Bockman's Auto Care - February 2021

Bockman's Auto Care - February 2021

What’s The BUZZ? Why We FEB 2021

Love Disney

February is a month to celebrate love, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention

we thought Liz had food poisoning from a seafood restaurant at one of the resorts. We explained what happened and what we suspected was the cause, and the staff went beyond sending well wishes. A doctor was sent to our room, and they checked on Liz the next day. (Turns out, it wasn’t food poisoning, we now know she’s allergic to shellfish!) I will never forget the way the staff went out of their way to care for my wife and to ensure any mistake they may have made was compensated by their team. That’s a philosophy I believe in, too. In fact, we have actively worked to incorporate some of Disney’s practices into our shops. I want our shops to be welcoming and fun. Check out the newsletter insert to see what kind of fun we’re having this month! I think we’ve been able to accomplish this feat. I always say no one can leave our Sycamore location without a smile on their face — even if they have a large bill! I don’t love Disney because of all the fun attractions. Those are nice, and I do really enjoy them. But what I love most about Disney is that it truly is a magical place. It’s a place where many of my family’s greatest memories were created. It’s a place where I know we will be taken care of and a place where we will always have a good time.

those who I love the most. Of course, I love my wife Liz, our two sons, Austin and Owen, and the life we’ve built together. I appreciate each and every one of my technicians and staff, along with the loyal clients who make the work we do each day possible. And last, but certainly not least, I have to mention Disney. It might sound strange to call out Disney, but it has given my family and me some of our greatest memories. And I love it for that! My wife and I first discovered how great Disney theme parks were shortly after our honeymoon years ago. We later joined the Disney Vacation Club, and we’ve been able to take a Disney vacation every year! We’ve been to Disney World and Disneyland, of course, but we’ve also visited their resorts in Hilton Head, South Carolina; Vero Beach, Florida; and Aulani in Hawaii a few times. I always enjoy looking back at the character photos we’ve taken over the years. The characters rarely changed, but our boys got taller and older with every photo. It’s

a bittersweet feeling to look back on those photos and remember the moments they captured. I’ll never forget when the boys were really little, and we called Disney to explain that their birthdays were coming up and that we were celebrating at the park. Disney sent us birthday pins, and since Austin and Owen couldn’t read at that time, they didn’t know what the pins said. It made that adventure even more fun when the Disney characters and employees would wish our sons happy birthday, and in their little kids’ minds, it was just pure magic that other people knew! We have countless stories similar to that, where Disney employees went beyond what we expected them to do. For example, there was the time

Celebrate Some Bockman’s Auto Care Legacies! What do Babe Ruth, Arron Burr, Zsa Zsa Gábor, and Jon Bockman have in common? They were all born on Feb. 6! This month, we celebrate our owner’s birthday, but it’s also a very special month for our founder, Charlie Bockman, who will celebrate his birthday on Feb. 9 and his 61st wedding anniversary with his wife (Carole) on Feb. 21. Congratulations, love birds, and happy birthday to the Bockman men!

And for that reason, my family will always love Disney.

— Jon Bockman

P.S. If your family wants to have their own Disney

adventure when it’s safe to travel again, I recommend planning the trip with the help of TheDisInsider.com. It’s a great spot for park and attraction news!

Sycamore 815.756.7413 • DeKalb 815.754.4200

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Love Boosts Your Immune System and Lifespan

Tire Troubl Let’s face it: The best invention before sliced bread was the tire. At Bockman’s, we know a lot about tires, but the average consumer doesn’t know quite as much. So, consider this your go-to lesson on some of the basics of tire care: tire rotation and tire replacement. Tire Rotation Rotating your tires can increase the longevity of a tire’s life and protect your vehicle. Tire rotation should happen on a regular basis, but this will depend on the type of vehicle you drive. For example, if you drive a front-wheel drive vehicle, your front tires will take on the brunt of the force as you drive. They will need to be rotated to the back of your vehicle to limit wear and tear and vice versa for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. Rotate your tires every time you get an oil change or every 3,000–5,000 miles. This can also be done with the change of the seasons. As the weather cools for fall and as it warms up for spring, rotate your tires for better performance.

