That's how I roll.

My Guy and I broke our rule about no Valentine's Day gifts. Basically, I let him buy me a car stereo. Because it's 1990 and that's cool.

The great thing about driving a 10-year-old car is that car payments are a distant memory. And when you back into your husband's truckasaurus, it's kind of OK because, well, you have a 10-year-old car.

The crummy thing about a 10-year-old car is that stuff starts to fall apart. The backlight on my stereo / clock went out about 3 years ago, so once it was dark, I had no idea what time it was beyond "nighttime." And about a year ago, the stereo itself started being kind of possessed. It would occasionally play when the car was turned off. Yes, just like Stephen King's "Christine." Yes, it freaked me out.

And then the radio stopped playing when the car was turned on. Or, it would just screech. It was annoying, but it just didn't occur to me that I could replace the stereo.

Enter my husband, who was all, "I looked online and we can replace your stereo for, like, $200. Happy Valentine's Day!"

Now, I'm from the Midwest, and I'm from a small town. I come from a long line of people who made it their professional calling not to be too flashy. Buying an after-market car stereo is pretty much the antithesis of being low-key and not flashy. I had images of my Honda now vibrating with bass, and I figured that any new stereo would also come with hydraulics and a neon undercarriage package.

I was apprehensive.

But it turns out I was wrong about the neon and the hydraulics. However, we didn't take into account that the dash of the 2003 Accord has kind of a unique shape, and to completely replace the stereo and HVAC controls would cost an additional $300.

Uh, no.

So, we went with the $30 installation option, which didn't replace the old stereo. This means that I now have not 1, but 2 stereos in my car, err, pimpmobile.

Two stereos. Granted, 1 doesn't work. But on the other hand, the only thing worse that having a fancy (OK, not really - it just feels like it because it works) after-market stereo is having 2 car stereos. Pretty soon, I'm going to fill my trunk with subwoofers and woofers and a sound board like you see in recording studios. I'll probably have to start wearing gold chains and wear my pants down around my ass, like an ass.

I guess it's a small price to pay. I can listen to the radio in my car! It's amazing!