The Best of Car Talk - #2462: What's the Matter, Lea?

Episode Date: August 3, 2024

Lea is a lost college freshman looking for meaning in the rigors of her academic existence. She somehow got it in her head that Click and Clack, being MIT-trained car mechanics, might be able to help her put things in perspective on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.Get access to hundreds of episodes in the Car Talk archive when you sign up for Car Talk+ at plus.npr.org/cartalkLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Constitution, our founding document, says a lot about how our country has evolved and who we want to be. But it's not set in stone. So for the next month, we'll be digging into the history behind some of its most pivotal amendments. Listen to We the People on the Throughline podcast from NPR. are. Hello and welcome to Chiro Talk from National Public Radio with us Click and Clack the Tapper Brothers and we're broadcasting this week from the Washboard Division here at Car Talk Plaza.

Now, this is basically a request for information. Recently, we were trying to answer a question sent in by a reader of our newspaper column about how to best drive on a washboard road. Now, I should explain, maybe some people aren't familiar with what a washboard road is. Yeah, unpaved roads with big holes in them. Not holes, but ripples that run perpendicular to the ruts that are not on the all all dirt road is this mainly applies to dirt roads

dirt dirt roads have rots in them that are worn out by the tires and then they are out the ripples which one perpendicular to those which by the way change depending on the weather factors include rarefac rain wind pitch of the road pitch

tar on the shore all that stuff all that stuff the question is basically someone wrote to us and asked how you should drive over a washboard road should you go very slowly so that your tires follow the contour completely of all the peaks and valleys? Or should you try to zap along at a given speed that would be determined entirely by experimentation so as to hit each crest? We had great long discussions about this.

Using even formulas like S equals one half GT squared, etc. Well, in any event, this is a cry for help because we really don't know the answer. As anyone that read our column will be painfully aware of. So we're asking physicists, people from the scientific community, to help us out or people with significant washboard experience. Well, I don't think the physicists are going to be of much help to us, frankly. You need a physicist that lives on a back road. I think you just need a bubba who lives on a back road because he will have figured it

out. He will have experimented enough to know that he'll go out and measure the bumps for us and say they're a foot and a half apart and at 32 miles an hour I can't even feel them. So if you care to communicate with us in this matter write to us at Washboard Division, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, MA 02238 or you can email us from CarTalk.com. Now if you have a question about your car... Wait, wait, wait, Patricia Mill, this is very quick. Patricia Mill sent, what goes clip clop, clip clop, clip clop, bang? Clip clop, something about a horse that's been shot. I don't know what. An Amish drive-by shooting.

If you have a question about your car or anything else for us, you can call us at 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, my name is Dora Shelburne and I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Uh, Baton Rouge. Yes. Dora! Do you know it? No.

Oh, too bad. But we don't call it Baton Rouge anymore because we're on the outs with the people who gave you that name. Right, it's that Red Stick. We're calling it Red Stick Louisiana. Well, how about Baton Rouge? No, absolutely out of the question. We refuse to have anything to do with those wacko French people. Would you like me to hang up?

I'm sure you're not one of them. Ah, she may be. I'm Pierre Cajun. Uh oh. That's good. That's alright. That's acceptable Well, thank you This is the French that live in France that we're at odds with because they are trying to get rid of all Foreign words from their language. Yeah, and especially

Americanized English words like blue jeans like stop a instead of stop. Yeah, I mean who do they think they are for God's sakes Yeah, there's only 50 million of them with a problem there more of a and slightly that doesn't make us any better so what's on your mind or a i have a potential problem i have a ninety five uh... plamette for a japan and a t

had a peculiar nor a p uh... like a ringing of a telephone i took it to the dealer and they claimed it was a belt on that a unit so they change that at no cost i have no gripe with the deal however

it continued here and it cro crossed between perhaps a elongated and a ringing of a telephone really I took it back and they drove it for several miles I could tell by the odometer and they told me they never heard it one time did they hear it the first time no because I took it to him and they just idled it they didn't't drive it. It doesn't make that noise idling. Only driving. But since this last trip, I rarely hear it and it's very, very muted, which is fine. I'm just concerned about when the warranty ends. They told me they had done nothing to it because they never heard it. Well, they probably just came back from the NHIS which is the

never heard it seminar the deal is have these every year yeah you can't go you're an outsider outsider they spend a cage and they go on a retreat and they spend weeks practicing this look of dismay. And the shrug. I never heard it. You know, in 500 different ways to say, I never heard it. Didn't do it for us. Didn't do it for us.

