Connecting my satellite radio to my car that doesn't have an aux port

I have been working on an interesting challenge with my new car. It doesn't have an auxiliary (aux) port.

I have owned a SiriusXM satellite radio since my past car didn't have the app built in to the system. It requires an aux port to get the music going.

On Saturday, I managed to get it to work. My car has two USB ports. The one at the front makes Android Auto work. The other one is in the storage compartment next to me.

I managed to get an adapter that has one port for USB C charging and an aux port. This setup only works if I use the USB port on the dashboard and not the adapter.

Instead, I got a transmitter where you insert the audio plug into the aux port of my radio. It then becomes a Bluetooth device. I connect my car to it and I can play music. It works nicely.

The problem is that if I want to use Android Auto, I can't stream from my satellite radio. Android Auto does have the SiriusXM app, but I don't want to stream music as I drive.

So, the key is to use my GPS on my phone and connect my satellite radio as a bluetooth device from my car's console to play music. It's a nice workaround. It's simply a bummer that I can't have my GPS map displayed on my console and listen to music on my satellite radio simultaneously.

It's a minor inconvenience. I'm simply glad that I got my old satellite radio to work.

Anticipating a new car delivery

I am getting a new car within the next week or two. I signed for it with my sales representative back in late June.

Originally, the car's delivery date was scheduled for four to five months from late June. I was thinking that having my car in October or November would give me plenty of time to save up.

Nope, the delivery date's estimate is sometime next week or early September. Thankfully, it has been enough time to put down what I owe upon delivery. 

The most painful part of switching cars is dealing with my insurance company. I don't like being placed on hold with my insurance company to get my policy switched over. Luckily, I don't do it often, but it can take up to a couple of hours. It's not great, but the company has been good to me.

I started clearing out my car last week. There isn't a whole lot. The last thing that I will dismantle will be my Sirius XM satellite radio, which is separate device with cables. I wish that it were built in to the car's stereo, but it hasn't for years.

Sirius XM is down - ugh!

I have been a subscriber to Siriux XM satellite radio since I had my first Prius just over a decade ago. I like it, especially when I am doing road trips. I don't have to worry about finding a radio station that has clear reception as I drive.

I like the Saturday night dance party, in which songs from the 80's are played. Sadly, the service is down right now. It's a minor inconvenience, though. I'm playing music off my phone instead.

I still listen to music on my iPod classic. I have my entire music collection on it. Party of me would like the latest iPod touch version. It has bluetooth capabilities, which my iPod classic doesn't have.

Changing how to secure my Sirius XM satellite radio receiver in my new car

I have a Sirius XM satellite radio receiver. In my old car, I had to get a car vent clamp to secure it. To make a long story short, I was introduced to Sirius XM radio with my first Prius. It was integrated in the car.

When I switched from my second Prius over to my Scion iM, there was no satellite integration in the latter. I have the same issue with my new car.

Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise. I can't use my vent clamp for the vents smack in the middle of the dashboard. My navigation screen has buttons that are compact. This radio isn't compact at all when you look at the cable connections. 

I can't put my radio on the far left and right vents of my car, either. I decided to use another Scosche Magic Mount holder for this radio, which works nicely. I already have one for my phone that I have been using for years. The two magnetic mounts are within the same area, with my phone mount a bit lower than the satellite radio's mount.

It's nice when I change things around. My satellite receiver doesn't look as bulky using the magnet and the magnetic mount. Yay!

I am loving my new car. It's nice to have a fun distraction.

New record player and old cell phone

I bought a record player the other day. It was on sale. It's a gift to myself.

I bought one last year in purple, my favourite colour. It was on sale, too. The problem with it is that it doesn't spin a record fast enough and maintain its speed. It's such a shame.

This new record player can do more than just play records. It has a cassette deck, AM/FM radio, bluetooth, and an aux line to connect an iPod or other music player to it.  It plays CDs, too. I can record anything to MP3. It's quite the powerhouse.

I had to make room for it. It's not a tiny thing. It's not monstrous, either.

I liked that it forced me to clean the top of my stereo system. I found a box with an old cell phone from my days in Minnesota. I didn't think that I still had the phone. It's so tiny in comparison to the phones these days.

I felt like I had opened a time capsule of sorts. It was cool to see a snapshot of my life a while back.

Android Oreo... sounds yummy!

I have had an Android phone for nearly a year now. I had been an iPhone user for five years. Before that, I was a BlackBerry user. I have been told that I am impartial when it comes to technology.

Yesterday, I installed the latest Android operating system, Oreo, on my phone. The good news is that nothing horrible happened during the upgrade. However, some odd things did occur:

• I have an app called SCENE, which tracks my points for free movies, snacks, and food. For some reason, after the installation, this app decided to automatically launch itself whenever it felt like it. I uninstalled it. I have a feeling that it isn't compatible with Oreo.
  
• Another app, iHeartRadio, decided to run in the background whether I wanted it to or not. I originally switched to this app because all radio stations in this network got removed from popular radio apps like TuneIn. I reinstalled TuneIn and the radio station that I enjoy listening to is back. Bye bye, iHeartRadio!

