The Last Two Chromosomes

By Bob Cox

We live in a place and time where our personal freedoms have never been greater. These freedoms of course have not come freely but through tremendous hardships and sacrifices from those among us and before us who believed in the most common value that unites us as Americans. And while these inspiring and noble efforts rightfully deserve to be acknowledged and appreciated, our work is far from over.

While there is certainly plenty to do to create a fair and balanced playing field for us all, the work I’m actually referring to is the internal stuff that’s deeply buried within each of us. Here are two introspective questions to ask yourself: Do I feel free enough to express my deepest core feelings without the fear of being judged and ridiculed by others? How much of my feelings and core beliefs are shaped, influenced and even limited by my genetics and environment? Environmental factors include such things as race, religion, education, occupation, age, relationships with others and even gender.

With Bruce Jenner’s transition into Caitlyn Jenner still grabbing the spotlight, a closer look into how our gender defines our human experience and the feelings we ultimately feel makes good sense. From the time we’re conceived, the outer world has innocently conspired to shape and construct our external environment, from the color our bedrooms will be painted to the clothes we’ll wear and the toys we’ll play with. As we transition into adulthood, how many times will we hear the disapproving admonishments from others, like “Act like a man” or “That isn’t very ladylike”?

What’s truly amazing is the determination of our gender is something so infinitesimally tiny, it cannot always be seen under even the most powerful microscope: the chromosome. What exactly is a chromosome? A chromosome is a packaged and organized structure containing most of the DNA of a living organism. Chromosomes are only visible under a lighted microscope when the cell is undergoing mitosis (when they align together and prepare to divide). Finally, of the 46 chromosomes that are within each of us, it’s the final two that determine our gender (xx = female and xy = male).

I don’t know about you, but that’s just about all the science this poor feeble mind can stand for one article! With that in mind, when I think of the most highly respected people from the last century, people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mahatma Ghandi, Golda Meir, Nelson Mandela and Sandra Day O’Conner, just to name a few, each possessed the courage to embrace the character traits that are commonly associated with one gender or the other, qualities like compassion, courage, empathy, conviction, integrity and the willingness to lay it all on the line.

Just one more thought to ponder: Isn’t it amazing how similar the words Jenner and gender are? Is that just some sort of freaky cosmic coincidence or could it actually be the destiny of a new trailblazer? In the final analysis of Jenner’s transformation, I can truthfully say that as much as I was excited by Bruce’s gold medal during the 1976 Olympics, I’m even more inspired by Caitlyn’s courage to risk the potential scorn and ridicule of the world by following her heart and being genuinely authentic.

As time goes by, I have slowly discovered the exhilaration and liberation of less and less fear of what others think about me, which has allowed me to behave with more authenticity. I’ve never been a very good actor anyway, so this has been a double blessing! With all the love in the air this month and Valentine’s Day just a heartbeat away, why not give the ultimate gift to your sweetheart, your true and authentic self!

Alignments, Tires and Balance

By Dave Trux

More than once a week, we get a customer asking for an alignment. When probed as to why, more often than not the answer is, “My car is shaking at xyz speed.” The simple answer is that an alignment will not cure a wheel shake. As technically advanced as a BMW is, the effects of an alignment are still the same as any other car.

What an alignment will cure is uneven tire wear and in some cases a pull to one side. There are 3 major alignment adjustments: camber, caster and toe. Of these, only two will cause tire wear and only one of them will cause a pull.

Camber and toe will cause tire wear in very distinct patterns. Caster will only cause a car to drift to one side or another.

Toe is how much of a difference there is between the tread in front of and behind the tire. If the wheels are toed in, the tires will wear on the outside inch or so and across the tire you’ll encounter a fish scale effect. If the wheels are toed out, the tires will wear on the inside inch or so and across the tire you’ll encounter a fish scale effect.

/ \ = toed in

\ / = toed out

Balance issues and loose front end parts are what cause a car to shimmy or shake. Typically, if the car shakes at a certain speed and then goes away, it’s either an out of round tire or loose front end parts. The wheel, at that certain speed will reach its resonant frequency and begin to shake. When you increase road speed, the resonant frequency is passed and the shaking goes away.

A shake that begins at a certain speed then gradually gets worse is most likely the common wheel balance issue. If the tires are in good shape, we spin them up and re-balance them properly. BMW’s are finicky when it comes to alignment and balance issues. It’s why we have invested in only the best Hunter alignment and tire equipment. We do not farm any of it out as our desire is to deliver the car in perfect condition. We simply do not trust a “tire shop” to align one of our customers BMW’s.