We were unable to reproduce it. They have all the, they practice all the euphemisms. It wouldn't perform for us. Did you cut a record for this? Well, I mean, it's going away though, huh? Well, yes, but they claim it lasted for about two months, three months, and they tell me that they couldn't do anything to it because they never heard it. Well, I can believe it. Well, when they put the new belt on, did it go away for even a little while?

No, I heard it about maybe the next day or... It happens only when the air conditioner is on. That's correct. But not all the time that the air conditioner is on. No, no, it's not a continuous ringing. I just answer it occasionally but it's usually a wrong number. But it actually sounds like a brrrring. Yes. Brrrring. That's right. Well, I mean there are a couple of things come to mind. Obviously you could have a bad air conditioner compressor clutch, which is one possible and that i'm worried about that well i don't think so first of all you covered by the

the warranty of a three-year thirty six thousand mile it is okay but point one my three years ago well you got a while yet before your three years is up right uh... so there's there's that possibility the other possibility is it is just a misaligned belt and there may not be anything they can do about it very easily. But sometimes if the belts are not in perfect alignment, that is the pulleys are not in

perfect alignment, then the belt is thrown slightly askew, and that can cause a ringing. So is that possible? And the third possibility is when the air conditioner is turned on, it is setting up what we call a sympathetic vibration. Right. It may have nothing whatever to do with the air conditioner is turned on, it is setting up what we call a sympathetic vibration. Right, it may have nothing whatever to do with the air conditioner itself. There may be a piece of sheet metal that's loose someplace that's being forced to vibrate sympathetically. And you can usually tell by the whimpering that you hear. That's me, it's nothing.

Oh, that's you. No, but it's vibrating because something is setting it into motion and it could be just the imposition of the load of the air conditioner on the engine that's causing this piece to sympathetically vibrate. It could be a heat shield or something like that. Maybe nothing. Do you think that they listen to your program? I hope so. Do you believe them?

Huh? Do you believe them? Are they honest gentlemen? There are upstanding Cajuns. Are they pure Cajun? Yeah. They're not partially French, are they pure Cajun yeah they're not partially French are they not a draw but here's Dora you're all set because first

of all even if this thing conks out let's let's say the compressor is the problem and it conks out after your warranty is over uh-huh they will have to honor it because you have documented the the existence of this problem or at least the potential for the existence of a problem while you were still within the warranty Period as long as you have some kind of Documentation I do then when the thing finally does break and they say oh Dora you need a new compressor And it's gonna cost you 700 bucks you can say I don't think so Right I do have the paperwork save the I don't think so much achos

I do have the paperwork. Save the papers. I don't think so muchachos. Good luck Dara. Listen, thanks. I enjoyed it. It's great talking to you. I enjoyed speaking to you as well. Bye bye. Bye All right, Tommy. It's time once again For America to feel better about itself. Well, I happen to remember what the puzzler is because interestingly The very day after you gave this puzzle. we America's not gonna feel better about this no they're gonna say Tommy's brain cells are coming back raise cell regeneration well they're only coming back because of something that triggered it the very next day it showed up on my son's exam as a bonus question and I had mentioned the two of the night before no he was the

only kid in the room who got it right. He was? So I remember. But I can't remember what the question was. I'm stumped by this question. That's exactly what it is. In its utter simplicity, what is the derivation of the phrase, I'm stumped? I'm stumped.

Yeah. You know, I thought it was pretty cute. Back in the early days of the Republic, when we were pushing westward. I remember. Yeah. The knee arose. In our Conestoga wagons. Yeah, and I'm not talking about like Arizona.

