It's Back to School for Cars as Well

By Dave Trux

For those of us whose kids are all grown and out of the house, it seems like summer has just begun. For the rest of you parents with school aged children, back to school season is right around the corner and just in time to help you reclaim your home and your sanity. While we all love our kids, having a few moments of peace and serenity is a very good thing for all parties concerned.

With the kids on their way back to school, you’re not just going to need to buy the basics, like new clothes and supplies. In many cases, the family car is going back to school with them. Is your car up to the task of transporting them back and forth every weekday as well as all those other extracurricular activities after school and on weekends? Oops, so much for peace and serenity!

If your kids are now old enough to drive, your days of being an unpaid chauffeur are over and your life will become infinitely easier, right? Wrong! You have merely traded in your old problems with a new set of problems to deal with, like ensuring their safety when you’re not around. Unfortunately, whenever you lend your sage words of advice about safety, does your teen treat you like a leper? Welcome to the club!

Surely, things will get easier once junior has graduated from high school, right? I’m sorry to be the bearer of even more bad news, but not exactly. If your overachieving scholar is about to hit the highway towards higher education, it may be as far away from you as possible...ouch!  Do you really want to watch your daughter drive off into the sunset in that old and abused car of hers before having it carefully looked over from bumper to bumper? That wouldn’t be your wisest choice.

My sage words to you is to have a qualified mechanic perform a thorough inspection of the entire vehicle while paying close attention to all the basics, including an inspection of the windshield wipers, fluid levels, an oil change and checking tire condition. Parental peace of mind doesn’t come cheaply or easily, but after all you’ve been through, you deserve nothing less!

The Rubber Ball Rule

By Bob Cox

Ever hear of the old saying, “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters”? This was first said nearly two thousand years ago by a philosopher named Epictetus. While I do agree that what we ultimately do or don’t do after something bad occurs is of crucial importance, I don’t believe that denying the importance of the event itself is truthful, healthy or wise.

For example, consider the appalling number of tragic events that have unfolded around the world in just the last month. What if one of the people that were senselessly murdered was someone that you loved? Could you say with 100% honestly that the event was completely unimportant and that the only thing that mattered was what you did afterwards? I know I couldn’t. My one and only hope would be having the strength and courage to immerse myself in positive action, like TV personality John Walsh.

On July 27, 1981, Walsh’s six year old son Adam was abducted from a Sears store in Hollywood, Florida and later found murdered. Instead of caving in to heartbreak, rage or despair, John and his wife Reve rolled up their sleeves and went to work on a passionate campaign to help missing and exploited children. Their efforts eventually led to The Missing Children’s Act of 1982, The Missing Children’s Assistance Act of 1984 and The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Amongst all of these great accomplishments, which undoubtedly saved the lives of countless children, Walsh is best known for being the host of one of the longest running shows in history: America’s Most Wanted, which helped capture over 1,000 fugitives!

Fortunately, most of us will never have to endure such a hideous nightmare. On the other hand, comparing and minimizing the tragic events we’ve experienced is not the answer when the question is this: How do I rebound from tragedy?

I think the first thing we need to do is resist the urge to compare our problems with the problems of others, even when they’re similar. Why: Because no two people are exactly the same. When two people suffer a similar fate, the impact of the event often has a drastically different outcome. That same thinking applies to comparing different events and their subsequent results on each individual. I remember hearing a story about a very wealthy woman during the last big recession that had to sell her diamond rings to make ends meet and she was devastated, seemingly more so than a number of people that had just lost their jobs, homes and marriages.

I believe what matters most during the aftermath of a challenging event is our perception of the event and the coping skills we have to get through it. Whenever I’m either in the middle or just recovering from a difficult setback, I often apply what I call “The Rubber Ball Rule”. I imagine myself as being a rubber ball that’s been dropped from a skyscraper. The further I fall, the higher I bounce back! Even though this visualization technique may seem ridiculously simplistic, it’s been extremely effective whenever I’ve taken the time to apply it.

