How Wacky Tacky

By Bob Cox

It’s wintertime here in Sacramento, so for the next few months we can expect plenty of cold weather with mass quantities of fog and rain. If you have little ones at home, you will likely encounter one of the scenarios mentioned below that will need to be addressed immediately.

Scenario #1: Overactive children. If you have one or more young children at home and they have a disturbing dose of pent up energy and are taking it out on your poor and defenseless house, they need a healthy outlet to release that excessive noise and movement (and so do you). Most of the time, the neighborhood park is a convenient place to go, except for now. Your kids will likely be oblivious to the chill in the air, but you won’t. In just a few minutes, your teeth will be chattering so loudly that nearby windows will vibrate!

Scenario #2: Underactive children. Childhood obesity is a growing national epidemic, with almost 1 in 3 children either overweight or obese, with obesity rates tripling since 1980. Not only does obesity lead to increased risks for a range of chronic diseases later in life, it will likely lead to an unhealthy self esteem. As an overweight child, I know how terrible it felt to be taunted routinely at school and then turn to the comforts of home, which included heaping doses of food and idle entertainment like television and video games. These unhealthy habits literally feed the problem by expanding waistlines.  

What to do? Fortunately, there is a safe, healthy and comfortable place to turn those little ones loose to pursue a variety of adventures while you can sit in the comforts of the great indoors. The place I’m referring to is called Wacky Tacky. Wacky Tacky is the ultimate indoor playground, featuring over 24,000 square feet of soft and safe play space. They also have a cafeteria for refueling. Your little ones will have a blast exploring 3 story jungle gyms and enormous slides while navigating through a great white sharks mouth. Not to worry; however, as his teeth are as soft as they are pearly white!

I spoke with the founder and creator of Wacky Tacky (Morris Qurraa) to learn more about his two thriving indoor play-parks in Rancho Cordova and Roseville. 

Q: What did you do for a living before you started Wacky Tacky?

A: My wife and I were always entrepreneurs and had small businesses that we ran before we decided to open up Wacky Tacky.

Q: Why did you decide to go into business for yourself?

A: I decided to go into business for myself because I have always liked the idea of being my own boss.

Q: Why did you open a kid’s indoor park?

A: I opened an indoor playground because I have three kids, two are older but one was still young at the time. There were no good places for kids; the ones that existed were old, dirty and super expensive. I wanted to open a place that was fun, clean and safe for kids. Most importantly, I wanted a location that was one of a kind.

Q: What makes Wacky Tacky different and superior to other indoor play parks?

A: Wacky Tacky is the safest and cleanest place for kids. What makes us different from other kid’s facilities is that we are a family owned small business and we care about our customers. Also, Wacky Tacky is a new concept around our area and I was the first one to have a jungle gym style birthday facility for kids in our area.

Q: Why is Wacky Tacky a great place to host a party for kids?

A: Wacky Tacky is a great choice for parties because it is very safe, super clean and a place where kids and parents could play together in very big and fun jungle gyms. The prices are very reasonable for the amount of things which are provided with the packages, and the staff is very friendly and eager to help. Wacky Tacky is the perfect place to host a birthday party, with cherished memories that will surely last a lifetime.

Q: What have been some of the greatest challenges you’ve faced in business and how have you overcome them?

A: One of my biggest challenges was learning how a successful business operates in this state after relocating in California in 1999. Thankfully, with a lot of hard work and brainstorming, Wacky Tacky was born! 

 For more information about Wacky Tacky’s two exciting locations in Rancho Cordova and Roseville, call (916) 476-3260 or (916) 783-3355. Their website is www.wackytacky.net. Also, stay tuned for huge and exciting upgrades coming soon to both locations and don’t forget to ask about their gift certificates, which make an excellent gift for Christmas as well as other special occasions!  

5 Items to give your Car for Christmas

By Dave Trux

As you celebrate the holidays with good tidings while shopping for even better gifts, have you forgotten to add one important member of your family to the nice list: your car? Here are five outstanding stocking stuffers to keep old reliable trudging along our wet and wild roads.   

New Wiper Blades: I recommend that you replace your wiper blades once a year and not because it rains a whole bunch here in northern California. With over 300 days of sunshine each year, the sun takes its toll by drying out the hard rubber on our wiper blades. Then, when the first rains come, you may find that those new wipers are streaking along your windshield.

