A glimpse of Cadillac

     Cars are a dominant portion of our human lives.  We seem to have a transportation deficiency without them. 

     One of the most popular cars is the Cadillac.

     Cadillac embodies the senses as what is expensive and not necessary;
luxury-complete.  

     Where does Cadillac come from? 

     Cadillac creation:

     -The Henry Ford Company was dissolved.

     -Ford's financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment.

     -Leland persuaded them to continue the automobile business using Leland's proven single-cylinder engine.

     -On 22 August 1902, the company reformed as the Cadillac Automobile Company.

    
     The Cadillac automobile was named after the 17th-century French explorer Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701( https://carrollcustomcadillac.sharepoint.com/Pages/HistoryofCadillac.aspx)."

     GM manufactures Cadillac.

     "At General Motors, we are passionate about earning customers... Whether it’s a Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel, Vauxhall, or Holden, making the world’s best vehicles can only happen with the world’s greatest employees. We take great pride in our work, and take great care to deliver exceptional cars and a positive ownership experience to our customers in 140 countries around the world (www.gm.com)."

     The new caddies have changed since, let's look at, 30 years ago.  There is more sport in the well known brand sedan of today from when you remember being smaller than the man with the keys to a new lac' in his hand.

     Take the 2015 XT sedan. The 2015 XTS is a tribute to enticing comfort, spacious design, performance with a tenacious purpose and intuitive technology. It exudes the indulgent feeling of a limousine — so much so, you’d expect it to include a chauffeur. Then again — why let a chauffeur have all the fun?

     Mentally possess the 2016 ATS-V Coupe.
With roots in the performance racing circuit, the ATS-V Coupe is built to rule the left lane as easily as it rules the track. The minute you get onto the road, green lights start to feel more like starting lines. Add to that a range of refined interior features and sporty exterior lines, and you’ll find the edge of your seat never looked or felt so good.

     Put on your racing suit, and experience V RACING.  The V-Series vehicles are direct descendants of the racers found on the high-performance Cadillac Racing circuit. The latest iteration is the ATS-V.R, and if the many victories of its predecessors are any indication, there should be no doubt about its abilities.

     Cadillac is an exhilarating car.  Some of us don't quit remember the Cadillac like that,  though.

     Gaze at that photograph from 1985. In 1985 there was the introduction of the "Cadillac of Tomorrow".  It was the new, smaller front-wheel drive transverse mounted engines in Devilles, Coupe and Sedan, which now finally wore the laurel wreath and crest along with the Fleetwoods.  The Fleetwood came Coupe & Sedan. The Fleetwood Brougham was still rear wheel drive.

     Have you heard of an El Dog?  Gas prices were cheap, so everybody wanted to drive,  all the time.  Everywhere.   You could spark  envious conversations with women in the convertible full of leather and wood.

     Revive the flavor of the 1985 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.  The Biarritz convertible returned for 1985 with practically no changes.  There weren't many tweaks to the coupe, either. Sadly, this truly was the last year for the Eldorado convertible. Happily, it was also the last year for that diesel V8.

     Grip the grain in a 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham.  The four door, boat, made you feel like a king.

     In 1985, GM had given all of the full-sized B and C-body lines sheet metal to tidy up the styling and improve aerodynamics. The basic dashboard design was retained. The 85 edition two-door Fleetwood Brougham was based upon the Coupe de Ville but featured an exclusive formal landau vinyl roof.  In 1985, Cadillac also introduced a brand-new front-wheel drive platform. Cadillac put the De Ville, and introduced the Cadillac Fleetwood, on this platform. This car featured two "firsts".   It had the first transverse mounted V8 ever, the HT4100, and it was the first car to have a high mounted stop-lamp.  It was federally mandated for the 1986 model year.  The rear wheel drive 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham continued on nearly unchanged from the 1984 model. 1985 was the final model year for the Fleetwood Brougham coupe. In 1986 the HT-4100 V8 was replaced with an Oldsmobile sourced 307 cubic inch (5.0 L) V8.

     Get acquainted with the 1985 Cadillac Seville.  Players know how to choose. Get a Cadillac that isn't too outlandish.

