Boy, do the punches just keep on flying at me, it seems. First, I had a Maxi fuse blow in my car that killed the ignition, financial binds and more financial binds, and then, the windshield cracked by a stupid vandalizing kid, then I dropped and broke my XM unit and now I've killed my brand spankin' new Alpine radio on the same day I am going to get these marvelous new speakers and an amp installed. I had pictured myself blissfully driving away, jammin' to some tunes Friday evening; now, not so sure how that's going to go.

I am asking myself if, A) It could be just a fuse that blew; B) If I can request a replacement and they will give it to me, or if it will be considered my fault and not valid for that, or if C) I must buy a new one all over again -- and also, if they can still install the speakers and the amp if I don't have a working radio in there tomorrow morning.

It was already a hectic morning, because I was running late trying to run back and forth and get everything in my car from having cleaned out my trunk last night (in preparation for my speakers installation) to drop off in Greenbelt, Maryland, on my way by my occasional residence and because I had only just realized at 7 a.m. or so that I had to get the stereo equipment into the trunk for that afternoon -- and, of course, everything had to be wedged to fit into the trunk, or it would be very visible to anyone who might want to break into my car; and it was already time to get on the road for the one-hour-plus commute on I-495 to work - Fun, fun, fun.

It's at times like this that I miss Wyoming and my formerly 8-min. drive around the corner to work.

Yeah, it's been an interesting morning.