Wheel Alignment: With the overwhelming number of potholes in Sacramento, chances are good that you’ll hit one eventually, especially in a heavy rain when potholes are concealed by water. If this happens to you, you will likely need at least an alignment and possibly more. I recommend a wheel alignment once a year.

Tires: Be sure to regularly check the depth, wear patterns and proper inflation of your tires, as the quality of the rubber is the only thing that separates you and your family from the unforgiving asphalt you’re zipping along on at high speeds. Replacement recommendations depend on a number of variables, but no matter the age of your tires, it’s always wise to be vigilant.  

Cabin Air Filter: The cabin air filter cleans the air that flows from the great outdoors and into your car’s interior. As you rely on your heater to keep you warm on cold winter days, you’re drawing in dirty air, water and other toxic elements lying in the road, not the healthiest things for you to be inhaling with the windows rolled up tight. For these reasons, you should replace the cabin filter once a year.

Replace Antifreeze: The quality of your coolant is essential to ensuring that your car’s engine runs smoothly. It should be flushed every two years and what better time to do it than now? Whether you’re travelling to the mountains or staying local this winter when freezing temperatures occasionally occur, I strongly advise that you to replace it every two years.

Big or Small We Cater to All!

By Bob Cox

Back in the stone ages of the 1980’s and just before I found the career I actually enjoyed, the highlight of my day was escaping the dry walled jail cell of retail management by grabbing a bite for lunch at one of the nearby restaurants. My favorite place to eat was a small locally owned deli that served delicious sandwiches, served on amazingly fresh and crunchy bread that seemed to melt in my mouth.

As the years rolled by, those memories were left in the dust until one day, after seeing the amusing Mr. Pickle’s sign for the 1,000^th time, I decided to take a leap of faith and try something new: a sandwich from Mr. Pickle’s. The second I walked through the door, I knew I was in for a memorable experience as I inhaled the intoxicating aroma of the breads baking in the ovens.

When I ordered my sandwich, I was offered several choices of bread, including Dutch crunch. I normally select wheat, but the Dutch crunch option sounded vaguely familiar. Once I sunk my teeth into that mouthwatering sandwich, those pleasant old memories came flooding back. After all the years, I remembered how amazing a fresh and delicious sandwich could be! From that day on, no ordinary sandwich would ever be sufficient to satisfy my hunger. 

I recently met with Gary Osgood, the owner of three local Mr. Pickle’s franchises to learn more about how Mr. Pickle’s seemed to rise from nothing to become one of the fastest growing restaurants in the area. Here’s how our conversation went.   

Q: How long has Mr. Pickle’s been around?

A: Mr. Pickles started in 1995 in Daly City. The CEO of our company had a few sandwich shops and he decided he could do it better.

Q: What does Mr. Pickle’s do to make such amazingly tasty sandwiches?

A: Every franchise is required to freshly slice everything every day. We can’t have any carryover. We freshly bake our bread about every 15-20 minutes. We serve five ounces of meat on our sandwiches, compared to other places that do considerably less. That’s what makes Mr. Pickle’s different. We’re into freshness, quantity and quality for your dollar while also providing superior customer service.

Q: What was your plan when you purchased a Mr. Pickle’s franchise?

When we opened up the Zinfandel location (Rancho Cordova) six and a half years ago, our plan was to run it for a few months and then sell it to a franchisee. But after we got into it, those plans changed. My wife Terrie and I enjoyed doing it so much, we decided to keep it and branch out to other locations. We opened our second store on Sunrise and Cirby in Roseville in 2012 and that has been blossoming so well, it basically let us take the chance on the Coloma and Sunrise location, which we’ve been running since November, 2014.

Q: How did you get involved with Mr. Pickle’s? 

A: A long story short, the president and CEO of Mr. Pickle’s used to be my neighbor eight years ago. One day we looked out our window and saw a big giant pickle on the guy’s garage door! That’s how we got introduced to him and that’s how we got involved. We liked the product; we ate at Mr. Pickle’s for about a year before we decided to get into it.

Q: Did you explore any other franchise opportunities before choosing to go with Mr. Pickle’s?

