Well I just finished my College Apps, and my carputer adventure was a great source of writing inspiration. Excuse the dramatics and sappy ending, here's my carputer essay.
Satisfaction
I never saw it coming. The force of impact pressed my body flush against the back of my seat as the speeding sedan smashed into the rear of our Quest minivan. The sound of screeching tires and shattering glass echoed faintly behind the now painful ringing in my ear. In the moments after that wreck, my mind could have been thinking a million different thoughts; but for some reason, my mind had its focus on the center console of the car. The collision was so forceful that the front dashboard had popped off. Where the radio and A/C controls had been, I now saw vacant holes and slots, and a rather large amount of space. For some reason, I decided these holes and slots looked a lot like the inside of a computer. For some reason, at that moment, I decided to build a computer to install in my car.
For three months, I read. I was familiar with computers; I know nothing about cars, and I had never heard of anyone putting a computer in a car. From DC power and LCD screens, to soldering wires and GPS navigation, I researched everything I could get my hands on. Eventually, when I felt that there was some chance that I might make this dream a reality, I went about finding and purchasing the various components. I asked for money for Christmas and returned the mp3 player I received for my birthday. After browsing ads, shopping sales, and filing enough rebate forms to drive a person mad, I was finally able to get everything I needed and stay within my budget.
I then set about assembling the now-deemed “carputer.” I constructed everything on a workspace inside and prepared the system for installation. In one entire night’s work, a friend and I worked on the final step of installing the computer in the car. We wired a speaker incorrectly, blew out a fuse, and forgot to buy a distributor block, but we pressed on through the night.
Around 7:00 AM, we entered the vehicle, and I anxiously turned the key. The carputer came to life. The GPS navigated us to the nearest Taco Bell, where we stopped, and the network antenna picked up four wireless connections. We listened to some Dispatch on the way home and then watched an episode of Seinfeld while parked in my driveway. I would have given anything to stay awake and keep exploring the possibilities of the carputer, but my friend had gone home, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I slept, satisfied.
I now look back at that experience and see a bit of foolery. I made assumptions and guesses that very well could have left me with a pile of broken electronics, but at the time, I looked beyond those odds. I did not have to be certain; I just had to try. I was foolish enough to take a chance and have faith in myself, and the results could not be more satisfying.
Linear Mode