From the Ashes

Lee Norman would be the first to admit that building his company did not come easily. A lot of hard work, effort, and support from his loved ones went into making his dreams possible. 

Lee was an only child, who was raised by his loving mother. When he was about three years old his father died fighting in Vietnam while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. His mother, who is of Japanese decent had a difficult time being thrust into the American life without her husband. She became the sole breadwinner and homemaker for her family. Life was not always easy growing up during this time. Lots of people thought they were refugees from the war due to the Asian look of his mother and didn't realize that his father just died for our country.

Several years later, Lee and his mother moved to Rancho Cordova from Southern California. Once they relocated Lee attended Mills Junior High School and then continued on to Cordova High School. Lee started to get into some trouble with stupid things and got kicked out of Cordova High School and attended Kinney High School. During his time at Kinney he continue to get into trouble with drugs and other things and spent some time in juvenile hall. This was a dark time in his life. Afterwards he began working a few different jobs and at one point realized that he had hit a low point. He had decided he wanted better for his life, which is when he enlisted in the Marine Corps. "I got accepted and that was my saving grace", explained Norman. 

After the Marines Corps, Lee returned to civilian life and began work as a full time auto-mechanic. It did not take long for him to realize that this still was not his dream. "I wanted to own my own business", stated Norman. However he was unsure how to make his dreams a reality. After borrowing money from his mother, who of course would not accept any of it paid back, he was able to start his own business which has grown every day since then. Twenty five years later, Lee has a thriving business in Rancho Cordova that employs thirteen people. He has fulfilled his vision of owning his own successful company. I recently spoke with Lee to learn more about his inspiring life experiences. 

Q: How did you make the jump from full time employee to full time shop owner? 

A: When I opened Lee's Automotive Repair, it was only part time. It took about a year and a half before I was at a point where I could employ another mechanic. At that point I gave my six months notice to the company I was currently with. I knew it was time to make the move. 

Q: Did the company try to keep you?

A: Yes they did. I was a fleet mechanic for a worldwide company. I was offered a promotion and they flew me out to Delaware to see what possibilities I had. They said that if I wanted the job it was mine. 

Q: So you started your own business and have lived happily ever after, right?

A: It hasn't quite been a happily ever after, there have definitely been trying times. That's just the way it is in this business. It's not always easy, if it were, everyone would do it. We still go through our slow times, usually around Christmas and tax season. However the rest of the year is usually pretty good.  

Q: What do your customers love most about coming here? 

A: Our customers love that they can count on us to be honest when we make recommendations and that they are receiving quality work. There are two types of shops in the automotive industry. There are shops that try and sell each customer as much as possible on every invoice and then there are shops that value return customers and would rather keep their customers long term rather than see big ticket invoices. We have built a relationship with our customers where they trust us and our suggestions. We work hard every day to maintain that relationship as well. 

Q: What’s your business philosophy when your shop makes a mistake?

A: When customers come in to our facility we pride ourselves on being fair and honest. We do not believe in selling our customers things they do not need. When mistakes happen, because eventually they always do, we step up and take care of our customers. We want them to be happy and return to our shop for future repairs. As big as we are for an independent shop and for as long as we have been in business, since 1991, we can happily say that we have not had many dissatisfied customers.

Q: What do you think separates your facility from other shops? 

A: One thing that separates our shop from others is that our mechanics are not paid commission. This helps maintain the relationship with our customers I mentioned earlier. When mechanics are paid commission they don't necessarily take into considerations the longevity of the customers and the shop working together. It becomes more about the here and now versus the future of the business. We are very picky on the people that are employed here and our staff and mechanics are the ones that truly make the business what it is today.

Q: What’s been your greatest challenge in the past 25 years running this business?

A: About seven years ago my previous location caught fire. I thought my business was done for. The neighboring business where the fire started did not have insurance and it was a pretty big fire. It was all over the news; I had so many customers calling me the morning it happened asking if there was anything they could do to help. It was overwhelming in so many ways, but it brought me so much joy to see how much my customers cared about my business and myself. A customer came and took me out to lunch one day and mentioned the building across the street from Costco, our current location. I wasn't sure at the time if I would be able to get the building, but here I am. 

Q: What happened when you opened your new location here?