I'm talking about westward, like Kentucky and Tennessee. Yeah. Yeah, Pennsylvania. Maryland. Yeah, that west. Yeah. Yeah, Pennsylvania. Maryland. Yeah, that west. Yeah. Well, there arose a need to make areas

that were passable for horses and, in fact, wagons. So people that settled there could get goods and get goods to market and whatever. And these states were heavily forested. And people went through, the government mostly, went through and cut down the trees in order to make roads. Really? So they went through and cut down the trees in order to make roads. Really? So they went and they cut down the trees but by necessity left the stumps because the stumps were difficult to remove and in some areas there were so many stumps and because the roads got washed with rains and became muddy messes

it was possible to get into an area where you couldn't move at all because between the ruts and the road and the stumps all around you, your travel was impeded and when that happened, you were stumped. Whoa. Why weren't you rutted? No, stumped was... Stumped is better. Stumped is better.

I'm stumped. Pretty good, huh? Can't go any further. That's very good. Yeah, that's good. Who's our winner? Whether it's true or not, I don't go any further. That's very good. Yeah that's good. Who's our winner? Whether it's true or not I don't know. Of course it's true. The winner is Barry Williams from Bel Air Maryland. Speaking of the West, he's from the West and for having his correct answer selected at random as our winner of this week Barry

gets a brand new Chad's House of Croissants t-shirt. We bought 5,000 of these beautiful shirts from Chad just before his credit to showed up at the u-haul trucks And now the Chad's house of croissants logo is crossed out and the words car talk NPR are Unceremoniously written in in red ink appropriately red ink Appropriately of course because Chad is what out of business Now this is the design that according to our voting listeners best represents the spirit of Car Talk, and should we be insulted by that? Of course not.

No, we're not insulted by much of anything. Congratulations, Barry. You'll get your t-shirt in the mail as soon as Ken Rogers gets off his butt and sends it to you. Yeah, you'll get it next July. Anyway, we have another new puzzler coming up during the second half car talk kind of a quasi automotive Oh Quasi's back

Is a dead ringer for his brother no space rings a bell Hey more calls are coming up right after this Coming up right after this. On this week's episode of Wild Card, musical icon, Ani DeFranco. I get a lot of, you know, I loved you in the 90s, you know, it's a lot of, ah, in the high school, you know, we're both 50. She lets me in on the secret to reinventing yourself when you feel stuck in a certain box. That's on the Wild Card Podcast, the game where cards control the conversation.

New from the Embedded Podcast. Female athletes have always needed grit and talent. But for decades, they've also needed a certificate. There was chit chat about, is that really a woman? And even now, they're still being checked and questioned. Their story is the newest series from CBC and NPR's Embedded. It's called Tested. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

On this week's episode of Wild Card, actor and reading rainbow host LaVar Burton says he knows people see him in a certain way. It is hard to imagine you getting really angry about it. Oh my God, you could not be more wrong. I'm Rachel Martin. Join us for NPR's Wild Card Podcast, the game where cards control the conversation. This message comes from the Kresge Foundation. Established 100 years ago, the Kresge Foundation works to expand equity and opportunity in cities across America.

A century of impact, a future of opportunity. More at kresge.org. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio with us, click and clack the Tapper Brothers, and we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and deep philosophical issues. I'll just read this letter to you and without comment, okay? I doubt it. It's from Leah. I wonder if she... Without comment!

