Thursday, October 25, 2012

Fall vehicle maintenance... and zombies at Ricart Mazda

You’re taking a pleasant walk with your dog through the woods at a park. It’s twilight, and the shadows among the trees are starting to take on other-worldly appearances. You aren’t worried though, having walked the trails of this park many times.


As the light fades more noticeably and you start to head back to your car, your dog begins to whine as if sensing something in the surrounding trees and bushes, but you hear or see nothing out of the ordinary, and coax the canine to follow you. After a few more steps, the dog becomes dead weight on the leash as he stops, facing back up the trail with a low rumbling growl. You turn to see what has gotten into the dog, and notice a figure lumbering through the trees. Then you see another figure, then a couple of more. Something must be wrong with those people because they all seem to be stumbling through the growing darkness. It’s time to get back to your car!

You pull the leash hard, and with it the dog, as you begin to walk with greater purpose toward the parking lot. Suddenly the dog passes you, whining loudly, as he begins pulling you hard down the path to where your car is parked. The reassuring sounds of nightfall, the crickets and the fading calls of song birds, are quickly overwhelmed by the growing din of a large group of people now crashing through the underbrush and trees. You move faster and faster, the dog pulling you ahead harder and harder. You look over your shoulder and see many of the dark figures following you now, and notice they don’t seem to move quite right, but you are too scared now to try and figure out why.

With your car just ahead, you are running full speed, the dog still racing ahead of you jerking the leash and your arm hard. When you reach the car, you yank open the door, the dog leaps across the driver’s seat to sit shotgun, you hurl yourself into the car, jam the key into the ignition as you see the first zombies spilling from the woods onto the parking lot and heading toward you! You turn the key in the ignition, and… you guessed it… the car does not start!

Maybe it’s the battery, maybe the starter. Who knows? Had you taken the time to get your vehicle serviced regularly by the Factory trained and certified technicians at Ricart, you would be half way home now, and not a snack for the zombie horde.

Sure, zombies are not real, but rain, ice, and snow storms are. So are dark nights in a lonely parking lot. So to avoid having a bad vehicle experience under any conditions, make sure to follow the vehicle maintenance schedule in your owner’s manual, and call Ricart Service at 614-836-6300 to set up your next appointment.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Before there was a ricart.com...

There is an overwhelming chance you have researched a new vehicle on-line. That’s because more than 8 in 10 folks now go to at least one web-site to do some research when they start thinking about a new vehicle. When they get to that web-site, they see full color pictures of cars, trucks, SUV’s and CUV’s, and lots of them! There are videos, and live chat, and payment generators for both leases and purchases on the site, along with links to articles about the vehicles, and social sites so you can see what other people are saying about the car you want and the store you want to go to (umm, that better be Ricart!).


Color, sound, video, chat, and oodles of information are what you find on our website today, and that’s are far cry from the first website, which went live 21 years ago this month!

Wow. That’s pretty boring. And does anyone still refer to the ‘net as W3?

Actually, when you think about it, when Tim Berners-Lee published the first web-page from his lab in the Swiss Alps, it was a pretty major event. Of course, back when Tim was working for the European Organization for Nuclear Research his site was designed to be used by fellow researchers. That was the World Wide Web long before you started checking your Facebook status, or even received your first email… and forget about that smart phone you have, or live streaming video, instant messaging, or any of the other stuff you now accept as part of your life!


So the next time you hop on ricart.com to look at that new car, or make a service appointment, or check Facebook or Twitter to see what community event Ricky Ricart will be hanging at this weekend, remember it always didn’t use to be that way. Life was hard back in the day, wasn’t it?

Thursday, May 10, 2012

There's a free show coming just before sunset on May 20th, 2012. Hey! That's a Sunday! Great! Let's hope for nice weather!


No, it's not a live performance of "Dark Side of the Moon", but it's really cool, and your Ricart Mazda Family didn't want you to miss out the chance to enjoy something you just can't see every day... a partial solar eclipse. If you want to see the total eclipse, grab the family or some friends, fill up your Mazda, and Zoom west a few states.

To see the partial eclipse, find a good place to look westward with as few ground objects between you and the western horizon as possible. Plan on arriving at your spot by 8 p.m. or so on the evening of the 20th, weather permitting. The event should begin a bit after 8:00, and you should begin to see the Moon's shadow blocking a bit of the Sun's disc. The Moon should cover as much of the Sun it's going to by about 8:40, or about the time the Sun will set completely.

Remember to never look directly into the sun! That would not be good because it can damage your eyes. So if you are gonna view the eclipse, check out how NASA suggests you do it. Make sure any children with you follow the viewing guidelines, or stay at home and watch it from Mt. Fujiyama in Japan at go-green.ae.

If you want to find out even more, you can check out Annular Solar Eclipse May 20. 2012 on Facebook. While you are on Facebook, just go ahead and like Ricart Automotive too. You know you want to!

So pack some snacks, and maybe a blanket for the ground... put together a good tunes list on your player or phone, hop in your Mazda, and head to that spot you have picked out. It'll be a great way to end the weekend, so have fun! If we don't see you out there, we'll see you the next time you visit the Ricart Megamall.

 
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