rikibeth

...because my car stereo decided to have it for lunch.

I have a 1989 Volvo 240 wagon with over 160,000 miles on it. I've only had it for about a month. I am still getting used to its quirks.

For example, the radio -- which is the original, factory-installed Volvo cassette player and AM/FM radio -- only works intermittently. It'll be going along just fine, and then I'll hit a pothole, and it'll cut out.

Sometimes it'll work again if I turn it off and then turn it back on. Sometimes that doesn't help.

Sometimes, after it cuts out, when I turn it off and on, it will show the clock display and a directional arrow, as if I had a tape in the player, although it's empty. Sometimes pressing the (very weird) eject button (more of a lever, I told you it was weird) will encourage it to switch back to the radio. This also doesn't work consistently.

I decided to try a tape in it today. It didn't play music. It did unspool a lot of tape out of the cassette. Good thing it was only a home dub of a Rolling Stones album I have on vinyl.

After I ejected the mangled tape, it still didn't turn the radio back on, but continued to display itself as if a tape were in the player.

This was all on the way to school. On the way back, I did eventually get the radio. Don't ask me how.

Anybody? Bueller?