day and took it to the park for launch. I am glad to say that the launch was a total success. The rocket flew straight and high. Unfortunately the parachute did not deploy and the rocket buried itself 2 inches nose first into the dirt. My poor rocket will never fly again. I am undeterred and plan on buying a couple more rockets this weekend to build and fly. I anticipate a much better outcome this weekend.

The other thing I have been busy with is upgrading my web site from Mambo to its successor, Joomla. Joomla is a more sophisticated version of Mambo and I have created a rough draft of my new site. Check it out at Mike’s Place. That is it for now, I hope to be writing about my new Clix 2 in the next entry.

 

End of LandWarNet

I just finished my last track here. The only event left is the keynote luncheon with LTG Metz of TRADOC (my boss) giving the keynote address. That is an hour away and I think I will stay to see that and get a free meal. After that it is on the bus and back to the hotel and some pool time. I fly home tomorrow so I will have some spare time on my hands to hit the beach and maybe do a little shopping. I am anxious to be home and see Teresa, Kirk, and Max. This will probably be the last conference I attend for the Army before I retire. I don’t think I will miss attending them anymore. It is time for my career to come to an end soon. I am looking forward to retirement.

 

Reporting from Ft. Lauderdale

I am attending the Army LandWarNet conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. I found a connected pc in the cyber cafe in the exhibition hall so I couldn’t pass up the chance to make an entry. The conference has been very informative and eye opening and I am enjoying the Ft. Lauderdale scene and the beaches. I will be home this Friday and I will post more about my trip. I have another track to attend before I can go back to my hotel and the pool. More later.