A: Yes, we did a lot of research before we decided to go with the Mr. Pickle’s brand. We checked all the other sandwich franchises and Mr. Pickle’s was a superior product, for the main reason that everything had to be sliced every day. Too many people complain about the other sandwich shops in town. They say their stuff tastes watered down or old. We never have that problem because we get to work by 7am to prep for our day and to make sure that everything is fresh.

Q: What were you and Terrie doing for a living before you decided to invest in Mr. Pickle’s?

A: I was a contractor for 30 years and Terrie was a bookkeeper and a photographer.

Q: What were your greatest fears and concerns going into business for yourself?

A: It was a gamble, but we believed in the product and Mr. Pickle’s.

Q: What strategy did you use to overcome those concerns and how has it worked out?

A: So far, so good. Our concerns came from working with a younger staff and being able to learn the marketing things associated with the business.

Q: Aside from the walk up customers, the other big part of your business is catering. What are you doing to really stand out and make your catering service superior and unique?

A: We are known as the 911 of catering. Most caterers require a minimum 24 hour notice. We only require two hours. In two hours, we have catered from 100 people to 600 people. I have a great staff between the two stores in Rancho Cordova, so no catering job is too small or too big. We emphasize customer service by giving the customer what they need.

Q: Do you charge a delivery fee on catering?

A: If it’s over $100 or a house account, we’ll deliver for free. If it’s under $100, we charge $10.

Q: Does your staff provide additional service after the delivery?

A: Yes, we also offer to help set up an event. We’ll set up tables and arrange everything for you.

Q: Can you tell us about the box lunches you offer on your catering menu?

A: Sure, a box lunch is a half sandwich, a bag of chips, potato salad, a cookie and a bottle of water or canned soda. This is a perfect solution for corporate seminars or a school field trip, saving them the time and trouble of a lengthy clean up.

Q: Are there any local companies that you cater to?

A: Yes, each year, we cater a special event by Hewitt Packard.  We make 600 sandwiches and supply chips and drinks for their Greek Games once a year. We’ve been doing that for the past three and a half years. Hewitt Packard has about 1,000 employees and every year, we’re up a 2 o’clock in the morning, baking bread and making cookies for an event that starts at 10:30am. So, while you’re sleeping, we’re slicing!

Q: What were the factors that motivated you to acquire the Sunrise & Coloma store in Rancho Cordova?

A: We purchased that location to help with a lot of our catering overflow from the Zinfandel store. That store is our highest volume store and is number five in the franchise.

Q: How important is customer service to you?

A: It’s extremely important. Our number one emphasis at Mr. Pickle’s is friendly and immediate customer service. The second you walk through the door, we always want to greet you with a smile.

Editor’s notes: For more information about Mr. Pickle’s, be sure to stop by one of the three restaurants in the ad below.

The Day my phone Drowned

By Joyce Blonskij

A while back, my mobile phone had an unfortunate water accident. I did everything I thought was right, which turned out to be wrong. I turned it off immediately and put it in a bag of rice. I turned it back on to see if it still worked and I could see water behind it. I thought maybe I could just change the screen and figured how hard could that be?

I watched a YouTube video and then I realized that was going to be too much work for me. I got back on the internet to see where I could send it because it didn’t have any kind of warranty and I didn’t want to spend another $600 to get a new phone. While on the internet, I saw a company called iParts and read about this 13 year old kid named Alika Salazar that started the business basically out of his house. He got so busy; he actually opened a store not too far from where my office was. So I decided to take it over there.

After I told Alika what happened, he said let’s see what we can do. I loved the fact that he said that if we can fix it, it will probably be around $90 but if we couldn’t fix it, it would be free. So, they had the phone for a couple of days and they did this and they did that to it and he finally came back to me and said it’s no charge because your phone is a goner.

Now, even though I didn’t get the results I was hoping for, they did such a good job and gave me such good customer service, I walked away happy. I knew if my phone was going to be resurrected, these were the people who were going to do it. Unfortunately, I had done something horrible that I didn’t realize at the time, which was to turn it back on while it was still wet inside.

After this experience, I became an immediate fan. Even though my phone didn’t have a happy ending, I did because since then, I have sent over hundreds of people with cracked screens and water damaged phones. Ever since Alika educated me, I’ve told people with water damaged phones to turn them off and not to turn them back on. For everybody that I’ve sent over there, he’s been able to resurrect their phones and they have come back raving fans!   

