April 09, 2003 : installing a hillbilly engineered stereo

That's especially for my father. He's the king of making something work which might not work otherwise. If you could only see the cab he made for his last tractor which made it warm in the winter and with the doors-off, cool in the summer. He made self-closing gates with pulleys and levers and the famous arm-rest out of wood for my Geo Metro. (by the way, dad, can we have the rights to make a new one for Lil' Debbie? Or maybe I can send you the dimensions and you can make one for us. But it needs to be painted brown instead of the silver/gray interior of the Metro.)

Today I woke up a bit late. Not quite as early as what I previously told Eva. (our little secret) In the afternoon, as I was burning daylight, I hopped on my bike, headed to the bank, and then headed into town to MediaMarkt. I had come up with the plan of taking a set of computer speakers and fixing them in our car somehow and running the power out of the cigarette lighter. That way we could plug in any sort of player into the speakers, mp3 player, radio, cd player, mp3-cd player...etc. I actually think it might even take a microphone! (But that's a little ridiculous!)

Well at MediaMarkt, I tested and listened. I bargain hunted and shopped around. I was the silly person in front of the speakers comparing one to the other as if they all sound really different. (I wasn't getting out of the 20 Euro range) Finally I chose one and took it along with my cigarette-lighter-power-adapter and paid. I rode home as fast as I could so I could install my hillbilly-engineered stereo system.

For right now I've duct-taped the speakers (they are a very flat model, perfect for this use) to the extreme corners of the car dashboard and the wires are hidden behind the plastic undercover of the dash. Everything comes together in a little piece that sits in the ash-tray and the player of choice sits conveniently in the spot where a radio would ordinarily go.

It's way cool. And was only 35 Euro complete with installation. :)

Eva called to let me know she was at the station but begged for me to let her come home to use the toilet before we headed to get groceries. I told her there was no way I was letting her go to the bathroom before I showed her my surprise. I picked her up and as soon as she sat down she grinned from ear to ear. The sound? Well it's nearly perfect. Now we only want to paint the speakers brown to go with our interior and attach them in a more fashionable manner. Regardless, this less-permanent manner will work for now. Let me assure you that music and cars are not really THAT important, but this opens yet another realm of new roadtripping possibilities. Cool.

At Carrefours we had a perfect shopping adventure which included a couple of birthday treats--nacho cheese dip and tiger nuts. We also found out that my adapter that I bought today was cheaper there than MediaMarkt. I wouldn't have thought it possible, as MM has been the absolute cheapest by far in all of our price-comparisons to date. We're half-way convinced we should return it and pocket the 7 Euro difference. (We won't. We're too happy with our current radio set-up with also doubles as a phone-charger and flash-light plugin!)

At home Eva began counting down the hours until my birthday. I told her there was still another several hours after it turned the correct time here, but she'd hear nothing of it. I busied myself making dinner (steak and veggie casserole with broccoli and cream sauce) while Eva napped on the couch. It ended up being the best casserole we've had yet. (I don't know whether to believe her in light of last week's Del Haize episode, but she looked convincing when she said "it's delicious!")

After dinner I had decaf coffee and she had herbal tea, she took a shower and I did dishes, and then we listened to the news on the BBC radio about how the Coalition troops had basically taken over Baghdad. Looting and such and Iraqis yelling, "Bush! Bush!" in praise. I'm still torn, to be honest. It's one thing to help out a people, but it's another to enter and destroy a country in the cover of saving your own.

So as the minutes click down to b-day, historic events have transpired, not only today but in the course of a year. I suppose I'll continue it for another round in the great 27th year. I'm sure it will be a great one. In the words of my dossier for the project of "the 26th year" I have promised myself that this year will be a year of doing, and it has already seen a productive beginning. This project is the umbrella, just as labels, holidays, literature, and facts and figures will worm their way in. I have already experienced loss with the death of my Grandmother, the day and the hour I wrapped up my first entry. Realities such as these are the bits that will spurn artworks themselves…not any desire on my own to learn Flash or to take up pen and brush again

So that's what it has proven to be. And now I've done it. There are still holes to fill, but the experience of having very distant people sneek a peak into my life and offer tidbits of their own lives as well as the experience itself of having recorded an entire year of my life down in text form, well it's been wonderful. Though mildly censored at times, subtracting left cigarette packets, fights between my significant other and myself, trials and tribulations with friends, it's basically all there, complete with a war's beginning, and the day of it's being considered a "success".

Here's to the 27th year. Jam packed with tragedy and successes. October will roll around eventually, and by then we'll know just what and where we'll be living in the coming year. Summer will roll around and we'll hopefully see parts of Europe I've only dreamed about. Friends will stop by that have been meaning to stop by for some time. And my Dutch? Well I'm planning on its getting better and better.

IN THE NEWS:
Saddam Hussein's rule over Iraq collapsed on Wednesday as U.S. troops swept into the heart of Baghdad and helped jubilant residents celebrate by toppling a huge statue of their ousted leader and dragging its severed head through the streets.