Beecher is starting to worry me. Not only has he still not paid me back for bailing him out of his last bit of jailtime, he's begun volunteering his time. Sure, volunteering looks good on a transcript or resume (as well as satisfying any community service hours one may or may not need), but it's not something Beecher makes a habit out of. The last time he volunteered was with Habitat for Humanity. He got kicked off the site after the first twenty minutes when he refused to put on a pair of pants before doing some ladder work. Seems the girls on site were scandalized.
This time around, he's volunteering with the college of veterinary sciences large animal clinic. They got a shipment of camels in a while back, and he's been spending several hours a day helping care for them. He's a philosophy major, not animal science. He's been showing up to meetings and parties smelling like camel and manure. He's been babbeling about Dromedaries and F-1 and F-2 hybrids. I would say that this doesn't make sense, except that it makes perfect sense. The grad student assigned to take care of the camels during their stay here is a fetching woman named Ronda. Sadly, I've heard that she treats her camels better than she treats her men, so I hope Beecher doesn't get too hurt.
If he gets too hurt, he's going to spend all the money he owes me on beer. And then he'll try to borrow more money from me to buy more beer after that's gone.
It turns out that last week's debacle with the car speakers wasn't an isolated event. Apparently the speakers I had purchased (I'm not legally able to tell you which ones) had a defect. Only a few dozen had been sold before the problem was discovered, though. The manufacturer was, to say the least, pretty upset that their product had a habit of spontaneous combustion, and in an effort to protect their good name, they agreed to repair any damage their speakers had caused, as well as pay for a whole new vehicle stereo system for each person who was affected. Of course, everyone who took them up on this offer had to sign an NDA, but given that no one was injured and only minor damages were caused to most vehicles, everyone signed. This is admittedly generous on the company's part, but since so few people were affected, it's still economically feasible. The remainder of the problem speakers have been returned to the factory. Well, almost all of them. Apparently there's one set that was sold somewhere in Illinois that they are unable to locate.
I have an appointment next week with the mobile electronics company I purchased the speakers from here locally. They're going to install the new system. I hate to say it, but my new stereo will be worth more than the car it's in. It's not like I use the stereo that much, but if I don't have to pay for it, I'm going to make it worth my while.
While working on my car I've had a lot of things happen. I've had a few injuries, I've caused a few injuries to people I've had "help" me, I've had parts break, and I've had parts go missing. I've never before, however, had a part spontaneously combust.
My car is currently in working condition. Not well, and not far, but it works for now. I'll track down that transmission problem after the semester's over. For now, since I'm short on time for the transmission job, I decided to install new speakers to replace the old ones. I had everything wired in properly according to the instructions. I called Tesla afterward and double checked with her, and she agrees that I had things wired properly. Regardless, as soon as I put current into the system, the speakers... not the head unit or the amplifier, but the SPEAKERS caught fire. Fortunately I keep a small fire extinguisher in my car, so the damage is actually negligible.
Tesla will come over tomorrow to look things over and make sure I didn't forget something obvious. I'll admit that she knows a hell of a lot more about electronics than I do.
Right now, though, I need to get some air fresheners to get that chared car smell out of the air. And maybe I'll kick a puppy while I'm out.