If you’re having a difficult time bouncing back from adversity, don’t allow others to pressure you into feeling ashamed for not getting over it in the time frame that they feel is adequate. It’s your unique life and your unique experience. Once you’re ready to move forward, visualize yourself as the rubber ball, bouncing back higher and faster than the inspiring John Walsh!  

Her Pain in the Neck was more than a Pain in the Neck

By Dr. Beth Blakely

A few months ago, an attractive young lady gingerly walked into our office and it became obvious that something was terribly wrong. Her neck and head were twisted at an L-shaped angle and the look of anguish on her face said more than words could express. While it was painful just to look at her, I knew I could make a difference.

During our initial exam, she told me she was injured while lifting a heavy object. She heard a loud pop in her neck and knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. She started having severe symptoms shortly thereafter, which included migraine headaches and agonizing neck pain. She said she had initially chosen the conventional medical route and they eventually did an MRI, which revealed two bulging discs.

For several weeks, she had merely managed the unrelenting pain with large quantities of ibuprofen and Vicodin. Her doctor also suggested cortisone pain injections, but at that point, she was tired of just managing the pain and wanted to get to the root cause of the issue. That’s when she decided to give chiropractic a try.

After a thorough initial examination, I took x-rays of her head and neck, which didn’t reveal any other damage. From there, I started working on her regularly and she started seeing the benefits in about a month. In addition to regular adjustments, I offered her some botanically based anti-inflammatory supplements that really helped.

Now, nearly four months later, I continue to give her regular maintenance adjustments and she has seen a dramatic improvement. She’s living life to the fullest and is free from the chronic pain that had tormented her for way too long. Best of all, she was able to get to the source of the problem while avoiding those painful and dangerous injections!

How Couple Juggles 3 Successful Businesses

By Bob Cox

The cavernous hole that I dug in my backyard several summers ago has been a constant reminder of a project that I feared would remain an unfulfilled dream. And I mean unfulfilled quite literally (with water, fish, lilies etc.) as the pond and waterfall feature I wanted so badly remained untouched for over three years. One urgent, expensive and time consuming project after another continued to take priority as that awful eyesore in my backyard plagued me with this repetitive thought: “You’ll never finish me”!

Then, about a month ago, the clouds parted and beams of light burst through when my wife Diana said, “Bob, we finished all the major projects that needed to get done, so let’s work on your pond”. I immediately reached out to my good friend and client Victor Alejandre, who is an experienced electrician and handyman to help me tackle this beast of a project.

Working together, Victor and I did in one day something I thought might never get done! The following day, I was so excited; I built the fountain feature and dropped the large black liner into the gaping hole and filled it with refreshing clear water. Diana and I can now look forward to many mornings of tranquility together, enjoying our even more beautiful backyard.

I recently caught up with Victor and his lovely wife Rebecca Spuehler, who is also a good friend and client, to learn more about how this amazing couple juggles not one; not two, but three very successful businesses with the grace and effortless ease of ballroom dancers. Here’s how our conversation went:

Q: What's it like to be the owners of three successful businesses?

Victor: I find that it's a blessing. It's nice to be able to rely on three businesses instead of just one. We both bring professionalism, quality, wisdom and experience.

Q: Do either of you ever feel stressed out to have so much responsibility?

Rebecca: I do (laughing)! But I can usually call on Victor if it gets to that point. Where the steam is boiling, he usually comes running and says how can I help?

Q: That sounds just like the relationship I have with my wife, she's the fire and I'm the water. So between the two of us there's a lot of steam in the house.

Rebecca: Yes it is steamy at times (laughing), but most of the time it’s actually calm in our house. We don't bring a lot of this home. It is our peaceful place.

Q: Victor, how long have you been self-employed?

Victor: I've been self-employed for 25 years and my business really took off when I got my journeyman’s license in electrical. Before that, I was an electrician with a large unionize company. I now have experience with residential and commercial and I do everything by code.

Q: What are a few other projects you commonly do?

