Smart Tips for your Smart Phone

By Alika Salazar

Approximately 15 million United States residents have their identities used fraudulently each year with financial losses totaling upwards of $50 billion.*  Approximately 7% of all adults have their identities misused with each instance resulting in approximately $3,500 in losses. Close to 100 million additional Americans have their personal identifying information placed at risk of identity theft each year when records maintained in government and corporate databases are lost or stolen. These alarming statistics demonstrate identity theft may be the most frequent, costly and pervasive crime in the United States. 

What can we do as smart phone owners do to protect ourselves from identity theft? Put a pass-code on your phone. If your phone winds up missing or stolen, no one can get your pertinent information. The most a thief could get away with is doing a factory reset wipe on your phone. They would not have access to your pictures, your contacts, your address, your Facebook or anything like that.

How much does it cost to protect yourself with a pass-code for your smart phone? Nothing! It’s usually pretty simple to set up.

Here are the four steps to set up a pass-code for those of you with an iphone.

Step 1. Go to settings.

Step 2. Scroll down to pass-code and turn the pass-code on.

Step 3. Choose either a simple pass-code, which is a four digit pass-code or a numeric pass-code if you turn the simple pass-code off.

Step 4. Write your pass-code down and keep it in a safe place.

Here are the four steps to set up a pass-code for those of you with a droid.

Step 1. Go to settings.

Step 2. Go to security.

Step 3. Go to screen lock. You can either make it face unlock, a pattern, a pin, your face and voice or you can just choose a pass-code.

Step 4. Write your pass-code down and keep it in a safe place.

If you own another type of smart phone and you’re not sure how to set up a pass-code, feel free to call me at (916) 936-9316 and I’ll be happy to help you step by step.

*Based on a range of information gathered from public and private resources.

Ralph opfer Floors Testimonial

On a Scale from 1-10…

Ralph Opfer Floors is an 11!

Lynn and her installers did an excellent job. Their prices were surprisingly low compared to other flooring companies, even the big name discounters. Overall, I had a very good experience and I recommend Ralph Opfer Floors to all my friends and family. – Dorothy Fischer

Overcoming Addictive Disorders

By Bob Cox

Among all the addictions that Americans suffer from, the two that are the most prevalent and destructive continue to be drugs and alcohol. Approximately 22 million Americans have either abused or were dependent on drugs, alcohol or both according to a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Tragically, over 94 percent of people with substance use disorders said they did not believe they needed treatment.

For those that acknowledge the problem and seek help, there is evidence that approximately 90 percent of alcoholics are likely to experience at least one relapse over a four year period following treatment. Similar relapse rates for alcohol, nicotine and heroin addiction suggest that the relapse mechanism for many addictive disorders may share common biochemical and behavioral characteristics.

Fortunately, there is help right here in our community for people that are negatively impacted by either drugs or alcohol. Janina Guarino is the founder of Better Decisions Counseling Services and they have had amazing results helping their clients that are committed to beating their addiction permanently. To date, over 95% of the clients they have counseled continue to stay on the path of sobriety.

I spoke with Janina and Program Manager Alex Noriega the other day to learn what they’re doing to help their clients conquer their addictions and lead healthy and happy lives.

Q: Why do you have such a high rate of success helping your clients stay clean and sober?

A: Both Alex and I struggled with addiction early in life, so we completely empathize with our clients and understand the depths of their despair. We also know the commitment it takes to beat addiction and our clients trust and respect our counseling because of this. When it comes to treatment, we customize each plan around the needs of the individual, because everyone is unique. We do not believe that a cookie cutter program is the answer for everyone.

Q: What is the most common addiction you treat?

A: (Janina) Prescription drugs and that includes all age groups, from adolescents to seniors.

Q: Why do you believe that prescription drugs are being abused?

A: (Alex) Prescription drugs are easy to get. Many adolescents may think, “Hey, I don’t have any money, but look what my mom has in her medicine cabinet!” (Janina) Also, many seniors are struggling financially, so they often feel pressured to sell some of their prescription drugs to subsidize their income.

