Lawnchair Pilot, Larry Walters
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#0848: Click and Clack's Campus Counseling: A's are Overrated!
Original Air Date: 11.29.2008
Description:
On this week's encore edition of Car Talk, college student Lea pleads for guidance though the existential crisis otherwise known as freshman year. How does she deal with the prospect of becoming an adult? And, come to think of it, why in Bluto Blutarsky's name does she think Tom and Ray can help?
Also, a cross-country move gets expensive for one caller, after her Great Dane decides to see the USA from the hood of her pickup, a Mazda owner wonders what a flashing coolant light and low coolant could mean, aside from the fact that she's low on coolant, and is there any car-related sound more annoying than a mechanic endlessly repeating, "I promise, this time it really is fixed!" All that, plus greetings from the self-proclaimed Automotive Bermuda Triangle of the Midwest, this week on a special encore edition of Car Talk.
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Show Review - 658
by AnonymousShow Review - 677
by AnonymousShow Review - 685
by AnonymousThis is the song: Beep, Beep, Beep (Moonlight Sonata) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21LtgAO0dx4
Kudos to Campus Counseling
by andreajacobson@mac.comGreat advice! As a Mount Holyoke alum who is also from the Great State of Washington, I can attest to the validity of Lea's experience. Mount Holyoke College is a tough place academically speaking and the first year is probably the roughest when combine with being homesick. Fortunately, she has reached out for help early. If only I'd thought to write you guys! I didn't figure out how to enjoy college until my senior year when I decided to stopped doing all the assigned reading, wrote papers on their due dates instead of two weeks before, and instituted a "no homework" policy Friday through Sunday. After doing that, I received my highest GPA at Mount Holyoke and I was having a good time.
Favorite Moment: The best advice you guys shared was to not focus on getting "A"s and to have fun. It's all about keeping things in perspective --which is a rule that comes in handy throughout life.
The song at the end.
by jparedesThe show was one of the best. The advice for Leah was golden. The Geochemistry professor, regardless of her PhD is an idiot. The song at the end (moon light sonata?) was great. Where can we get the CD?
Favorite Moment: The song at the end.
Ignorance writ large
by AnonymousIt seems that I am the sole voice who thinks that everyone on the show was ignorant this week. The negligent professor was laughable, of course. But the rant against college was mystifying. Why do we clamor so much for universal access to education if we don't want to be educated? Surely grades aren't the only measure of education, but the dismissal of college professors as hacks who can't find other work was sad. It's no wonder we're a nation of know-nothings. Self gratification is the only imperative, it seems. Why is it that the teacher is the enemy except in overdramatized films that show the teacher as a rebel? Most teachers really want meaningful relationships with their students. Those who have grown sour and unhelpful have done so because they have been pushed away by indifference. It is hard to understand why so many students (and parents) spend so much energy resisting something that they pay so much for and seem to regard as a civil right. Why not just skip college altogether and save the debt? If Ray and Tom had any sense at all, they'd have given her that advice. Counseling Leah to stay in college and half-ass her way through is a sorry excuse for advice.
College Credit
by OhCatburn4Loved your "B" take on the whole college thing. Amazed at your ESP on "Black" Asian car. I do want more.. Want to know the rest of that song you played. Did the light ever turn green for the guy who kept getting beeped at? Put me in the mind of Little Nash Rambler whose horn just went beep, beep, beep.
Favorite Moment: My favortie moments are always the closings... DoHe Cheatum and HOW. I love that stuff... Russian Chauffer.. Pickup and Dropoff.
Dog on the Cab - NOT!
by garirae02Your concern for Leah was and is highly commendable. However, you should have communicated stronger derision towards the giggly, arrogant, college professor who wanted national attention for allowing her dog to "ride" on the top of her pickup cab. In California, this would be illegal, but that aside, the danger to the dog is EXTREME. That said, I can't believe that a dog wouldn't slip off the cab roof when the brakes are applied, even most slightly. That said #2: you should have instructed her to get a kennel for the truck bed and put the dog in there. Sorry, I love your show, but I just feel you missed an opportunity to tell an "intelligent" person that they are bordering on animal cruelty by garnering personal attention for such dangerous behavior.
bad advice
by vandyhThe freshman who called your show does not need to be told that all her hard work is overrated. Hard work in pursuing an education should be congratulated, and good grades are a measure of that hard work. Shame on you for not valuing an excellent education and for not supporting someone who is trying to get an education.
Dog on the Cab - NOT!
by garirae02Kudos for your support of Leah, but pans for college professor who thought it was funny that her dog rode on the top of her truck cab.
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