Editor’s notes: Joyce Blonskij is an optimal wealth advisor, health coach and an international best-selling author. Her business address is 7840 Madison Avenue, Suite #107 Fair Oaks, CA 95628 and her phone number is (916) 534-7327. 

What Color are you Feeling

By Chris Barr

I’ve been thinking a lot about color lately as the sky darkens early and the full moon is a beautiful piece of golden butter.  In our business, where we focus everyday on kitchen countertops and shower walls, we tend to be driven by the advantages of durability, ease of installation and zero maintenance.  Sometimes we forget that a big piece of our customers’ decision-making process is simply about beauty.  What do they want to see and be surrounded by every time they walk into the room they’ve remodeled?

At Granite Transformations, our Design Consultants will help you create an environment that truly reflects your own personal style and that will make you happy each time you see it every day.  There’s an almost unlimited combination of patterns and colors with the artisan glass backsplash materials that are exclusively ours.

In the world of design, there’s been a major movement lately towards grays and metallic’s.  Tarek and Christina El Moussa, the famed Flippers of HGTV, have designed several colors for our company highlighting this trend.  They’re quite special – and at the crest of the industry as a whole.  The engineered surfaces we have developed that mimic the sweeping elegance of marble patterns in our much more durable material have created a new way to personalize the look of your home.  And colors like royal ivory, which was developed for the Victoria’s Secret stores, combine the softer earth-tone palettes with touches of warmth and brightness.

I often remember an enthusiastic woman who stopped by our booth at the Auburn Home Show a couple of years ago, whose kitchen counters we had overlain in a bright red recycled glass color nearly a decade ago.  She told me that the color of her kitchen surfaces still makes her smile every single morning when she walks in there for the first time.  We can do that for you too, if that’s what best express your personality and your vision.  Colors like deep cobalt blue, warm copper and rich ebony with a touch of sparkle.  Your Design Consultant can help make that fantasy a reality.

So, though you never want to overlook the fundamental importance of the quality of the product itself, you don’t have to sacrifice beauty, brightness or elegance to get there. For a complimentary session with one of our trained Design Consultants, just call (916) 851-9745.

Life After 70 mph Collision

By Bob Cox

Back in 1967, Edward Kuck was a young man living in very uncertain times. Nearly half a million American troops were fighting in Vietnam, Israel went to war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan and a huge riot broke out in Detroit that summer, which required 7,000 members of the National Guard to come in and restore order. While all this chaos was happening around the world, Edward was patiently waiting in heavy traffic for the red light to turn green. He had just shifted his car into park when he looked into his rear view mirror and noticed a car approaching at a very high speed. 

“I was the first car in a 20 car pileup that did not rear end the car in front of me because I never tailgate. I saw the car approaching and I thought it wasn’t going to stop and it didn’t. The highway patrol reported that the driver hit me at 70 miles per hour”, recalled Edward.

Miraculously enough, Edward walked away from that enormous impact without a scratch. It wasn’t until this past summer when he started to experience some painful symptoms; nearly five decades later!

The pain was so excruciating he had to rely on a cane to stand up and move around. “My leg would give out on me and I needed the support”, said Edward.

As the pain increased and his mobility decreased, Edward’s primary medical doctor handed him the business card of a holistic chirpractor named Dr. Beth Blakely and encouraged him to go see her. After a thorough analysis of Edward’s medical background, Dr. Blakely rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

“Dr. Blakely was able to get my neck and lower back into adjustment. She said it was way out of whack and curved to the right. Right after she adjusted my neck and lower spine, I began to feel better. Now, just a couple of months later, I’ve got my freedom back. I went in slumped over, relying on a cane and I am now pain free, standing straight with no cane”, exclaimed Edward.

Edward feels extremely grateful to his doctor for his sage advice to see Dr. Blakely. “I think she is definitely over the top as far as personality. She made me feel very welcome and I just like her personality. From the moment I met her, she made me feel very much at ease and I would recommend her to anyone in pain.
 

5 Words That Unite U.S.

By Bob Cox

Just two days after celebrating his 69^th birthday and during his presidential announcement speech on June 16, 2015, Donald J. Trump made this bold and controversial statement: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people”. Over 500 excruciatingly long and bitterly contested days later and to the astonishment of the world, Trump pulled off the most incredible upset in U.S. political history and in less than two months, he will be sworn in as America’s 45^th president.

