Amy’s Garage

Chocolate Sachet Gift Set for your Car
Everyone loves chocolate… even your car. This sachet will give  an alluring fragrance of chocolate to make your car smell yummy.
$9.95
www.everythingsmells.store.yahoo.net

Electric Travel Blanket
How cool is this specially if you are the passenger on a long road trip. Plugs the blanket into your car and it will keep you or your passenger roasty toasty.
$39.95
www.skymall.com
keyword: electric travel blanket

Personalized Angel Car Mat Set
Bring an angel along for the ride, and protect your carpet with these rubberized car mats.
$49.98
www.lighterside.com
item #: 62026

and my favorite
Sheepskin Seat Covers
I once once was given set of these luxuriously soft and warm seat covers for Christmas. They were one of the best presents I have ever been given. I loved them. Every time I would get into my car I would say. “ahhhhhhhh”
$129 - $279
www.autoanything.com
search word: 3 Star Semi-Custom Sheepskin Seat Cover

Maternity Seatbelt
If you know a pregnant lady, do her a huge favor and buy her a maternity seatbelt. It attaches to any vehicles lap belt and it repositions the strap to ride safe and low. Says on the hips, not on the belly.
$29.95
www.onestepahead.com
item #: 07768

Bed Line Rake
If you or a loved one owns a pick-up truck with a bed line, this is a super present. This grooved teeth rate quickly removes: mid, gravel, topsoil, sand, mulch, wood chips, snow, etc.
$9.95
www.cgets.com
product search: bed liner rake

Seat Back Protector
If you have children then you need a protection for the back of your front seat’s upholstery from their dirty little feet.
Buckles around the headrest - no ties or knots and cleans easily
$9.95
www.leapsandbounds.com
item #: 11081

If you have any other great ideas… please share!

by Amy Mattinat

Car #10 Wins Day 2’s mileage marathon in it’s class!

Every day before we head out on the road, all the drivers gather after breakfast for a briefing by Audi of the route we will take, suggestions for safe and fuel efficient driving and the results of the best average mileage for each class of cars for the previous day. Since we did so much site seeing yesterday we were not even considering that we would be in the running. So we were shocked (and so were all the other drivers in the room) that we won 1st place out of 6 Audi A4s.

This was pretty humorous to us. So many of the drivers were sooooo very serious about their various techniques to get the best mileage, and here two women drivers take the lead and their strategy was to enjoy the scenery and collect postcards.

Yes we were conscience of gentle starts and stops and coasting downhills with our foot off the gas, but that was about it. This said a lot about the advanced technology of the Audi A4 TDI to me. It is so well engineered, that you don’t have to hyperplane behind trucks and put the car into neutral downhills (like some of the drivers did) to achieve great gas mileage. The Audi engineers did all the work ahead of time. This proves that in real world driving, even up and down mountains you can achieve an average of 39 mpg with an average speed of 51 mph when you drive an Audi A4 TDI.

Did we go 51 mph all day? No Way! We were cruising on the straight aways and coasting downhills. We pretty much drove just like we would in our day to day lives.

YEA US!

WE ROCK!

WE WON!

by Amy Mattinat

Day 2 of the Audi Mileage Marathon - Wave 3

This morning at breakfast, Kami, Bob and I all decided that since the Grand Canyon was only about an hour off our itinerary we would turn off the navigation system AKA: ‘Bossy’, and take a detour to see “The Big Hole”. Bob is quite the ‘adventure man’ and has climbed to the bottom of the GC numerous times and helped convince us that a detour was necessary. We wouldn’t have any extra time for hiking, but we did have time for some spectacular viewing. Much to our chagrin, at the morning meeting Audi suggested this very thing and we found a number of various Audi TDI clean diesel models driving around the park.

