Groovin’ on a Sunday Afternoon

Remember that bitchin’ stereo you had back in the 90’s that totally cranked Nirvana, MudHoney, Public Enemy, Bob Marley, Chris Cornell’s screamin’ and Eddy Vedder’s growling? I got mine out of storage today. Yep; cleaned her and cranked her. Only I did my test sessions with Al Green. Sounded great except for that blown left main speaker. Reminds me of my ex, whom I had a dream about last night, and I was pissed off all over again.

I remember buying this monster. Oh, yeah; Kenwood receiver, CD player, tape player, turntable, and VHS video player (DVD wasn’t out then. Maybe it was but if it was it was way expensive. Way.) Infiniti, surround sound, theater system speakers; totally cranked. I still have the receipt and was surprised at how much we paid for it: $4800.00. Did I really spend that much money on a stereo? Evidently I did. Or, “we” did when we were nesting (for almost 8, long, boring years.) We both had really good jobs, no kids, one dog (mine), and made plenty of money. So, we bought stuff. Filled the void, if you know what I mean. Anyway, we walked right into Best Buy and bought it. Cool as hell.

I remember that we had a break-in at our house.  We must have interrupted it because the place was just tossed.  I do remember that they’d cut the stereo wires and had everything out, ready to take.  The police officer suggested I engrave my social security number to the stereo items so they could be returned if stolen and recovered.  This was, of course, back in the day, well before identity theft and the internet.  My damned, FULL, social security number is still engraved on the tuner and CD player.  I’m gonna have to figure out how to get that off there.  Now I think: “Geez!  What a crazy thing to do!!”  Back then I thought it was a great idea.  *rolls eyes*

I got the stereo in the divorce. She got the washer, dryer, TV (the big one, we had two), the bed, the highboy, the dining room set, the entertainment center… hang on. Maybe I should just list what I got. I got the stereo, the little TV, the futon, a dresser, and my stuff. Hmmm… Well, suffice to say, I just wanted to get the hell out of there so I’m feelin’ like it was fair. Sorta. Yeah, sure; helluva deal! No more drama!

Ahem… I digress all over the place.

Anyway, I pulled it out of storage today. I hadn’t had it out since the last ex (Chicago) had blown the speaker. I was furious and just couldn’t deal with hearing it sound like that. I cleaned it up, and I mean, I took that sucker apart, blew out six years of dust and dander, wiped it down, bought new speaker wire and RCA cords, and then carefully put her back together again. Sounded great ’cause I balanced it so the blown part of the one (of five) speaker (s) was low, low, low. It was really filthy and disgusting.

The tape player is long gone. The turntable is gone, too, and I regret that. We now have a DVD player and a nice TV so it’s going to sound really great if I ever get it all hooked up. I only got as far as hooking it up in the garage to see if it still works. It’s too much of a project to take everything off the entertainment center, move the entertainment center, put everything back on the entertainment center, and hook up the stereo to the DVD player and TV. That entertainment center weighs a ton, all by itself, so I’m not relishing having to move it.

My favorite part of watching a video was always the very beginning. I would play it, loud as hell, over and over again. You know that part where the THX comes on? My absolute favorite part. I could make the windows rattle with that baby! Of course, all of my friends thought I was crazy. Nah… Just a show-off.

I dare not do that to her now; I’m sure I’d blow out that speaker completely if I did. My receipt says the speakers have a lifetime warranty. I wonder if they are still covered. Infinity speakers were pretty good back in the day. But these are about 12 years old and have seen a lot of moves. For as much as I paid for these speakers, I’m going to at least check it out. No harm in askin’.

It’s just so nice to be able to have an actual stereo system again. I’ve been listening to music via a boom box for years. It’s a nice little box but it sure ain’t my stereo. This… This from a woman who used to insist on using gold-tipped RCA plugs and had the most pristine collection of vinyl you’d ever see. I was, I must admit, quite the audiophile, back in the day. I was also a professional DJ in a hot dance club in the early/mid 80’s. I quit because I couldn’t stand the bar scene anymore. Tsk… Growin’ up will do that to you. That and watching people totally tank their lives for the party.

I miss albums; I miss vinyl. It’s hard to mix with CD’s and vinyl had such a clean, clear sound. Eh… it’s all changed now and if I updated (for a gazillion dollars, no doubt), I’m sure I would love to crank ol’ Jimi on those tiny-I-can’t-believe-that-much-sound-is-comin’-out-a-that-lil’-thang speakers. And where the hell are the wires? I spent my afternoon splittin’ wires. With my pocketknife and my teeth.

Doin’ it Old School.

To Al Green.

It was cause for spontaneous dancing in the garage.

My new neighbors learned something about me today and I’m sure they’re just gonna looooooooove it.

Mama’s got her Groove back.

Let’s get it on!