Thursday, January 22, 2009

Review: SureFire E2D LED Defender Flashlight

With financial institutions in a mess and a ton of reward points sitting in my American Express account, I decided to redeem some of those points for a niffty high-end flashlight called the SureFire E2D LED Defender.



It's a compact (personal-size) flashlight that's powered by 2 CR123A lithium batteries...and it is BRIGHT!!! It puts my three D-cell Maglite flashlight to shame.

The E2D LED Defender has 2 light settings - high @ 120 lumens and low @ 5 lumens. It's called the Defender because at 120 lumens you can temporarily blind an aggressor or at least convince him to back off with a strong dose of that intense beam of light. And if that is not enough, the Defender's bezel and tailcap have these sharp teeth (see picture below) that can be used as a weapon for striking or digging into a body part (such as the hand or face).



The E2D LED Defender is made of aerospace-grade aluminum which gives it a nice weight/feel in the hand and will probably last a long long time. Plus, SureFire has an impressive no-hassle guarantee on their products.

My only complaint with the Defender is the placement of the pocket clip. I'm not entirely sure that it's all that useful; and when holding the flashlight, the clip gets in the way of properly gripping it tight in one's fist.

The SureFire E2D LED Defender is certainly not cheap. MSRP is $149 (though you can get if for less at Amazon.com). It's roughly 5 times the cost of the Maglite mentioned above, but is probably worth the price if you need a compact self-defense flashlight.

I'm keeping the Maglite, but the SureFire is an impressive flashlight.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Best Wishes, President Obama

Whether you voted for him or not, best wishes to President Obama.

Here's hoping he does a kick ass job, because:
1) the US is in a financial crisis (just look at the financial institutions, auto-makers and all the job losses in the past year alone),

2) the US is fighting a war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and

3) President Obama now represents all minorities as he is the first to hold the Office of the President of the United States. If President Obama succeeds, it opens the door for countless others as they seek 'the highest office in the land'. The old boy network will not be able to say Obama failed and thus cast that shadow on other minorities also running/aspiring for greater & better things.

Run by a Bunch of Monkeys

Seriously folks.....is our government (Federal, State and Local) run by a bunch of monkeys? Or are we the monkeys for letting a small group of people (with NO common sense) ruin our cities, the states and the nation?

No State Tax Refunds

If you overpaid on your taxes, you should get your refund! Period...end of story. But that isn't the case in the Republik of Kalifornia. Our legislators just want to spend spend spend and is loathe to make any changes to the Republik's budget to face the reality that spending cuts are needed.

At a time when the individual taxpayers need the refunds, our legislators just don't get it. Prioritize the fucking items that need to be funded; then start cutting (i.e., stop funding) the items that either don't make the list or are on the bottom of the list until the budget is balanced.

Oh....and since we are in a financial mess, DO NOT raise our taxes because you are unable or unwilling to make the hard choices. If you cannot do your job, step down and let someone more capable do it.

PS - Don't even get me started on the bailout the Feds are giving to the banks...not to also mention the government is even contemplating reducing the principal for people who cannot afford their mortgage payments.

End of rant.

Friday, January 16, 2009

I'm Back...and Still Looking for Good Baked Pork Chop Rice

My apologies for being away for so LONG! Life has a way of making things busy with work and family.

BUT....I'm back and still on my search for the ultimate baked pork chop rice.

Going forward, expect to see reviews and general sh*t that I either find interesting or crazy stupid.

Wishing everyone the best for 2009!

-Baked Pork Chop Guy