A: On opening day we had a line of cars outside. There were existing customers and new customers just waiting for us to open the doors. That move was a major expansion for us. There was definitely a learning curve because in the first three months our volume doubled. Recently we also purchased the building next door so that we could expand our business into the tire industry. We have not done much advertising in the past and for being such a large independent shop says something in itself. Sometimes when you have a catastrophic event or start going down the wrong path in life you just need to stop, refocus and get it on. Remember to always keep pushing forward in whatever you do. 

Editor’s notes: Lee’s Automotive Repair is located at 11273 White Rock Road in Rancho Cordova (Across from Costco). Their website is www.autorepairranchocordova.com and their phone number is (916) 852-6414.

Laptops, Tablets & iPad Repairs

By Alika Salazar

While most of the repairs we do are on smart phones, we also see our fair share of laptops, iPads and tablets in need of saving. While these devices are fairly solid and durable, they are not bulletproof. They can and will break.

The most common problem we see in our three stores is cracked screens caused by excessive impact. We also repair a lot of LCDs after the charge board breaks. This oftentimes happens while the unit is charging and it inadvertently gets knocked into and drops to the floor. Another common mishap occurs when people spill coffee or some other beverage on their unit while they're working and dining at the same time. If this or sometime similar should happen to you, please do not be too embarrassed to bring it in. This is very common and we have a great track record of repairing these units.

While many of our customers routinely trade in their smart phones in roughly one to two years, they often keep their laptops, iPads and tablets much longer (four to five years is common). As a matter of fact, the most common iPad we continue to repair is the iPad 2, which is about 5 years old. I think it's still the most popular because it's the first one that had a camera and also because they sold that model for several years.

Repairs on laptops, iPads and tablets typically start at around $75 to $100 plus parts. In many cases, it's a lot more economical to repair than to replace, but we tell our customers the price and let them weigh their options without any pressure. A newer unit is usually worth repairing, but we do have customers that choose to repair older units because they've gotten used to how it operates and they have all their information stored on it. In many cases, when you buy new equipment, the operating systems change. While some people like change, a lot of people don't. New systems require time to learn, so it’s always a good idea to factor this into the decision of repairing versus replacing. 

Transforming Lives…One Counter at a Time

By Bob Cox

When Chris Barr was assigned to investigate a struggling Granite Transformation franchise nearly five years ago, he had no idea that just eight days later, his life would never be the same. Barr was working for the corporate office in Miami, Florida when he was asked to pack his bags and fly to the Sacramento area to find out why several of their customers and employees were concerned.

By the end of eight whirlwind days of nonstop action, Barr felt both exhausted and exhilarated. He had invested everything he had into troubleshooting a plethora of issues during his week in Rancho Cordova. “The adrenaline of fixing this problem and seeing customers respond to what we were doing was a big high,” explained Barr.

On his plane flight back to Florida, Barr had an epiphany. “It was clear to me that this franchise needed an onsite manager who had a deep commitment to customer satisfaction and employee development. I'm a native Californian and knew that the Sacramento market was viable. I was also incredibly impressed with the caliber of people that had been working there for many years and had made their way through this rather bumpy period. As I was flying home, I realized that this was something that I would enjoy doing myself, and that I would be good at,” recalled Barr.

Barr presented his idea to corporate and they loved it. His soon-to-be spouse was completely supportive, so just two weeks later, they booked a one way flight to Sacramento to assume the reins as the new franchise owners of Granite Transformations in Rancho Cordova! I spoke with Barr to learn more about the amazing transformations he’s experienced these past four and a half years.

Q: What was your background prior to Granite Transformations?

A: I got involved with specialty retail franchising right out of graduate school. I spent 10 years as an outside consultant for a few companies with accelerating roles over time while raising three kids as a single father. One of my clients was a new company in the U.S. back in 2001 called Granite Transformations. In the early phases, the company took off very rapidly in the U.S. and needed my help. In 2004, they offered me a permanent position in their corporate office and I accepted.

Q: What was it like transitioning from an independent consultant?

A: In the 10 years that I had been independent, I had some interesting clients and had a lot of fun but I had never been tempted to go back to working for a single company. But I felt so strongly that the concept of Granite Transformations had a ton of potential and I liked the people. I just thought the dynamic of the group was really strong, so I did it.

Q: What’s been the greatest challenge of owning a business?

A: The biggest challenge is you can never turn it off; you’re on duty 24/7. Even though I had run companies before, the challenge of it being not only your own group of employees but your own money is a really different thing. I think the other big challenge is that it’s super easy to get engrossed in the day-to-day stuff. If you're really trying to build a future, not only for yourself but for the business, you have to force yourself to do some long-term planning.

Q: What’s been the best strategy for you to overcome that challenge?