It doesn’t take a scientist to tell us that a healthy, loving relationship can lessen our stress. But did you know it also boosts our immune system’s response and could help us live longer? Multiple studies have shown that couples in happy, loving marriages tend to have lower blood pressure. Marriage itself isn’t the key to a healthier life — the love is, researchers find. How do researchers define a loving relationship? To put it simply, it depends on the couples’ own opinion. Married couples with a high quality (aka loving) relationship showed significantly lower ambulatory systolic blood pressure than singles. However, happily married couples and singles had lower blood pressure than people in low quality marriages. Which means, at least in terms of your health, it’s much better to be single than unhappily married.

How does it help your blood pressure exactly? Well, when positive events occur, the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin interact with your dopamine reward system. Vasopressin in particular helps control blood pressure. Of course, getting into a new relationship can be a little stressful! Cortisol, the stress hormone, initially rises when you fall in love. However, it quickly drops in a long-term, stable relationship. Those low cortisol levels sustained for a long period of time contribute to many health benefits. But how does it improve your immune system? That’s a bit of a mystery to researchers. So far, women in love have shown changes in their gene regulation of immune cells compared to women not in love. Some theorize that this is in order to prepare for pregnancy. Unfortunately, we still don’t have conclusive research on whether men in love better fight flu and other viruses, too. High blood pressure is known as the “silent killer” since it has no symptoms, but it will steadily degrade your health over time, significantly increasing your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease. And while love is certainly not the only way to lower blood pressure, it’s comforting to know our loved ones can boost our health for a longer, happier life. Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s in Why Valentine’s

This may be the first year in a long time that kids don’t pass out Valentine’s Day cards at school. Going

into the new year, the seasonal sections of most stores are lined with cards featuring fun characters from superheroes to unicorns. Handing out cards is now a well-loved tradition, but have you ever wondered how Valentine’s Day became one of the biggest card-giving holidays of the year? Like many holiday traditions, the convention of handing out Valentine’s Day cards goes back centuries. During the 1700s, it became fashionable to trade Valentine’s Day cards with a short poem or verse. The popularity of swapping cards only increased throughout the 1800s. Sometimes, people would go so far as to paint or draw spring-like images on the cards. They were much more elaborate than what we typically see today, though they were still usually very small.

But where did those folks get the idea? People of that era were likely inspired by stories that go back even further. There are legends that the originator of this

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Sycamore 815.756.7413 • DeKalb 815.754.4200

Brain Break!

les

Should I Rotate or Replace My Tires?

Tire Replacement

A tire’s design, material composition, and usage are just as pertinent to how often tires are used, what terrain they drive over, and what vehicle they are attached to when it comes to wear and tear. Simply put: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for when you should replace your tires. However, there are simple rules you can abide by. Always consider when your tires were manufactured. You can find this along the inner edge of your tire. The last four digits of your

Easy way out

tire’s code will tell you the week the tire was made and what year. (For example, 1219 means the tire was made in the 12th week of 2019.) After your tire’s fifth birthday, it should then be inspected on a yearly basis by a vehicle technician. Consider changing your tires after 10 years, depending on wear and usage, and perform your own regular inspections. Look for irregularities, including uneven or shallow tread.

ReciBEE of the Month

Still not sure if you should rotate or change? We can help! Schedule an appointment at Bockman’s Auto Care, and we’ll make sure you put your best tire forward.

Strawberry Kissed Almond Butter Muffins

n the Cards Day Is the Ultimate Card Holiday holiday tradition was Saint Valentine himself. One story says that on the night before he was set to be executed, Valentine wrote a small letter to a jailer’s daughter. He ended the note with “Your Valentine.” It’s unknown whether that story is true, but to 18th century Europeans and Americans, it was inspiring! So inspiring, in fact, that the entire Valentine’s Day industry began to gain traction. A guidebook called “The Young Man’s Valentine” was published in 1797 to help suitors garner the attention of their love interests through the written word. Eventually, books aimed at women were also published, including “The Lady’s Own Valentine Writer,” which served much the same goal. These publications, along with young people writing notes to one another every February, have made Valentine’s Day cards an ingrained tradition, and now people can’t get enough of them!