It took about six hours to get to the Grand Canyon. There were a lot of loooooong straight-a-ways that went on forever. We would be zooming along just fine and then come up behind a large camper vehicle. Our little A4 Audi #10 makes it fun to pass. Don’t tell anyone but I had her up to 100 mph a number of times. The turbo is so quiet, sleek and powerful and those Michelin tires just hug the road. I tried to stay somewhat near the speed limit, but it was hard. We had to reminding ourselves that we were on an Indian Reservation and the speeding tickets were very painful.

While cruising through an Indian Reservation we came upon these red rocks on the side of the road. Reminded me of when I was a child at the beach and I would make sand sculptures by dripping wet sand in a pile.

The Grand Canyon kinda took me by surprise. The roads leading up the park are kind of boring. Mountains in the distance and a lot of scrubby fields between them and the roads. It was a very uneventful drive right up to the place we paid to get into the park. But once we parked the car, it was one of those mind boggling experiences. All I could say over and over was “WOW”.

We viewed the hole from as many angles as possible. From various lookout points and from up a tower.

Number 10 seemed to love the GC too!

It was about 5 pm when we left the park. We were happy to see our pit crew at the designated Shell station . Audi has staff there to take down data, fill the tank and check the car over. The fuel door is sealed and the tech signs off that we have not strayed from anything that would compromise the study.

After filling up the tank with diesel we still had about an hour to go. Heading into Sedona you drive down a very steep incline full of switchbacks. By this time it pitch black outside. We were very happy to discover that our Audi A4 was loaded with a headlight feature that would automatically turn on and dim the bright lights as needed. This was a fabulous thing! Kami was busy keeping her eyes on the road and the car made it as easy as possible to see as much as possible. I’m just loving this car more and more each day!

We were all so glad to pull up to our hotel. Audi is taking such great care of all of us. The hotel staff whisked away our luggage to our rooms and we were invited for food and drinks.

What a fabulous day! A BIG THANKS to Jody Devere for sending me on this adventure for AskPatty.com

Two of my favorite people have the right idea when it comes to saving money on gasoline…

Don’t Spend Any!

Every year they strap on their packs and hoof-it up into the mountains. Cars don’t drive up the “Long Trail”, so they save lots of money during their vacation week.

I give them a LOT OF CREDIT! I love to see the pictures, but don’t have the inclination to do all the leg work and back breaking packing of all the ’stuff’ it takes to survive in the mountains.

This beautiful view is from up on “Lookout Mountain” which is 2459 ft. high, near  Bridgewater & Barnard Vermont. The arrow is pointing at Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Thanks for the picture Harris & Cindy. You two are awesome!

OK, this is not a car… I know that. But this is the maple tree in my front yard, and it is so beautiful I wanted to share it with you.

Please Enjoy!

by Amy Mattinat

There Are Hero’s Everywhere

I was in Cincinnati for a meeting of independent auto repair shops and was scheduled to fly back to Vermont on a Sunday at 9 am. I was flying from Cinn. to Philly to Burlington. Take off from Cinn. was right on time. The trouble began when we got close to landing in Philadelphia. There were multiple thunderstorms and we circled around the airport waiting for traffic control to find a hole in the storm for us to land.

This pilot really wanted to land the plane in Philly. After flying in circles for over an hour he announced that we had about 20 more min. before we ran out of fuel, but he was certain there would be a break in the storm and we could land. Everyone in the cabin pulled out a time piece and started counting down. When we got to about 10 min. he gave up and headed to Harrisburg to re-fuel.

There was a group sigh of relief when the wheels of the plane touched the ground

They re-fueled the plane right away, and then we sat on the runway going nowhere for 7 hours. YES, seven hours and all they gave us was water and a very small overly sweet cookie that just made me really hunger.

The pilot, staff and passengers were just about to mutiny when Harrisburg finally gave they OK for the plane to pull up to a hanger and let us off. We were given less then 10 min. to buy some food and jump on a bus that drove us to Philadelphia.

If I was not starving and had been thinking clearly, I would have never got on a bus to drive to an airport that was shut down all day with hundreds hundreds of people going nowhere.

