TRC #533: Wipers: Up Or Down? + ‘Bell Let’s Talk Day’ + Who is Cecilia Payne?

Pat exhausts several resources to help answer the burning question on our minds this Winter. Should you leave windshield wipers up, or down? Adam unpacks the ‘Bell Let’s Talk Day’ campaign which takes a chain-letter approach to raise awareness around mental health. Lastly, Cristina dips into TRC’s mailbag and takes on a listener’s request to highlight astrophysicist Cecilia Payne.

Download direct: mp3 file

Wipers Up Or Down?

The Weather Network

Windshield Centers

Your Mechanic

The Safe Driver

Taylor Auto Glass

We Heart Honda

Boston.com

Cleveland.com

Driving.ca

Car One

Web2Carz

AAA North East

WWJ News Radio

WNYC Great Wiper Debate

CAA Quebec

Farmers Almanac Poll

Bell Let’s Talk Day

Bell Let’s Talk Day: a good deed, or just good PR? – Montreal Gazette

A look at Bellís Letís Talk program – Marketing

Why today is about Bell Canada, and not mental health – Darren (Not McKee) Barefoot

Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier

For every forwarded copy of an e-mail received, the American Cancer Society will donate three cents to cancer research. – Snopes

Marketting Benchmarks for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Adwords – Get Fluid

Who is Cecilia Payne?

SciShow: Cecilia Payne

World of Science Festival: Payne

Wiki: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Wiki: Arthur Eddington

Wiki: Otto Struve

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2 Responses to TRC #533: Wipers: Up Or Down? + ‘Bell Let’s Talk Day’ + Who is Cecilia Payne?

  1. I was listening to TRC in reverse order and so just recently came across the “Wipers up/down” episode. Living in Arizona, I was initially confused about this and wondered if this meant we should leave the wipers “up” on the windshield after parking during a rainstorm. And then it dawned on me: some people LIFT the wipers off the glass during a snow or ice storm! (Disclosure: being originally from Erie, PA, I’m familiar with snow but I don’t recall people doing that back in the day).

    But then (and here’s the fun part): Did you know that there is a custom in Saudi Arabia of lifting up the wipers? Yep: I used to observe this every morning from my apartment in Riyadh. But it has nothing to do with snow or ice. It’s a signal from the early-morning (5 a.m.!) freelance car washers who contract with car owners in the various buildings to let them know that their car has been serviced.

    (see blog report, attached)

    Jim (VEEdeffer)

    • Pat says:

      Interesting, Jim. Thanks! This segment seemed to cause a bit of confusion. A checker even wrote in that they initially thought it was going to be about bathroom wiping direction.

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