June 2014
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Meet the Bargain Hunter of Flooring
Owner Lynn Lawson with faithful sidekick Samantha Irvin. Q: You have a reputation for being “The Bargain Hunter of Flooring”. How did that get started? A: That is something that my dad always did. Suppliers would call him and say, “Hey, we’ve got these leftovers, do you want them? And he’d say yes! So, he had a warehouse full of decently priced quality merchandise and I’ve just kept that going. Q: How are you able to give people such great bargains on flooring? A: I do the same thing now that my dad did. My suppliers all have close-out lists and I check those all of the time for special buys I can pass on to my customers. I get the lists sent to me on a regular basis, so I always have access to special buys. Q: Can you recall the last time you purchased a really good deal on a close-out? A: I just bought several pallets of Pergo because it was three colors they were closing out. They wanted to totally close them out, so they lowered the price to where I bought everything they had left. Now I can sell it at a lower price. Normally, it sells for around $1.99 to $2.29 a square foot. It’s at $1.39 right now! Q: Does a bargain on flooring ever mean inferior quality? A: No. I will never buy anything that I think is inferior quality. I could go to a couple of suppliers here in town and buy laminate for 59 cents a square foot. I won’t do it because the quality is not there. Q: Does being a bargain hunter mean either inferior service or no service? A: Absolutely not! My service never changes, whether it’s a bargain or a full priced item. I’m here to help people make a big decision and I’ll put in as much time as I need to help them make that decision, whether it’s a bargain or not. 2 GO FOR IT June June2014 2014
Dynamic Dental’s Dynamic Team.
Our Patients Tell Our Story Best Theresa H., Rancho Cordova, CA Once again, excellent service with an excellent staff. I went in for a cleaning, which is not a comfortable experience to begin with, but between Dr. Andrade and Monica, I felt as calm and comfortable as I could be. Good service is hard to find ANYWHERE and a good dentist seems to be even HARDER to find nowadays, Dynamic Dental provides BOTH. This practice is a pleasant rarity. Pam S., Gold River, CA As always, the staff (all of them) treat me so very special and make me comfortable. I wasn’t even “afraid” to come in and forgot to ask for the “funny gas”—so that says a lot. You’re all the best. David M., Sacramento, CA I was very happy with the professional and friendly staff. They explain what they are doing as they go through the whole examination. Dr. Andrade and Dr. Montalvo both are very friendly and call you by name and speak to you even when they don’t examine you. When you are there, they make you feel like family.
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Digging Deeper for Sterling-Silver The Hidden Agendas of Donald Sterling & Adam Silver By Bob Cox Unless you’ve been secluded in an underground bunker in a melting iceberg somewhere in the Antarctic, chances are you’ve heard about the recent scandal involving Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his racist rant caught on tape. An organization called Deadspin acquired an extended, 15-minute version of the conversation between Sterling (DS), a married man of over 50 years and his then-girlfriend V. Stiviano (V). Here are a few low points of the dialog. V: I don’t understand, I don’t see your views. I wasn’t raised the way you were raised. DS: Well then, if you don’t feel—don’t come to my games. Don’t bring black people, and don’t come.
V: Do you know that you have a whole team that’s black that plays for you? DS: You just, do I know? I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have—who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners that created the league? We’ve heard many people speak out against these offensively racist comments and rightfully so. What we haven’t heard as much about is the equally disturbing and unacceptable comments Sterling directed towards all his players, regardless of their ethnicity. Sterling is living in the delusion that giving is a one way street, flowing down majestically from his palace among the clouds. What he’s failed to grasp is that if his wasn’t for the dedication of all the players and members of his organization, he wouldn’t be a part of the billionaire club in America. Sterling purchased the Clippers 33 years ago for $12 million and it’s now conservatively valued at $575 million by Forbes. Patrick Rishe, a professor of sports business at Webster University, says that the team is worth at least $750 million and that a bidding war could quickly take the sales price up to $1 billion or