Q: Have you found that prescription drugs are being combined with alcohol by more people?

A: (Alex) Yes, alcohol is a very common addiction. When combined with prescription drugs, alcohol raises the level of potency of the prescription drugs.

Q: Are prescription drugs and alcohol the two most common substances for addiction?

A: (Alex) Yes, especially for young adults and the elderly. The age group in the middle is more likely to abuse both prescription drugs and illegal drugs like methamphetamines, cocaine and heroin. (Janina) The hardest drugs to remove from your system are the opiates that are being prescribed by many doctors for pain; drugs like vicodin, oxycontin and norco. (Alex) Dentists are also prescribing those drugs to help reduce pain.

Q: Can people addicted to opiates go cold turkey or do they need to gradually step down?

A: (Janina) They need to step down slowly and safely. We refer them to a doctor to help them safely step down and give them education on the hope that there is for a full and complete recovery.

Q: Is the younger generation abusing prescription drugs to party and get high with?

A: (Janina) Yes. They now have salads where they’ll put a variety of prescription drugs in a bowl at a party and they just grab a handful and take them. (Alex) And do you know where they get them from? Their parent’s medicine cabinets!

Q: Have you worked with many adolescents that have become addicted to drugs like adderall to study and focus better?

A: (Janina) We haven’t seen a lot of that, but some people will self medicate with those kinds of drugs when there’s the possibility of having ADHD. We have found that drugs like adderall don’t usually get them high; they just level them off and help them feel normal. They need to go back to their doctor and get a different type of medication for balancing out their neurotransmitters. (Alex) Some people that have ADHD will use methamphetamines because it actually calms them down. Back in our younger days, doctors prescribed ritalin to slow hyperactive kids down.

Q: Are seniors primarily taking prescription drugs to escape pain?

A: (Janina) Absolutely, and at some point, they may continue to take the medication out of habit, even when’s there’s no pain signal. (Alex) It’s not just physical pain. Depression is also very common among the elderly.

Q: Better Decisions Counseling Services provides a wide variety of counseling services to help people that are determined to overcome their addiction. What types of counseling services do you provide?

A: (Janina) Along with drug and alcohol counseling, we offer a wide variety of services, such as family counseling, PTSD counseling, co-parenting education, relapse prevention, assertiveness training, self esteem classes, life and social skills workshops, anger management courses and even drug testing.

Q: On May 9, you will be hosting a drug free community event called Sober Saturday. Please tell us what’s happening at this event?

A: (Janina) It’s a drug free community event with lots of great resources and fun activities for the whole family. Sadly, many people addicted to drugs or alcohol burn a lot of bridges. We are planning to help them re-establish those bridges in a healthy way at Sober Saturday. We’re planning to have music, a jump house and a petting zoo for the kids, a big car show and delicious barbeque ribs! We’ll have multiple barbeque smokers cooking ribs and have a grand prize for the best ribs.

Q: Do you offer financial assistance for people that are unable to afford the counseling you offer?

A: (Alex) Yes, the proceeds and donations we receive from the community at Sober Saturday and beyond will go towards scholarships to assist those who need the help. With a combination of counseling and a vast network of community resources, we can transform lives. We will do this by helping our clients cultivate positive work habits and healthy activities.

Editor’s notes: For more information about Better Decisions Counseling Services, visit their website at www.betterdecisionsinc.org, stop by their office at 10366 Rockingham Drive in Sacramento or call (916) 368-0700.

SOBER SATURDAY: A DRUG FREE COMMUNITY EVENT

When: Saturday, May 9^th, 11am-4pm

Where: 10366 Rockingham Dr., Sacramento, CA 95827

Call (916) 368-0700 for more information.

Making Informed Choices

By Dave Trux

Something that is very important to us at Valley Motorwerks is to provide clear and concise information to the customer. At the end of the day, it’s their hard earned money that is being spent. We recently had a situation where a vehicle was showing signs of transmission trouble. Based on the BMW fault codes, there was an SIB (Service Information Bulletin) put out by BMW with a possible fix. The fix is approximately $1000; a replacement transmission is considerably more.