A: I force myself to schedule time for long-term planning on the calendar. I also do that because otherwise, you just burn out and don't have the energy to plan. When I have a home show like we did this weekend, I schedule a day off for myself that following week so that I can think about things a little farther down the road – and catch up on sleep!

Q: What have been the greatest rewards of owning a franchise?

A: This is going to sound like fluff, but it isn't. There are two things I find greatly rewarding. I feel myself being rewarded by the incredibly positive feedback we get from our own customers. Everybody that we do work for fills out a review form and we get enthusiastic feedback 99.9% of the time. The second thing has to do with the team we have here. In the key roles we’ve had no turnover. I've come to know and respect these people and their families. When something unexpected happens, they simply roll with it because they are as committed to this as I am. They are an astonishingly great group of people.

Q: What do your customers love most about Granite Transformations?

A: There are at least four things that we hear consistently. First, most people love the idea we can do all of the messy part at our place and simply show up to install, finishing in a day instead of several weeks of downtime, mess, noise and confusion. Second, our product is super easy to live with. There is no more durable product on the market and it is zero maintenance. You never have to seal it, treat it or clean it with anything special. Its heat, stain and scratch resistant with a lifetime warranty. Third, our products also happen to be beautiful, so our customers love showing off their transformation. Finally, our customers love the overall experience of working with us from first day to last.

Q: What makes Granite Transformations unique from other companies that install countertops?

A: We're the only company that can install a brand new counter in one day. There are other companies that are trying to develop the technology that we have, but so far no one else has been able to successfully do it. The other thing that sets us apart is the actual finished quality of the product. There are some other good quality products in the world but ours is really quite special, which is why we are able to offer a lifetime warranty where other companies do not. It's just really that good.

Q: Can you tell us about some of the newest and hottest products?

A: The worldwide company has people working for us that focus on product development to stay ahead of where the industry is going. Many of our customers wanted to see the swirling and wavy designs in the surface like you would get from some kinds of regular granite or marble. We were never really able to do that until now. We've been getting about two new products a month that fall into that category. You can now enjoy the beauty of these products without all the drawbacks, including high maintenance and low durability.

Q: Do you do anything else besides manufacturing and installing kitchen counters?

A: Yes, our slab products are perfect for multiple situations. We redo a lot of bathrooms, including shower walls, tub surrounds and vanities. We redo fireplaces and have even done some homes were they wanted an entire wall of a bedroom covered with our hand cut glass patterns just for the art of it, as people are recognizing that vertical surfaces are really what you see first when you walk into a room. We also offer cabinet refacing. You can entirely change the look of any room without tearing it apart and starting from scratch.

Editor’s notes: Granite Transformations is located at 11367 Trade Center Dr. # 130 in Rancho Cordova. Their phone number is (916) 851-9745 and their website is www.granitetransformations.com. 

Finding Relief from Arthritis

By Bob Cox

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one-fourth of the adult U.S. population suffers from arthritis. Overall, 22.7% (52.5 million) of adults reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis. The prevalence of arthritis increases with age and is higher among women (23.9%) than men (18.6%) in every age group.

Arthritis is defined by The Mayo Clinic as inflammation in one or more of the joints. The main symptoms of arthritis are joint pain and stiffness, which typically worsen with age. The most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The main goals of arthritis treatments are to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.

Just before Joeetha Conley first saw Dr. Blakely, she was experiencing an increasing level of pain and fatigue caused by arthritis. “I started seeing Dr. Blakely’s shortly after she had helped my husband. I was in a lot of pain and was really tired”. I was suffering from arthritis and had a lot of pain and stiffness. I also felt tired all the time. My doctor had told me that the prednisone I was taking had made me anemic and that was likely why I was so tired”, said Joeetha.

With the help of Dr. Blakely, Joeetha has a renewed sense of optimism and a healthy outlook on life. “I'm not tired like I used to be and I feel better each time I see Dr. Blakely. She has really changed my life. About a month ago, my Rheumatologist said could go off the prednisone since I was only taking two and a half milligrams. Even with that low dosage, I was experiencing chronic fatigue. With the combination of adjustments and supplements I’m taking, I’m feeling much better”, explained Joeetha.

Along with getting relief from arthritis, Joeetha has received other health benefits that she credits Dr. Blakely with. “My digestive system was really messed up and she recommended aloe vera and has really helped. Even though I haven't been able to completely get rid of my arthritis, it’s much better. Dr. Blakely is a really wonderful and caring person”, said Joeetha.