Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Change Today & Drive Tomorrow

By Dave Trux

Fluids are the lifeblood of your vehicle. It is absolutely crucial that you stay timely with all the fluid changes, from the antifreeze in your cooling system to the oils in your engine, transmission and brake systems. Failure to do so could mean the difference between spending a few dollars versus several thousand dollars.

BMW recommends 15,000 miles between oil changes. Even with the improved performance and longevity of today’s synthetic oils, fluids break down over time for a number of reasons. That’s why I advise my customers to change their oil at no more than 7,500 miles to prolong the life of their car. Here’s a sensible rule of thumb: Whatever the factory recommendation is for any fluid changes, cut it in half.

As for transmission fluid, BMW offers a lifetime transmission fluid but that’s not your best option if you want to maximize the life of your vehicle. I recommend flushing that fluid prior to 90,000 miles. If you wait too long and your transmission blows up, instead of spending around $500 for a transmission service, you're spending $5,000 dollars on a new transmission.

When it comes to motor oil and transmission fluid, including synthetic brands, over time the design of these fluids breaks down and becomes less effective in lubricating all the moving internal components. Specifically with oil, it tends to build up sludge over time, similar to a clot in one’s arteries. The bottom line is that it doesn't flow as smoothly and cannot do its job.


Brake fluid needs to be flushed every two years because it’s hydroscopic. Brake fluid acts like a sponge soaking up water, which is what it's designed to do. As for coolant, I again recommend changing it every two years because it will break down and become less effective in protecting other internal components of the engine. So, the moral of the story is change today and drive tomorrow!

Auto Accidents

By Dr. Beth Blakely

If I had a penny for every person that’s been in an auto accident and said they felt fine immediately afterwards, I’d be a penny-aire! In some cases, severe whiplash can be detected immediately after a mishap. However, a whiplash injury which is caused by a sudden impact may take hours, days or even weeks before symptoms are noticed.

The most common symptoms of whiplash include: headaches, irritability, dizziness, stiff or painful neck, loss of neck motion, back pain, numbness, tingling in limbs, dizziness, loss of balance, nausea, muscle spasm, swelling, ringing in ears, early arthritis, bursitis, neuritis, tendinitis, nervous anxiety, double vision, night blindness, pinched nerves and painful joints.

Statistically speaking, a sprain or strain type of injury to the neck is 6.5 times more likely to develop into arthritis later in life and roughly 50% of accident victims sustain injuries to the low back. Of these, 15% will develop serious nerve damage down the road.

So, if you drive a large car or truck, the likelihood of you getting seriously injured is much lower, right? Wrong. A vehicle that is designed to sustain minimal damage on impact absorbs much of the impact’s force and transmits most of it to its occupants. This type of collision can cause significant injury.

When it comes to auto accidents, which gender gets hurt the most, men or women? The answer is women. In general, a woman's lighter musculature means that she will have a higher incidence of injury.

If the pain you are experiencing today is related to a minor fender-bender years ago, you can get help to lead a more active life. Our customized treatment plans have helped victims of auto accidents and we’ve seen excellent results. Our goal is to relieve pain and restore as much function as possible so that you can get back to enjoying life again.


A Beautiful Smile

A bright and beautiful smile goes a long way towards making a lasting impression. It is the first thing that people notice and are drawn to. I know that when I return home after a day of caring for my patients, the thing I most look forward to is the smiles on my children’s faces.  The same can be said for my beautiful wife; I still delight in seeing her warm smile each day.

As a dentist, I know that I can greatly impact someone’s life by giving them the beautiful smile they have always wanted. It may surprise you to learn that I meet people daily who are struggling to be their best self because they are not happy with their smile. I enjoy being able to change my patients lives by helping them to regain their dental health, escape their dental pain, eat better and feel more confident.  If you feel that your smile is not all that it could be, let my team and I change the way the world sees you by giving you the smile you deserve.   

Good Things come to those that go for it.

By Bob Cox

There’s a lot of truth and wisdom to the old saying, “Good things come to those that wait”. Patience is an admirable character trait that can help you go far in life. On the other hand, it can be easy to confuse patience with inertia, something I did for far too many years.

