A little background: I used to lease an Alero, which had a factory stereo. Then Apple came out with the iPod and I had to have one!

One problem: most of my music listening occurs in my car. I can't very well wear headphones while driving. There are a few other ways I tried to listen to the iPod in the car... using a cassette tape adapter (sound quality was terrible) and using an FM transmitter (ditto, plus static). I needed good sound quality. I realized that the only way I was going to achieve carrying 800+ songs in my car was if I could get a stereo with an auxiliary input jack. That way, I plug a little cord into the 'Pod, and the other end into this jack in the stereo, and I'm in musical heaven.

The stereo I bought that had this Aux In feature wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. However, I had to have it installed. I took it to Circuit City and proceeded to wait around for ~3 hours for them to install it. It worked, and was worth it, but then in June I had to give the Alero back, as the lease was up. So I had to take it all back to Circuit City to have the factory stereo put back in. That was a 4 hour ordeal, and the guy installing it was kind of a freak. I decided that I hated having stereos installed in my car.

When I got the Jetta, I procrastinated installing the Aux In stereo because of the hassle. I missed the 'Pod terribly; I relied on CD's and the radio, but I yearned for my little mobile card-deck-sized music library.

For my Christmas present, Dave offered to go one weekend and have my stereo installed in the Jetta so that I could play my 'Pod once again. Although I wouldn't wish having to wait around for hours while some freak takes over my car's electrical system on my worst enemy, he was more than willing, so today my Jetta met my JVC.

How far technology has come. When I bought my first car, having a CD player was NOT a standard option, and buying an aftermarket CD stereo was expensive. I lived on cassettes. Then when I finally get a car with a CD player, these little mp3 players come out. So now it's possible to have my pick of 800 songs at any time while traveling. WOW! Dave picked me up and we drove around to test out the stereo in its' new home. It all worked great!

Until we got home, turned the ignition off, and removed the key. The stereo stayed on. I didn't even know how to turn it off; stereos simply just shut off when the car does!! What the heck? Back we went to Best Buy for a "simple rewiring." When we got there, the guy said that with Volkswagens, it is wired such that I cannot have my cake and eat it, too. To rewire it would erase the memory and presets of the stereo each time the ignition was turned off. Every time I turn on the stereo, I must also turn it off when I leave the car. And this is not as easy as a press of a button, noooooo... I actually have to hold the off button down for like 3 seconds.

As I was lamenting this, I realized how silly it seemed. People used to have to boil water before they could drink it. Heck, they had to go out and GET it before they could even boil it. And I'm complaining about taking 3 seconds to shut my stereo off. Kinda silly.

Dave then reminded me that I'm irritated with the situation because instead of making life easier (or even keeping it at the same level of ease), this new development has imposed a burden. If ever I forget to turn the radio off when I go to work, I will be greeted with a dead battery when I leave to return home. I don't know. The whole thing is ridiculous. I would have thought, by now, that such loopholes would not exist.

Stupid Germans.