in what i believe to be the conclusion of my search for the best 9mm carry pistol, i purchased a new smith & wesson m&p9c yesterday. it fits my hand very well, offers quite manageable felt recoil, features a good compromise between capacity (12 + 1) and size/weight, and well, it’s a smith & wesson, world renowned for their quality and customer service.

i cleaned it this morning, and armed with a variety of ammo types, i went off to the range. 212 rounds later, with flawless performance and no failures of any kind, i am quite pleased with my choice. while perhaps not quite as accurate as my sig p6 or s&w 5906, i did very well considering it’s shorter 3.5″ barrel, and the fact that this was my first outing. i can imagine i’ll improve with time.

cleaning went smoothly, as the gun comes apart fairly easily, and went back together without a hitch.

just as a comparison, i took this shot comparing it to my “j” frame revolver, which i’m not nearly as accurate. just slightly larger, with more than double the capacity.

and this was the best group at 5 yards. interestingly enough, the magazine without the finger rest permed as well as the one with the finger rest.

next purchase, additional magazines and a holster…

i don’t normally post about the politics of firearms - after all, i believe the 2nd amendment protects the right of american citizens to keep and bear arms. but i just had to post about this, because i can’t count the number of times i’ve gone into my local starbucks armed. interestingly enough, the first firearm i saw open-carried here in phoenix was at my local starbucks.

i have faith that starbucks won’t cave, because i’d be hard-pressed to decide between the two.

thanks to snowflakes in hell for the heads up.

and really, is that a cool starbucks logo, or what! i want to make them into arm patches only i’d change the question mark to something more appropriate.

i stopped by the range today and rented a smith & wesson m&p9. of all the polymer framed pistols i’ve tried, this one is by far the best fit. it was well balanced, featured very manageable recoil, quite accurate, and offers high capacity magazines. i liked it a lot more than the glock.

the center target was at 5 yards, the lower left at 7 yards, and the lower right at 10 yards. that’s about how well i can expect to shoot my s&w 5906 or sig p9, so the gun is more accurate than me.

while i was there, i handled a smith & wesson m&p9c, which is the smaller carry version. while i didn’t have the opportunity to fire it, the fit to my hand was actually better than the full size version. that may very well be my next firearm purchase.

i picked up a copy of with the beatles from bookmans yesterday for $8.00 used. actually, meet the beatles was the first beatles album that my older sister and i purchased way back in the 60’s. i couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years old. for my next birthday, i got the beatles 2nd album as a gift.

interestingly enough, “with the beatles” is kind of a mixture of the two, but really brings me back across space and time. every note of these songs is permanently etched in my mind. indeed, one of my first memories is sitting on my daddy’s lap watching the beatles’ first american tv performance on the ed sullivan show.

for what it’s worth, i believe the beatles were the best musical group ever. best rock band. best pop band. best songwriters. best singers (well, paul mccartney, anyway). though back in the day, john was my favorite, probably because he was a bit more gritty than paul.

oddly enough, the official beatles web site only lists “with the beatles” on their albums page.

i have a pretty good collection of beatles cd’s, and this one makes a great addition.

we tried this “yours and mine” stuff last week on a whim. while it lubricates ok, i seem to have had a bad reaction to something in the formula. i became pretty sore by the next day, and today, a week later, i’ve made a doctor’s appointment. i’ll spare you the details, other than to say that i haven’t had to make a doctor’s appointment other than for an annual physical in years.

so for those who have sensitive skin like me, i’d avoid this stuff at all costs. what’s weird is i use the regular ky stuff for dilating all the time with no issues.

what was even more disappointing is that the nurse practitioner who was wonderful, no longer works at my doctor’s office.

i came across this pink pistol on the sti website. it’s available in 9mm for a mere $1369.74 msrp. i must have it.

ya gotta love xkcd.

so much for on demand :/

we have joined the 21st century. we now have digital tv. so, you know, over 100 more channels of stuff we’ll never watch. on the up side, we now have on-demand, and logo.

i watched the pilot of caprica today. i didn’t think i would like it based on the previews i’ve seen, but i thought i’d give it a try. i was pleasantly surprised. it showed a believable beginning to the creation of the cylons, how they download and transfer consciousness, and even bill adama as a boy. some other nice surprises as well. if the series is as good as the pilot, i can imagine following this series.