Back to the grind

Memorial Day weekend in the CTone family was spent with the little ones at Virginia Beach. We all had a blast, and it was a lot of work. Keeping three toddlers out of trouble was interesting to say the least, but it was worth it:



I saw on Drudge last night that it was mayhem in Miami, Myrtle Beach, Boston, and other touristy coastal venues over the weekend. Not so at VAB. It was certainly crowded, but everybody was super nice. My wife and I managed to keep the kids busy, and not hang out in the hotel. Since my laptop died on the first morning we were there, I had to find out via trial-and-error whether the VAB Zoo and the VAB Aquarium were Gun Free Victim Pastures; they were not. It was a comforting thing too; the VAB Zoo is not in a friendly part of town, and some parts of the Hampton Roads area is sketchy.

I was pleased that my trusty Kel-Tec didn't rust at all while sitting in my bag on the sand. Not that I thought I would need it, but it was nice to know it was there. My shiny new Spyderco Pacific Salt with its H1 steel was the perfect folding blade for the weekend as well. It rode faithfully in my swim trunks in the ocean every day, and got rinsed off passively in the highly chlorinated hotel pool; a pretty harsh environment all around for a piece of steel. On the last evening we were there, I finally rinsed off all the crunchy sand it had accumulated in the sink at the hotel, and there wasn't a hint of corrosion. Last night I put it on a stone for the first time to get rid of the factory edge, and it honed up well. Mike Janich had mentioned that H1 steel work hardens, and that over time as you sharpen it the edge will get better and better. I was amazed at how sharp it got last night on my first try, and it didn't take long. Not just hair popping, but face shaving sharp. Just the ticket for an EDC blade that does a great deal of light work:



I haven't put it into anything tough yet, but it slices through carboard just fine, and works great at making PB&J sandwiches.

I'm still waiting on the barrel for my MK12 Mod 0 build, and I owe a picture of how that's going. I'll do that tonight if I have a chance. I am also now on the hunt for a computer that lasts more than a month or two. My dead ASUS that had fried its last hard drive will soon meet its fate to the tune of a box or two of shotgun shells and some gasoline and matches. Maybe I'll take some pictures of that too.