So what now? You need to find a mechanic, that’s what you need to do. But where do you go? Most of us are fricking idiots when it comes to our cars; and it doesn’t help that Mechanics don’t have the best reputations. (They are right up there with Used Car Salesman and Hood Rats who tease their hair and wear mini-skirts in the Winter.)

Now you can go to a big name place that has a fancy slogan, like Pep Boys or AAMCO. But is that what is going to be the basis of your decision, a crappy little jingle? (“The Pep Boys. Manny, Moe and Jack” or “Double A, MCO”. Please, how lame. They are as bad as a Menthos commercial.) Have you ever been to one of these places? They make you feel like you should be getting ready to drop your pants and pull out your credit card. It is the automotive service business I don’t need to be upsold. Hell, they see that nervousness and deer in the headlights look on our faces and go for the jugular vein. But we are at their mercy. They can tell you anything, and usually do, and we listen. Why? Because we need our car so we can get from point A to point B.

So, you decide not to go to the big names for your car. So what now? What now is, you need to do research. And this takes some time and some question asking, but in the long run it will be worth it. You ask everyone whom you know, what mechanic, they go to. No matter where you are: at a bar, at the supermarket or even the urinal troff at Dodger Stadium, it doesn’t matter, just ask. This will save you money in the long run. Finding a trustworthy mechanic will eventually lead to a good relationship.

After getting answers from people, narrow down the field and check out the places that sound the best to you before you take your car there. Here is a rule. If the owner has really greasy hair, don’t go to him. (A greasy shirt or dirty hands is, OK, but beware of the hair.) Also if there are a lot of Mercedes, BMWs or Lexus’ do avoid, because he is probably very expensive.

What you need to do is find a place that has everyday people dropping their cars off there. Also, if the waiting area has a huge assortment of different types of magazines, most that are from five years ago, and an old DeLorean or Alfa Romeo getting rebuilt, these are great signs. And when you are happy with the job, refer people and you may possibly get a discount next time you need to visit. Because that is what is good about supporting the small guys, they remember you and appreciate you.

“Where do you want to eat tonight?”
“I don’t care.”
“OK. We’ll get sushi then.”
“I’m not in the mood for sushi.”
“Damn, thought you didn’t care.”

My advice for you when choosing a place to eat is trying a small restaurant instead of a chain restaurant. It is always better to support a Mom and Pop shop instead of a corporation. Think about it. Are you really that happy it’s Friday that you will go to TGIF’s? Or better yet, do you really want Chili’s Baby Back Ribs? (Plus the employees don’t really sing that song and play drums with kitchen utensils on the grill.) Cheesecake Factory is another example, they are great at what they do, lots of sales and packing the place in, but how many people have you heard rave about the food?

Sure, people will wait in line, but for what? Tex Mex Eggrolls and Pasta DaVinci? People wait two hours for that? Hell, I wouldn’t wait two hours in line for anything. (Even tickets to see a concert with the ghosts of Jim Morrison and Jerry Garcia.)

Don’t do the chain places when you can go to a small eatery in your neighborhood. The difference is that the food is made from their heart, and they really care about their product. The service is usually better, because they know it is their first chance and if they screw up, their last chance to attract new guests. Oh and you will be appreciated instead of having your server push an appetizer and some crappy foo foo drink on you.

Plus in the long run you are helping a local establishment and helping to build your community. And, it is much easier to park at these places instead having to do it at a mall or a huge shopping center.

Is this white America holding down minorities? Highly unlikely. An interesting experiment would be to see how often a black employer will call back an Alistair Thiel versus a Jerome Theo. I’m sure you can guess what the results would be. Chances are, the black employer will call back Alistair just as often as a white employer would. Stereotypes tend to be color blind – i.e. all people tend to pick up similar stereotypes, even if it is of their own gender or culture. How often have you heard a blond call herself a “dumb blond”? Or an Asian guy telling you how bad Asians are at driving?

Anyone in a position of reading resumes is naturally going to want the best person for the job. However, humans tend to unconsciously stereotype one another, and they will most often express a warmer sentiment to a person with a name that fits the position. My behavioral psychology professor would not allow his students to write their names on their papers. He felt that just by looking at a student’s name, he would give preferable grades to certain names and gender over others. He gave all his students a number to write at the top of their papers ensuring an unbiased grade.

An employer free from stereotypes is improbable, and there’s no way out of putting your name on your resume. It is also illogical to name your children solely based on how well the name appears on a resume. Therefore, the answer is quite clear; name your child with the beautiful name you had in mind. Our diversity should never be hidden, however, we must be aware of our stereotypes and how to strategize around them. If you have an unusual name, change it up on the resume – use a nickname. Celebrities change their names all the time so that they sell better, and sometimes we have to do the same.

