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Carl tries to get Sirius


Carl

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I've always liked the idea of satellite radio, but I've never mustered the energy to actually get it. Any product requiring installation, protective clothing or an extended warranty has to significantly improve my life before I will buy it. I like easy, and I live by the modified Sinead O'Connor philosophy:

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, unless it's cool enough to rock my world.

Things that have passed the test include the Ipod, a DVD player and a Foreman grill. Those that have not include Tivo, a video camera and a cell phone.

Satellite radio does not stand to improve my life in a major way, but my friend gave me a radio and car kit she won in a raffle, so it lowers the barrier of ease enough to push me over the edge. Sirius also has some goodwill points with me because they employ 2 of the most talented radio people I've ever worked with, and they had a link to us on their site for a while.

Now, getting satellite radio in the car (which is where I want it) requires installation. After doing battle to get the components out of their packaging, I had a bunch of parts that could theoretically come together and deliver this technology to my Honda. As I put it together, it became clear that this car kit was not designed for a '93 Civic Del Sol. There's no good place to put the giant suction cup that holds the radio, and I'm not sure where to put the antenna. Also, the thing needs it's own power supply, so you have to run a cord into the cigarette lighter. This is a lot of effort, and the fact that so many people have jumped through these hoops for the right to pay $12.95 a month for a bunch of commercial-free alternatives illustrates the sorry state of commercial radio.

I think about never having to hear that Hoobastank song again and try to figure out how to do this. It will be a custom job, but fortunately I have a friend who takes apart Civics. One of the advantages to driving a 12-year-old car that was never worth much to begin with is that you can poke holes in it and not care. It's like being in that stage of a relationship where you can fart in front of your girl without serious consequences.

At one point I thought it might be easier to buy a new car with Sirius already installed, so I looked at the Mini Cooper website, and learned that the Sirius package was $499 plus installation. Having my friend jury-rig my Honda will be free. He's a home owner, so there are many times I answer the call to pull some tile or unload a pallet.

I'll try to get motivated and deliver another report when progress is made. I might just become the first person to put satellite radio in a Del Sol.

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Carl, you are hilarious. All this radio talk makes me nostalgic. I remember the highlight of my week was Casey Kasem's American Top 40...I would use my cassette tape recorder to record all the songs, trying to omit all the commercials. I believe that is now considered stealing music, but I'll chalk it up to the innocence of youth. I particularly loved the long distance dedications and wished someone from far away would dedicate a song to little ole me.

OK, my trip down memory lane has come to a halt. Thanks for taking this journey with me. Carry on.

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My friend who takes apart Civics is going on vacation next week, and I'm in charge of his pet rat while he's gone. I'll post pictures of the pet rat to prove that I am babysitting a pet rat. When he gets back, I'll have him take apart my car.

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Things that have passed the test include the Ipod, a DVD player and a Foreman grill. Those that have not include Tivo, a video camera and a cell phone.

OK Carl, how did TIVO not pass the test??? :: :: ::

What part of pausing live tv, rewinding live tv, do you not like?

And that's not all, you can put your directors, actors, and other keywords into your wish list and woola, TIVO will bring up a list of programs that you can record with the touch of a button. And let's just say, for instance, you love the show The Shield staring Michael Chiklis. September rolls around and season 5 gets underway... with Tivo you can set up a Season Pass that will record every episode of The Shield with just a few clicks on the remote!

Furthermore, if you have DirecTV Tivo all shows recorded are in a digital format, plus you can get into a 40 hour Tivo for around $50.

If you get a standalone Tivo, then you can get 'TIVO to go' which allows you to transfer your favorite shows from Tivo to your pc.

Last but not least, if you have a tv Tuner card, like the ATI All in Wonder, you can capture shows from your Tivo and burn them onto a DVD.

Please, Carl, for the love of God, and all things that are good, please reconsider your view on Tivo! ;)

Sincerely;

The Tivo Police

PS... what was the rest of your post about? ::

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Hey Carl....to ensure your friend pulls apart the Honda, just tell him the rat got loose and is somewhere in the car.

That leads me to my next question....If the rat gets away are there any distinguishable marks or could you get away with replacing him with another where your friend would not be the wiser?

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That rat is quick. He planned a Shawshank-style escape, but I foiled it at the last minute.

Didn't they try that on the Brady Bunch when they got a dog that looked like Tiger? I remember Ben Stiller did it in a movie as well. I'm not sure it would work, so I better keep this rat safe.

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