I'm sorry. Can you just read the letter? I have a question for you both that has absolutely nothing to do with cars or mechanical things. Although you will most likely, laughingly argue that you are the most unqualified people to ask, it is for this reason that I fear you both to be qualified. Here's my situation. I am a college freshman at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. While I have always excelled in school and I'm continuing to do so here, I am losing my attraction to traditional education. I feel as though I am in

jail and the prospect of spending four years here is enough to make me wish that an alternate death sentence was available. It gets heavier, man. Just read the letter. I know that it might be easier if I knew what profession I wanted to go into, but here I run into another conflict. I feel that in order to be successful, I must have a real career, such as a lawyer, writer, or environmental studies consultant, all of which I suppose I would enjoy. Yet, I also want an Olympic caliber life in riding and training hunter-jumpers. I've been riding horses since I was two, of which

I know I'm capable of accomplishing if I put my mind to it. Then there is my insatiable need for outdoor adventure which tempts me into a life of poverty as a NOLS, National Outdoor Leadership School Instructor. At the bottom of all this confusion lies a serious case of childhood withdrawal. Life just doesn't seem fun as an adult. The good stuff in life was all experienced as a child. Trips to the park, handfuls of cookie dough, and arms to carry you to bed. As of yet, I have not found a cure and instead only supporting evidence of the misery of adulthood.

Mm. Just read the letter! So my question is this, how does one possibly live a happy, productive, gratifying life as an adult? I guess what I'm really asking is how do I live life instead of hoping for death? And how do I reconcile my feelings about college and a career with the demands of living in America I know you are busy, but if you have time I'd really appreciate your feedback. We don't have time What's your name? I'm afraid I'm a I had to go pick up her letter on the floor I'm afraid to mention her name now. Well you have to give us

Leah her name is Leah. We are reaching out to you Leah if you're there if you're still there Sheesh. Yeah. No, I suppose it is suffering from classic homesickness Yeah homesickness. Yeah. And that homesickness is- Manifesting itself in deep depression. Deep depression and suicidal tendencies because she's bummed out about having joined the real world and being responsible with no one to tuck her in and no one to- Well, but she's right.

I mean, it is lousy, isn't it? That's why we should never grow up. Never grow up. Yeah, well, one of us has it. Tell her she can come to work for us. Yeah, that way she'll never have to grow up. In fact, if she grows up, she gets immediately fired. Yeah.

Right, the first thing she'd have to do is engage in a water pistol fight with Berman every Friday. Or whipped cream. Right, the first thing you should have to do is engage in a water pistol fight with Berman every Friday. Or whipped cream. No, Leah, it doesn't have to be as bad as you say it is, you just seem to be stuck with a bunch of stiffs out there in South Hadley, that's what it sounds like to me. Give us a call at 1-800-332-9287 or some other number, one other number. Any number you want, but you know what she needs to do?

She needs to, first of all, stop taking it so seriously. I think the way I overcame this, my freshman year in college, was to immediately start skipping classes. You skip a few classes and you feel liberated. Well, no, but she does hate the classes, too. Yeah, skip them. Yeah. Most of them aren't necessary.

Well, she brings up the issue, is it really true that you must have a college education? No, obviously it isn't true. I mean, that's right, Bill Gates didn't think so. In fact, I suggest that people might want to read about my new theory of learning, which is on the website as we speak, which addresses this very issue. She shouldn't even be in college. I've this very issue. She shouldn't even be in college. There shouldn't even be any colleges for that matter. I've come to realize that you are a dangerous individual, and somehow or another, you need

to be silenced. I promise, if we're elected president, I will kill my brother. Promises, promises. Hey, Leah, Leah seriously give us a call we'll give you a job and all your troubles will be over absolutely as long as your father keeps sending those checks on the send them directly to right no need to send tuition to holy okay here of do we cheat of an hour what eight hundred three although we gonna know I'm not come on It's time for some time for the exciting new Sintillating what did you call it before spine tingling? Yeah, yeah, sit elating. I really I remember these things. I remember all right. So what is it? I don't know how much I'm all worked up. I don't know if I can concentrate on this here

It is we all know that when you when you get into the car to start it you put the key in the ignition You turn the key, and electricity is directed by you doing that from the battery to the starter motor, and of course it makes a complete path and goes back to the battery. In fact, electrons begin their migration from the negative terminal of the battery into the starter motor and then back into the battery. That's how the flow of electricity takes place, from the negative to the starter to the battery. Now, knowing that, if an electron were to start out at the negative, right at the negative terminal of the battery, and you have 10 feet of battery cables and the starter motor. Like 5 feet to the starter motor and five feet back. Well, I thought four feet to the starter and six feet back.