When we arrived at the airport we were led to a line that I swear was 1/2 mile long. When I finally got to the counter I was told there were no seats on any airline to Burlington for two days. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

So I booked a flight to Boston, rented a car to Vermont and found a quiet corner to get some sleep along with hundreds of other folks stranded in Philly.

The next morning I washed up in a bathroom, ate breakfast and worked at my makeshift office. How did we ever travel before computers?

At 1:00 pm my flight to Boston was canceled. I was feeling pretty low until I found Tracy! She told me she was the Best of the Best airline customer service representatives in the whole airport, and she was not kidding!

Not sure how she did it, but she got me on a flight to Burlington that night at 9:45 pm and it actually took off and landed on time. Took 38 hours but I finally made it home. Tracy, you are my hero!

Yes, the slab got poured and now we are waiting for “Overhead Doors” to give us an estimate for a insulated roll up door before we can continue our project of moving the compressor.

So, while waiting for the new compressor room to get built, we have moved on to giving the outside of the shop a face lift.

This is a before picture of my shop Auto Craftsmen located in Montpelier, Vermont. Notice how plain and boring the beige and black are. Very easy to drive on by and not even notice.

The beige has been repainted and the black trim is slowly being repainted blue. The rest of the shop was not exactly thrilled with my color choice, but it’s growing on them, and we are getting great feedback from our clients.

The job is still in process. The front window has rotten sills and needs to be replaced and my window box is going to be painted blue, put back up and restocked ASAP.

What do you think about the color blue I chose for the trim?

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted. I have been so busy that I just haven’t had any extra time to sit at my computer and write. My business partner needed 2 weeks off to move to a new place of residence, so I was riding solo running our auto repair shop, Auto Craftsmen.

When the cat is away… the mice will play.

• I hired a new employee… that I have wanted for over two months
• I hired an electrician to move one of our electric meter boxes so we could build a room outside of bay 5, where we will put the compressor so bay 5 won’t be so noisy you need to were hearing protection to be in that room. Hopefully soon that bay will actually get used and make us some money!

It have been raining pretty much everyday all summer in VT. So even though it was coming down at a pretty good clip, these boys got the job done in 2 hrs.

I discovered a pretty big lump on my breast the other night. Lying on the couch reading in a cold room, I tucked my hand under my armpit to warm it up and found a lump floating around my breast.

Long story shot… I’m fine.

The lump turned out to be a cyst and I was told to “just live with it.”

But what really stupefied me and got my goat was the poor customer service I encountered.

On Monday I spoke with two women on the phone. I told them both I was “freaking out” and that I had discovered this lump on my breast. On Wednesday I went to my Doctor’s appointment and told the receptionist, a nurse and the doctor the same thing. The Doctor spent a whole five minutes with me and pretty much said, “Yup, you have a lump on your breast and will need an ultrasound to see if we need to be worried or not.” Not once was I given any words of comfort, encouragement or sympathy.

While I was stupefied by their lack of empathy, I kept thinking of how I give 150% better customer service to my automotive clients here at my shop. I probably calm down at least one client per week when they call “freaking out” that their check engine light is on.

No, a check engine light is not a lump on a breast… but it does cause fear in someone who knows it could be a bad thing, and doesn’t have the knowledge to know better.

I always tell them right off, “Don’t Worry. No matter what is going on with your car we can help you. ” Then I ask questions and give them advice depending on what the symptoms are and how scared they are.

Yes, I believe that my auto repair shop is in the “Automotive Health Car” business. I give classes to other shops on How to Give Great Customer Service, maybe I need to branch out and open this up to Doctors and Health-Care professionals.

What does good customer service mean to you?

Join in the conversation!

I feel as if I have just returned from a long journey even though I did not leave town.

