Battery charger ; post-Florida cleanup ; shooting range trips
(posted from home)
(This post covers 1 – 10 April, 2012)
---------------------------
Tuesday, 10 April -
At mid-morning today I drove Mocha Joe over to West Shore Sportsmen to shoot the squirrel-gun even though it was quite a windy day. I had bought a .22 revolver last fall intending to use it for squirrel hunting but had instead done my hunting with my old .22/20-gauge over-and-under (for various reasons). So today was the first time I've shot this gun.
I had Range 7 to myself and started plinking away at some cool little shoot-n-see targets I had picked up at Wal-mart. The gun worked well but I'm really rusty on my pistol-shooting skills. I need to get out here and practice!
I shot 100 rounds and at least improved by the end of the session. I then headed into town. I went to Gander Mountain to return a shotgun sight, hit the Starbucks in the nearby Target, and then looked around at Dick's, comparing prices for shooting supplies.
That evening we watched 'Tales of the Script', a documentary about Hollywood screenwriters. It gave a less-than-flattering but realistic picture of the screenwriting profession and how things work in Hollywood.
---------------------------
Monday, 9 April -
Around mid-morning today I drove Mocha Joe over to the trap range at West Shore Sportsmen. I assembled and set up the target thrower and its battery well off to the side. This model has a step-trigger which can be extended using an electrical extension cord so I took advantage of that to put the thrower well away from me. Unfortunately, when I started shooting I couldn't hit a thing!
After a box of shells with only one or two hits, I moved closer to and behind the thrower so I'd be shooting more down the flight path of the 'bird'. That made a difference but the biggest difference was just getting my cheek down against the stock and getting a proper sight down the barrel. After settling down, I was typically hitting two to three birds out of each round of five (the shell capacity of the shotgun) and had two four-for-five rounds.
After disassembling and stowing the thrower and cleaning up the range, I hit our local Wal-mart for four boxes of shells then went on down to Gander Mountain for two more boxes of clay targets.
Back home I found myself completely worn out so took a short nap before supper.
That evening we watched 'Indochine' with Catherine Deneuve. It's a 1992 French movie about pre-Vietnam Indochina and the life of a woman who owns and runs a rubber plantation there at the end of the French colonial period. It's visually sumptuous but the story-line left me puzzled.
---------------------------
Sunday, 8 April -
Today I planned a trip to the range for tomorrow. I cleaned and re-organized the gun-cleaning gear and my shooting bag and cleaned one of the guns. I had thought I'd also clean the shotgun today but after reviewing the manufacturer's recommendations realized I didn't really need to quite yet. After tomorrow would make more sense.
That afternoon I rode the GS down to Rocky Ridge (via Starbucks, of course) and walked my regular five-mile course.
Today was the last day of my second antibiotics course and I'm feeling better, though not quite back to normal yet.
---------------------------
Saturday, 7 April -
It's Easter weekend so I thought it better to avoid going into town today. Yesterday I made up a list of things I want to look at at Harbor Freight but think I'll hold off for a few days. I'm thinking of adding e-tracks to the ATV trailer so I can use it as a cargo trailer whenever I want. E-tracks are punched-metal tracks which allow you to mount tie-downs where needed. When I had the trailer empty yesterday I planned out where to mount the e-tracks and which sizes to buy.
My decision to stay out of town didn't last long. I realized I could sneak in to the new Starbucks using all back roads on the motorcycle and did that, then walked a bit at Rudy Park.
---------------------------
Friday, 6 April -
This morning I cleaned up the ATV trailer and its contents from the Florida trip and then washed the trailer's exterior. It still had dust from our trip back the Turner River Road in the Big Cypress National Preserve and from my camp in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
The trailer doors have dust seals and they work fine below something like 25 miles per hour. I know this because we drove back the heavily-washboarded Turner River Road to our campsite at Bear Island at 15 to 25 miles per hour and we found no dust inside the trailer as we unloaded the ATV and set up the cots for the night. But when we left the next day we took the turnoff toward Route 29. That put us on road with much less washboard so we sped up to something like 35 miles per hour, raising a lot more dust behind us. When I opened the trailer that evening I saw there was a fine coating of dust on everything. It didn't matter by then because I had dropped off the guys for their flight home that afternoon.