Tengzhong will acquire ownership of the Hummer brand, trademarks, and assume existing dealer network agreements. GM will continue to manufacture the military-styled sports utility vehicle until June 2011, with an optional one-year extension. The purchase price was not disclosed. Tengzhong will acquire Hummer through an investment entity, in which it will hold an 80% stake. Private entrepreneur Suolang Duoji from China’s Sichuan Province will own the remaining 20%.

When GM made its quick trip through bankruptcy this summer, the auto maker indicated that Hummer could fetch $500 million or more. Before the sale was officially announced, Reuters and Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the deal, said Hummer would sell for about $150 million.

Tengzhong said in June that it had struck a preliminary deal to take over Hummer, the civilian version of a vehicle built for U.S. military use. Tengzhong makes heavy trucks and industrial equipment.

The state of Michigan has offered tax breaks for Hummer to build its headquarters, design and engineering facility in the Detroit suburb of Southfield.

The H2 Hummer is assembled in Indiana, while the H3 is made in Louisiana.

The outsized SUV hit hard times when fuel prices began to escalate and the economy cratered. Hummer’s smallest model gets only 16 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving. Sales took a big hit when gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon and came under renewed pressure as the economy tumbled into recession.

Through September, GM had sold only 8,193 Hummers in the U.S. this year, down 64% from the same period last year. In September, only 426 Hummers were sold nationwide, according to Autodata Corp.

Design changes are afoot to make the Hummer more fuel-efficient.

Hummer said it will offer an alternative fuel powertrain in every model and add E85 FlexFuel capability in the 2010 H3 and H3T models. The SUV maker also said it’s working to get certified for a diesel H3 to be sold outside North America.

“Backed by a privately owned and well-capitalized company, we are going to be able to focus on providing customers with more efficient models that deliver Hummer’s promise of authentic, purpose-built design and engineering,” Hummer CEO James Taylor said in a prepared statement.

As part of its restructuring, GM slimmed down to focus on the Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac brands. Saturn and Hummer are among the four brands GM planned to eliminate or sell.

Last week, GM’s deal to sell its Saturn brand to Penske Automotive Group fell apart when Penske failed to line up a replacement manufacturer. GM now plans to shut down the brand.

Matt Andrejczak is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco. Article was taken from MarketWatch.com

“I’ve got asthma. When I was 17 I forgot to take my medication and was taken to a hospital for almost two weeks. After that I’ve taken better care of my illness.”
Ville Valo

Asthma and the Albuterol Inhaler:
I have suffered with asthma for most of my life. It is not always an easy disease to live with, as referenced in the quotes above. There is nothing scarier than your ability to breath taken away from you. Fortunately, living with asthma has become manageable due to various medications currently out on the market. There are two common types of medications to help relieve the symptoms of asthma. One is a preventative drug, a drug taken daily to prevent symptoms from surfacing. The other is a rescue drug, a drug taken for immediate relief of minor to major symptoms. The most popular way to consume the medication is through an inhaler. Inhalers propel the medication directly into the lungs, offering instant relief. Moreover, inhalers are small and portable, making it easy for people to have the drug with them at all times.

Perhaps the most common inhaler used today is Albuterol. Albuterol works by relaxing the muscle tissues and dilate the airways. Originally approved by the FDA in 1981, it has been sold in the form of many different brand names: Proventil, Ventolin, Volmax among others. However, Albuterol had gained popularity as a generic drug as the price per inhaler ranged from only $5.00 – $10.00 depending on coverage. Unfortunately, as of December 2008 Abuterol inhaler can no longer be purchased in it’s generic form. The FDA has completely banned the Albuterol inhaler because its propellant is linked to damaging the ozone layer.

In the inhaler form, the Albuterol drug is propelled through the use of chlorofluorocarbon or CFC. Chlorofluorocarbon has been dropped from most products across all industries 25 years ago. Countries worldwide signed an international treaty called “The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer” which called for banning CFC propellants. The US ended production and importation of CFCs for all commercial applications in 1996, but because there was no alternative for the asthma inhaler Albuterol, they were allowed to stay on the market until December 2008.

The Albuterol Replacement – ProAir HFC:
The new alternative to the Albuterol inhaler is a hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) propelled inhaler. In 2004 Teva Pharmaceuticals released their version of the Albuterol inhaler called ProAir HFA (Other brands were release including Proventil HFA and Ventolin HFA). Their new inhaler was now environmentally friendly and ready for the public as Albuterol was taken off the shelves in late 2008. Unfortunately, this replacement has not been looked upon too kindly by asthma suffers, myself included.

