6/2/09 Oh There Ain't Nothing Wrong With The Radio!

Ohhhh, guess what I got installed today!?! It's my snazzy new car stereo/CD player/radio/Mp3 Bluetooth in-dash thingamajigger-bob! (Something tells me that that wasn't the same official description the Best Buy used, but close enough).

See, about a week ago (and almost exactly 6 months after the warranty ran out-grrrrr!), my factory-installed car stereo from Chrysler suddenly and inexplicably bit the dust. (With quality craftsmanship like that, who can explain why that company is going bankrupt?) And not only did did it go kaput, but it also did it while holding my favorite mix CD of the moment hostage. (I know this because I had just created said CD, and carefully labeled it "Favorite Mix CD of the Moment" with my little black Sharpie). And I begged, and I pleaded, and I cajoled, but the stereo was dead, and worse, it was determined to take my Favorite Mix CD with it in its dastardly murder-suicide.

Well humph.

So I hightailed it over to the local Extreme Car Audio Players That Are Guaranteed To Rupture Your Eardrums Or Your Money Back Warehouse, and I told them all about my evil stereo and its innocent CD hostage, and they pushed a button or two and declared the whole thing a loss. But for around $800, they could install a lovely new Eardrum Rupturing System, complete with woofers and tweeters and bubble-gum eaters, guaranteed to cause instant and total hearing loss if I should so choose. And I was like, "Let me think about it".

And then I ran away.

But the fact remained that it was still eerily quiet in my car, and for some weird reason my singing sounded worse without radio backup, so I popped over to BestBuy.com to see what they had for me in the less than $800 and permanent hearing loss range. And lo and behold! There was a stereo (they call them car audio decks) on sale, and just waiting for me. And it has 4500 band something-or-others, and 95 hertz-a-thingies, and hands free bluetooth widgit-a-bobs, and best of all, the buttons have a pretty blue light behind them (which we all know is the real reason I bought it). So Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

And it showed up, and I ran it over to the nearest Best Buy, and the Geek Squad installed it for me, lickity-split. (Of course, they also charged me for a harness kit, and an antennae connector kit, and a deck-to-dash installation kit, but install was fast and since I hadn't figured out how to open the box, much less get the new stereo installed, I suppose the whole thing was worth it).

And now! Ohhhh it is soooo pretty! It plays the radio, and CDs (I had to play my Favorite Mix CD of two Moments Ago...sadly, Favorite Mix CD of the Moment was declared DOA), and it wirelessly finds my PDA and plays songs from my MP3 playlist, and it even calls people on the phone for me. (I suspect it also does my taxes and gives chair massages, but I haven't gotten that far into the instruction manual yet). And the blue glow! Did I mention the pretty blue glow behind the buttons? It's very StarTrek meets blue lava lamp. Intimidating yet soothing at the same time.

So if you pass me on the street, and I'm warbling along with the radio and making hands-free phone calls while bathed in a soft blue glow, you'll know what's going on. It's just me playing with my new in-dash thingamajigger-bob.