After its wash job the trailer looks great. I removed three of the four footlockers with their sleeping bags, pads, pillows, etc and moved them to our storage unit. I cleaned up all the ATV gear and re-stowed it in the other footlocker and cleaned up the target thrower, deep-cycle battery, and shooting supplies and moved them to Mocha Joe to use next week.
------------------------
Thursday, 5 April -
With another good-weather day I was anxious to get out on the cleaned-up GS today. I took the back way down to the new Starbucks. While there I met two other motorcyclists. They were 'Avery' and 'Skyler', from New York and New Jersey. They were just stopping in at Starbucks on their way back home from a road trip to Skyline Drive. Avery was on a BMW 1200 GS and Skyler a V-strom.
We had a really nice, friendly chat about everything from problems with the bikes to future rides they have planned and other bikes they've owned.
I then stopped in at Action Motorsports for a look around. They have an older ST1100 and at first I thought I might be interested. The tag said it was a 92 and only had 15K miles but the odometer showed 59K. I didn't see much else of interest though I did pause at the TW200's. Now THAT would make more sense than an ATV for my travels.
After lunch at Five Guys in East York I walked over to Dick's and tried the feel of a few shotguns. I really liked the Benelli Super Black Eagle II. As I walked back to the motorcycle I ran into a guy in the parking lot with an ATV on a trailer. He was just walking up to his car so I asked where he rides and told him I'm having a hard time finding a place to ride this time of year (the state forest trails are closed until May 25). He said he mostly rides on private land but said he's surprised how many guys go down to West Virginia to ride. I'll have to look into that.
Back home I did some research on the Benelli gun I thought I'd like but saw reviews suggesting I might be disappointed, both in value and felt-recoil. I also learned they're built by Beretta and after my experience with Beretta customer service in the past, I'm probably not their biggest fan.
I then finished out the day mowing the lawn for a couple of hours. That evening we tried watching a farcical 'reality' film called 'Man Bites Dog' but didn't like it at all and gave up after only 20 minutes or so.
-------------------------
Wednesday, 4 April -
Today we put House2 back on the market. We had signed a deal but when the house didn't appraise as high as it should, the buyer's agent tried to change the deal, insisting his client didn't have cash for closing unless we agreed to additional concessions, some $4000 below the appraised value. Thanks, but no thanks!
Around lunch time I rode down to York for a coffee-and-news run , then came home and washed the ATV and the GS motorcycle. I felt rather slow as I worked and was exhausted by the time I finished the washing and oiled the motorcycle's chain. I did have an 'aha' moment, though. I found a great cleaner for one of the tougher problems. The rear wheel had heavy soiling from chain oil which had been thrown off. I tried several grease cutting detergents without success but then tried an asphalt remover I had picked up at Lowe's. That worked wonderfully. The grease I couldn't get off with detergents came right off in one swipe. And, best of all, the remover didn't affect the painted finish.
-------------------------
Tuesday, 3 April -
What a beautiful day today. I drove Mocha Joe down to Wal-mart in west York for an oil change. While waiting I went to the camera department and asked for 'Elaine'. I had bought a camera from her last summer as we were prepping for our Botswana trip. As we talked I had learned she badly wants to go to Africa and she said she'd love to see our Africa pictures when we return. I had forgotten about it until last week when I found a note on my desk with her name along with titles of several books she had recommended. Elaine had moved to the photo-finishing department. She told me she had, like me, just found a note a few days ago from our conversation of last July. I showed her 35 photos from the trip and she loved them. She considers our both finding the notes from last summer to be a sign that she's supposed follow her life-long dream and to Africa. I hope she does!
After the oil change I drove to the nearby Gander Mountain store and bought a few boxes of shotgun shells and another case of clay targets. My brothers and I had such a great time shooting clay birds at the shotgun range in Ocala National Forest last month and I want to keep it up locally. Hopefully I can find a way to shoot with my brothers again, too.
-------------------------
Monday, 2 April -
This morning I had an appointment for a chest x-ray, still in pursuit of the source of my month-long sickness. Hopefully we'll find I don't have bronchitis.