Sure. That's fine. Right? Yeah. How long, then, does it take a single electron, starting from the negative battery terminal, to reach the positive terminal? That is, to make the whole so-called circuit.

The whole so-called circuit. Now, I could do this as a multiple choice thing and that would be That would give people a little bit of a hint, but I'm gonna just leave it open-ended. I like open-ended You like open-ended sure because it lends itself now to right-brained answers as well as a essay essay type answers Don't forget. We are now considering Essay type right brain answers to all of these pseudo scientific questions Exactly, so if you think you know the answer send it to us at puzzler tower Kartok Plaza box 3500 Harvard Square, Cambridge our fair city math

022 38 or you can email your answer to us from kartok.com by clicking on the talk to kartok section Yeah, what if we should choose the correct answer that you send in. Then what happens? Well, we'll send you a Chad's House of Croissants Car Talk t-shirt, and we'll even throw in a Click and Clack in 96 bumper sticker. We're having trouble getting these, getting rid of these, if there are any left by next week.

Now, if you'd like to call us with a question about your car, the number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car on car talk hello my name hope and i'm calling you from atlanta hi hi hi i'm linda fine but i'm a university professor so i'm okay yeah i thought i wanted to talk about my car but now that you sort of went into it with that student that wrote don't you feel bad like a position on this well mean, I think you should feel very, very guilty. You're taking part in the giant scam known as college, quotes, education. Oh, well, that's very interesting to hear

from somebody who's part of the entertainment industry. Why? Well, my brother used to be a college professor, I'll have you know, until they drummed him out. Until they caught me at it. Of the ethics committee. In all fairness, she brings up some of the important weaknesses of the system. There are some very, very heavy, serious weaknesses. What do you teach?

What do I teach? I teach geochemistry. I teach geology. Geochemistry? Yes, I do. Geochemistry i think geochemistry that sort of chemistry of rocks and i usually bring the conversation with the king of the did they have to have a

what geological chemistry yet chemistry of geology that that would be the white what what what and give me an example example how cold it's converted to die haha how geochemistry isn't it yeah i haven't dealt with that particular issue lately well get to that because it can be lucrative

yeah forget all that stupid research you've been doing stop working on the diamond thing now well i mean how much geochemistry is there going on as we speak oh what a yahoo how much geochemistry is there going on as we speak i think that what i mean yaho uh... i'm not quite sure how to quantify that

i i work with archaeologists and i use chemical methods on uh... fossils to tell them about uh... that that climate environment of the time in which these people lived so it's normal chemistry which just happened to be happens to be used in geological applications. That's true. In which case it's misnamed. It's just chemistry.

You teach chemistry. Well, actually, archaeological chemistry would be more like it. You are studying, you are able to provide information about the past. Aren't you glad you called? At least that's what you purport to do. You could call me a historian in that sense. An art historian. An art historian.

You answer. Chemical historian. And you have a job? So, Hope. I also have a car. Oh, we don't want to talk about your car. You want to talk about your car or you want to talk about chemistry? Or education?

Well, I have an opportunity to talk with people that are slightly more enlightening on the chemistry and things here but i'd rather talk with you about my car i happen to have several degrees in chemistry uh... yeah yeah you know that discuss fisher diagrams of it i would have a lot of this i mean you know they don't do fisher diagrams pb s o four double-double i mean come on we can handle all of this and i think a lot of it and i think that i think that i think that i think that i think that i think

that i think that i think that i think that i think that i think that i think yeah okay so what do you think i think i think that i think that i think that i think that between uh... between my dog and my car that i think that i don't know really it's a big dog that they're going on hundred pound kind of talk to you to visualize large we're talking large dot what breed

well much yeah my i would say so but all all you know if you get it democratically it would be great pain and back retriever okay so i'm driving across the country and moving to atlanta have this great job and i'm going to perpetuate the education of the family country which already that is it may be right

and i'm going to cut the other dogs in the back of the pickup truck and it is tied in with that with the tie down type of uh... all yeah so it was call flying out well that was the idea is the basic idea yeah exactly and and uh... i was rather particular about this tie down because you want them to stay behind the cabs they don't get things flying in their eyes and i think that's that tyrant that tied down and i i went over to the humane society and and uh...

