Chamblee54

The car radio died a slow, lingering death. It would play, and then cut off with a loud pop. Sometimes it would come back on. More often, it would not. Eventually I decided to replace it.
The first place I went was a warehouse space near the house. You go in. The room is crowded with merchandise and equipment, in no particular order. The gentleman said he could do it, and quoted a price. He said to come back at 4pm. At 3:30 I called the shop, and nobody answered the phone. When I went by at 4, nobody was there.
The next stop was to a retail store. We will call this place retail1. I went in, found the car audio, and looked at merchandise. Nobody came to wait on me. After a while, I left.
There was another small, independant shop in my neighborhood. It was in a small shopping center, in the space formerly occupied by a 7-11. You go in, and see merchandise strewn throughout the space. The man quoted a good price, and asked how I planned to pay. His credit card machine was broken. He would only accept cash.
Retail2 was the same mall-adjacent company as retail1. Again, nobody came over to wait on me. Retail 3 was a bit different. A salesman came by right away. He did not know how much they would charge for installation. Please come back tomorrow, and talk to the installer after he gets in.
The next day, I drove towards the installation area. A delivery truck from the company pulled up, and partially blocked the installation area. When I went into the area, the truck driver said he wanted to buy my car. Don’t put a radio in, just sell it to me. The installer quoted a price, and told me to go inside. I was to buy a unit for installation. I had other plans.
I was beginning to get frustrated. I went online, and found another independent company. When I went in, I was greeted promptly. The man I talked to knew his business. I agreed to let them put a unit in. Afterwards, the salesman showed me a few things about how to operate the unit. I noticed that the controls were small, with impossible to read labeling. I decided to cut the unit off, and figure it out at home. The manual said to cut the power off at the SRC. I had no idea what an SRC was. I cut the sound down, and drove home.
Learning to operate a JVC kdt700bt was frustrating. The controls were poorly marked. With the unit in place, it was next to impossible to see the tiny labeling. After a few minutes looking at the chart in the manual, I decided which button was the SRC. I held it down for two seconds, and the unit cut off. Next, I cut the unit back on, and programmed the buttons for the radio stations I wanted.
Next was putting a cd in the changer. It starts to play automatically. How do you cut it off, and how do you eject the cd? The manual was no help at all. Finally, I went inside, googled the device, and found an instruction manual. There was a place where you could type in a question, to an electronic tech rep. This is when the fun starts.
Pearl Wilson,Technician’s Assistant: Welcome! How can I help with your electronics question?
You: how do you eject a cd
Pearl Wilson: Who makes your speaker or sound system?
You: how do you eject a cd
Pearl Wilson: The Audio/Video Technician will be able to walk you through that. What have you tried so far with your sound system?
You: answert my question
Pearl Wilson: Anything else you want the Audio/Video Expert to know before I connect you?
You: how do you eject a cd
Pearl Wilson: OK. Got it. I’m sending you to a secure page to join JustAnswer for only $1 (fully-refundable). While you’re filling out that form, I’ll tell the Audio/Video Technician about your situation and then connect you two.
Finally, in the online manual, there was a chart, showing where the eject button is. A call to the 800 number told me to hit the volume knob to pause the cd, or mute the radio.
There is a menu of services… pandora, spotify, etc. … that I have no intention of using. You hit the SRC to go from FM to AM. If you want to go back to FM, I have to scroll through this list of services-that-I-will-never-use. According to the lady on the 800 number, there is no way to turn this off.
You can’t make this up. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.