Hello from Ocala, FL

entropy1049

entropy1049

Private
Minuteman
Jul 3, 2021
15
32
Ocala, FL
#1
Hi there-

My name’s Mike; I enjoy precision pistol shooting, mid-range PRS, antique military long arms, long walks on the beach, and wine with smooth jazz down by the fire. Last two not really.

Looking forward to absorbing info on how to stretch my shooting lane out a bit.

Cheers-
Mike
 
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#4
entropy1049 said:
We lived in the Tampa area (Riverview) for a brief bit a few years ago. Traffic any better?😂👍
Click to expand...

I'm just north of Tampa in Pasco County. The traffic is a lot worse, actually, due to all the sub divisions being built. They've undergone a project to double the lanes on the main drag near my development but, by the time they finish, they'll need to triple them with the new sub-divisions. Ugghhh. And goodness knows how the utilities, etc. are going to keep up (Water/Sewer/Electricity etc.).
 
#5
Fx51LP308 said:
I'm just north of Tampa in Pasco County. The traffic is a lot worse, actually, due to all the sub divisions being built. They've undergone a project to double the lanes on the main drag near my development but, by the time they finish, they'll need to triple them with the new sub-divisions. Ugghhh. And goodness knows how the utilities, etc. are going to keep up (Water/Sewer/Electricity etc.).
Click to expand...
I always thought that based on the gridlocked traffic, the infrastructure has to be strained to the limit as well.

With this housing boom and the state population exploding, the Tampa area has to be on the brink of chaos. Here in Ocala, last year if I walked around my house in my end of our nearly new sub-division I could count three homes within my view. Then the housing boom. About six months ago I lost count at 25 now in my field of view. It’s probably doubled since then, all in various stages of construction. I believe the developer has decided to put homes on every vacant lot. I’ve been told that currently the average time a newly listed house stays on the market is six or seven days.

Hurray for more people! 😑
 
#6
entropy1049 said:
I always thought that based on the gridlocked traffic, the infrastructure has to be strained to the limit as well.

With this housing boom and the state population exploding, the Tampa area has to be on the brink of chaos. Here in Ocala, last year if I walked around my house in my end of our nearly new sub-division I could count three homes within my view. Then the housing boom. About six months ago I lost count at 25 now in my field of view. It’s probably doubled since then, all in various stages of construction. I believe the developer has decided to put homes on every vacant lot. I’ve been told that currently the average time a newly listed house stays on the market is six or seven days.

Hurray for more people! 😑
Click to expand...

I'm actually familiar with the general Ocala area, due to my cave diving in places like "Zuber Sink" (40 fathom grotto) and in nearby Williston (Blue Grotto and Devil's Den...). I did my ANDP at 40 fathom. Got down to 141ft.
 
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#7
entropy1049 said:
We lived in the Tampa area (Riverview) for a brief bit a few years ago. Traffic any better?😂👍
Click to expand...

Riverview is awful and keeps getting worse. There's almost no gap all the way down to Sun City now.
Thankfully, I live on the east edge of Fishawk and a lot of the areas now have buffer zones of woods and creeks. Not only does it separate the subdivisions, but it's protecting the watersheds.

Still too damn many people
 
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#8
Mike Casselton said:
Riverview is awful and keeps getting worse. There's almost no gap all the way down to Sun City now.
Thankfully, I live on the east edge of Fishawk and a lot of the areas now have buffer zones of woods and creeks. Not only does it separate the subdivisions, but it's protecting the watersheds.

Still too damn many people
Click to expand...
We lived on what used to be the very southern part of Riverview near 301/Big Bend Road. When we left in ‘18 you could feel the sprawl on the way to Sun City. I can’t imagine what a toilet it is now. Riverview was becoming South Brandon, which makes it basically the Seventh Circle of Hell, IMHO. I was a happy boy to get out of there.
 
#9
Construction on 301 all the way south of 674.
New houses are built and being built right up against Wimauma on 674.
Rhodine rd is nothing but houses all the way to Balm.
It's spreading like a plague.
I'm ready to move back to SD or ID or even WY/MT, but prices are soaring there too.

People need to stop having kids. 😂
 
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#23
Mike Casselton said:
How was the shooting this morning?
Looks like you might have had an hour and a half before the rain came down.
Click to expand...
We got a late start out of Ocala and had rain most of the way down to the I-75 / 275 split. The radar didn't look good for JTAC so we decided to go to Shooters World in Tampa instead. We will try JTAC again in a couple weeks. Next weekend I am taking two first time shooters to the shooting range at the Ocala National Forest. Gulp. I rarely go there, I may have been there six times. I am however looking forward to taking them. Both are in their mid 20's and one is a young lady, a fellow Engineer, who is somewhat anti-gun. I was surprised when she asked me if I would take her shooting.
 
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#25
Mike Casselton said:
Sorry your trip didn't work out.
Taking new shooters out can be scary but if you can get that young lady to see what we know, it's a total win.
Fingers crossed the weather will be better next time you try and come down.
Hopefully we can meet up then.
Click to expand...
The scary part is going to the public range, there is a terrible lack of safety discipline. I have taken 4 other first time shooters out there because an indoor range can be a little much with the noise. What I have done in the past is assign them a safety rule video by John Lovell and then they come to my house where we discuss the rules and I teach them how to hold and operate the guns so they are not trying to learn it around other people with all the noise. Then we go to the range and I load only one round at a time in the magazine. This method seems to work very well and they have a good time. One of the four first timers ended up buying their first gun.

Yes, we will catch up the next time. Looking forward to it.
 
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