From the time I scooted out of my last diaper, I observed a valuable lesson. While attending the prestigious preschool of hard knocks, I noticed that the students who tended to earn the highest praise were the ones that sat quietly at their desks while the little brats that I loved hanging out with tended to be criticized for being loud and disruptive. Since I preferred praise over punishment and after one too many trips to the principal’s office, I decided to turn the inner fire down until it barely flickered like a pilot light.

For the next several years, I sleepwalked through life by choosing behaviors that would be acceptable to those around me instead of being true and authentic. My thin skinned intolerance for negative feedback made me a prisoner of praise and approval from others and I was too apathetic to realize just how miserable I was. Life was no longer exciting. It was something to be endured.

Everything changed a month after my 30th birthday. I took a leap of faith by not pursuing a safe career path that offered a guaranteed salary and little potential satisfaction. Instead, I chose the higher risk, higher reward option of a straight commission career in outside advertising sales. It would be one of the best decisions of my life. For the first time in nearly two decades, I felt alive and excited!

If you’re looking for a fresh and clever analogy to get the point across, I’m sorry to disappoint you because this is the best one I could come up with: I chose to hop off the train of discontentment and ride the roller coaster of unpredictability. Sure, I’ve experienced a lot of highs and lows but when you follow your hearts desires, those lows really aren’t as bad as you might fear.

If you truly want to experience the thrill of life, you have to be willing to accept greater risks. The rewards of a fulfilling and meaningful life do not always come easily and they’re certainly not free. So take all the time you need to find what it is you’re truly passionate about and then go for it. The other option is to go through life playing it safe and then wind up on your death bed full of regrets. By the way, who would choose to buy a death bed? I’ll take my chances on the Niagra Adjustable any day!

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing - Helen Keller

Transform Your Kitchen or Bathroom in One Day!

By Bob Cox

Chances are good that you or someone you know has been trapped in a nightmare. Not the bad dream you wake up from the next day and then sigh in relief knowing that it’s over. The nightmare I’m referring to is when you wake up the next day and your house is still torn apart during a lengthy and expensive remodeling project. To make matters worse, every time the project manager gives you an update on the newest thing to fix, your timeline gets pushed out a little further while the costs go through the roof. Does this sound familiar?

Fortunately, you don’t have to endure a nightmare like this to get the kitchen or bathroom of your dreams. There is a company called Granite Transformations that specializes in one day installations without the noise, dust and chaos that comes with conventional remodeling. I spoke with Chris Barr, the franchise owner of Granite Transformations, recently to learn more about how his dynamic company is changing the way remodeling gets done, on time and on budget!

Q: What are some of the things you do to ensure that your customers get their dream kitchen or bathroom without the nightmare of a lengthy and costly remodel?

A: You’d be surprised how many people come to us specifically because they had a bad remodeling experience and never want to go through that again. They’re initially attracted to us because we use their existing surface as the subtop, rather than ripping their old surface out, taking it to the dump and starting over with a piece of plywood. We simply go over their existing surface. Once we’ve built a plastic template of all the surfaces that we’re going to cover, we do all of the construction work in our shop here (in Rancho Cordova).

Q: So, you don’t outsource your work to other countries or contractors. You actually build your products here in Rancho Cordova, is that right?

A: Yes. We have people who have worked here for 10 years. We’re very oriented towards the continuity of a well trained staff that provides excellent service. Another benefit to our customers by not outsourcing is that we’re 100% accountable for the project. If you buy a new counter at one of the big box stores, their employees are not installing, someone else is. And so if there’s an issue, which there often is, you get the installer blaming the manufacturer and vice versa. Our employees do the entire project. Furthermore, every job is backed up by is a lifetime warranty on the product and the installation, which is transferrable for 10 years if you sell your home.

Q: It’s common for many remodeling jobs to take twice as long and cost twice as much as the original estimate. Does this rule apply to your business?