more. Sterling’s tyrannical views on how to run a successful sports organization are nothing new. Sterling’s history of despicable behavior is long and well documented within his sports organization and also the real estate he owns. Sterling has been guilty of abusing his financial power for many years and it finally caught up to him. This type of exploitation has been going on long before Jackie Robinson courageously broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947. From the sweatshops and factories of the industrial revolution to the southern plantations two centuries ago, an unhealthy combination of greed and an appalling lack of compassion and empathy for the common man has existed in the cold-blooded hearts some of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the world. When Adam Silver, the new commissioner of the N.B.A. fined Sterling the maximum amount of 2.5 million and banned him for life from all activities related to the N.B.A. the vast majority of Americans rose as one and applauded his decision, a decision I wholeheartedly supported. There is; however, a skeptical part of me that wonders about the conversation Silver had with other key participants behind closed doors. How much was Silver’s decision based on a Continued on page 14
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A Reason to Smile
If you’re new to the area or have ever experienced an incomplete dental evaluation in the past, then today is the day to make a positive change. Trust your smile to the experienced care at Carmichael Oaks Dental Care! Our community is fortunate to have two exceptional dentists (Dr. Angel Soto and Dr. Carla Gutierrez) dedicated to providing the best that dentistry has to offer. Dr. Soto, Dr. Gutierrez and their friendly staff will provide you with a comfortable and relaxing dental experience. Many of their patients are referred by other happy patients, so they have every reason to be confident that you will be in good hands. If you’ve had a history of severe dental problems, Carmichael Oaks Dental Care can help. They have all the skill, experience and advanced technology to turn your smile into a masterpiece. Their services include beautiful crowns, natural colored fillings, cosmetic bondings, porcelain veneers, dentures, bridges, dental implants, CEREC® CAD/CAM restorations, teeth whitening and much more. The staff at Carmichael Oaks Dental not only cares about their patients, they also are doing their part for our planet and future generations by going green. They’ve made an investment to reduce their carbon footprint by purchasing digital x-rays and operating a paperless office. If you’re looking for a dental practice devoted to restoring and enhancing the natural beauty of your smile using conservative, state-of-the-art procedures that will result in a beautiful, healthy and long lasting smile that you will be proud of, as well as a dental office that is sensitive and understanding to your needs, then Carmichael Oaks Dental is the place for you! June June2014 2014 GO GO FOR FOR IT IT 5
Summer is Coming... You Deserve to Feel Healthy & Look Amazing!
Before
After
Jerry’s Update: Before, I felt almost like a buffalo walking around, but now I feel more confident. I feel like I look better and I just feel better all around. Now, I feel more confident and people are noticing. Jerry’s starting weight before Premiere Nutrition was 352.6 pounds five months ago. He is now 306.2 pounds and has lost 46.4 pounds, 4.7% body fat; he’s dropped 6 points of visceral fat and lost a combined 31.5 inches! Go Jerry!
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Before
After
Elizabeth’s Update: Before I got on the program; I would get sick to my stomach, no matter what food I ate. Then I would feel tired and sad. Now, I don’t feel tired and I don’t feel sad. I feel good, I feel strong and I have more energy. Before Premiere Nutrition, I felt sluggish and sad and now I feel energetic and excited about life! Elizabeth starting weight before Premiere Nutrition was 263.2 and she is now down to 226.8 pounds. She’s lost 36.4 pounds, 5% body fat, has dropped her visceral fat 5 points and has lost a combined 17 inches! Go Elizabeth!
Before
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John McCain’s Story: When I got started in Premiere Nutrition I was tired, overweight, had digestive problems and cravings for fast foods. Within the first seven days, I got my digestive problems under control and in fourteen days lost my cravings for fast food. I lost 31 pounds in just 90 days and have gone on to lose a total of 51 pounds and I feel great!
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Caring for Exotic &
By Dana Strome
Q: Are you trying then to match the right bird with the right owner? A: (Dana) Yes, exactly!
