Creating a Meaningful Maintenance Routine

There are few things that can determine a good or bad day more than my first cup of coffee.  If I am able to enjoy that one cup of coffee before my bouncing bundle of conversation jolts into the land of the living, I know I’ll survive the day.   However if I am blessed with an early riser, my schedule gets thrown to the wind and I become a frantic mess.  It’s never a pretty sight. 

While racing to throw everything I could possibly need into my bag, making sure my child has clothes on and food in her stomach and maneuvering through San Francisco’s illustrious commuting maze, the last thing I want to worry about is a check engine light on my car dashboard.   So when things like little wrenches that light up on my dash, or even worse, letters and numbers that give me no indication of what is actually wrong, my inner control freak flips out just a bit.

Proper maintenance for one’s self has become very trendy these days, thanks to the ever booming yoga and meditation groups, the scary obsessed Cross Fit clans and even the ever growing marathon trends.  Who knew that throwing glitter and bribing people with wine and hot chocolate would promote fitness? Now, what about your vehicles well being?

If you’re anything like me, I had a love hate relationship with my first car.  It wasn’t glamorous, nor was it new.  I drove a 1967 Fleetwood Cadillac handed down to me from my grandfather.  Now as a sweet little 5 foot three inches sixteen year old, this was both AWESOME and terrible all at once.   The car was a tank, and any time I pushed on the gas pedal, I literally watched the gas quickly drop to the letter E. 

The part I never fully understood until now, was how well the car ran.  It was a flawless drive, and although, by the time I got to it, the shocks were much to be desired, the engine was still a beast and purred like the kitten she was the day my grandfather bought her.  I remember watching my grandfather go through his old ledger books marking down oil changes and different services done on the car.   His meticulous efforts to care for that car were the reason I was able to drive it to and from high school 30 years after it was made. 

What does a regular maintenance routine mean? Thankfully, as drivers today, we have the ability of self-alerting vehicles letting us know when and what maintenance are needed for our cars.  There are different symbols and light colors to let us know if the issue is a minor or major concern.  We even have alerts letting us know when the pressure has dropped in our tires. 

The easiest way to get on a regular maintenance routine is to start with purchasing a pre-paid maintenance plan for your vehicle at the time of purchase.  Although it is a large chunk of change up front, it’ ensures that you’ll always have the money to pay for your car’s needs, and knowing you already spent the money makes it more important for you to show up and take advantage of the service appointments. 

The next best way to ensure you stay on track for a regular maintenance routine is to build a relationship with your service advisers!  Most dealerships will offer in house vehicle maintenance, which allows for your car to be serviced with factory parts and factory trained technicians, as well as having an onsite expert ready to answer all your questions and concerns regarding your vehicle.  Creating an ongoing relationship with your service adviser allows for you to have someone you trust “on the inside” working for you to get you back on the road in a safe and well maintained vehicle.

Are you interested in scheduling your vehicle for its next maintenance?

Click on the link below to check available times!

http://www.acuraofpleasanton.com/schedule-service-appointment.htm

The Pursuit of Happiness in a Millennial Era

In a world filled with iPhones, laptops, tablets and smart watches, Millennials are inundated with advanced technology.  The ability to connect directly to your personal happiness has become more challenging than finding parking downtown at Union Square.   For the majority of us living and working in the city, happiness is something we read about on Buzzfeed or Elephant Journal on our 10 min breaks or in between bites while we Instagram our lunch within the allotted hour. 

The world around us has become a constant stream of instant gratification opportunities; however no one seems to be feeling satisfied.   All the instant gratification has left our generation feeling jaded and unimpressed.  After going through almost a full year with a, “Now what?” feeling inside of myself, I decided it was time to make a change.  I created a five step plan to bring me back to life. 

1.      Put down the technology.  This was probably the hardest for me.  Having grown up with a computer in my house from the age of 7, I have been cord-connected longer than I care to admit.  I purchased my first cellphone in college and haven’t put it down since, (that was over 20 years ago…).  My ability to reach for my phone after the text message alert rings would match that of Doc Holiday in Tombstone.  But it was the act of NOT picking up my phone that really opened my eyes. Obviously there are certain messages and calls that you are expecting, and need addressing.  But what I have tried to do is put the phone away after my work day has ended.  I keep it in my bag and only allow myself to check it periodically to ensure I am not missing an emergency.  If the messages I find are not urgent, I force myself to wait until the next day.  At first the act was very conscience for me.  I would have to talk myself down from checking, but do you know what happened after a while?  I didn’t miss it, nor did I feel like I was missing out. 

2.      Drink more water.  This seems so straight forward; however the proper intake of water in my life did more than just quench my thirst.  There were so many benefits I wasn’t expecting including helping to control calories, energize my muscles,  keep my skin looking amazing,  as well as helping my kidney’s and bowel functions.    I know drinking water doesn’t sound sexy, but it’s incredibly easy to incorporate into your everyday life.   Start with including a glass of water with each of your meals and keep a bottle of water with you in your car or at your desk at work.   Just having the water available will make it that much easier to make it a regular part of your daily routine. 