     In 1985, only 39,755 Sevilles were made. The new model, one of the last vehicles designed by GM's Bill Mitchell, featured front-wheel drive and independent rear suspension. The Seville initiated features that would become more traditional in later years. "Memory seats", a feature not seen on a Cadillac since the Eldorado Broughams of the late 50s, became available, again. This option allowed two memorized positions to be recalled at the touch of a button. Luxury included a digital instrument cluster. Throw in the "Cadillac Trip Computer". For the '81-'85 Seville and Eldorado, it was considerably less expensive, at US $200 in '81, and did not contain the many features of Trip Computer, just a digital speedometer and fuel gauge. "Puncture-sealing" tires were also present for '85.  Seville offered heated outside rear-view mirrors with the rear defogger option. Inside, there was a "Symphony Sound" stereo cassette tape system available.  The new "Delco/Bose" stereo cassette system was offered at US $895. Initially, it resembled a standard Delco radio. The Sevilla edition featured a brushed gold-look front panel and bulbous lower interior door speaker assemblies. This was also the last year for the availability of an 8-track stereo system for Seville. On the outside, Seville was available with a "Full Cabriolet Roof" option, which gave Seville the look of a four-door convertible.

     Cadillac is a classic brand name. Since its founding in 1902, it has always personified luxury.  Caddy class, in the eyes of some, exudes lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, envy, and sloth.  Cadillac was the base of a playboy type of living.  It had labels of all kinds.   Drive one,  and pick a label.  Cadillac has inspired more impassioned songs about its charms than any other make or model. That’s a big deal, you have to love something to sing about it.

     Buy a new one.

(Picture 1: 1985 Cadillac Seville)

(Picture 2: 2016 ATS-V Coupe)

(Picture 3: 1985 Eldorado Cadillac)

(Picture 4:  1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham)

(Picture 5: 2016 ATSV.R)

(Picture 6: 2015 XT Sedan)

Nepal earthquake, 2015

     One of the latest headlines in the news covered the story of the ginormous earthquake in Nepal. 

     Nepal is popular for the the Himalaya Mountains, which offer long hiking trails.  Mountaineering travelers remember Nepal as home of highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest.

          "Western travelers are advised by their governments to exercise a high degree of caution due to the volatile political and security situation. Strikes and violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces occur frequently." ( http://www.worldatlas.com/)

     The kingdom of Nepal's capital city is Kathmandu, with a population of 1,006,656.  Nepal's total population is 30,430,267.

     This small, vacation destination suffers from earthquakes.

     An earthquake, quake, or tremor is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust.  The energy creates seismic waves. Seismic activity is defined as the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.

          "At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity." (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake)

     On a quiet saturday of April, 2015, a terrible earthquake took place as the latest result of an ongoing collision of giant pieces of our planet.  This slow-moving disaster started about 50 million years ago.

     We looked at the Tectonic summary.  The quake's magnitude was 7.8.  The location was 34 km ESE of Lamjung, Nepal. The M 7.8 Nepal earthquake occurred as the result of thrust faulting. The faulting took place around the the subducting India plate and the overriding Eurasia plate to the north. Simultaneously,  80 km to the northwest of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, the India plate was converging with Eurasia at a rate of 45 mm/yr towards the NNE, driving the uplift of the Himalayan mountain range.

          "The preliminary location, size and focal mechanism of the April 25 earthquake are consistent with its occurrence on the main subduction thrust interface between the India and Eurasia plates (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20002926#general_summary)."

     In Kathmandu, more than 4,600 people were dead. Over 9,000 were injured. Eight million were affected across Nepal. Over one million children were urgently in need of help.

     The Nepalese, Himalayan nation was ruined on Saturday.

     The results were flabbergasting:
-rescuers were everywhere
-the earth was sore
-the trekking association found 200 more unaccounted for
-that moment at 4:15 pm was everlasting
-aid was on hold in some hard to reach areas
-last respects were paid
-piles of wood were set to burn dead bodies
-as part of Hindu cremation ceremonies, heads were shaven to morn parentless children
-sons said goodbye to their mothers for the last time
-the unthinkable had taken place
-new homeless people were looking for places to sleep
-the military was setting up camps
-rain was coming
-everyone stuck outside had to deal with thunder storms
-a few were found that had survived being buried under rubble
(www.cnn.com)

     It was gruesome. The once quiet backpacking destination, home of the biggest mountain in the world,  had to have a rude awaking by mother nature.

RadioShack going glub-glub.

     Is Radioshack going under?

     Yes.

     Remember "The Shack".

     RadioShack was world renowned. It had been around for 90 years.  Your Great Grandparents most likely browsed there a few times.  The store was small,  and shackish.  Their stores went through product changes based on short wave radios, Sony walkmen, and android tablets.  In the process of product changes,  RS grew into "a multifaceted, multibillion-dollar electronics retailer with thousands of associates, and a vast retail network that included more than 4,000 company-operated stores in the United States and Mexico, and approximately 1,200 dealer and other outlets worldwide.(www.radioshack.com)"

     Radioshack was in love with the
high-performance "do-it-yourselfers."