talked with several people and they they said it was the fine apparatus looks great i started having done the road and the dog is not can't hand just to stay in the back and and look at this majestic country of art go by on highway forty that's but and i think that you can get the same that they think about it actually

uh... but and by the time we get to southern california he had decided she wanted to write on the toolbox because they gave her a better vantage point on and by the time we got to southern california he had decided she wanted to ride on the toolbox because they gave her a better vantage point uh... and by the time we got to arizona he decided that you had to ride on top of the cap across this country you know the better part of three thousand mild with a dog a hundred-pound dog standing erect on top of the cab i have to be tracking while and with a dog a hundred-pound dog standing erect on top of the cab on top of the truck

while and that that that the kind of thing that you got to come the small town in the middle of the country and that kind of uh... attention-grabbing uh... interesting night i mean people used to do this in the old days with those biplanes you know those the the the stump guys and he had yeah it's possibly not good for the dog safety but you know what it's affecting my mileage also this is where she likes to ride all the time now she will if she can possibly scramble up there she will

stand fully you know fully standing up on top of the cab this is a pickup truck four feet all right all four feet four feet? All four feet. All four feet. And she just stands... Trying to face into the wind and really, it's a daredevil type maneuver. It certainly is. And you let her do this? What? Didn't you think she might fall off? Well, it's happened to me a couple times actually.

But short of hitting the brakes really suddenly and i don't think i think in the back of the track how did you know she was standing on the break suddenly would force her to slide down the windshield and off the hood you know she's tied down she's tied down tied to the toolbox that also i understand the i think we just let when you slam on the brakes yeah her momentum would ordinarily take her over

the sliding down the- And then the bungee cord slings her backwards and she hits the windshield of the car behind you. Well, is your larger concern the mileage or the dog? Because we could address either issue. Well, right now it's the dog, possibly because I haven't really spent that much. Well I mean, now that you've moved here, all your record collection is not on the front seat next to you, so she can now ride in the truck.

I have to put her in the truck with me? That's your solution? No. You know, the reason she's up there is she is fulfilling her duty as a dog. She is watching out for you. She is. And you don't have the decency to let her ride shotgun. Yeah, she's probably protecting you.

Don't forget, dogs do that. I mean, dogs are protective, and she's loyal, and she loves you. And how do you repay her? By making her ride on the slippery roof of the truck. I think she ought to be rewarded by riding, in fact I'd let her drive. I couldn't just glue upside down golf tees to the top. Well just glue her feet right to the truck, why don't you?

Well dogs are amazingly sure-footed, but you can if you want, if you want to do something humane as opposed to inane, which is what you did on the to inane you can buy a harness for her that will actually keep her pretty much in place in the back tie her from sort of all angles there you go it's very interesting I have to say I've never heard of a doc doing this and it stands to reason that you started out where in California where else you must have a photograph or maybe even a video of this, right?

Um, not as of yet. Oh, you have to. I would have to orchestrate the whole thing. Well, orchestrate it and send us a photo and we'll put it up on the website. Okay. Absolutely, because that's where it belongs. Thanks for calling, Olf.

Yes. See ya. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Get a harness. There's a lot more stuff coming up right after the following messages, so stick around. On the TED Radio Hour, MIT psychologist Sheri Turkle, her latest research into the intimate relationships people are having with chatbots.

Technologies that say, I care about you. I love you. I'm here for you. Take care of me. The pros and cons of artificial intimacy. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR. Okay, so tell me if this sounds like you. You love NPR's podcasts.

