Car Stuffs

Honda Bass System Kit — Installed
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Well, despite not having found any reviews about it, I ordered the Honda Bass System Kit back on the 25th when I found out that my new car was about in. Well, I have to say, it is a bit of a pain to install, but worth it. I still need to do a bit more tweaking, but it seems to fill out the bottom end nicely, making the factory audio system quite acceptable.

The only problem I had was that I thoroughly screwed up a gasket-like part and stuck it on the wrong side of the amp. I pulled it off cleanly, but I (stupidly) allowed it to fold over on itself, making a mess of the padding when I stuck it back on. I had some spare self-adheasive foam left (a spare EPT sealer) so I used that to fill the gap.

Other than that, the install went pretty well, including replacing the factory Honda speakers in the rear deck. All in all, I’m pretty happy with this kit. Now I just have to wait for the iPod connection kit to come out and (hopefully) things will be all set.

In addition to the Honda Bass System Kit I also ordered a touch-up paint pen, all-season floor mats, and splash guards. I’m hoping that the splash guards will help cut down the frequency of road tar and such getting thrown up on the body, and hopefully the all-season floor mats will keep the interior a bit nicer. I also got those installed today. The splash guards were a bit of a pain to install due to how close I had to work to the tire, but they came out pretty well. Although I am being a bit silly and worrying about how they’ll affect the aerodynamics of the vehicle on the whole.

The floor mats were literally a drop-in replacement for the carpeted ones. Even the plastic hooks which I was supposed to install on the driver’s side to keep the mat from sliding up under the pedals wasn’t needed, as there was already a pair there used to retain the normal floor mats. They even match the inside of the vehicle pretty well and give it a nice grounded feel.

There was one casualty of the work today, though: My Haujobb t-shirt. I should have known better than to wear it while working on a car, but I guess it is getting pretty old already. See, part of installing the splash guards requires one to use a paste wax behind where the parts will be installed. Well, I got some paste wax, and due to a poorly designed package, I ended up opening the main part of the container and subsequently dropping it against my shirt when I was just simply trying to remove the top cover. (The wax container is of this design and I was trying to remove the yellow part, but the whole thing opened.)

Along with the H and A Accessories order I received three large Dell boxes containing a computer which I let someone have delivered to my house. (I won’t say who it is for, because the recipient could be reading this. Maybe it’s you!) I tested out this computer and it works out great. There will likely be a post about it tomorrow, because it is the first BTX (Balanced Technology Extended) (Warning: PDF) machine I have been able to poke around. I must say, I’m pretty impressed. It’s nice and quiet, and the layout inside makes for much better airflow. More on that later.

Also, right as I was finishing everything up, and his girlfriend Angie (photo here) stopped by to hang out. It was really nice to see them again and sit around and talk and visit and whatnot.

Well, now I think I’ll look into going to bed. I had today off of work (acquired an extra day for coming into work the day after Thanksgiving) but tomorrow is back to normal. Goodnight. :)

Oh, I forgot one other thing… Today I received my electrical bill (DTE Energy) for the month of November and it was only $29.55. That’s really low, in my opinion. I don’t know if it was the two weeks I was gone or the new fridge, but I’m really happy about that. I guess next month I’ll find out what made the difference. I’d expect a $50 – $60 bill, and if it’s any less, I’ll be really happy. $10/less per month will really make the new fridge worth it. Woo!