     RadioShack traces back to The Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company.  It was a supplier of leather shoe parts to shoe repair shops.  HTLC was originally located in Fort Worth, Texas, in the year 1919. In 1921, RadioShack, was founded as a retail store and mail-order operation.  It was based in Boston.   The radio in the name spawned from the first store's criteria to serve the needs of radio officers aboard ships.

     "The Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company prospered, and in 1954, it sold its flagship leather business to expand its scope of operations. In 1959, the company shortened its name to Tandy Corporation, and in 1963, Tandy Corporation acquired RadioShack, marking the company's start as a personal electronics retailer.  In 2000, Tandy Corporation changed its name to RadioShack Corp., listing on the NYSE under ticker symbol RSH. (www.radioshack.com)"

     An enduring American brand was a nice way to describe the company.

     I used to like Radio Shack.  You did, too.

     Trace your way into the past and look at "Radio Shack Christmas (1989)" on YouTube, (https://youtu.be/UjXGbif4Ki4)

     Every cool toy,  for ten year olds to preteens, was R/C.  The huge popularity of 1/10 scaled off-roaders, in the mid-1980s, brought out the Tandy / Radio Shack store released finest R/C car to date – the Golden Arrow Buggy. The buggy platform was licensed and customized from other well known R/C companies.

     How many times have you run through Radio Shack over the years?  Wow...

     Now,  the company is going glub-glub.  It is going bankrupt. A long time ago,  the company began to take some self-inflicted  missteps that positioned its money-losing decline. Recently,  the New York Stock Exchange  suspended trading in its common shares and delisted the company, which had more than 4,000 stores across the country.

     Radio Shack rolled down a steep business decline beginning with their inability to keep up with the personal computer revolution. The cell phone kiosks in malls dawned more customers in one day than the RS store would see in a week. Next,  RS
failed to ramp up on e-commerce like other giant brand named Web sites. While Walmart,  Amazon, and Best Buy websites were seemingly boundless,  RadioShack's website didn't allow consumers to shop. It only had store locators and press releases that gave no option for customers to purchase anything.  The company never became cool. It stayed in the marketing confusion abyss of the "last stop store".  Jon Bois, a former RadioShack store employee, once documented about having to sell "unsellable crap." "Once, his store was required to stock Brum cars, which no one in America had ever heard of. That's because they are based on a British children's television series that only aired on Discovery Kids. It also tried selling a CueCat, which was an infrared scanner that read barcodes, but no one wanted it.(www.cbsnews.com)"  RS had a weird mix of inventory as a result of limited store space. The company also failed to find a niche like Fry's, which caters to the electronic home-maker.  RS failed.

     We were familiar with Radioshack.  It was around for 90 years.   It is sad that the company is bankrupt,  now.

Sleeplessness

     Is sleep to you like the friend that you haven't talked to in a long time? I blogged about this subject once before. 

(http://swegigonbup.blogspot.com/2013_08_01_archive.html?m=0)

     We all look at sleep in a different light.

     After 100+ hours of work in 1 week,  you might have blurted to yourself,  "You can sleep when you're dead."   One day, you could find yourself simply unable to sleep; in bed at 8 p.m. and wide awake at 1 a.m.

     Sleeplessness causes disoriented, and cranky moods.

     Advoiding sleep by taking supplements could result in insomnia.

     Symptoms of early stage insomnia:

-waking up in the middle of the night
-anxious when you should be sleepy
-unnecessary adrenaline flow
 
     Don't wear your work hours like old shoes. 

     According to professional sleep studies,  an adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep ( http://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need ).

    Sleep research findings, by Paul Kriegler, corporate dietitian for Lifetime Fitness:

1. Do not drink alcohol at home

Drinking shouldn't be a crutch to get to sleep. Drinks might knock you out, but you're not getting restful REM sleep.

2. Set a consistent bedtime.

3. No screens an hour before bedtime and no cell phone in the bedroom.

( http://www.lifetime-weightloss.com/blog/tag/paul-kriegler)

    bTry abiding by these rules for a couple of weeks.

     Sleeplessness female testimony:

     "I spend most of my days planted in front of a computer. If I'm not working, I'm surfing the Internet or watching a movie online.  My eyes and brain are constantly stimulated.  Unplugging an hour before bed allows me to have a conversation with my boyfriend without distractions. I read a few chapters in a good book or I knit a few more rows on my latest sock project.  It's been nice having this time for reflection and to quiet my mind right before bed.  Banishing the phone from the bedroom means if I roll over in the middle of the night, I simply wait for myself to fall back asleep instead of reaching for the phone and scrolling through Instagram.  I'm at the end of the third week and I have to tell you, I'm now sleeping through the night!  I feel energized and excited to start the day.  I've got energy for workouts and cooking.
I feel great. And I look forward to bedtime each night."