I spent an hour or so on the web researching automotive battery chargers this morning. I had put the Schumacher charger I bought yesterday on the deep-cycle battery overnight and had been monitoring voltages. On its 'AGM' setting (AGM is the battery type in this case), it charged the battery at 10 amps and 15.5 volts. Once the 'fully-charged' LED lit, the charger switched to a maintenance mode at 13.4 volts. And after I disconnected the charger, the battery settled in on a steady 12.99 volt reading.
When I bought the charger I had seen another one, a 15-amp 'marine' model with an intermediate 10-amp setting. Its packaging said it was for deep cycle batteries. I chose the 10-amp-max model because the Optima batteries web site recommends a maximum of 10 amps for its batteries. I figured I'd be taking a chance with the 15-amp model; I'd eventually forget and leave it on the high setting. But I was curious why the 15-amp model was marketed as a deep-cycle model.
I called Schumacher Tech Support and learned the only differences are the maximum amperage setting and a digital display (vice an LED display). On the 10-amp setting they charge the same. I decided to keep the one I have; there's nothing to be gained by trading up.
That afternoon I rode the GS down to Rocky Ridge for a walk. I felt great at first but faded quickly. I only lasted 45 minutes.
-----------------------------
Sunday, 1 April -
Today was another cool-and-cloudy one. We spent the morning watching Sunday Morning and on the web and then decided we couldn't stand it any more-- we had to get out. We drove in to Chili's in East York for lunch. We LOVE Chili's Max-a-Ritas. Order an El Presidente margarita and then “max-a-rita” it with an additional shot of Commemorativo, Especial, or Patron Silver. We shared shrimp fajitas as we sipped our really-strong drinks.
Afterwards we drove to Wal-mart where we picked up a few little items and I bought a Schumacher 10-amp battery charger for the deep-cycle battery. I'm going to have to take the battery to Chambersburg for Maypo to use on the fishing boat and I want to be sure it's fully charged.
We then went to Lowe's and Labashi looked for gardening stuff. We drove across town to the Tractor Supply looking for a hose cart I had seen on the web but no luck.
Back home I cranked out a blog update and we watched a special about a giant green boa skeleton recently found in Columbia. It lived 60 million years ago and had been 48 feet long (!!!!!!!!!).
“Titanaboa”, indeed.
********** END OF POST *********
(posted from home)
(This post covers 1 – 10 April, 2012)
---------------------------
Tuesday, 10 April -
At mid-morning today I drove Mocha Joe over to West Shore Sportsmen to shoot the squirrel-gun even though it was quite a windy day. I had bought a .22 revolver last fall intending to use it for squirrel hunting but had instead done my hunting with my old .22/20-gauge over-and-under (for various reasons). So today was the first time I've shot this gun.
I had Range 7 to myself and started plinking away at some cool little shoot-n-see targets I had picked up at Wal-mart. The gun worked well but I'm really rusty on my pistol-shooting skills. I need to get out here and practice!
I shot 100 rounds and at least improved by the end of the session. I then headed into town. I went to Gander Mountain to return a shotgun sight, hit the Starbucks in the nearby Target, and then looked around at Dick's, comparing prices for shooting supplies.
That evening we watched 'Tales of the Script', a documentary about Hollywood screenwriters. It gave a less-than-flattering but realistic picture of the screenwriting profession and how things work in Hollywood.
---------------------------
Monday, 9 April -
Around mid-morning today I drove Mocha Joe over to the trap range at West Shore Sportsmen. I assembled and set up the target thrower and its battery well off to the side. This model has a step-trigger which can be extended using an electrical extension cord so I took advantage of that to put the thrower well away from me. Unfortunately, when I started shooting I couldn't hit a thing!
After a box of shells with only one or two hits, I moved closer to and behind the thrower so I'd be shooting more down the flight path of the 'bird'. That made a difference but the biggest difference was just getting my cheek down against the stock and getting a proper sight down the barrel. After settling down, I was typically hitting two to three birds out of each round of five (the shell capacity of the shotgun) and had two four-for-five rounds.
After disassembling and stowing the thrower and cleaning up the range, I hit our local Wal-mart for four boxes of shells then went on down to Gander Mountain for two more boxes of clay targets.
Back home I found myself completely worn out so took a short nap before supper.
That evening we watched 'Indochine' with Catherine Deneuve. It's a 1992 French movie about pre-Vietnam Indochina and the life of a woman who owns and runs a rubber plantation there at the end of the French colonial period. It's visually sumptuous but the story-line left me puzzled.