Victor: I install a lot of floor tile, wall tile and ceiling tile, especially in bathrooms. I do a lot of bathroom and kitchen remodels and finish plumbing. With electrical projects, I do everything from the panel to the receptacle to the lights; whatever is needed.

Q: Do you have anything you specialize in?

Victor: Yes, I have extensive experience working on mobile homes. They are nothing like regular homes. It’s easy to mess things up if you don’t really know what you’re doing.

Q: How do you handle all the stress of owning three businesses?

Victor: I have a strong faith.

Rebecca: I know that the prices that he charges are very fair because for a long time he was undercharging people. We both feel like because of our faith, the jobs are given and so we know he'll always get work. He guarantees all his work because he's a man of his word and he’s honorable.

Victor: If you don’t have money, that’s no problem because I accept Visa and MasterCard too (laughing)!

Q: Rebecca, how were you’re able to successfully merge your Avon business with Victor’s business when you first got married?

Rebecca: When I first got together with Victor, I was more of a workaholic. So, I learned to kind of relax a little bit. He’s become more important in my life than my business, although I still love and enjoy my business.

Q: What are the advantages of owning the only Avon store in Sacramento?

Rebecca: When people need product right away, they can come here and find it. We are also a business center and so a lot of people come here and get signed up to start a business. We are the only store and training center here in Sacramento and we currently have about 900 Avon reps. We really have an amazing team here at the office.

Q: If a person is thinking about starting their own Avon business, what are the best reasons for choosing to sign up with you?

Rebecca: Well, I think the support that they’ll receive here is a great reason. Another reason is because I’ve been with Avon for over 20 years and I’ve had success with it. For me personally, my biggest reason is my faith.

Q: Why did you get involved with doTerra Essential Oils?

Rebecca: Two close friends were using the products and I noticed some very positive changes, so I took some home and gave it a try. Victor suffered from a chronic cough for six years, so we applied the oil on him and just two weeks later, his cough was completely gone! I've lost weight and have reduced pain from arthritis using these oils. This weekend I used it on my doggie to clear up his ear infection. The other day a lady came in and said her husband was suffering from gout. He’s now using the lemon essential oil, which has helped break up the painful granules in his feet.

Q: Can you tell us a little about the history of doTerra?

Rebecca: doTerra was founded in 2008 and they specialize in high quality essential oils that have the potential to help people enjoy better health. Essential oils are found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers and other parts of plants and have been used for centuries for health-care practices.

Q: Is there anything else of vital importance that must be known?

Rebecca: Yes, my Grandson Tyler does help and he is the inspiration behind it all! 

Corporate Accounts

By Alika Salazar

While we’ve built a solid reputation over the past several years serving the general public, we’ve also been assisting people that work in our community. For this reason, we have a segment of our business that’s dedicated to handling corporate accounts of all types and sizes. We work with small businesses, large corporations and school districts, just to name a few.

So, what is it exactly that we do? We are a one-stop-shop for almost all electronic repairs. We work on iPhones, Androids, iPads, iPod Touch Tablets, laptops, monitors, game systems and so much more. We even offer micro soldering for more challenging fixes. These services are available to both the general public as well as corporate accounts.

If you happen to work in our community and your electronic partner takes an ill advised coffee break, like when you’re at Starbucks and spill coffee on your laptop while closing the deal of the decade, fear not. Just bring your trusty friend to us, where “he or she” will be in the best possible hands. We promise to thoroughly inspect each device handed to us and bring back as many of them to life by providing the best quality of workmanship and excellent customer service.

If you’re too busy to come to one of our three stores; no worries, we will come to you! We offer free delivery if you have multiple devices and are close by. We even offer discounted rates to companies and organizations that have multiple devices that need to be repaired. There are no monthly fees, no deductibles, no dealing with refurbished phones through insurance and no shipping costs to pay. All repairs are done in our three stores.

We also offer a corporate buyback program where we buy back your own device when you upgrade. Simply bring in your old or broken devices and we will evaluate them to see if they are all working. Even if they are no longer working, we may offer you more than you might reasonably expect. Why, because our business is keeping you in business!