Interference

I was driving to work the other day and trying to listen to "Morning Edition" on my local public radio station (88.1 FM). Suddenly, Steve Inskie was interrupted by Howard Stern. I grew up listening to Howard, so I wasn't offended. But I was confused. Howard Stern has been on satellite radio for over a year. How was he contacting me?

Eventually, my brilliant father figured out that 88.1 FM is the frequency that Sirius Satellite radio users have to sue to transmit their radio to their car stereo. The traffic where I drive is dense enough for me to pick up transmissions from neighboring vehicles.

Now, it has become sport for me. Every time I pick one up, I try to figure out which car near me I am eavesdropping on. It's fun. There's some guilty pleasure in knowing what someone else thinks they are doing in the privacy of their own vehicle...

It was all fun and games until I got stuck behind the Lexus listening to Fox News.