My company sent me to Kansas City this weekend to attend the USACi world finals. It's basically the world's loudest car stereo contest. I met up with a couple of Jensen salesmen, one from New Jersey, one from Ohio.

Friday was the show setup. We headed over to the convention center and found the show car and a stack of 2005 literature. Obviously that wasn't going to work, but we did eventually secure some up to date brochures from someone who was coming in later that night.

We spent two hours walking around downtown and The Village looking for bars and restaurants, before finally settling on a place which had both. The food wasn't that good, but I don't think my coworkers had any idea; they each downed about a dozen drinks before and during dinner. The restaurant had a club downstairs, so after eating we checked it out. Again, not very good, so we spent the rest of the evening at the place next door.

Saturday was the start of the show. The convention center was filled with show cars owned by manufacturers (like us), retail stores, instillation companies, and car enthusiasts. Some of the cars were very well styled and meticulously built, others were just boxes of speakers on wheels (with the entire interior stripped out). The top competitors had to push their cars into the judging area, because they was nowhere to sit inside the "vehicle". The funny part about the judging was that the top cars were often the quietest. They were sealed up so well that the owners had to screw the doors shut with a pneumatic drill. A large truck sponsored by Pioneer broke the world record, but from the outside it sounded like a cellphone vibrating on the table (only a bit louder).

Besides the stereo competition, there were some horrible bands playing, UFC style fights, ugly girls in bikinis.

Today I got woken up early by one of the salesmen from my company. He was still dressed in the clothes he was wearing yesterday and he reeked of booze. He gave me the passes to get into the show and said that he and everyone else were catching early flights home. I ended up having to sit at the booth all day by myself.