Advance Auto Zone

If you are in the auto after market business then you will not want to miss the SEMA show, which is the world fifteenth largest show. What an incredible week we had at the SEMA show which beat all previous records. This years show had 88,000 pre-registrations before October 15 on the Internet as well as 90,000 during the show. There was an estimated 250,000 daily visitors from almost every country in the world, 4 countries on the planet did not have any guests. The show of course was great for my company, Detail Guys. as well as the 1400 exhibitors. This years show included passes to AAPEX which had over 500 exhibitors. Who did not attend? Well anyone who is not really in the running, we guess?

The SEMA Show is now ranked 15th in the World for size and that includes every Industry and even the World Fair and Oshkosh annual flyin. It is larger than Comdex now by another third the size and is the second largest show in all of Las Vegas as of 2002 and appears it will possibly break the record in attendance, however there are two more large shows coming still this year in Las Vegas, which might come close.

Every year my company sets up and attends trade shows to keep our team updated on new technologies, service issues, vendors, new products and industry contacts. It is not easy to go to all these shows and know the automotive aftermarket industry so well. It is a lot of hard work. We believe it is vital for anyone in the industry to stay informed and not be left in the dust. We are the dust makers, not the dust eaters.

For those of you who may not be familiar with SEMA or AAPEX; SEMA stands for; Specialty Equipment Market Association and you can check out their web site at; sema.org/ . Why is this important to those of us in the auto aftermarket biz? These are all the people who make everything that is attached to the modern and antique automobile. If it was made for a car, it was at the show. If it is a service for a car, it was at the show. If it was product for a car or the industry it was at the show. The only thing not at the show was, people and companies who are posers.

AAPEX stands for; Automotive Aftermarket Products EXPO. For more information check out; aapexshow.com . Between these shows everyone who was anyone as well as nearly all of our vendors were also there on display.

We discussed our purchases and group buying economies of scale with Mother’s Waxes, Auto Magic, Turtle Wax, Simonize, Pro, Eagle 1, Beauty Shine, Maguire’s, Production and at least 20 other brands which are new to the market. We also discussed our product purchases for equipment with at least as many companies. Was there anything new? Yes about 15 things we had never seen or heard of before from companies that no one really ever heard of. We are able to help our team to the best prices and services through these relationships with our vendors to make us number one and to beat the competition. Boy are we tired after standing on our feet for nearly a week straight. But all in all there is no place we would have rather been. I guess we will see you there next year along with some 1,000,000 other folks filling up all the hotels in Vegas.

“Lance Winslow” - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

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The all-new 2007 Jeep patriot is redesigned with enhanced safety features. And according to Matt Liddane, Chief Engineer – Jeep Patriot, “Our engineers have included the latest off-road technology to ensure Jeep Patriot is as solid off-road as it is on-road. Our Jeep Patriot customers can have the confidence of driving a safe and secure vehicle in whatever driving conditions they may encounter.”

The 2007 Jeep Patriot is equipped with a very long list of safety and security features and here they are:

* Advanced Multi-stage Air Bags (standard)
* All-speed Traction Control (standard)
* Anti-lock Brake System with Brake Traction Control (standard)
* Auto-reverse Sun Roof (available)
* BeltAlert (standard)
* Brake Assist (standard)
* Brake/Park Interlock (standard with automatic transaxle)
* Child-protection Rear Door Locks (standard)
* Child Seat Anchor System [Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH)] (standard)
* Constant Force Retractors (CFR) (standard)
* Cross Car Impact Beam: Manages energy in a side-impact collision (standard)
* Crumple Zones (standard)
* Dual-phase Steel Rails and Tunnel Reinforcements (standard)
* Electronic Roll Mitigation (ERM) (standard)
* Electronic Stability Program (standard)
* Energy-absorbing Steering Column (standard)
* Enhanced Accident Response System (EARS) (standard)
* Head Restraints (standard)
* Height-adjustable Seat Belts (standard)
* HomeLink Universal Home Security System Transceiver (available)
* Interior Head-impact Protection (standard)
* Knee Bolsters (standard)
* Remote Keyless Entry with Illuminated Entry (available)
* Removable/Rechargeable Light-emitting Diode (LED) (available)
* Structural Safety Cage (standard)
* Seat-belt Pretensioners (standard)
* Sentry Key(R) Engine Immobilizer (standard)
* Side Guard Door Beams in Front and Rear Doors (standard)
* Side Occupant Protection (standard)
* Supplemental Seat-mounted Side Air (available - late availability)
* Supplemental Side-curtain Air Bags (standard)
* Three-point lap Shoulder Seat Belts (standard)
* Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPM) (available)
* UConnect(TM) Hands-free Communication (available)

