Huge, Sweeping Changes

I have a big update about the project. But first let me tell you about my radio.

I have a 1995 Geo Prizm and it just hit 150,000 miles this week. I'm so proud. Anyway the antenna finally broke all the way. It has been slowly breaking for quite a few years. I had purchased a replacement antenna about two years ago but after I got it home I managed to fix the original one. So I "stored" the antenna somewhere in the garage.

Today I had just had enough of the clanging antenna and its crappy reception. So after work I drove to NAPA. It turns out that the antenna is the one part of the car that they don't deal in. They could have ordered me one, but I was in the mood for instant satisfaction. The helpful guy there suggested I check out Advanced Auto Parts because they usually have stuff like that.

I grabbed my trusty GPS, hit Find, then All POI, then By Name and tapped out A-D-V, selected Advanced Auto Parts and chose the nearest one. It took me down to a less-than-desirable part of town, but sure enough there was the store. I found an antenna similar to mine and went to buy it. I asked the guy if he thought it would work. He, like me, thought..... maybe. I asked him if he had a screwdriver I could borrow to check it out in the parking lot. He said they normally can't do that because it's in a bad part of town and they always get their tools stolen. But my dorky thick-rimmed glasses give me an honest look so he said he'd get me one.

I took off the antenna cover and found that the wire goes waaaaayyy down there. No way could I replace it in the parking lot. I returned the screwdriver (hey the guy was right about me) and headed for home.

At home it was starting to get dark. I went into the garage and amazingly found the first replacement antenna I bought two years ago. So I get to take this other antenna back to Scaryville. I grabbed the antenna and a variety of light sources (a hunting spotlight and a camping lantern) and started the tedious task of dismantling my dash. I spent about 2 hours taking stupid little screws out and breaking plastic and trying to see. Finally I gave up and came inside because I am just too tired to finish something so annoying tonight.

So that's the update on my radio. Right now I don't have one and my dash is all over my car.

Oh yeah, about Project Columbo. I updated the template on this website. I told you it was big news.