A Woman's Point of View: The Odd Things

by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

Some occurrences that help us cope with life with humor and catch our interest momentarily are the odd little things that happen around us. The unexpected that pops up when we least expect it, fills us with wonder, and puts the whole day into perspective.

Take the simple act of opening the hood of a car and finding a pair of sunglasses riding securely on the engine. Can’t you just picture the owner turning his house and car inside-out looking for those sunglasses? Or, the car owner that brought his car in because “something is just not quite right”. As it turned out, our mechanic found a whole mop head in the filter that, somehow, the car sucked up. Speculation was running rampant as to where you could possibly run over a mop head, and how could it get sucked into the car like that?

Then there are the times that a customer stops by to drop off the best banana bread you have ever eaten in your life. Some things happen that just make you feel good to be in a position where you can help complete strangers, like the vacationing couple from Wisconsin whose car broke down and they were stranded, knowing no one and having no place to stay. We were able to direct them to a good B & B where they were welcomed with open arms while our mechanics repaired their car and they were happily and gratefully on their way the next day to finish their long deserved vacation. Cars for Keeps is a business with plenty of knowledge and skill, but most importantly, with heart.

A Woman's Point of View: Tips for Organizing Your Car, Part I

by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

The magic word here is Velcro. The black Velcro with the sticky side and the grabbing side, and the wide width. This is how to organize your car for yourself and your family. For the driver to have everything within reach. The ceiling of your car is this soft felt material that works like the smooth side of Velcro. It is also an untapped space to use for storage.

Flat CD storage holders can be found at Walmart, Target, etc. They hold 8 to 12 CD’s. Put the sticky side of the Velcro on the CD holder and slap it onto the ceiling of your car. I have mine over the sunvisor. You can put some over the back seat area for the kids, too.

Ceiling Velcro also makes it easy to store a flat document holder in which to keep you car registration, insurance papers, etc. directly over your head. Now you won't have to rummage through the glove compartment, which is free to hold heavy or bulky items such as an umbrella, trouble light/seatbelt cutter and windshield glass breaker. Use another flat document holder for a pen, a pad of Post-A-Notes, letters to be mailed, bank deposit slips or grocery lists.

Get a trash bag with Velcro straps and wrap around the base of the front seat headrest to hold things like kids games, snacks, personal DVD players, MP3 players, books or even trash. It's is easily accessible for anyone sitting in the back seats.

I have many more suggestions on how to organize your car, so this will be a two part blog - look for Tips for Organizing Your Car Part II next Friday.

A word of caution: always put the sticky side of the Velcro onto the storage item. Never, Ever put the sticky side onto the material of the car. It will pull the material away from the cars ceiling and tear it every time you get into the storage item.

To be continued…..

Cars for Keeps Mechanics: Men Can Multitask Too!

by Colette, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

Any woman, whether she works outside the home or not, is an expert at multi-tasking. We wear many hats every day. Wife, mommy, housekeeper, cleaning lady, laundress, chauffer, appointment setter/keeper, gardner, cook, nurse, lover, psychiatrist, teacher, disciplinarian and on and on. Add to that if we work outside the home.

Yes, we are experts at multi-tasking and we take it all in stride. One pat on the back coming up. But, to give the men their due, they are pretty good at it too. As a woman working at Cars For Keeps, I have observed the men I work with multi-tasking every day. For two days a while back, I watched Michael, our head mechanic, work on four cars at the same time. We were short a mechanic and everyone pitched in to keep everything running smoothly and on time. Michael was going from one car to the next car to the next car as the parts came in. We seriously considered putting him in skates. He never complained and kept his humor going, but by the end of those couple of days, he was dragging.

Our service manager, Dennis, multi-tasks 11 hours a day, five days a week. He manages the mechanics' time, helps them solve technical problems, finds and purchases the best parts at the best price for the job, deals with vendors, confers at management and marketing meetings, helps every customer meet their needs, makes technical, financial and time management decisions almost every minute, answers phone calls, makes phone calls, supervises care of the grounds around the building, handles all emergencies with efficiency, keeps up with computer information every company runs on and sometimes he even eats lunch. In the four years that I have worked with Dennis I have never seen him “lose his cool”.

So here are gold stars and fireworks and ‘good job’ kudos for all the men who work faithfully, nobly and steadfastly in their jobs. It is heroic!

