About a month or two ago, I decided I wanted a DVD player for the car. Yep, so much for all my high ideals, it was time to give in. We're in the car A LOT since we live in the middle of nowhere, and I had started handing Sam the ipod to watch a movie, which didn't work too well if Pearl was anywhere in the vicinity...I tried sitting them next to each other to share... well, I got a lot of "I can't see it" and "Sam's not sharing" even though Pearl had the ipod in her hand...
I have been seeing a lot of clients lately, so I thought it was reasonable to drop some money for such a luxury for my children (and, let's face it, some nice quiet time in the car...). So, I go to my geeky husband and tell him what I want. Some pretty high demands. I wanted to be able to control it while I was driving, which can get expensive in an after-market DVD player, as it involves a $600 replacement of the stereo as well as the installation of the screen. I also wanted to be able to hook it up to the ipod so I didn't have a million DVDs sitting around in my car. (my geeky husband shrinks our DVD's to fit on the ipod, he really is useful to have around...)
So, he purchased a monitor (not a dvd player) for about $170 and tore my car apart and cut a hole in my ceiling and this is what we came up with...
I sat in the car giving moral support, though I was a bit nervous watching him take so many pieces off... he is a self proclaimed "not a car man," though, strictly speaking, this was electrical, which he is very good at. Still, when a man is drawing on your beloved minivan with a sharpie, it makes you nervous...
It is HUGE - 13 inches. The first time I looked at best buy they had a 7 incher for $500...
This is now what my kids will look like in the car. Utter zombies. Will I regret it? I certainly hope not...
And this is the amazing end result. He threaded all the wires through the ceiling, down to the steering column, and now they are in the box where I kept CD cases (since I have the ipod, kind of unnecessary, don't you think?) and I end up with one wire sticking out (which I had before to hook into the sound from the stereo) in a location where I can manage the movies and music in easy reach while driving! Now, I just have to get a lesson on shrinking movies and loading them on so I don't have to keep bugging him... though, frankly, there are about 20 movies on there right now, and though they may not be the highly requested ones, I think the kids are not going to complain any time soon....Our dad REALLY is the coolest!
6 comments:
no way!!!! I LOVE IT!... Does he do CR-Vs? Last year for my birthday I wanted a DVD player in the car(just the portable one from Costco)... Andy hesitated because it was for Jennah and not me... yeah well... let's face it... a car DVD player is SO meant for the driver! Our car rides have been ever so pleasant since!!! You'll be glad that you did it (even if it meant using a sharpie on your car!)
Wow, way cool! Can we hire him?!
Sorry, that comment was from me!
Jared's always been a handy guy. When he was about 8, I think, he brought his dresser drawer to his dad and said it was broken and his dad told him to go fix it and he did. He has been doing things with tools on his own ever since.
Mom H
P.S. Love the zombie picture.
Wow, I'm impressed! That is the best dvd screen I've ever seen in a car. It is so handy to have a "geek" in the family! Good job Jared. Do you take orders? I could use one of those in my Tahoe.
That looks so good! I bet the kids are really excited. Once you get use to it you will wonder how you survived before...kind of like when I traded in the jetta for the minivan...heaven
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