     Sleep is a wonderful thing. 7-9 hours of sleep will drastically improve your moods, and your overall health.

NFL Culmination 2015

     Every year, around this date, we get to enjoy the Super Bowl. When we get to enjoy the Super Bowl that means we get to enjoy the Super Bowl commercials. We always remember the most awesome commercials. This year Pepsi is poised to be the most dominant.

     In between watching the Patriots get blown away,  let's check out the half time show.

     Why?

     We have been told that Pepsi owner of the Pepsi company is spending a nasty amount of money on the budget for the Superbowl this year. It looks like we're going to, at least, see Katy Perry working wonders with her vocals.

     When it seems like we've seen all the ads and marketing that we can see, there's always something more to see. When was the last time you saw Lenny Kravitz in a commercial?

     As you well know, the Pepsi company isn't the only company willing to spend a few million on some commercials. Try to weave the kick in the head from commercials on February 1st. Even the non watching football persons will want to see some of these TV commercials.  Don't fall asleep for the halftime show.

     "The Man", at Frito Lay, Ram Krishnan, chief marketing officer, is ready to go toe to toe in the advertisement ring.

     One might wonder, why Pepsi, who cares? Well, Pepsi owns Gatorade. Enough said.

     Let's look at some statistics:
--spend $3.5 million-$4.5 million on a Super Bowl spot- earn customer loyalty throughout the rest of the year.
-- get everyone's attention- your product gets noticed by 185 million domestic fans for football.

     Maybe we have already discussed this before, but the huge amounts of money being shed for some advertisement is always interesting. We might see the Seattle Seahawks crush a few Pepsi cans while crushing the New England Patriots.

     We'll also see the culmination of the long-running “Crash the Super Bowl” competition in which it , "asks consumers to send in their entries for their videos to be made into the brand’s big game ad, for example. The competition received about 4,900 entries, and the finalists’ videos — which can be viewed on a dedicated website — have racked up more than 3.2 billion impressions"(https://crashthesuperbowl.doritos.com/finalists)

     PepsiCo has reportedly doled out a considerable amount:
--half time show- $4.5 million, not including some 30-second slots
--second-screen paid activity planned with Facebook and Twitter--undisclosed

     Lowden, Pepsi executive, says "PepsiCo’s massive marketing program drives traffic into stores. Retailers love this and offer up more shelf space and coveted end-of-aisle slots. PepsiCo sells more products. It’s a perfect circle.  It’s something that can only come out of its brand’s already-strong associations with the NFL — something many brand advertisers simply don’t and likely never will have so long as PepsiCo continues its relationship with the league".

     Lowden adds: “The NFL would say their best partner, without a doubt, is PepsiCo. We are three years into a 10-year deal. With that comes enormous trust and planning: We started planning Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco a year ago. We plan together and become part of the brand team.”

     Super Bowl plans:

Pepsi-  half-time show starring Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz, plus a lead-in commercial.

-Viewers can "shop" the half time show, buying the items that appear on screen via platforms like Twitter/ ShopTV.

-Twitter Amplify and Facebook activity to promote the second-screen experience throughout the show.

-Outdoor advertising all over the Phoenix area — mysterious "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

     Mountain Dew

     11 ads during the Super Bowl pre-game show to showcase two new “KICKSTART” flavors.

     -Tostidos- official chip and dip sponsor of the NFL is hosting a Super Bowl party experience from January 28 to February 1 in downtown Phoenix.

     Are you ready for some football?

HOMEOPATHIC WELLNESS

     Here we are in the midst of another teeth clatteringly, cold winter.

     Have you ever tried holistic medicine for your over-the-counter medication uses?

      “Holistic medicine is a form of healing that considers the whole person -- body, mind, spirit, and emotions -- in the quest for optimal health and wellness (http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/what-is-holistic-medicine).”

     As with any form of healthcare, there is more than one way for a patient to improve his health.  In particular, in holistic medicine, let us look at homeopathic medicine.