Aside from the safety features listed the all-new 2007 Jeep Patriot is also equipped with standard features that includes side-curtain air bags, optional front seat mounted supplemental side air bags, standard driver and passenger front air bags, Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Brake Traction Control, Brake Assist, Electronic Roll Mitigation, Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) complete with rough road detection and Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

And just when you are about to think that is all there is, the 2007 Jeep Patriot surprises you with additional safety features such as Freedom Drive II Off-road Package which includes Brake Traction Control, Hill-descent Control and off-road ABS which magnifies the Patriot’s off-road safety and capability. And of course in keeping with the Chrysler’s long commitment to quality the all-new 2007 Jeep Patriot is equipped with the best auto parts there is like for instance Jeep AC condenser which is renowned for quality and durability.

Lisa Ziegler is a 29-year old native of Waldport, Oregon and is currently working as a senior research analyst in a top Automotive Research Consultancy firm and has an great expertise in jpartsonline.com/”title=”Jeep AC condenser Jeep AC condenser.

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While for most, full-time Rving is the result of a hunger for a, from the ground up, change in their
lives, in this life we still have to keep in touch!

We may want a different road to follow into our future, but the road we’ve travelled to get to the
place we are now shouldn’t be left behind and forgotten. It’s the one that made us who we are!

It’s my claim that good communication is absolutely required to build a sustainable life RV
Boondocking, full-time. Don’t drive off and leave your life behind. Take it with you! Go ahead and
drive off, but build on that life!

So how do you keep those RV Boondocking communication lines open when you’re wandering
around hundreds of miles from “home”?

Ensure that family and friends can easily get in touch with you. Treasure, maintain and pursue
that communication.

In this age of evermore computers, it’s an awfully simple thing to create a blog or even a full website
to allow your family and friends to follow your RVing travels. There are so many ways to stay “connected” via the internet that I’m sure one exists for every Full-time RVers budget.

From programs that allow you to hook up directly through your cell phone, to Wi-Fi at libraries,
RV Parks and other businesses to cellular “air cards” for your laptop, there are a host of options.

The pinnacle, for the RV Boondocker has got to be Satellite Internet. With these you need not be within
the range of service for a cellular system. The only requirement is a clear view of the southern sky!

These systems, being the state of the art for mobile internet communication, aren’t cheap. The most
economical are manually erected and aimed, tripod mounted systems starting in the vicinity of $1,700.

The premier for Satellite Internet are the roof mounted, automatic systems which cost in the vicinity of
$5,500 installed.

It’s another situation where in large part, you get what you pay for. The more you pay, the faster, more capable and convenient the service.

Along with the internet communication, there is the now “who doesn’t have one”, cell phone. Of course they work unreliably in remote country but you can always run down the road a ways searching for service!

Something to keep in mind, if you use a cell a lot, make sure you are lined up with some sort of a National program. Otherwise the roaming and long distance charges are going to consume your budget in a rushing
hurry!

In support of all the electronic means of communication there is a need to deal with the old fashioned “snail mail”! This is actually easy to accomplish by one of a couple alternatives.

You can utilize the co-operation of a trusted family member or friend. I can see this being a sore spot for some folks, so those people may want to contract the services of a niche industry created for just this problem.

Both the Good Sam Club and the Escapees, RV Club have programs for mail forwarding designed for the
Full-Time RVer. In addition to these clubs, many of the package and shipping service stores have mail forwarding programs. Check them out and I’m sure you’ll find the one that fits your needs.

The bottom line is, if you invest a little time and legwork, and do some comparisons, you can easily find the combination of communicatons systems that will be the perfect fit for your RV Boondocking life and budget!

Plan out the solutions for your RV Boondocking communication needs in advance and you eliminate any worry about taking care of business and can focus on the task at hand, enjoying your RV travels!

Brian is the “editor” of Goin’ RV Boondocking, a website dedicated to the full-time, dry camping lifestyle.
After a couple decades of RVing he has learned a few things the hard way!

rv-boondocking-the-good-life.com rv-boondocking-the-good-life.com

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