A: It’s definitely common that the investment of time and money is much more than is originally anticipated. Our system is built around one day kitchen installations. The installers that are in your house today are in someone else’s house tomorrow. And you have a contract that says exactly how much you’re going to pay, so unless you change what you want to have done, you’re going to get what you paid for. No surprises.

Q: How are you able to transform the look of an entire kitchen or bathroom in just one day?

A: You know, it’s a surprising thing how much the appearance of the materials on the countertop and specifically on the backsplash, changes what you see when you walk into a room. You see that vertical surface before you see the horizontal surface that’s flat on the countertop. It’s really like art.

Q: What are some of the biggest concerns people have about Granite Transformations?

A: Because the material is thinner than regular slabs, I think the biggest concern is product durability and the second concern is counter height and thickness. But once people see the examples of what we’ve done, they feel completely reassured. This is the most durable product currently being manufactured and when you bond it permanently to the surface that you already have, it becomes even more durable than traditional surfaces.

Q: Are people trending away from higher maintenance countertops like granite and marble?

A: For sure, which is why the materials we use for countertops, backsplashes and cabinet refacing are super low maintenance. Our countertops never have to be sealed, treated or cleaned with anything special.

Q: Are you offering any new products that are becoming popular?

A: Yes, we now have a product that looks just like marble, without any of the downsides of the natural stone. Natural stones like marble are fragile and high maintenance. They are going to stain and scratch. We use a photographic process that embeds that pattern into the stone, which prevents it from coming off.

Q: What other services do you offer besides countertops for kitchens and bathrooms?

A: We also do cabinet refacing, bathroom showers, tub surrounds, vanities, fireplaces and floor tiles. We can add a design element in any place in your home, not just the kitchen or bathroom. Best of all, these additions will be low maintenance, highly durable and beautiful. We’ve even done entire accent walls in a room, which can make an incredibly dramatic and beautiful statement.

Q: Your business made it through one of the worst economies in US history. What helped you survive?

A: It's the same reason we're surviving today, by building a base of satisfied customers. The single biggest source of new business that we have is referrals from our customers.

Q: What are the core principals you follow to achieve success in business and in life?

A: You know, I don’t want to sound sanctimonious about this but we believe as a company across the chain in being fair. We treat our employees well, and we treat our customers well. If there’s a problem, we fix it.

Q: What advice do you have for young people that are transitioning into adulthood?

A: I think there are two key things: 1. Identify what interests you. Don’t try to force yourself to do something that you’re not going to enjoy and then do it every day of your life. 2. Whatever that thing is, you’re going to have to work hard. Go into it knowing that you’re going to be tired and you’re going to use up a lot of creative energy if you’re going to be successful at it.

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.


iParts Offers Computer Repairs!

By Alika Salazar

Over the years, we’ve built a well earned reputation for being a reliable and affordable smart phone repair facility. From the time I repaired my first iPhone back in 2008 when I was 13 years old, the demand for repairs of these and other electronic devices has been almost overwhelming. Fortunately, since I love this business so much and am surrounded by so many other great people that share my passion, we’ve found a way to keep up with this growing demand by expanding the scope of our services.

One of the requests we’ve been receiving with more and more frequency from our happy customers is computer repairs and service. Up until recently, we’ve had to refer our customers to other businesses during our search for a reliable, experienced and friendly computer repair technician. During this process, we were contacted by Nikolas Bayuk, a young man with over 10 years experience repairing computers. He serviced a number of large corporate accounts, including the Sheriff’s Department in the city of Novato! After a thorough interview and background check, we hired him immediately and the rest is history.

With Nikolas aboard, we are excited to announce that we are offering complete computer repair and service. These services include analyzing and fixing slow computers, detecting and removing viruses, hard drive repair, installing upgraded hardware and software, data recovery, data transfers, transferring user accounts, setting up accounts, fixing water damaged computers, servicing QuickBooks and Outlook and much more.


This is a very exciting time and our outlook is bright. In the near future we’re also planning to offer on-site service for homes and businesses. As for now, if you have a problem with your computer, we have the solution! Just bring your computer to us and we’ll restore it quickly, efficiently and affordably.