My Mom-in-law had a stroke Saturday Jan. third. Before her stroke she was living at an Independent Home for seniors. At 93 yrs old, she only needed a cane to get around. She slept a lot, but still was very active and enjoying life.

Because of the stroke, she lost the use of her right arm and leg, lost the ability to swallow and speak, and was not really present anymore. After various tests and realizing that she would spend her remaining days in a nursing home hooked up to machines to get food, and get rid of the food, the doctors suggested hospice.

Our local hospital has its own form of hospice. They call it palliative care. They had a special room tucked away on a corner with a big window that we were able to watch the sun rise, move across the sky all day and set in the evening. It had this state of the art bed that moved around Stella to help prevent bed sores, and has 2 comfy chairs to help keep my butt from going numb from sitting so much. Because of my husband Peter’s chemical sensitivity he could only be here for 4 hour stretches of time. Then he needed to get out! There was a pull-out couch for sleeping…and I thus moved in to be her Death Dula.

Kinda felt like I was on this meditative journey of death and dying. I learned a great deal about how one dies on hospice, and felt that assisting in Stella’s death was a real gift I could give her.

She was given no IV for fluids or food. No one says it out loud, but in reality we were starving her and gradually letting her kidneys shut down until she died. It was slow and painful at times to watch. It took 7 days for her kidneys to fail, her heart to stop and for her to take her last breath. These bodies of ours are truly amazing in many ways.

Feeling blessed and thankful that I could take the time needed to be able to witness, lend strength and advocate for her. I felt in-tune with her and understood what she needed to be able to lay peacefully with no pain. Her needs were simple: Quiet room with peaceful music. Lot’s of foot and hand rubs and she seemed to like it when I read to her. She needed to lay a certain way to be comfortable, and because she needed to be moved every 4-5 hours to prevent bed sores by a different nurse each time, it was my most important job to make them realize how she needed to be turned and what position she needed to be in to prevent her from grimacing, moaning and gasping for air.

As she was wasting away we added morphine and this drug called Adivan that helped with anxiety to her tools of pain prevention. Daily we upped the amount she was given to maintain her peace.

All this so she can sleep away her death. Why not just give her the shot we are allowed to give our beloved dogs or cats if they were in a similar situation so she would have only had a short sleep to death without all the pain and discomfort.

My life slowed down to moment to moment. It was a similar feeling to when I did a series of healing fast many years ago. When I left to run errands or go home to shower and get clean clothes the rest of the world seemed to be going way too fast and I experienced sensory overload.

On Saturday Jan. 12^th the morning she passed away, one of my favorite nurses offered to wash and turn Stella herself while I went down to the cafeteria to get a small break and to get some breakfast.

Before I left I whispered to Stella that we were all just fine. That she had live a good life, We all appreciated everything she had done for us and that it was fine for her to move on.

When I walked back into the room it felt different. Really quiet and like something was missing. I went over and sat by Stella. She looked different… smaller, emptier.
“Stella,” I called, “are you still in there?”
She gave a small moan, exhaled a deep breath and was gone.

When Stella first came to Vermont at the age of seventy-five; we took her on a hike up Owls Head Mountain. There is a road that you can drive most of the way up and then a short steep climb up stone steps. I pulled from the front, and Peter pushed from the rear. The view behind her was breath taking. Ponds, woods and mountains for as far as the eye could see. We took a bunch of pictures of her on the mountain. She looked like she was in the middle of nowhere. The pictures captured the essence of Stella. She was very quirky, ferociously independent and incredibly generous. We made copies and sent them to all her friends and relative back in Chicago labeling them, “Enjoying my retirement in Vermont. Now I have time to do some mountain climbing.”

Once she was dead, I felt a flood of emotions surging through my body: Shock, sadness, loss and relief.
My vigil was over. It was time to return home.

I come back to my world more aware of how fragile life is and a huge appreciation for all the wonderful people in my life. There is still so much I want to accomplish and experience.

Have you had a life changing experience? Please share to inspire others!