You wish they weren't interrupted by sponsor breaks like this one, and you want to support NPR's mission of creating a more informed public. If this does sound like you, then it's time to sign up for perks across more than 20 podcasts with the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Hey, I'm Robert Smith from Planet Money Money and this summer we are bringing you the entire History of the world at least the economics part. It's Planet Money summer school Every week will invite in a brilliant professor and play classic episodes about the birth of money banks and finance There will be rogues and revolutionaries and a lot of panics. Summer School, every Wednesday till Labor Day

on the Planet Money Podcast from NPR. I just don't want to leave a mess. On Bullseye, the great Dan Aykroyd talks about the Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters and his very detailed plans about how he will spend his afterlife. I think I'm going to roam in a few places. Yes, I'm going to manifest and roam. All that and more on the Bullseye Podcast from MaximumFun.org and NPR. 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Leah Fry from South Hadley. Oh my God.

Leah, we've been so worried. Geez. I feel bad. I didn't mean to worry you guys. Well, you did. I mean, that letter you sent us had such a tone of discouragement and depression. Well, yeah, I'm going through a pretty tough time, but don't worry. I'm not suicidal or anything, so I hope you didn't get that from my letter.

Well, I mean, are things any better since you wrote the letter? Well, they're better right now. I mean, I'm just ecstatic to be talking with you guys. You've just made my day. Well, that's great. But, you know, I mean, I'm just trying to hang in there and try to find answers, but it's really hard to... Answers, huh?

I mean, what... I mean, yeah, tell me, basically, what, are you just homesick? I mean, you miss being with your friends and your family? Yeah, I'm pretty homesick. I'm homesick for the geography is so different here. I'm from Washington originally So yeah, it's just I miss the mountains and the water and all we have water We have water Yeah, no you don't have any ocean there and self-hadly You're right actually now that I think of it,

it is kind of a depressing little place. Well, no, it isn't. No, it is. In fact, most kids are kind of excited to get away from the clutches of their parents and go off and be on their own and be responsible for themselves. And you can stay up as late as you want.

You can come in at night whenever you want. You can do whatever you want, as long as you can go to class if you want or not go to class. You can make new friendships. It's kind of an exciting time. Have you made any new friends? Yeah, I've made some new friends and that's really good, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to always be achieving and always to get the A's and so it's a lot more of that.

A's are very overrated. What? A's are very overrated. What? A's are overrated. You think so? B's are good enough. Oh, absolutely. Sometimes a C is pretty good. I've had a few C's look pretty good.

C's? Sometimes you'd pay $100 for a D, man. I tried that. They wanted $500. Woo. No, I mean, if that's what's troubling you, I tried that they wanted 500 No, I mean I if that's what's troubling you I mean you shouldn't do that to yourself A's are vastly overrated my brother is absolutely right. I mean, I think I never Overrated and the people who have the A's, they're not any better than you. Uh-huh.

And they're probably nowhere near as happy. Well, I know, so that's the thing is, I'm trying to weigh my happiness and saying, is it worth it to be sacrificing all of that just to be getting the four point GPA? Yeah, more importantly, it sounds to me from your letter that you're studying stuff that you're not interested in. Well, I mean, it's interesting,

but I've just pushed myself for so many years to be doing so well that I've just burnt out on it. I've burnt out on it. Sure. Yeah, and that happens. That does happen. You don't want to burn out now. This is the wrong time to peek.

Trust me on this. When's the right time? Well, I don't know, but it's a long ways away. Yeah, so you don't want to peak now. I mean, what if you told yourself that a B was absolutely spectacular? And then think of how wonderful you'd feel. Suddenly nights would come when people would say, hey, want to go to a movie? And you'd say, sure. Sure, I can get a B in that course without even doing the work.

I got an A average now. It's too high I mean what if you told yourself that you don't want any a's God that'd be so tough Sheesh you're a very self motivated individual. I don't know if I should divulge this on public radio here Oh, yeah, but I have a son who's in high school And when he first started high school He too thought that he had to get a's And he was miserable and I told him one day a's are not important

B's are great He looked at me like the whole world had opened up to him and he said you gotta be kidding I said are you kidding be kidding. I said, are you kidding? A bee is absolutely wonderful. Ever since he realized that, he never does any homework anymore. But I told him that because he was getting too tense. He was losing perspective on what life is all about. Oh, I remember him. He kept saying, I'm a wigwam, I'm a teepee. You're too tense.

