Complex Numbers

Not an Option

Once, I bought at an auction a 17 year old Corolla that was only firing on three of its four cylinders.

The driver's seat was so worn and frayed that the previous owner had stretched a red sheet over it, but you could still see the lumps.

It cost me $340.

The next day, I took it to Crutchfield (one advantage of living in Charlottesville: an actual Crutchfield showroom) and had a $900 stereo system installed, including surround sound speakers and subwoofer.

I have my priorities straight, you see. I don't give two shits what my ride looks like, as long as it runs and has a good stereo. I need my tunes. It's not an option.

Today, though, I drove for over a hundred miles around the back roads of Virginia with a broken stereo - the same stereo, in fact; I had it transferred to my pickup when I bought it. The thing has a loose wire or some such; I lack the expertise to find out for myself, and I'm too lazy to drag it up to Crutchfield.

Correction: I was too lazy to get it fixed; now, after a couple of hours on the road, I have motivation.

Daytime wasn't so bad, but driving at night on the deserted country roads... well, it wasn't scary, so much as boring. Mind-bogglingly boring. Soul-numbingly boring. I tried to remember Springsteen song lyrics, but the sound of my own singing made me want to evacuate the enclosed space, which I would have done except I was driving - as I recalled just in time.

Yep. Gotta get that stereo fixed. Or maybe a new one... yeah, that's the ticket...