Chevy Volt & Government Lunacy!

Eric Bolling (Fox Business Channel's Follow the Money) test drove the Chevy Volt at the invitation of General Motors.

For four days in a row, the fully charged battery lasted only 25 miles before the Volt switched to the reserve gasoline engine. Eric calculated the car got 30 mpg including the 25 miles it ran on the battery.

So, the range including the 9 gallon gas tank and the 16 kwh battery is approximately 270 miles. It will take you 4 1/2 hours to drive 270 miles at 60 mph. Then add 10 hours to charge the battery and you have a total trip time of 14.5 hours.

In a typical road trip your average speed (including charging time) would be 20 mph.

According to General Motors, the Volt battery hold 16 kwh of electricity. It takes a full 10 hours to charge a drained battery. The cost for the electricity to charge the Volt is never mentioned so I looked up what I pay for electricity. I pay approximately (it varies with amount used and the seasons) $1.16 per kwh.

16 kwh x $1.16 per kwh = $18.56 to charge the battery.

$18.56 per charge divided by 25 miles = $0.74 per mile to operate the Volt using the battery.

Compare this to a similar size car with a gasoline engine only that gets 32 mpg. $3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.

The gasoline powered car cost about $15,000 while the Volt costs $46,000.........

So Government wants us to pay 3 times as much, for a car that costs more than 7 times as much to run, and takes 3 times longer to drive across country..... REALLY ?????

Real American Hero

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It's November 11, 1967. LZ (landing zone) X-ray. Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you realize that this is the day. Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter. You look up to see a Huey coming in. But.. It doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it. Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway. Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back !! 13 more times!! Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm. He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey. Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed "Too Tall" Freeman, United States Air Force, died August 20, 2008 at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho.

God bless his soul.

My EDC Gear

One of the hot topics these days within the concealed carry community is your EDC, or Every Day Carry, gear. With everyone posting to theirs blogs and making videos covering their EDC gear, I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon and post mine, as well!

Firearm (CCW)
To start out with, I never leave home without my Smith & Wesson M&P9c in my N82 Tactical holster. In my (sometimes) humble opinion, being an armed citizen is not only a Constitutional Right but a duty. That's not to say I'm looking for trouble, of course. Quite the contrary! My legally-obtained pistol license is NOT a badge. I'll remove myself from trouble whenever possible. However, the presence of my firearm gives me an advantageous last resort if/when evil thrusts itself into my life. Anyway, I digress...

Knife
Second, in my left pocket is my trusty Kershaw Leek. I'm not a knife guy and won't try to pretend to be one here, but I LOVE this knife! It serves me perfectly!

Flashlight
I don't think anyone should leave their homes without a good light source. My EDC flashlight is 4Sevens Quark AA² Tactical R5. Yeah, it's a bit long, using two AA batteries, but that's exactly what I like about it. AA batteries can be found anywhere!

To round out the package, add my wallet, keys, and iPhone and you've got my EDC gear!

S&W M&P9c & Ammo

My much anticipated defense weapon is the Smith & Wesson M&P9c. The M&P9c is designed to be a concealed weapon, either by law enforcement or military as a backup weapon or by private citizens as their concealed carry weapon. It is mine and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

The defensive ammunition I carry is Speer 147 grain Gold Dot. (See picture below.) This is the ammo that most law enforcement departments issue so I figured if it's good enough for them to depend on then it's good enough for me to depend on.

I hope never to be forced to use my gun in a defensive situation but I sure am glad I live in a country where I have the opportunity to protect myself should I need to do so.

Steve, I'm Back!!!

Those of you who now me know I've been dying for a new iPhone since my iPhone 3G was stolen in January 2010. At the time, AT&T was the only US carrier that offered the iPhone but our service with AT&T was so lousy at home I couldn't see continuing service with them. Verizon had the best service at home so that's where we went. To make a already long story shorter, I hate my Verizon DROID X!!! It froze, crashed, rebooted multiple times a day for the last 7-8 months! I can finally announce, after TWO LONG YEARS, I have an Apple device back in my pocket! That's right … I (along with my wife) have an iPhone 4S! YEAH!!!

And the Winner Is ... REVISED!!!

My constant struggle with which new handgun to purchase has been driving me nuts. So much so that I've decided to make a FINAL decision. I'm happy to announce that is exactly what I've done. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, I have had to reevaluate not only my choices for a handgun, but even the criteria I used to determine the winner. Thus, my new criteria is focused on home defense and concealed carry and less on competition. I've also had some concerns about safety with five children in the house.

Although I will be proactive in not allowing my kids access to a loaded firearm and training them on proper safe gun handling techniques, I still want as many safety barriers as practical. A gun with manual thumb safety sounds like a smart idea safety move, however, it isn't practical if/when I need the gun in a hurry. My choice for a defensive pistol is a firearm I had previously considered but dismissed it on grounds that it wouldn't adequately fulfill my competition needs. However, it fulfills my newly established criteria perfectly!

So my FINAL choice for a defensive pistol is none other than the Smith & Wesson M&P-9c. The S & W is small enough to conceal yet, with it's 12+1 capacity, it is perfectly capable of handling just about any social situation!

The Pros & The Cons

I've caught the nasty cold that has been running through our household and, as a result, I can't breathe while in the prone position. So I'm up WAY TOO EARLY this morning and thought I'd make use of the time. As I've previously mentioned I've narrowed my choices for a defensive handgun down to three choices, the Glock 19, Springfield XD(m)-9 3.8 Compact and the Beretta Px-4 Compact. I've already stated my needs in a previous post so I won't revisit that here. I thought I'd lay out the pros and cons for each gun to help me work this out so let's get started!

Often referred to by Glock haters as "firearm tupperware", the Glock has built the most solid reputation for reliability of any other firearms manufacturer in the world. Being in the same size range as the other two competitors in my selection for a EDC weapon, the Glock 19 sits right in between the G17 and G26. The G17 is simply too large for concealed carry and the G26 doesn't have the bullet capacity I'm looking for in a home defense weapon. Honestly, it isn't the prettiest handgun ever designed but I can't ignore it's reputation.

Even with it's sexier appearance, Springfield's XD(m)-9 3.8 Compact is gaining the reputation of being the "new Glock" in reliability. I'm not sure it has yet gained that title as the G19 has had decades of use and abuse in front of it. It is a better looking firearm than the Glock but it's not been put through the rigorous testing and countless hours of use as the G19.

The Beretta Px-4 Compact is the most attractive of the three finalists. There is something about the look of this gun that really stirs me up. And even though it's been available longer than the XDm, it has not gained the attention of the gun-buying public. I can't find many reviews on the Compact version that go beyond initial impressions. However, Beretta isn't exactly a no-name in the firearms industry either. I guess 400+ years of gun building helps to get the word out about you! Their reputation alone keeps the Px-4 Compact in the running with me.

So there you have it. I'd honestly like to buy each of these guns next month but the finances just won't allow it. So I have a decision to make. Do I go with the proven reliability of the G19, the hot 'new kid on the block' XDm-9 or the uber-sexy Px-4? I'm still undecided but if I had to make the decision today, I'd have to fall back on Glock's reliability.