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From Heroin to Heroine Proudly Sponsored by Avon, Narem and Better Decisions. compasses all three definitions By Bob Cox above. In the 2014 movie Wild, When you hear the word the heroine in the movie (acheroin, does your mind autotress Reese Witherspoon) plays matically go to the dark side the role of Cheryl Strayed, a with disturbing images of a former heroin addict. The movstrung out junkie, desperately ie is based on Strayed’s real life shooting up the highly addicexperiences and her popular tive and illegal drug? If you anmemoir titled Wild: From Lost swered yes, you’re certainly not to Found on the Pacific Crest alone. That’s exactly what I see Trail. whenever I hear that word. The movie takes us back to Interestingly enough, there 1995, when Strayed made a life is another word that sounds extransforming decision to hike actly the same, is spelled almost more than a thousand miles of identically but has a vastly differ- Actress Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed in the film Wild. the Pacific Crest Trail from the ent meaning. The word heroine Mojave Desert in Southern California to the Bridge of the is the principal female character in a story, play or film. It Gods in Oregon. Along this extraordinary journey, Strayed can also be a woman of distinguished courage or ability, reflects back on her life experiences, including her divorce, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities. Amazing as it may seem, there is a real person that en(Continued on page 10)
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Sum-Sum-Summertime! Summer is just around the corner and Rancho Cordova is a great place to be! Every Friday night in June you will find a FREE moonlight movie at Village Green Park. And it’s a Super Hero series to boot! • June 5: Superman (PG 1978) • June 12: Batman (PG-13 1989) • June 19: Spiderman (PG-13 2002) • June 26: Ironman (PG-13 2008) Showtime is 8:30 pm with snack vendors & food trucks open at 7 pm. So bring your friends and family and come enjoy! And be sure to come back in August for the FREE concert series! But in between, be sure to come to the BEST 4th of July celebration ANYWHERE. Join us at Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova. Enjoy concerts, the Kids Zone, BMX Shows, a 5K Run/Walk, the PARADE and of course fireworks each night on July 3 and 4. Visit BobsPocket.com for links to these events and more. See you this summer! * Visit BobsPocket.com for Bob’s bio, past blogs, and to learn more about events & organizations.
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Our Neighborhood Flooring Store...And So Much More! I asked Lynn some questions about By Bob Cox her experiences since she took over the A few years ago, Lynn Lawson, the business six years ago from her father, owner of Ralph Opfer Floors had reached who started the business in 1974. Here’s a crossroads after all her kids had all what she had to say… grown up and moved out. She began to experience what millions of AmeriQ: What was your thought procan’s go through every year: empty nest cess like when your dad offered you syndrome. She intuitively knew that she his business? needed to reinvent herself to overcome A: I thought to myself, “Okay, what the negative emotions of loneliness, grief do I do? Do I make the decision to take and lack of purpose. on this big monster?” At that time, my “For the most part, I’ve been a kids were all grown up and out of the mother most of my life. When the kids house, so I decided to take it on. were old enough, I started working parttime,” said Lynn. Lynn took on a wide Q: What were the greatest fears variety of jobs in the evenings after her you had to work through? husband Gregg came home from workA: How to get enough sales to cover ing in construction to help with the fi- Cathi Slaminski & Mojo the Cat gave Ralph Opfer Floors two thumbs and two paws up after the store so I wouldn’t have to sell my nances and avoid the expense of hiring their new flooring and bathroom remodel. house and keep my head above water. baby sitters. Also, not having the experience of owning a business was Shortly after her four children had left the nest, Lynn tough. You have to try things and if they don’t work, you took on two part time jobs, one as a dula (similar to a midmove on to other things. I call it trudging through the sludge. wife, according to Lynn) while also helping out her father’s business (Ralph Opfer Floors). After a couple of years, her Q: What’s been your most difficult sludge trudging father was ready to retire and asked Lynn if she would be moment in business? interested in taking over the business full time. After considA: When I took over in 2009, the economy was at rock erable soul searching, Lynn decided to take a leap of faith bottom. My dad gave me a checkbook with $5,000 in it and go for it. and a warehouse full of wood and said here you go. The rent was $2,450 a month at that time, so I only had two months worth of money in that checkbook. I renegotiated the rent and figured out how to get business back into that store because it had been flat for so long. So, we trudged through the sludge for a long time. Q: How did your dad get started in the flooring industry? A: Dad started selling and installing laminate floors in the 1970’s. He became known as “the bargain hunter,” to all his suppliers and he would buy all of their closeouts. With a warehouse full of inventory, you could always come to Ralph Opfer Floors to find a bargain and you still can today! Q: What else makes Ralph Opfer Floors really special and unique?