---------------------------
Sunday, 8 April -
Today I planned a trip to the range for tomorrow. I cleaned and re-organized the gun-cleaning gear and my shooting bag and cleaned one of the guns. I had thought I'd also clean the shotgun today but after reviewing the manufacturer's recommendations realized I didn't really need to quite yet. After tomorrow would make more sense.
That afternoon I rode the GS down to Rocky Ridge (via Starbucks, of course) and walked my regular five-mile course.
Today was the last day of my second antibiotics course and I'm feeling better, though not quite back to normal yet.
---------------------------
Saturday, 7 April -
It's Easter weekend so I thought it better to avoid going into town today. Yesterday I made up a list of things I want to look at at Harbor Freight but think I'll hold off for a few days. I'm thinking of adding e-tracks to the ATV trailer so I can use it as a cargo trailer whenever I want. E-tracks are punched-metal tracks which allow you to mount tie-downs where needed. When I had the trailer empty yesterday I planned out where to mount the e-tracks and which sizes to buy.
My decision to stay out of town didn't last long. I realized I could sneak in to the new Starbucks using all back roads on the motorcycle and did that, then walked a bit at Rudy Park.
---------------------------
Friday, 6 April -
This morning I cleaned up the ATV trailer and its contents from the Florida trip and then washed the trailer's exterior. It still had dust from our trip back the Turner River Road in the Big Cypress National Preserve and from my camp in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
The trailer doors have dust seals and they work fine below something like 25 miles per hour. I know this because we drove back the heavily-washboarded Turner River Road to our campsite at Bear Island at 15 to 25 miles per hour and we found no dust inside the trailer as we unloaded the ATV and set up the cots for the night. But when we left the next day we took the turnoff toward Route 29. That put us on road with much less washboard so we sped up to something like 35 miles per hour, raising a lot more dust behind us. When I opened the trailer that evening I saw there was a fine coating of dust on everything. It didn't matter by then because I had dropped off the guys for their flight home that afternoon.
After its wash job the trailer looks great. I removed three of the four footlockers with their sleeping bags, pads, pillows, etc and moved them to our storage unit. I cleaned up all the ATV gear and re-stowed it in the other footlocker and cleaned up the target thrower, deep-cycle battery, and shooting supplies and moved them to Mocha Joe to use next week.
------------------------
Thursday, 5 April -
With another good-weather day I was anxious to get out on the cleaned-up GS today. I took the back way down to the new Starbucks. While there I met two other motorcyclists. They were 'Avery' and 'Skyler', from New York and New Jersey. They were just stopping in at Starbucks on their way back home from a road trip to Skyline Drive. Avery was on a BMW 1200 GS and Skyler a V-strom.
We had a really nice, friendly chat about everything from problems with the bikes to future rides they have planned and other bikes they've owned.
I then stopped in at Action Motorsports for a look around. They have an older ST1100 and at first I thought I might be interested. The tag said it was a 92 and only had 15K miles but the odometer showed 59K. I didn't see much else of interest though I did pause at the TW200's. Now THAT would make more sense than an ATV for my travels.
After lunch at Five Guys in East York I walked over to Dick's and tried the feel of a few shotguns. I really liked the Benelli Super Black Eagle II. As I walked back to the motorcycle I ran into a guy in the parking lot with an ATV on a trailer. He was just walking up to his car so I asked where he rides and told him I'm having a hard time finding a place to ride this time of year (the state forest trails are closed until May 25). He said he mostly rides on private land but said he's surprised how many guys go down to West Virginia to ride. I'll have to look into that.
Back home I did some research on the Benelli gun I thought I'd like but saw reviews suggesting I might be disappointed, both in value and felt-recoil. I also learned they're built by Beretta and after my experience with Beretta customer service in the past, I'm probably not their biggest fan.
I then finished out the day mowing the lawn for a couple of hours. That evening we tried watching a farcical 'reality' film called 'Man Bites Dog' but didn't like it at all and gave up after only 20 minutes or so.
-------------------------
Wednesday, 4 April -
Today we put House2 back on the market. We had signed a deal but when the house didn't appraise as high as it should, the buyer's agent tried to change the deal, insisting his client didn't have cash for closing unless we agreed to additional concessions, some $4000 below the appraised value. Thanks, but no thanks!
