Even with a new stereo, the Merkur's radio reception could be considered poor at best.  For some reason, the car only picks up German stations, and AM signals, including the all-important Leafs broadcasts, are non-existent.  The reason:  a wacky German antenna mounted in the hatchback window that was all fried up!

As someone once said, to repair is to rewire, and The Paperless One didn't feel like doing that much work.

Did I mention that I saw a light from above? 

Wait a minute, that was just the overhead light (but what a glow...I'd better close the door!!!).

However, underneath the light was the easiest access to the roof  - the perfect place to mount an antenna, as Ford engineers (you know, the guys who decided that this would be a good place for an antenna on a Ford Focus) would have you believe.

A bit of dashboard dismantling, and I was able to string the wire along the side cladding away from view, all the way back to the back of the stereo.

The dash went back together with ease (maybe one of these days, the instrument cluster will come off to replace those missing dash light bulbs), and the whole experience was a relative...

Success!

Toronto Maple Leafs games!!!

Did I mention that when I go through a car wash, I can open the sunroof and yank the antenna off without jumping out of the car?

Problem #2:  the heater blower decided to crap out in the middle of winter.  With a bit of assistance from Merkurmaniacs on the Internet, The Paperless One diagnosed the problem to a faulty heater control module...only two weeks after one was sold on Ebay!

Drumroll, please.  It turns out that the culprit is a wasted little power transistor by the name of "2N3771".  Now, to find one...

This article was lazily reprinted from the DAILY SCRIBBLE section...