Dinner was great as you and your wife gazed into each other’s eyes across a candlelit table while the blowing snow whirled and howled outside creating a spinning backdrop of white on black in the window. Now, as they lock the door behind you, it’s time to go home. At the car, you open and hold the door for her while you wonder how you were ever so fortunate. Then, you slide behind the wheel feeling

“Sure, I have them change the oil filter every time I have an oil change.”Well, that’s a good idea, but that’s not the filter I was asking about. Actually, I was talking about …“You were talking about the air filter. Absolutely: I change that probably about once a year.”That’s also a good idea but …“OK, OK, you’re trying to trick me here but it won’t work. You’re talking

The auto repair shop at Performance Unlimited in Ringwood is usually full of cars, SUVs and pickup trucks as they receive the skilled attention of the auto repair technicians who make Performance Unlimited one of the premier auto repair shops in the region. Wednesday morning, Sept. 26, however, in the center of the shop were tables, chairs, breakfast and coffee. By 7:30 a.m., the chairs were full

This time each year, we welcome the return of that seasonal panorama of multi-hued reds, yellows, oranges, browns and greens as the leaves begin to change color. First on the trees, then descending to the ground, it’s a visual gift that softens the blow of an impending winter to follow.While it’s hard to compete with the natural aesthetic value of the changing autumn leaves, a mat of wet leaves

I remember when I was young. Our family car was a station wagon. As far as my brother, sister and I were concerned, that was just great. We were free to roam throughout the back of the car at our leisure.  We’d climb over the seat and back again playing games of tag and who knows what else. No seatbelts – nothing.Today, that’s not allowed. By law, all children in Illinois must be securely

Drivers with tachometers in their cars know that, give or take a little, their car’s engines spend a lot of their time running at about 2,000 rpm. That’s 2,000 revolutions per minute. That’s a lot of revolutions.To better understand that number, let’s break it down to revolutions per second. That works out to more than 33 revolutions per second. Count one-one-thousand and, by the time the

Technology is a wonderful thing or, at least, it can be wonderful. The key to technology is to use it the right way – to use it safely.The microwave is quite a convenience when we want to heat a meal quickly. We all know, however, that it tends to backfire if we try to cook that meal in a metal pan. The same principle holds true with cellular phones.Auto manufacturers have spent untold hours and

Mike is mechanically inclined. He’s worked in the trades for years. You could say he has turned a wrench or two in his time. So, when his car began acting up while he was on vacation in the rolling hills and mountains out West last week, Mike was fairly confident he had correctly identified the root of the problem.Considering all the steep inclines he and his wife had traveled on their trip, Mike

At long last, the rain has come to the Midwest again. While it may be too late for the corn crop, most, if not all, of us in these parts welcome the rain with open arms. It’s been a long, hot, dry summer.With the return of the rain, it’s also time to adjust our driving a bit. It’s not just that the rain offers less friction on the pavement for braking and control, it’s also the oil that rises

How often do you conduct a safety walk around on your vehicle? You may recall that, when you studied The Rules of the Road in preparation for that first driver’s license exam, in days gone by, you were told to check your lights and turn signals every time you went for a drive. Today, the booklet merely states that each car must have this equipment and that it must work properly. Let’s see a show