The strangest thing I [past tense verb] today was....

[Opsa]

The strangest thing I had happen to me today was just about an hour ago I was driving to the store to stock up before the snowfall, when suddenly the volume on my car radio went WAY UP all by itself!

I usually have it at about 11 or 12, but this went to 32! I didn't even know it could go that high.

The sad thing is that this radio is on the fritz anyway, and is very difficult to turn on or off, or change volume. My first instinct was to turn it off, but it wouldn't turn off! I pulled over and reached into the arm rest box and was able to volume down through the remote control.

It must have looked funny. The radio was playing Bartholdy's - "Italian" Symphony, which is quite lively at any volume, but just imagine it at "deafening". My ears are still ringing!

I guess it is because the radio is old and wonky that caused the sudden loudness. Either that or I happened to pass by a house where someone was fiddling with a remote that I happened to pick up in my car?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Mendelssohn is meant to be played loud!

[Swatopluk]

Don't confuse him with Bruckner
(a tiny man possibly overcompensating by writing music where a simple f or ff is not enough. Iirc he goes up to ffff)

[Opsa]

I knew I could count on our top two classical music toadfish siblings to comment on this!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Dunno, while I have to say that I don't enjoy Bruckner's stuff I believe he was a reasonable human being, even if he realized some of Wagner's (musical) excesses to fruition.

OTOH Mendelssohn was more cheerful both personally and musically.

[Swatopluk]

Not a Bruckner fan either. I do not know much about him actually. I am more into obscure composers*
----
We had certain persons in the neighbourhood who had very strong subwoofers in their car. One could always feel quite some time in advance, when they came driving down the road, much earlier than one could hear the car itself. And they had a predilection for music (clearly not classical) with a strong regular bass beat. wham wham wham wham wham wham whamwham wham whamwham wham wham  wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham

*like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Avshalomov
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciurlionis

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

The strangest thing I had happen to me today was just about an hour ago I was driving to the store to stock up before the snowfall, when suddenly the volume on my car radio went WAY UP all by itself!

I usually have it at about 11 or 12, but this went to 32! I didn't even know it could go that high.

The sad thing is that this radio is on the fritz anyway, and is very difficult to turn on or off, or change volume. My first instinct was to turn it off, but it wouldn't turn off! I pulled over and reached into the arm rest box and was able to volume down through the remote control.

It must have looked funny. The radio was playing Bartholdy's - "Italian" Symphony, which is quite lively at any volume, but just imagine it at "deafening". My ears are still ringing!

I guess it is because the radio is old and wonky that caused the sudden loudness. Either that or I happened to pass by a house where someone was fiddling with a remote that I happened to pick up in my car?

On my previous truck, I had a lovely Ford factory radio that had one of those electronic volume knobs-- in otherwords, it wasn't an actual electronic control, it was a rotary switch which talked to the computer that ran the radio, and indicated my desire to turn up and/or down the volume (among other functions).

Of course, by the time the truck came to me, the radio was all but toast-- chiefly, this rotary control-- volume control was hit-or-miss, and all too often would suddenly go dead-soft, or max volume.

Naturally, I replaced that sucker pretty quickly. 

In fact, I put in a nice Sony radio, that was one of the first parts I stripped out of the truck, when it was hit-- went into the in-between blue truck I drove for about 6 months or so.   

After I got my Sprinter van, again I was wanting to replace the worn out factory unit-- I elected to let the Sony go when we sold off the blue truck, though.   It was 5 years or so old by then, and technology had moved on. 

My current radio is a nice JVC (I think?) radio that has built-in Bluetooth.  It automatically connects to my cell phone and to my Android Dell Streak tablet (now mounted behind the window visor).  I have all my tunes, via the Android tablet, and a lovely GUI music selection display to run it.   And a hands-free for my phone. 

Nice.

And I paid less than $140 for it, new. 

[Opsa]

Yeah, I think it's time we replaced this old set, too. The CD player hasn't worked for years. I'll look at the JVCs.

[pieces o nine]

^ The fill-in-blank from the headline is "shopped"


I hunt down some of my leathers and fantastic Leather!Dogs! textiles from Goodwill and the Salvation Army. You have to know when to go for the best 'new' stuff, but that's part of the fun. Even adding professional cleaning for what I can't launder, it's a good price for textiles I would never find new locally, and there's the good karma of upcycling to a fresh purpose. Both thrift stores have a religious-esque backstory, but you'd never know it while you're in there.

Today I decided to try the "community thrift store" on the way home. I pulled into the parking lot, shut off the engine, and lifted up mine eyes to see

THE LORD GOD'S

TEN COMMANDMENTS

in a technicolor mural on the side of the building. My kneejerk reaction was to say, oh, for #@*%'s sake!  before I could stop myself.
   

Overall, things (at least, today's things) seemed to be in quite good condition, and very reasonably priced. I found some great pieces to dismantle for raw materials, and that category was on half-off sale, so yays. OTOH, my eyes couldn't sweep an 8-foot section of wall without encountering another giant, brightly colored  THE LORD GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS  sign, mural, or inspirational kitsch. I started uncontrollably whisper-laughing to myself, and couldn't decide whether I was sorry or glad that I didn't wear one of my old neo-pagan teeshirts today...

The cherry-on-top was the (I swear to god on his TEN COMMANDMENTS)  FIREARMS WELCOME  sign at the register, designed to look like a "SMOKING AREA" sign with a handgun silhouette instead of a cigarette. I gasped that I didn't need a bag or a receipt   o god and your TEN COMMANDMENTS, get me the hell out of here before i start laughing like a maniac and someone shoots me   and gtfo to my car.


I might go back, but I'll be mentally prepped beforehand!

[Griffin NoName]

I think thrift, like cleanliness, is next to Godliness. (actually I haven't a clue what that means, does it sit beside G-d?).

If I were you I'd prepare for even more signs etc next time............

[Aggie]

I saw a lot of roadside billboards with THE TEN COMMANDMENTS in Montana.  You don't want to know about northern Idaho...

[Opsa]

I can relate. There seems to be a screamin' Xtian theme in a lot of United States thrift stores. Th'Opsalette tends to blurt out "Dear Lord" and I mumble "Oh for the luvva..." and we then go into giggle fits. Ah, I'm gonna miss her when she grows up and leaves the nest.

[pieces o nine]

By then, skype-for-tablet-computer might be a viable option for you to 'tag along' on each other's most promising excursions...

[Opsa]

Hmm, that makes me wonder if we should start a photo blasphemy thread here for posting pictures of bombastic religious displays.

(I first typed 'bleasphemy". With another 'h' in there, I think we may have a new word for the ol' Toadfish Lexicon.)

[pieces o nine]

Just clarify whether bleahsphemy indicates a rather rather mundane instance or something truly horrifying!