A while back, I installed System UI Tuner. It has a cool bunch of functions that are experimental on Android. I installed it because I wanted the battery percentage to appear in the upper right corner of my Pixel phone. Oddly, it isn't there by default like many phones.

Before Oreo, the percentage was right on the battery icon and it was difficult to read. With Oreo, it looks like what I was used to on my iPhone. You get a clear reading of the percentage next to the battery icon.

On the whole, Oreo seems a bit better performance-wise. I will given SCENE another try when a new version is available.

Anal sex and intimacy in the treehouse

The other day, I was listening to the radio as I was driving to work, as I generally do. Folks were calling in to discuss what their most embarrassing moments were.

A woman called and indicated that she was working with a guy at their place of employment and ended up making out in the guy's pickup truck. His manager caught them and they both were embarrassed. The good news is that they have been happily married with children for a decade.

My guy and I have quality time in our treehouse (either my car or his). It makes sense considering that we live in opposing directions and it takes us an hour to drive to work on a decent traffic day.

For a while, my guy and I have thought about having anal sex in his treehouse. His treehouse is roomier than mine. Logistically, it would work.

Although we both like the idea of having a hotel for the weekend and escaping the world by being together, it doesn't always work well when we are horny and want to be intimate in a spontaneous fashion. So, we will give this idea a try and see how it goes.

My guy travels off to Istanbul later on today. We are expecting snow. I am hoping that it is a light dusting and that my guy has a smooth travel day.

Spank me, please

I drove home on a foggy Saturday night and heard Ray Parker Jr's "Bad Boy" on Sirius XM.

There is a lyric about spanking in this song. Naturally, I'd like my guy to spank me. I'm due.

I wrote about this song a while back. It still holds true. When I look back at the early 80's, this song was rather daring!

Phone call about packages and bodies

Last Friday, I worked from home. My guy was at the office, conducting another seminar.

The day before, he told me that his niece was looking for a digital SLR camera. He knew that I wanted to sell my very first DSLR. I have had it for nearly five years and decided to go with a lighter one almost a year ago. He was wondering whether I was still interested in selling mine. I was. In a short period, it was sold.

After work on Friday, at around 17:30, my guy called me on his cell phone. He rarely calls me. When he does, it is either urgent or special. It was both this time.

My guy was driving home. I decided to tease him.

"You're calling me because the chatter on CBC Radio 1 about gnats regurgitating their food is boring you, right?"
"No, that's not it! You make me sound so bad!" he exclaimed.
"You know that I am just teasing you, right?" I said, trying to calm him down a bit.
"I know," he replied. "I just wanted to let you know that my niece absolutely loves the DSLR. She has been taking pictures of everything ever since I gave it to her, so thanks," he said.
"You're welcome. Thank you!"
"She loved everything in the package that you had bundled up," he went on to explain.
"You have a nice package, too," I hinted.
"You're so bad!" he exclaimed again.
"It's true."

We talked a bit longer.

"The good thing about DSLR lenses is that they never go out of style," I explained. "As long as you have a body that fits them, it's all good."
"I agree," he said. "You have a nice body that fits everything."

We get along fine on so many levels.

We wished each other a great weekend and I told him to drive safely home. He's such a sweet guy.

"Bad Boy" needs to be changed to "Bad Girl" for me

I love 80's music. I was a kid growing up during that decade (I don't care that I am dating myself, as I have a lot of fond memories). My self-discovery of hit music took place then.

I never had poofy, teased hair. I never wore those jeans with the knee flaps hanging down. Nope, I didn't own a neon yellow t-shirt. I did, however, pin my jeans and wear lots of jelly bracelets, imitating one of my favourite singers at the time, Madonna.

When I bought my first Prius, it came with a free subscription to Sirius XM. I was delighted to find the 80's channel, among other special treasures. More often than not, I am driving (or sitting in traffic, as is the case when you are in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)) with my satellite radio locked on the 80's channel.

Today, as I was driving down to Chinatown to do a bakery run, I heard the following lyrics:

Bad boy
Now I got to be punished 

Go ahead, spank me, whoop me
Let me come back home
I need to be punished 

Spank me, whoop me
Let me come back home
Break out the leather, baby

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I looked down at my audio display:

I had never heard of "Bad Boy" by Ray Parker Jr. After all, I was still in elementary school at the time and it was definitely not a suitable song for such young ears! I just knew him from singing the theme song to the Ghostbusters movie.

I feel the need to share this gem of a song. When my guy is back in town, I'll need to play it for him.

Of course, he wouldn't exactly be able to relate to this song. Once, he did say something along the lines that I should physically hurt him in some way after he broke up with me. It was more of a figure of speech than to tell me that he deserved to be punished for putting me through that experience.

I would have to rework the song, to make it mine. However, my lyrics would not be a perfect match to the song.

Bad girl
Let me go over your knee
I need to be punished

Spank me, pinch me
Make my butt glow
I need to be punished

Spank me, pinch me
Make me say no more
Break out the leather paddle, baby

Maybe I'll leave a voice message on my guy's phone, singing these fine lyrics. I see a fun ringtone in his future. =)