Aw, who needs stereos anyway?

Having a decent stereo in my car used to be very important to me. Of my first 4 or 5 cars, all of them had some sort of enhanced system in them. Most were professionally installed and probably contributed to my ongoing struggles with hearing things clearly. I am sure eardrum damage occurred.

The first car i had was a diesel Isuzu I-mark.

Got 35, maybe 40 mph back when gas was under a buck. Yes kids, I am old enough to remember that. 400% inflation on gas fuel prices in my driving life, already. Scary.

Well, at that time I had the bright idea of installing the system myself.

To anyone who has encountered my mechanical expertise in such classically hilarious tales as Drew versus the bathtub or Drew Versus the BBQ, the idea I would make such an attempt has real potential to injure you as you fall to the floor convulsed in laughter.

But at the time I was young, ambitious, and brave. So I spent hours figuring out how to wire in a couple of speakers into my car.

Now, these days i would probably not do this for several reasons. First, I would not trust myself to not destroy something when fiddling with wires.

Second, I realize how expensive cars are on how little value there is in risking wrecking something when a professional will install it relatively cheaply.

Third, the idea of planting a couple of house stereo speakers in my back window makes me shudder in revulsion at such a garish display.

That is not a misprint. I took a couple of stand alone speakers, about 20" wide by 36" tall and wired them into my car. I had a amp/equalizer mix that pumped out enough power to run those speakers and give me a little bit of bump in the back.

Not worth it.

See, one time the car broke down, as used first cars are wont to do. Fortunately, it broke down at work. At the time I worked at a lumberyard hidden away on a quiet side street with maybe 6 houses on the street. Really no reason to take that street. Ever.

Now, as stupid as i was to put home stereo speakers in my car, I have to admit getting called to come to work at 3 am by the police was even stupider.

Some genius thought so much of these 8 dollar speakers that he broke out the back window and stole them.

I call him a genius because A) the speakers were worth NOTHING, B) he left the equalizer, and C)....3 of the doors were unlocked. The only locked door was the rear passenger door.

Sometimes I am glad to be older and more mature. I suspect never again will I have home stereo speakers I home-wired stolen from my broken down car with three unlocked doors at three in the morning.

But there are a lot of stupid people out there, so I could be wrong.