You're too tense. A wigwam, that was bad. Hey, on the spot, what do you want on the spot? No, and the point is that an A is not all that important. You have a whole life that you have to live. Yeah. And grades are just one little piece of it. Well, I will confess to you, I received many A's during my collegiate career.

Wait, what? I also got a lot of the- Swimming doesn't count. Well, I will admit that there were many courses in which I got A's that I learned less than the courses in which I got C's in. Yeah. So, if learning this stuff is the most important thing, which I think it is, then the grade is when I got C's in. Yeah. So if learning the stuff is the most important thing, which I think it is,

then the grade is unimportant. And once you've accepted that philosophy, then you can go and study the stuff for itself and not for the grade. I know. That's what you need to do. Don't focus on the grade. Focus on learning the stuff and having fun

because you're only going to be 20 once. So if you ever get down low again, Leah, call us anytime, day or night. Seriously? Absolutely. We will guide you through these four years at that two-bit school that you're at. And in the process we'll probably straighten them out. So any particular problems you have on any subject, we accept biology. I don't understand anything about biology.

Doug knows biology. Doug knows biology. Right. So we're covered. There isn't a course you can take that among everyone in this studio, we couldn't tell you anything you want to know. Let us be your personal mentors.

Are you a freshman? I'll take the F on it. If you're there, I'll take you up on it. It's a deal. Really? We'll do your homework for you. What do we charge for homework these days? Send us the assignments.

We'll fax you back the stuff that you should do. Okay, well I won't take advantage of you, but I may check in now and again. Well, we'll be checking with you just to make sure you're okay. And I'm telling you right now, as a father figure, I don't want to to see any A's okay. I don't want any A's and no C's either Be the A's or F B's or F's All B's I know you can do it if you see yourself getting close to an A Then do something stupid like you know take them off and get back down to a B. Okay. If you see yourself getting close to an A, then do something stupid like, you know,

take them off and get back down to a B. Okay. See you, Leah. All right. Thank you very much. Keep smiling. Keep us posted, really. Okay, I will. Great.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Well, you've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk. Our esteemed producer is Doug the Subway Fugitive, not a slave to fashion, Punkin' Lips Berman. Our associate producer and dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our assistant producer is Doug the Subway Fugitive, not a slave to fashion, Punkin Lips Berman. Our associate producer and dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our assistant producer is Cathode Petutti-Ray. Our engineer is Karen Given.

And our technical advisor is Mr. John Bugsy Sebastian. Mr. Height, Sweet Cheeks, Free Lunch, Twinkle Toes, Donut Breath, Hoola Lips. Two gigabyte, make that three triple cheeseburgers car? What car? Loller. Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Murky Research assisted by statistician Marginal Vera.

Our automotive medical researcher is Dr. Denton Fender. Our marriage counselor is Marion Haste. Our director of new product repair is Warranty My Foot. Our director of staff pay increase is Xavier Breath, assisted by Tony Von Thinkett. The curator of Tom's Car Collection is Rex Galore. Our director of country music is Stan Byerman. The president of the Car Talk Hair Club for Men is Emerson Fittibaldi, who by the way is his client. Our director of cold weather starting is Martina Never Turnover.

The chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff is John Shalai Papawiliili, our timing director is Benjamin Not-Yet-Yu Yahu, who works right alongside our Chief of Tire Technology, yes sir, it's a flat, and our Chief Counsel from the law firm with Dewey Cheatham and Howes, you Lewis Dewey, known to local law enforcement as youy Louie Dewey, thanks so much for listening, we're Click and Clack the Tappin Brothers, remember, don't drive like my stinkin' brother. Don't drive like my brother. We'll be back next week, we hope. Bye bye. If you find yourself in urgent need of a cassette copy of this week's show, which happens, we

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