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A: The personal attention you get when you come here. I go to quite a few lengths to actually find what people want. I’m also a bargain hunter. You can get some really nice products at lower prices, but it takes time to search for those things. We carry every type of flooring you would need, including laminate, hardwood, carpet, tile and vinyl. I also have a lot of stock in my warehouse at huge discounts. Q: What do your customers enjoy most about working with you? A: I’ve become friends with a lot of the people I help. I try to treat them like they’re family and spend a lot of time on each individual person. I also try to keep up to date on new products and trends of the industry so I can be as knowledgeable and helpful as possible.
Q: So, you’re still thinking about the business when you come home? A: Yeah, except when I get around these two (Lynn’s Granddaughters) and then my brain switches over a little bit, which probably keeps me sane (laughs). How do you not enjoy this! Q: Do you have a technique that really helps you to stay grounded and peaceful? A: Well, I’m pretty centered by nature. I do have my days when I’m a little more stressed than others but I try not to focus on that type of stuff because that would really drive me crazy. Q: I understand that your daughter Briana is working here. Do you plan to one day pass the baton to her and keep your family business going strong? A: Yes, she just moved from Portland, so I’m working on training her to hopefully take over someday.
Q: Are you capable and quali- Ralph Opfer Floors now offers beautiful and fied to take on other home improve- affordable window treatments for your home. ment projects? A: Yes, Gregg (husband and business partner) and I have our own general contractor licenses. Occasionally, a Editor’s notes: For more information about Ralph Opfer customer will ask for our help with other home improveFloors, browse their website at www.ralphopferfloors.com, ments. On a recent job, Gregg helped one of our customvisit their showroom at 3330 Mather Field Road in Rancho er’s by opening up a few walls and remodeling her bathCordova or call (916) 366-1672. room. She was pleasantly surprised that we could help her with all her projects and more than pleased with the overall quality and attention to detail. We’ve also added a line of window treatments, so we can help our customers with that as well. Q: Last year, you took another leap of faith and moved from your old warehouse and built this beautiful showroom. What factors motivated you to do that? A: In the old warehouse, the lighting was poor and the temperatures were uncomfortably hot in the summer and cold in the winter. We wanted a space where our customers could see our selection in a clean, comfortable and well lit space. Even with the new showroom, I’m worried about covering the costs of this store. So, it’s a constant 24/7 job.