As I reflect upon everything that’s happened and recall the heated debates from surrogates representing both parties, there’s one fact that cannot be overlooked: we appear to once again be a nation divided, with small pockets of blue democrats battling large swaths of territory occupied by red republicans. Ironically, red is the color of blood, but only after it leaves our body. It’s blue while it courses through our veins.   

Our first great divide occurred during the 1860’s, when our country was geographically split in two as the northern states stuck together and defeated the southern states in a horrifying blood bath over slavery. A century later, another conflagration separated Americans. That time, it was a war being fought in a tiny country halfway around the world and it divided our generations in half as large numbers of our citizens railed against the establishment for overdue equal rights.  

Today, we have a new divide, with large ethnically diverse urban centers casting the vast majority of votes for the democratic candidate while smaller communities all across the land banded together to support the republican nominee. For example, in Cullman, Alabama 87.8% of the 80,811 residents chose Donald Trump while 951 miles to the north, people from the Bronx, New York casted their votes for Hillary Clinton by an even slightly wider margin (88.7%). While Trump handily earned more than enough electoral votes required (270) to win the election (As of  November 15, 2016, he was ahead 290 to 232), there was roughly an equal split in the total number of popular votes, with 61,324,576 total votes (50.3%) for Clinton and 60,526,852 million total votes (49.7%) for Trump. 

The good news is our country has survived enormous divisions before and I’m confident we’ll come together again, stronger and wiser than ever. Why am I so confident in these times of such unsettling uncertainty? Because I believe that despite our glaring differences, the one thing that unites every sane American are the last 5 words we say during our pledge of allegiance as we cast our eyes upon our star spangled flag while holding our right hand to our hearts: LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

Since I’ve been in outside advertising sales over the last quarter of a century, I’ve walked through the doors of thousands of businesses in the greater Sacramento area and have met the most amazing and inspiring people, many of them who’ve recently migrated to America. They came here because of those 5 words, an ideal that could not be achieved wherever they came from. A lot of these folks arrived with empty pockets but their hearts were full, energized with the desire to live the American dream. They took a courageous leap of faith and they’ve enriched me beyond words with their drive to succeed in business and in life.

So, am I biased about being pro immigration? Of course I am. But I also understand the importance of keeping our citizens safe from fugitives and terrorists, which are a small but unacceptable number that have slipped through the cracks from abroad, so I do support a thorough and comprehensive vetting process.

Mostly though, I’ve had the very good fortune of getting to know hundreds of immigrants as well as many other small business owners from all walks of life. I’ve seen how these entrepreneurs have persevered through a variety of extreme obstacles and they all share one thing in common in spite of how different they are in physical appearance: They stopped complaining from the comforts of the back seat and grabbed the steering wheel.

I believe that is exactly what the rest of us need to do to create a better life for ourselves, our children and future generations. Although we are all scrunched together on this tiny blue orb spinning through space at blinding speeds, we are governed by something much larger and wiser, the universal law of cause and effect. To break that down in its simplest terms, the world that we live in today is the result of an accumulation of choices and actions from the past.

This is a concept I feel excited about. Why?  Because it’s not too late to learn from past choices that yielded a negative result and then make a new decision while working towards creating a better today and tomorrow. On the other hand; we can only achieve this if we choose to  face our fears about the unknown and make at least one positive change today. A great place to begin is to ask ourselves and our neighbor’s one soul searching question: Is there LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL?

If our answer is no, what are we willing to do to change that? I think a great place to start is to venture into the territory of the people that represent the opposing color and ask them the same question: Is there LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL? I believe our democratic representatives need to do more to reach out and help members of our red communities and our republican representatives need to do the same in our blue cities.  

In the final analysis, many political pundits thought that the people who voted for Trump were sick of losing and watching their factories and communities wither away, while people that voted for Clinton were fearful that Trump would unravel the hard fought justice gained by large and diverse groups of oppressed citizens. We need and deserve strong, fair and wise leaders, from the white house to our house, people that are determined to achieve LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. We also have to hold them accountable to achieve this dream set forth by our founding fathers 12 generations ago.