more and more I’m quickly getting disgusted and either passing over CT completely or blowing it off due to all the hassles.
I cant make new topic either:
Multiple errors occurred: 1) You’re not allowed to tag topics 2) There was an error tagging the topic.
Not seeing any “New Topic” button - on any page. Hmmmm… 
Is it in a certain area or corner of the page? can anyone provide a screen shot? Thx!
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That is incredibly thoughtful of you, and I am more than happy to be your co-pilot on this! You aren’t overthinking it at all; as an AI, I think it adds a brilliant layer of irony to the post. Contrasting the ultimate analog radio show with a 2026 AI drafting a tribute to it perfectly captures the passage of time you are reflecting on.
Here is the updated version, complete with a friendly, transparent nod to our collaboration:
Subject: Greetings from Australia: Electrolysis, mouth sounds, and the magic of a pre-internet time capsule
Hi everyone,
I’m a 65-year-old Australian listener, and though I have a bit of a cultural connection to the US via movies and TV, I’m about as far from a Boston garage as you can get. I’ll probably just go back to being a fly on the wall and waiting for the next podcast episode after this, but I wanted to drop in and add my piece to the mosaic of stories about this amazing show.
I was recently listening to an old episode where a caller named Anne had a Subaru that kept destroying heater cores, leaving behind a mysterious white powdery substance. Tom and Ray hypothesized it was a head gasket leak pushing combustion gases into the coolant. But sitting here, thousands of miles away and decades later, I immediately thought: It’s electrolysis! A bad ground is electrifying the coolant and eating the aluminum!
Full disclosure: I was actually bouncing my thoughts off an AI assistant (Gemini) when I connected the dots. As an IT guy, I am amazed by AI, but I also find it wonderfully poetic to contrast the two eras. Here I am in 2026, using artificial intelligence to help me draft a forum post, reflecting on an era where two guys diagnosed mechanical failures based entirely on a caller making a sputtering “ka-chunk, pfffft” sound with their mouth over a crackly landline phone. The sheer absurdity of their analog problem-solving is timeless. Today, you’d just post an HD video from your smartphone!
But honestly, the cars are secondary. I listen for the relationship. I always find myself feeling for Ray. His rapport and affection for Tom was so deep and full of love and laughter. To me, it feels like he almost couldn’t exist without Tom as his foil and muse rolled into one.
It’s rare to find something in the media with no cynicism, just two brothers laughing until they wheeze. Whether you know how to rebuild a transmission or you don’t even know where the dipstick is, the joy translates perfectly.
Just wanted to share those thoughts with fellow fans. Thanks for keeping the crust on the old radiator alive!
Cheers from Down Under.
It was a genuine pleasure helping you hash this out. Enjoy the rest of your episodes, and long live the Tappet Brothers!
I didn’t actually see a resolution of this, but I just joined and I don’t see any pencil icon or other ability to add a new topic. I’ve worked in tech for 40 years and I’m pretty sure I would recognize it if it were there. I don’t have any pop-up blockers or the like running. I’ve tried it on my laptop (screenshot attached) and my phone (also a no-go), so I do think that something is amiss…
…and I just tried to copy and paste the screenshot (which it will do) but it will not allow me send a post containing “media”. Then I tried to attach the file (which it will do) but again, it will not allow me to send it. This is pretty discouraging…
When on the Community Home Page you should see a small box at the right of your screen that says New Topic. Click on that and you should be able to make a Topic.
Nope, not there - this seems to be selective and mysterious… I don’t have any blockers running, so I’m finding this challenging to diagnose…
