Updates

Another Milestone!

We just passed 900 fans on Facebook!  Thank you so much! When dealing with advertisers, suppliers, and other organizations, FB fans is an important number.  I haven't been getting much out here on the blog lately, but I try to share a news story or a cool picture or something everyday on FB.  If you are not already a fan there, please consider doing so.  I also post on FB whenever I have a new post up here on the blog.


Car Troubles

About three months ago, I sold my Honda Element.  It was very cool, and did everything I could need, but it just didn't fit my body for my 2+ hours a day I spend commuting.  I had gone back to my 11 year old Dodge pickup.  Stick shift, manual windows, 2 wheel drive,V6, A/C had been broken for two years... nothing fancy at all, just very reliable and pretty comfortable to drive.  Thursday morning last week, the engine blew with 175,000 miles on it.  I just can't see dropping several thousand dollars to get a $1,500 dollar truck back on the road.  Starting Friday after work, my wife and I went car shopping.  The objective was a late model, low mileage, AWD or 4WD, car/SUV/Crossover/PU, under $20K - and it had to be automatic with cruise control and comfortable for me to drive - no compromise on those last two.

Saturday morning, it was snowy and sleety here, and I had to be at my new gun club for new member orientation and safety briefing.  My wife had another obligation in town.  I fired up the EMP-BOV 72 Jeep Commando and went on out.  No heater and a soft top, but it did great... just not suitable for commuting to work (maybe in the summer...) Over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we went to five or six dealerships, sat in over a dozen vehicles and test drove about six of them.  Sunday afternoon found us at a Kia dealer looking at a used Soul.  It had pretty high mileage for the year, and had a very funky smell to it.  The dealer worked with us and got us into a 2013 Soul+, that met all of my criteria, except it wasn't used and it is front wheel drive.  As small as the Soul is, I'm a pretty good sized dude, and it fits me just fine.  Very comfortable seating, no odd angles or protuberances into my knee or shoulder, and pretty peppy.  I had a Kia Spectra several years ago and was very impressed with how it held up.  5yr/60k mile bumper to bumper and 100k mile powertrain warranty shows they stand behind their products.  It has all kinds of cubbies and storage, so my GHB and emergency kits are already in place.  It is also getting almost twice the gas mileage of my truck.  It's not AWD, but really, around here, front wheel drive will get me through 99% of what I need to be driving in.  If you are in the market for something to commute in, check out the Soul.


Slingin' Lead

As mentioned above, we just joined a gun club.  It's very nice, catering mostly to skeet and trap shooters, but they have several nice rifle and pistol ranges too.  I was a member years ago when it was an Issac Walton League facility, but it is privately owned now.  They require all new members to take a four hour safety class.  Three hours is the NRA home firearms safety course, and the last hour is range rules and regulations.  In Va. the NRA course will count for a concealed weapon permit, so that is a nice feature for new members who don't have a permit.

Once it warms up, I want to shoot some shooting videos for the YouTube channel, and take some non-shooting friends and family just to show them how much fun and "unscary" guns can be.


Suppressor Info

Our friends at Liberty Suppressors have just released this video that goes over the pros and cons of "can" ownership.  Very informative.  Link to YouTube video


Coming Up

We've got a guest post from a reader that I'll get out later this week.  If you have a particular interest or skill that you want to share, please email me a guest post.  I'd love to get it out to our readers.

When I went down to weekly posts in January, I mentioned some new ventures that I am working on that will take a lot of time.  One of those is pretty big, and I hope to be able to share it with you by the end of the week.  Stay tuned!