3.      Step outside at least three times a day.  As I was brought up by my hippy mum, I was forced to play outdoors all the time.  I never understood why it was so important, when I could just as easily play with my Barbie inside as I could outside.  It wasn’t until I entered adulthood that I began to understand benefits of the sun.   The sun provides the body the ability to create Vitamin D, which is essential for many functions such as bone health, anti-cancer, immune system support, protects against dementia and brain aging as well as many others.   We have been so bombarded with the dangers of the sun, but in moderation, the sunlight has the ability to heal on so many levels.  Take a drive with the top down, and get out there to the local beaches and parks! Having a sun roof in my own car gives me the ability to take in the rays even if it is just during the morning and evening commutes to and from work.  The overall uplifting feeling I get can best be related to one of the best hugs from my little kiddo.  I mean it’s right up there for me.

4.      Breathe.  When I say to breathe, I mean get into a breath practice.   I like to focus on three deep breathing techniques that really help to calm my day to day OCD and social anxiety.  The first is Coherent Breathing, which is basically breathing at a rate of five breaths per minute.  The easy way to time your breaths is to count five seconds for your inhale and five seconds for your exhale.  Breathing at this rate will help to improve your heart rate variability.  The second type of breathing is Resistance Breathing, which is exactly what its name suggests, creating resistance to the flow of air.  Resistance can be created by pursing the lips, placing the tip of the tongue against the inside of the upper teeth, hissing through the clenched teeth,  tightening the throat muscles, partly closing the glottis, narrowing the space between the vocal cords.  Or if you are like me, the easy way is to just breathe through your nose with your mouth closed.  The final technique is Breath Moving.  Think, sending your breath on a little journey around your body.  As you breathe in, imagine you are moving your breath to the top of your head. As you breathe out, imagine you are moving your breath to the base of your spine, your perineum, and your sit bones. Each time you breathe in; move the breath to the top of the head. Each time you breathe out; move the breath to the base of the spine. Breathe in this circuit for ten cycles.

5.      Laugh.  If you haven’t heard, laughter really is the best medicine.  Laughing decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.  Laughter also triggers endorphins, which if you watched Legally Blond, you know, endorphins make you happy! Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain. 

Having incorporated these five simple routines into my daily life, I have found my quality of life dramatically increased.  Feeling good and being able to laugh and let go of the minor stresses allowed for me to appreciating the life I was actually living, instead of the life I thought I should have been living.  I began to look forward to weekends with my daughter, taking off in our car for an impromptu adventure days.  And for the first time in a very long time, I can honestly say, I am happy.   Remember, the hardest part is getting started.  So maybe today, you drive with the top down or the sun roof open and enjoy some of those beautiful Vitamin D rays on your way home today.  Enjoy a nice cool glass of water and for those few moments let yourself begin to feel happy. 

Don’t have a convertible or sun roof in your car? Check out the link below to see our latest selection to choose from! It’s always a great time to start enjoying your life, one drive at a time.

http://www.acuraofpleasanton.com/showroom/index.htm

Committing to the Commute

Part of making the choice to live and work in separate cities is committing to the weekly commute.  San Francisco has consistently landed on the top-five lists for the worst traffic and commute, and the stories of hour plus drives to and from work is a very real occurrence.  As the young kids like to say, the struggle is real.   

The average morning drive in the bay area can range anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour and a half each way.  With hiking commutes, people have begun exploring different forms of transportation trying to alleviate the costs.  From local tube transports to hybrid vehicles, San Francisco has been a front runner for commuter convenience. 

Known for its illustrious BART system, San Francisco’s tube takes you from one end of the bay to the other at the cost of a cup of coffee.  In addition The Ferry services, offered from Vallejo, Oakland and Larkspur, Sausalito,  he San Francisco Ferry Building, Fisherman’s Warf and even AT&T Park for the occasional Giants games  give you ample opportunity to arrive to work fairly stress free, having been able to avoid sitting in hours long traffic. 

Not a fan of the public transportation options? I can understand that, I love my car just as much as the next.  In fact, being a Los Angeles transplant, I grew up knowing nothing about public transportation.  Cars were all we knew.  So then how about looking into a hybrid vehicle? 

When driving three hours a day in traffic, gas millage and vehicle wear and tear become major concerns. Having the available hybrid or Eco-system, allows you to conserve gas when needed.  On average, you can actually save from upwards of $500+ dollars per year, but the cost of the vehicle can be slightly higher than standard engine vehicles. Also if you do your homework, certain green vehicles let you drive in the HOV lanes on highways.  That can definitely help save some time on your drives home, and depending on the actual gas cost savings, hybrids could be a great choice for most!

Now if you are anything like me, I love the idea of the hybrid, I am just not a fan of how they look.  Thankfully in this day and age, hybrid vehicles have jumped on the sexy car bandwagon.  Following suit of the likes of Tesla, Acura has taken the hybrid engine and placed it inside some of its most popular models including the 2016 RLX Sport Hybrid.  The RLX is a nice sporty sedan with a hybrid engine and three motors combined to produce 377 horsepower.  With leather seats, surround sound, streaming Pandora and XM radio, and USB ports come standard, making this vehicle ideal for long road trips or even that long drive into the city. 

Now, the self-driven vehicles are still a very new concept, however with Google, Audi and Tesla breaking ground on these cars, the concerns regarding safety are currently in discussions.  Although testing has shown that no more accidents have occurred than in stander drivers, the self-driven vehicles are still very much in trial phases.  We might have to wait a few more years before we can let our cars take the wheel. 

For more information on hybrid vehicles or to shop for one of your own, check out the link below!

http://www.acura.com/photogallery.aspx?model=rlx#2016-rlx-exterior-sport-hybrid-sh-awd-with-advance-package-in-crystal-black-pearl-shoreline-10