When Steven Hildreth and I first met several years ago, he had been breeding exotic and rare parrots for over 35 years. He’s one of the best Q: Does your mission statebreeders in California and possibly ment involve education in order to the United States. About 15 years create the best possible environago, I started the Wing Foundation, ment for the bird and the owner? which is a parrot rescue group. A: (Dana) Exactly! We have The bird world is surprisingly a lot of customers who have chilsmall as people who own parrots dren. There are certainly parrots that tend to know other people who own make excellent pets for families with parrots, so word of mouth travels children. They come in all different very quickly. Steven and I noticed shapes, sizes and personalities. It’s that a lot of pet parrots were sold like you said, we try to match up the A Black-Headed and a Yellow-Thighed Caique. without the proper knowledge of right bird with the right family. (Stehow to care for them. People aren’t ven) The fact that we raise all of our going to stop buying them as pets, so we thought a better way own birds allows us to offer the bird at a much lower price than would be to raise our own birds and then educate people as to most retail stores. It also gives us a tighter control on any kind of how to be responsible parrot owners. Eventually, Steven and I viruses. By breeding our own birds, we don’t have to worry about opened Parrot Planet last July in East Sacramento. any kind of diseases being introduced to our flock. Parrots are not like a dog or cat. They’re very specialized Q: What are some of the common challenges with owning creatures. With Steven’s amazing knowledge of breeding, we an exotic bird? decided that we were only going to breed birds that really do A: (Dana) They’re addicting (laughs). You get one and before make good pets. There are lots of types of parrots but we don’t you know it, you have a house full! So many times, people who recommend some of them as pets because they scream, they bite have never owned a bird, after they’ve come here and purchased and so on. Bob Cox, publisher of Go For It Magazine stopped by one, guess what? They come back and want another one! Because the other day and had several questions for us. Here’s how our we hand raise and hand feed our birds, they are extremely tame. conversation went. They’re really sweet. We don’t keep them in cages as they’re out on stands where they interact with people all day. Q: What is your breeding facility like? A: (Dana) Since Steven is such a fastidious breeder, the farm is absolutely clean, sterile and very state-of-the-art. (Steven) And all outdoors. Q: Since your birds are not in cages, how have your customers responded in your store? A: (Dana) They love it! One thing we find also is parrots get to choose who they like. So, when a parrot is out on a stand, and we’ve seen this quite often, a person will walk by and a parrot will jump on them! It’s kind of endearing really. Guess what, now you have a parrot, whether you want one or not (laughs)! Q: What are some other things you’re doing in your store to really stand out amongst other stores that offer exotic birds?
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June 2014
Beautiful Baby Birds
be complicated, so we do offer A: (Steven) One of the classes on how to be a good bird things we try to do is carry high guardian. quality cages and high quality food. Even the toys we have Q: Do you have a few simhere are much better quality ple common sense tips you can that most other stores. We try offer people interested in ownto educate our customers and ing an exotic bird? answer any questions they have, A: (Dana) Parrots live a long whether they own a parakeet or time, 20-30 years or more, so it’s a parrot. We’ll help anybody out a long term commitment. in any situation. We are one of the few stores that actually resQ: Steven mentioned earlicue and re-home birds, which is er that you offer your birds at a real plus. (Dana) If you have a much lower prices than other parrot that can’t be re-homed, stores. Can you tell us a little we do have a sanctuary in Florimore about that? da where parrots go and live out their lives in aviaries. If you’re A: (Dana) Since we do breed going to sell parrots as pets, you our own birds, we can offer them The people (and birds), from left to right are: Dana (Black Palm Cockatoo), have to be willing to help people at extremely reasonable prices. Thomas (Cuban Amazon), Ariel (Blue & Gold Macaw), Fran, and Steven with all the steps along the way Some people that have always (Toucan). that involve owning a parrot. wanted a parrot have had to put Some people, for what ever reait off because they can be very son, can’t keep the parrot, so we try to assist people in whatever expensive. We want our birds to be reasonably priced so that more they need because we feel a responsibility as breeders to make people can experience owning one. It’s such an amazing thing to sure that everybody is happy. own a bird. It’s like nothing else I’ve experienced! Q: It sounds like you have a huge heart and a lot of compassion for these birds and their owners. Would you agree? A: (Dana) Yes. In all the years I’ve been doing rescue, I’ve seen such sad things and I want to avoid that. (Steven) We purposely don’t raise Umbrella Cockatoos as we were saying earlier because they tend to wind up in our rescue 90% of the time. So, being a responsible breeder and being responsible as far as educating the public, I think this approach is really, really important. A lot of other stores are chasing the dollar instead of chasing what’s right for the bird and the owner. For example, if someone lives in an apartment, a macaw or cockatoo is not a good fit. We want our customers to have the right bird so they don’t get themselves in a bad situation and the bird ends up neglected or abused. So why not put the right bird with the right owners so we don’t have that situation.
Editor’s notes: For more information about Parrot Planet, visit their store at 4819 J Street in Sacramento or their website at www.parrotplanet.com. Their phone number is (916) 594-9290.
Q: I can see how a noisy bird living in an apartment complex could create a bad situation for a lot of people as well as the bird. A: (Dana) Exactly. That can be very problematic, even for people who are experienced and really love their birds. Birds can
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June 2014
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Rancho Cordova 4th of July Celebration! I LOVE a Parade... and Fireworks! and... What do you think of when I mention “4th of July”? Certainly your list includes one or more of the following (not necessarily in this order). HOMETOWN PARADE (And the more “hometown” the better... ): We love to see local community programs, children’s groups, the high school band and local dignitaries and businesses in a 4th of July parade filled with floats, familiar faces and fun! SUMMER FOOD FARE including BBQ, hot dogs, snow cones & cotton candy... seems like we can’t start a super summer without it! MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC! — From county to old time rock and roll, as long as we can dance or tap our toes out in the summer air, it’s all good! FIREWORKS!! — Nuff said! WIDE-EYED CHILDREN — All of the above are BETTER when seen through the eyes of a child... So bring the young and the young at heart. And the VERY BEST celebration to enjoy all of the above is in Rancho Cordova on July 3 & 4. Visit RanchoCordova July4th.com or scan our QR code for details.