Around lunch time I rode down to York for a coffee-and-news run , then came home and washed the ATV and the GS motorcycle. I felt rather slow as I worked and was exhausted by the time I finished the washing and oiled the motorcycle's chain. I did have an 'aha' moment, though. I found a great cleaner for one of the tougher problems. The rear wheel had heavy soiling from chain oil which had been thrown off. I tried several grease cutting detergents without success but then tried an asphalt remover I had picked up at Lowe's. That worked wonderfully. The grease I couldn't get off with detergents came right off in one swipe. And, best of all, the remover didn't affect the painted finish.
-------------------------
Tuesday, 3 April -
What a beautiful day today. I drove Mocha Joe down to Wal-mart in west York for an oil change. While waiting I went to the camera department and asked for 'Elaine'. I had bought a camera from her last summer as we were prepping for our Botswana trip. As we talked I had learned she badly wants to go to Africa and she said she'd love to see our Africa pictures when we return. I had forgotten about it until last week when I found a note on my desk with her name along with titles of several books she had recommended. Elaine had moved to the photo-finishing department. She told me she had, like me, just found a note a few days ago from our conversation of last July. I showed her 35 photos from the trip and she loved them. She considers our both finding the notes from last summer to be a sign that she's supposed follow her life-long dream and to Africa. I hope she does!
After the oil change I drove to the nearby Gander Mountain store and bought a few boxes of shotgun shells and another case of clay targets. My brothers and I had such a great time shooting clay birds at the shotgun range in Ocala National Forest last month and I want to keep it up locally. Hopefully I can find a way to shoot with my brothers again, too.
-------------------------
Monday, 2 April -
This morning I had an appointment for a chest x-ray, still in pursuit of the source of my month-long sickness. Hopefully we'll find I don't have bronchitis.
I spent an hour or so on the web researching automotive battery chargers this morning. I had put the Schumacher charger I bought yesterday on the deep-cycle battery overnight and had been monitoring voltages. On its 'AGM' setting (AGM is the battery type in this case), it charged the battery at 10 amps and 15.5 volts. Once the 'fully-charged' LED lit, the charger switched to a maintenance mode at 13.4 volts. And after I disconnected the charger, the battery settled in on a steady 12.99 volt reading.
When I bought the charger I had seen another one, a 15-amp 'marine' model with an intermediate 10-amp setting. Its packaging said it was for deep cycle batteries. I chose the 10-amp-max model because the Optima batteries web site recommends a maximum of 10 amps for its batteries. I figured I'd be taking a chance with the 15-amp model; I'd eventually forget and leave it on the high setting. But I was curious why the 15-amp model was marketed as a deep-cycle model.
I called Schumacher Tech Support and learned the only differences are the maximum amperage setting and a digital display (vice an LED display). On the 10-amp setting they charge the same. I decided to keep the one I have; there's nothing to be gained by trading up.
That afternoon I rode the GS down to Rocky Ridge for a walk. I felt great at first but faded quickly. I only lasted 45 minutes.
-----------------------------
Sunday, 1 April -
Today was another cool-and-cloudy one. We spent the morning watching Sunday Morning and on the web and then decided we couldn't stand it any more-- we had to get out. We drove in to Chili's in East York for lunch. We LOVE Chili's Max-a-Ritas. Order an El Presidente margarita and then “max-a-rita” it with an additional shot of Commemorativo, Especial, or Patron Silver. We shared shrimp fajitas as we sipped our really-strong drinks.
Afterwards we drove to Wal-mart where we picked up a few little items and I bought a Schumacher 10-amp battery charger for the deep-cycle battery. I'm going to have to take the battery to Chambersburg for Maypo to use on the fishing boat and I want to be sure it's fully charged.
We then went to Lowe's and Labashi looked for gardening stuff. We drove across town to the Tractor Supply looking for a hose cart I had seen on the web but no luck.
Back home I cranked out a blog update and we watched a special about a giant green boa skeleton recently found in Columbia. It lived 60 million years ago and had been 48 feet long (!!!!!!!!!).
“Titanaboa”, indeed.
********** END OF POST *********
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