When I first purchased ProAir, I noticed two things: One, the drug is no longer generic meaning I paid $25.00 instead of my usual $10.00. Second, the inhaler was half the size of my Albuterol inhaler; so I am paying 150% more for half my medication.The disappointment didn’t end there… When I used my ProAir, it tasted awful. I’m used to the flavor now, but I still don’t care for it. Furthermore, the inhaler clogs up with time. After a couple of months, the inhaler will get clogged by the residue of the medication. The best way to remedy this is to clean the inhaler after every use. However, I opt for the lazy approach by grabbing a needle or a knife, and opening a crater to let the medication flow properly. I don’t recommend this because I can just see every doctor shaking their head at me as they read my alternative.

My first impressions of ProAir was that it was a complete scam – Ban a generic drug millions of people use to push a brand drug and generate more revenue. Use the excuse of the old drug being bad for the ozone layer, and the drug companies have the perfect window dressing to sell their inferior product to the masses.

With careful study though, I found out that CFC had been banned for some time. A pharmacist at Sav-On told me he saw this coming a long time ago, and warned people about it. I don’t have as much of a problem now with the banning of CFC inhalers (even though it’s scientifically improbable that an inhaler would contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer; just as it is equally improbable that O3 emitted from a power drill would improve the ozone layer) as there was a treaty signed, and I believe we should always live up to any commitments we make. However, my problem with the banning of Albuterol is the execution of how it was done. The FDA could have waited until HFC inhalers became generic before removing Albuterol. The fact that they did not wait, really makes their hands look dirty in the process. People depend on this medication with their lives, and for the FDA to remove Albuterol when there was not an equivalent product at the same price, is irresponsible and completely unethical.

I don’t have any doubts that the FDA and the drug companies financially benefited from prematurely removing Albuterol before there was a generic equivalent. There is no other logical reason to do so as HFC inhalers have been on the market since 2005. In the mean time, we the asthma sufferers are the ones that have to pay more to keep ourselves alive.

The good news is that ProAir HFC should be going generic in late 2009/early 2010. Unfortunately, it only remedies one of the problems with the product, all be it the largest problem. ProAir is still one of the worst inhalers I have ever used. I’m sure there will be improvements made in good time, as this is too big of a market to ever ignore. Until then, we can at least breath a little easier (cheesy pun alert) now that we will no longer have to pay a premium price for a substandard product.

A Strategy for Asthma:
This may seem a little off topic, but I felt I should add my personal experience with asthma, and what I am currently doing to depend less on prescription drugs. I like to think of asthma as more of an allergy than a disease (although technically I think it’s both). The best strategy against an allergy is to avoid the substance that causes the allergy. Likewise with asthma, one must be able to identify what is triggering the symptoms. Is it a dog? Dust? Little small rabbits? When you identify each and every substance that triggers your asthma, you will know what to avoid in order to keep you from experiencing symptoms.

Medications are also a necessary arsenal against asthma. Advair from Glaxo Smith Kline, is an amazing drug that I used to take once a day to help prevent symptoms of asthma. I never had any side effects, and the medication was truly a miracle. On Advair, I would rarely suffer any asthma symptoms. I used to think of it as the cure for asthma. The problem is that I became completely dependent on the drug – i.e. if I didn’t take the drug, I would experience asthma symptoms. I don’t like to depend on drugs in order to stay alive, so I began to cut back my Advair intake; instead of once a day, I took Advair once every other day. This seemed to work well until I lost my job, and with it, my health insurance that covered brand name drugs.

Amazing things occur in the most unusual circumstances. After I lost my job, I started helping my friend at his restaurant. He needed help in the kitchen, so I began to learn how to cook. Every day I was in the kitchen cooking wonderful Italian dishes. I wouldn’t get out of work until late in the evening, and by that time, I had forgotten to take my Advair. For some reason, I wasn’t experiencing any asthma symptoms any time I worked in the kitchen. Something odd was happening. Every time I worked in the kitchen, I could breath incredibly well. That little Italian kitchen was an asthmatic paradise. My wife logically deduced that garlic was the only substance that could cause such a reaction, as it is heavily used in every dish in the restaurant. This revelation could not come at a better time, as my last Advair inhaler was about to run out. I purchased garlic supplement pills at my local drug store and began taking them every day. I am happy to say that I have been Advair free since April. What is it about the garlic that helped prevent the symptoms of asthma? Unfortunately, I cannot find an answer to this question. I’ve read that garlic has cardiovascular benefits, but I can’t find any scientific data. All I can do is report my findings. Hopefully my story will help other asthma sufferers come up with the best way to treat their asthma.

- The Crumb

Score for ProAir HFA:

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Special thanks to Dr. Sharon Orrange for helping me with some information on this article. Dr. Orrange is an Internal Medicine Doctor and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California. She is also a contributor for DailyStrength.org. You can read her articles here: http://www.dailystrength.org/blog?user_id=134&surface=archive