MUSIC including Journey Unauthorized (July 3) and Night Fever (July 4) starting at 8:15 pm.
PARADE — July 4 at 10 am along Coloma Road.
FIREWORKS both CARNIVAL July 3 (4 - 11 pm) & July 4 nights starting at 9:45. (noon - 11 pm) with all your favorite foods, rides, and fun.
KID’S ZONE including the Bobble Lagoon and FREE activities.
AND so much more including a BMX Freestyle Team and country music in the Beer Garden. Visit RanchoCordovaJuly4th.com for details.
* Visit BobsPocket.com for Bob’s bio, past blogs, and to learn more about events & organizations.
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Car Tech Talk
Meet the New Owner of Valley Motorwerks By Dave Trux Hi, my name is Dave Trux. I recently purchased Valley Motorwerks from Walter Ford and I could not be more excited! I’ve had a good professional relationship with Walter for many years and that effectively morphed into me buying the business. If you’re a Valley Motorwerks customer, I’m sure you will have some questions, which I will be happy to answer. Here’s a few that publisher Bob Cox had for me. Q: When did you meet Walter? A: I’ve known Walter since 2004 during our years in BMW racing. Q: Will Walter be around for awhile to help you get off to a good start? A: Yes. During the transitional period, Walter will still be around and visible. Walter has other
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business interests in Sacramento, specifically a race car preparation and fabrication shop that he will now have more time to invest in. Q: Do you have a background in automotive? A: Yes, I’ve been in automotive industry for over 20 years; I’m 56 years old and still play with cars! Q: Why did you choose to buy Valley Motorwerks? A: The level of service to the customer and the professionalism that I received as a customer at Valley Motorwerks told me that this would be a good fit for me. Truly, Walter’s vision and my vision are one and the same. Going forward, I want to maintain our high level of customer satisfaction, high level of communication and the high level of quality that people have come to know. That is Valley Motorwerks.
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Digging Deeper for Sterling-Silver Continued from page 4
directive from his heart to do the right thing versus external pressure from the outside world. I’m pretty sure that a fine and suspension that was less than the maximum might have created a hornet’s nest of potential future problems. Would millions of dollars be lost via massive boycotts, corporate sponsorship cancellations, declining attendance and fewer television viewers? Even worse, would justice be served out in the streets of major cities across America (rioting and looting) if Sterling’s punishment was perceived as a slap on the wrist? In the final analysis, I believe that Adam Silver made the right choice. Racism, intolerance and blatant disrespect have no place in our society. But is casting out any member of society, even one as rotten as Sterling, without the opportunity to rehabilitate and atone for their grievous ways the enlightened choice? We have accepted a lower standard of quality among the products we use every day, despite the fact that we have the technology to create better and longer lasting goods (another example of appalling greed), so we’ve grown accustomed to accepting less and paying more in the long run while our landfills pile up like monuments of waste. Should we do the same thing to our people who don’t measure up by permanently casting them out? In the sorted case of Donald Sterling, perhaps, a more fitting decision would’ve been a second option: An oppor-
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tunity to redeem himself and atone for his transgressions. How? By imposing a combination of generous financial donations from Sterling that go directly to organizations that are committed to helping others along with several thousand hours of community service by Mr. Sterling himself. Doesn’t he truly deserve the opportunity to serve those that he has callously walked on for years? This, along with the requirement to work many more hours in each and every position of the employees that he has regarded as being beneath him. I believe that if anyone is served a steady diet of humble pie, even the most despicable characters could have a change of heart. By disparaging, punishing and judging our fellow man, we not only harden the coldest hearts of those we seek justice for, we create a colder and less compassionate heart within ourselves. If the real bottom line question is how do we create a better world for ourselves and future generations and this becomes the authentic bottom line (not net profit) that drives us forward, the real answer is pretty simple: through good deeds that only come from the heart, we uplift and inspire our fellow man to be the best possible version of themselves. This is the enlightened choice. Bob Cox is the founder and publisher of Go For It Magazine. He can be reached by phone at (916) 266-3115. His email address is coxrobert@comcast.net. Go For It Magazine is owned and operated in Rancho Cordova, CA. Copyright © 2014.
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June 2014