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your best self. And, once you found it, how to hold on to it for dear life. Actually, I’m not sure there’s anything else worth knowing. Do I regret marrying an abusive alcoholic (exple(Continued from page 4) tive)? No. Not for one second. Because he gave me you. You’ll have worse days than this honey. the death of her mother and years of self And you can let it kill you if you want, destructive behavior. Her motivation to go but…you know, I want to live”. on this solitary hike was to walk herself back Ironically, the further Cheryl “strayed” into the woman her mother raised her to from her old home, the closer to her new be. During her 94 day odyssey, she discovhome she got. She learned the valuable ers an inner strength and wisdom she never lesson that a heavy backpack full of unknew existed. necessary items on a long hike is a lot like One scene in the movie stands out excessive emotional baggage along the when Strayed flashes back to a moment journey of life. She discovered the wiswith her mother (played by Laura Dern). dom of letting go of the need to focus on Strayed’s mom is cooking and humming everything that was wrong with her life in the kitchen with unabashed joy. Strayed and began to invest her time more wisely becomes increasingly annoyed and shouts, by appreciating the beauty of everything “Would you stop humming that (expletive) that was right. She found a way to break song? What is wrong with you? Why are free from a dysfunctional nightmare and you happy? We have loans we’ll be paying courageously chose to take her chances off for the rest of our lives. Our house is fallby blazing new paths to uncharted terriing apart. You’re on your own because you Cheryl Strayed, Herione. tory, on earth and in her heart. married an abusive alcoholic (expletive). Strayed is now a successful author that’s remarried and And you stand there singing. What is it you’re not getting? has two children. Like her mother, she doesn’t regret the Her mother paused for a moment and calmly replied, mistakes she’s made, as they have brought her to a happier “Oh, there’s nothing I don’t get, believe me. But then what? and healthier place. If there’s one thing I could teach you, it would be how to find
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Saving Your Water Soaked Phone By Alika Salazar If you own a mobile phone, chances are good that you either have or will drop your phone in a pool of water, like a swimming pool, bathtub or the dreaded toilet! Here are a few simple tips to take if you want to prevent getting soaked by your soaking wet phone. • Turn your phone off right away. If you can’t turn it off, don’t try to force it. Call us right away and we’ll talk you through it. • Put your phone in rice and bring it into our store as soon as possible. Rice will help pull moisture out, but it isn’t as effective as many people believe. We’ll open a phone that’s been in rice for two or more days and it will still have water in it, because it’s so tightly enclosed. Don’t leave your phone in rice for a week and hope it works. • Don’t put it in rice for a few days and then plug it in. If you plug it in, you will most likely short out the components. We recommend getting it to us right away, while there’s still liquid in there. • Don’t take your phone apart and try to dry it off. That is one of the most common mistakes people make. Bring it into the store as soon as possible and allow us to do a chemi-
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cal cleaning on it. We have about a 75% recovery rate on water soaked phones. We usually need about two to 24 hours, depending on the severity of the damage. So, what happens if you are one of those unfortunate folks that have a phone that cannot be restored? Is there a way to save your information? Yes! We can refer you to a company that specializes in extracting information from motherboards that are dead. You simply send it off to them and within a few days they will have an answer for you. More often than not, they can preserve your information and transfer it to your new phone. Alika Salazar is the owner of iParts Phone Repairs. He can be reached at (916) 936-9316.
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Car Tech Talk Is Your Car Ready for Summer? By Dave Trux Summer is here and so is the heat. You may be able to withstand the heat but can your car? If you haven’t done so yet, take your car to your trusted auto service center and make sure they thoroughly inspect your entire AC system. An AC service starts out with a function test to make sure that the fan operates at each speed setting and the temperatures of the air vent is also measured. In cases where we don’t get adequate temperature, we perform a vacuum test and draw all the freon out of the system. The vacuum test is our way of making sure that the system is not leaking. It is against EPA regulations to put refrigerant into a system. Basically you are just pumping it back out into the environment. It’s more important nowadays with new refrigerants because they are not as efficient, they have to operate at much higher pressures. We find that because of the higher operating pressures, it’s even more important to make sure the system is sealed and working. Refrigerant is not the only thing in the system;
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there is also oil. Oil is used to lubricate the pump. If you just keep adding refrigerant and not drawing it down, making sure it’s not leaking and doing a proper service, you could burn up your pump because you don’t have adequate oil in your refrigerant system. Make sure your mechanic does a comprehensive function test. If the system doesn’t function properly, the next step is to go back and perform a vacuum test. If they don’t do that test and merely add more refrigerant without adding additional oil, then you will likely end up with a system that will fail because the pump could burn up. We offer a free basic function test and inspection. Based on the results, we’ll determine whether we will move forward with a vacuum test. If we do see a leak, then we will add dye to the system and use an infrared light to see where the leak is located. Editor’s notes: Dave Trux is the owner of Valley Motorwerks in Rancho Cordova, CA. Their address is 11401 White Rock Road, their phone number is (916) 636-9526 and their website is www.vmwerks.com.
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