     Personally, holistic medicine seemed fraudulent.  We have all heard of the “Old Western movie Elixirs” that could heal all with one bottle, at one low price, only offered at that particular point in time. Okay.  Occasionally,   the usual medications won't work.  Not that long ago, there was a bad cough that wouldn't give me space to think.  My favorite medicines had ceased to work. The cough was still there. A simple cold/bronchial cough, too.  At that point, the homeopathic version (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FRWXG1Q/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/179-2041899-6295516) seemed worth a try. It worked. It also worked better than its counter part.

     Some opinions of holistic meds point out that, “…most (holistic medications) pale in comparison to modern medicine (http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/183655).”;  Others like to add to the holistic meds debate that it deserves respect.  “Forty-two percent of hospitals offered some form of alternative therapies to their patients, according to a 2010 survey of 5,800 facilities (http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/18/health/alternative-medicine-offit/index.html).”

     Here is a short history of homeopathic medicine.

     It was brought into being in the early 19th century by a German physician, Dr. Samuel Christian Hahnemann (1775-1843).

     Homeopathic medicine has three principles: 

                    Law of similars- a disease can be cured by a medicine that creates symptoms similar to those the patient is experiencing.

                    Single remedy principle- a single medication will cover all the symptoms the patient is experiencing: mental, emotional and physical.

                    Minimum dose principle-  homeopathic physician prescribes small number of doses in order to see what effect the medicine has, and then the medicine is prescribed in an infinitesimal dose.

     Orthodox medicine is well established.  It is not complete,  though.  There are tremendous amounts of undefined diseases,  uncureable conditions,  and other researched subjects.  One could argue that homeopathic medicine has begun to take up some of that slack. Homeopathic medication isn't meant to be a replacement, it should be viewed as an added pathway to wellness.

     As we endure this antagonistic winter, stay warm,  and remain healthy.  If you haven't, yet,  try holistic/homeopathic medicine for your over-the-counter medication uses.

DNA testing for Money

     There aren’t many ways to get free money.  You could donate bodily fluids, or gamble.  Taking a survey could earn you some money.  There are other ways, possibly. 

     Can you think of some The ways to earn free money? Have you heard about the recent scandal between Amazon.com and Walmart?  Walmart, the giant, has been committed to providing low prices.  Not once a year, but every day. How low can Walmart roll?  The scandal between Amazon.com and Walmart is based on the fact that if you can find a lower advertised price on an identical product, tell the cashier and they will match that price at the register.

     The Lottery couldn’t be considered free money.  You have to spend a little money in order to win. 

     Could gambling be considered free money?   Let’s look at the gambling aspect of earning free money.  Here is in one casino in particular:  (http://www.chukchansigold.com/AboutUs/), the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino.

    There are some people trying to claim they are part is the Chukchansi tribe.  This isn’t about the free money!  This is about being an official part of the tribe.  If you can prove that you are Chukchansi you will be entitled to become an official shareholder of the casino.  The prerequisite to becoming part of the resort is to pass a test.  You have to pass a DNA test.  The casino business wouldn’t be harmed.  Business is booming.  The casino is tribal, though.  Old wounds have been swabbed.  It is American Indians that built that casino on their land. They aren’t pawns in a chess game.  There are many claims from random people that are hoping to be granted membership of the Chukchansi.  They hope the membership will result in a share of the casino's profits. 

     Would you volunteer to take a DNA test that might possibly amount to several thousand dollars per person each year?

      'Since we started a casino a few years ago, all of a sudden we had Chukchansis coming out of the woodwork', Reggie Lewis, chairman of the Chukchansi tribe said. 'We thought DNA would be a way to make sure that we only get people who are qualified to be in the tribe in the tribe' (http://www.standupca.org/tribes/Picayune%20Rancheria/native-american-tribe-uses-dna-to-settle-casino-dispute)

     The DNA test is the key.  Have you heard of PCR?  The Polymerase Chain Reaction- biomedical technology; DNA amplification; used to amplify copied DNA across several orders of magnitude; DNA sequences are amplified into millions of copies.  

http://www.lifetechnologies.com/us/en/home/life-science/pcr/elevate-pcr-research/pcr-video-library/pcr-animation.html

     With the test, the doctor will require a cheek swab, perhaps.  Each individual has the genetic material, contained in a nucleotide sequence, which codes them to their species.  The Chukchansi tribe has sequenced their tribal DNA, thus they are able to recognize family members. Therefore, from that sample containing DNA or RNA, PCR is the method used to amplify (boost) those unique sequences.  The technicians use those amplified strands, and determine with a very high probability the identity of the source.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028173.900-tribal-wars-dna-testing-divides-american-indians.html

 

http://www.bionews.org.uk/page_97701.asp

     If you would simply finish your research, you will find that there aren’t many ways to get free money. Maybe you can find another way.