The cartalk.com TIME KILL WEEKLY Special Automotive Confessions Edition ______________________________________________ Killing Time, Unencumbered by the Work Process ______________________________________________ Maury Maille, Editor
What's new at Car Talk Plaza? Our automotive confessional, that's what. No, we haven't installed any ponderous mahogany kneelers here at Car Talk Plaza. We have been pleased, however, to offer you the chance to unburden yourselves of your automotive sins. Why? Because your stories make us laugh. (Isn't that reason enough?) So far, we've heard from Wanda (towed a flaming trailer), Eric (reached for beer, drank brake fluid) and Jim (inadvertently jammed his head between the curb and his brake rotor.) Think you can top that? Come on, we know you can. Tell us your most embarrassing automotive moment, via http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/confess/index.html We'll pass it along to Tom and Ray, who will read from your offerings on Car Talk, a week from this weekend. Of course, we'll also post our favorite confessions on our lousy little web site. Now for a very important, public service offering from Car Talk. We know, it's relatively easy shopping for your loved ones. But... what about your NOT-so-loved ones? What to get your in-laws, co-workers and not-quite-distant-enough friends, to show them you care? (Well, a little, anyway.) Might we suggest... http://www.shamelesscommerce.com What's there? For starters, our brand-spankin'-new CD, Maternal Combustion: Calls about Moms and Cars, featuring some of our favorite calls involving moms -- including Tom and Ray's beloved and (need we say) long-suffering mother, Elizabeth. There are plenty of other CDs, too. Plus, our new lackey T-shirt, featuring dozens of our oft-mentioned staff members like Pikov Andropov and Heywood Jabuzoff, in small burgundy and blue lettering on a steel gray T-shirt. We've got official Car Talk baseball jerseys, caps, and T-shirts -- even our own Car Talk "Muffler Pack," which, well, you'll have to see to fully appreciate. There's other stuff, too -- like our Car Talk thermos (perfect for keeping your 5W-30 or shade-grown Kona piping hot), a Car Talk shop clock, our unmarked bill carrier (which doubles as a gym bag), travel mugs and sundry other Car Talk paraphernalia. So, in the interest of selfless public service, that address again is http://www.shamelesscommerce.com/ Don't mention it. You're very welcome. Okay. Off to bless the (automotive) sinners, Maury Maille Chief Confessor Department of Automotive Sins Car Talk Plaza P.S. Here's this week's Lame Joke Of The Week, courtesy of Steve Rehak: Three men are sitting together bragging about how they had given their new wives duties to perform. The first man married a country gal from Alabama and bragged that he had told his wife that she should do all the dishes and house cleaning that needed to be done. He said it took a couple of days but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away. The second man had married a woman from Idaho. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to do the cleaning, wash the dishes and do the laundry. He told them that on the first day he did not see any results, but on the second day, things were better. The laundry was done and the house was spotless, and she had a great dinner ready for him when he returned from work. The third man had married a Brooklyn woman. He bragged that he told her to keep the house clean, dishes washed, the lawn mowed, laundry washed and ironed, and to prepare his meals. He said the first day he didn't see anything. The second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye...enough to fix himself a sandwich, load the dishwasher and call a landscaper. ******************* USEFUL INFORMATION ALERT: Tired of paying auto club dues to an outfit that lobbies against environmental causes? Check out Better World Club. It's an auto club with genuinely decent values-- unlike some others we could name... whose initials happen to be AAA. Better World Club cares about... *Your environmental interests--it gives 1% of its revenue to environmental clean up and advocacy. *Your consumer interests--it even has discounts on hybrid rental cars. *And, it has the nation's only bicycle roadside assistance program. Dump your AAA membership and join Better World! If you join via the Car Talk web site, you'll even receive an extra month's membership. Check out Better World Club now at http://www.cartalk.com ******************** Got more time to kill? This past weekend's new, lousy Car Talk show is now on the web site, at http://www.cartalk.com/Radio/Show/ ******************** Miss the puzzler? Losing sleep over it? Add your e-mail to our Car Talk Puzzler Psychic Friends Network and we'll personally hand deliver Ray's new puzzler to your inbox every Monday. http://www.cartalk.com/ct/maillist.jsp?puzzler_list=subscribe#psychic ******************* Embarrassed by having e-mails from Car Talk in your inbox? Can't say that we blame you. Unsubscribe any time, via http://www.cartalk.com/ct/maillist.jsp?mailing_list=subscribe