However, the issue at hand is this: What is the possibility that the $1,000 is going to solve the problem? BMW says it is the first step, but that first step is expensive. What do you do? Personally I am not comfortable picking the pocket of the customer for $1,000 on an off chance something will work. I feel it is the customer’s money, so it’s their choice. This is where being clear and concise is very important. What we did was lay out both options and their chance of success to the best of our knowledge. Obviously, changing the entire transmission is going to resolve the issue, but what if it is a little seal inside the pan?

Inevitably the customer will ask...“What would you do?” In this case, I would swap the transmission and keep the car another few years. This particular car was in perfect condition otherwise and was worth keeping. If it were in poor condition or had other problems, my answer would be different.

It’s important for us to remember that it’s the customer’s money that is being spent. In these difficult financial times it’s even doubly important to do our best in counseling customers accurately. We need to give the customer a reason to pass by other shops to come to us. One very good reason is that we do honestly care about our customers well being. Mistakes are sometimes made and this is what separates a good company from a great one. Valley Motorwerks strives to be a GREAT company.

The Power of Persurverance

By Bob Cox

“The Wizard of Menlo Park” was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. At a young age, the boy had a bout with scarlet fever and several untreated middle ear infections. These conditions would eventually lead to severe hearing difficulties in both ears and he would become nearly deaf as an adult. On top of that, he was a hyperactive child, prone to distraction and was labeled "difficult" by his teacher. His mother quickly took matters into her own hands and after just 12 weeks pulled him out of school. She taught him from home and as he grew older, the boy developed an insatiable thirst for knowledge on many subjects. Later on in his life, he was quoted as saying, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." The boy’s name was Thomas Alva Edison.

Edison would rise from these obstacles to go on to become one of the greatest inventor’s and entrepreneurs’ in American history. Over his extraordinary lifetime, he held 1,093 patents for his inventions, such as the telegraph, the phonograph and the kinetograph, which was a camera for motion pictures. But no invention lit up the world like the electric light bulb that was patented by Edison in 1879.

Edison did not actually invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light. In 1802, Humphry Davy created the first incandescent light by passing the current through a thin strip of platinum. Unfortunately, the bulb was not bright enough nor did it last long enough to be practical. It was; however, the precursor of numerous attampts by experimenters over the next 76 years.

Edison was determined to succeed where everyone else failed. His goal was to come up with a high resistance system that would require far less electrical power that was used for arc lamps. In 1878, Edison and his associates began work on thousands of different theories to develop an efficient incandescent lamp. He tested the carbonized filaments of a wide variety of plants, including bay wood, boxwood, hickory, cedar, flax and bamboo. He even reached out to biologists who sent him plant fibers from the tropics. Edison acknowledged that the work was very tedious and demanding on himself and all his associates but he refused to give up.

Edison and his team worked tirelessly in his laboratory, which was actually a glass blowing shed where the fragile bulbs were carefully crafted for his experiments. By January 1879, at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Edison had built his first high resistance, incandescent electric light; however, the lamp only burned for a few short hours. Finally, Edison and his team broke through by selecting a carbonized cotton thread filament. When voltage was applied to the completed bulb, it began to radiate a soft orange glow for approximately fifteen hours before the filament finally burned out. Further experimentation produced filaments that could burn longer and longer with each test. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park, where he said, "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."

Because of his hard work ethic and unshakable determination, Edison finally succeeded. Edison would go on to say, "Before I got through, "I tested no fewer than 6,000 vegetable growths and ransacked the world for the most suitable filament material."

If you’re trying to accomplish something great in your life and you are being held back by a variety of different obstacles, don’t be afraid to follow in the footsteps of Thomas Edison. Don’t allow disappointment and despair to sabotage and derail your dream. Be committed to learning from your previous failures. Why? So that you can make brand new ones! Better yet, instead of viewing each mistake as a failure; be like Edison and live by of his most famous quotes, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
― Thomas A. Edison