What Women Really Want

by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

Listen up guys. This is one answer to the mystery every man is confronted with all the married days of his life. Women want perfection. In everything we do and in everything we are. We want the perfect man, (be honest ladies, haven’t you ever wished you could build your own?), we want the perfect house, the perfect kids, the perfect job, the perfect body, hair, skin, teeth, etc. etc. etc. Every time we go shopping we look for the perfect gift, the perfect sweater, the perfect car. It just has to “feel” right.

I am convinced that we women have an extra gene in us that makes us crave perfection. We are always looking for a perfect world while we live in an imperfect world.

Take heart ladies. There are islands of perfection that we find all the time. The biggies are being in love and hugging our kids. Lesser, but by no means inferior, are friends you can count on, waking up without “bed-head”, and compliments from a stranger.

All of us at Cars For Keeps endeavor to create a small island of perfection for women. When you walk in the door you feel welcome as a friend. You will be treated with respect for your intelligence. Kindness, humor and honesty will be applied to meet your needs. We women want our car to be fixed and ready for us when promised, so we can get on with the pursuit of our next “perfection”. Go Girl!

A Woman's Point of View: That Suspended State Between Winter & Spring

by Colette Cooley, Cars For Keeps Office Manager

It's Spring! At least, it feels like it is Spring. Our thoughts are turning to flowers in bloom, getting out the bicycles, walking around without ten pounds of boots on our feet, and putting the top down on the convertible. Oh, Joy! Can you feel you heart getting lighter and carefree?

We have Spring Fever here at Cars For Keeps too. One of the mechanics just came inside and told me I HAD to go out and stand in the sun for a few minutes - it actually feels warm. Ok, there are a few things we need to do to button up winter. Have our heating ducts cleaned, take that winter coat we have been wearing all winter to the cleaners, get the dog/cat you got for Christmas spade before she wanders around the neighborhood and comes back enceinte, and get the tires on your car aligned.

Come on, you know the only thing that blooms in the winter is the dreaded pothole, the snow covered curbs that you were sure were not there last summer, and those nasty ice ridges on the road that simply cannot be avoided. Let's give our bodies a break ladies. That shimmy and shake may feel good in the gym or on the dance floor, but in your car it could mean having to buy new tires if it goes on too long.

Who wants to spend their new summer clothes allowance on tires! Come on in to Cars For Keeps and we will "set your car straight" for you.

Happy spring from Cars for Keeps.

A Woman’s Point of View: One Less Thing To Worry About

by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

At Cars For Keeps we will drive you home or to work, and come pick you up when your car is ready, at no charge.

As I was driving a customer to her work place, we were chatting about this and that when she suddenly changed the subject and said, “I can’t tell you what a relief it is to take my car in to Cars For Keeps to have it worked on and to know that it will be done right and at a fair price. It is so good not to have to drag my boyfriend or my father with me to make sure I don’t get cheated or talked into something that I don’t need”.

She went on to say that she knows nothing about cars, does not want to know anything about cars and has made a lifelong commitment to not having to learn about cars. Let’s face it ladies, most of us feel that way too. There are only three things that that are important to us about cars. What color is it, how do we feel when we are driving it, and is it safe.

We understand these concerns at Cars For Keeps and the guys here do not think they are frivolous or silly. They can’t do anything about the color or how you feel, but they have dedicated their working careers and themselves to making your car as safe as possible for you.

Come on in ladies where you are taken seriously and treated with respect.

A Woman’s Point of View: The Mechanic and What Makes Him Tick

by: Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

Oct. 9, 2009

As an observer of human nature (as most women are), we notice personality types all the time. Consciously or unconsciously, we gather visual data about people so we know if we are in our safety/comfort zone with any person at any given time.

Now that I have covered the deep psychic stuff, let’s have some fun with it. Just remember, there are exceptions to every rule.

Mechanics with whom I have worked have a tendency to be introverts. They are much more comfortable with machines than they are with people. Every car they work on is a personal challenge. It does not seem to matter whether the job is large and complicated or small and simple. It is personal. It is what a blank canvas is to an artist. To be made into something beautiful. They are passionate about cars and how they can make each car run like a finely tuned instrument. They spend their lunch time watching “car things” on the computer and their weekends doing “car things”. They are always building. Always creating. Always solving. It is the epitome of the creative process in a most masculine way.

And who benefits from all this positive energy? Why, we women of course. Another perfect solution.