Inspired by AmbitiousKitchen.com

Ingredients

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1 cup ripe bananas, mashed 3/4 cup natural creamy almond butter (can substitute creamy peanut butter)

• • • • •

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup oat flour

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1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup strawberry fruit spread, divided (we recommend Bonne Maman INTENSE)

• •

2 large eggs

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or honey)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners and spray with nonstick cooking spray. 3. In a large bowl, mix bananas, almond butter, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. 4. Stir in oat flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth. 5. Evenly divide batter into liners. Add 1 tsp strawberry fruit spread to the top of each muffin. 6. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the spread into the batter. 7. Bake for 22–27 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. 8. Transfer muffins to wire rack to cool and enjoy!

Sycamore 815.756.7413 • DeKalb 815.754.4200

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Bockman’s Auto Care 2158 Oakland Dr. Sycamore, IL 60178 815.756.7413 Bockman’s Truck & Fleet 815.754.4200

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Why My Family Loves Disney

High Quality Relationships Lower Blood Pressure

Your Go-To Guide for Tire Problems What’s the Deal With Valentine’s Day Cards? Strawberry Kissed Almond Butter Muffins

2 Customer Care Program Perks Others Will Love Just as Much as You!

Spread the Love With Our Customer Care Program!

Our Customer Care Program is just our way of saying we love each and every one of you! Our perks provide our loyal customers with a little love, and this Valentine’s Day, we wanted to show you a few of the ways you can spread that love through this very same Customer Care Program. It’s just a matter of heart! Referral Programs We know you wouldn’t recommend us to those you love if we didn’t offer great service, so if we have helped your family or performed exemplary service on your vehicle, we would love to have you refer our services to friends and family. Plus, your loved ones trust the businesses you suggest to them. It’s a show of love to recommend your favorite business to someone else.

When you’re a member of the Customer Care Program, you can turn those referrals into some love for yourself, too! Simply refer us to others, give them a referral card, and when they present it to us at checkout, we make sure you get extra rewards dollars! You can use these toward services at the shop or give them to others with our next perk. Charitable Giving You can use your rewards dollars — yes, those same ones you may get from referrals or can earn through regular services at Bockman’s Auto Care — to donate to local and national charities. Simply ask us to donate the dollars to the charity of your choice, and we will make sure they receive your donation. Donating your rewards dollars is a simple, effective way to benefit the organizations that matter

most to you without dinging your bank account or going through the trouble of doing the work. We help you change lives and make it look so easy. Our customers have big hearts! That’s why we catered our program to include these feel-good offers. If you’re interested in signing up for the program or using these perks, visit BockmansAutoCare.com/Customer- Care-Program or call our shop today! Thank you for your continued support.

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Sycamore 815.756.7413 • DeKalb 815.754.4200

Celebrate Chinese New Year WITh BOckmans'

Receive 7%, 10%, or 15% Off Your Repairs!

We love celebrating our clients and big holidays, like the Chinese New Year! As we welcome the Year of the Ox in February, our team at Bockman’s is offering our clients a deal you don’t want to miss! Here’s how our Chinese New Year Special works ...

1. You bring your vehicle in for same-day repairs or service.* Whether it’s an oil change, brake repair, or alignment, we’ll take care of you! 2. When it’s time to pay your bill, ask for your fortune cookie. 3. Crack open the cookie to reveal how much we will cut off your bill THAT DAY. You could save up to $200.00 total! Don’t wait! The celebration ends on Feb. 28!

“I took my vehicle in for some major repairs. It was

inspected and diagnosed, and I was given an exact price (not an estimate) for the repairs that same day. The repairs were completed in the number of days I was told. Great quality work done. My vehicle with 170,000 miles is running like new. As usual, EXCELLENT customer service. Bockman’s updated me with emails and phone calls. (I did not have to call them.) I highly recommend [them].”

Call us today to schedule your car’s service and potentially save hundreds on your bill. It’s just our way of saying thank you for trusting us with your car repair needs! Our Chinese New Year promotions have saved Bockman’s Auto Care clients hundreds of dollars. How much has another auto repair shop saved you? Learn more about our promotion by calling Bockman’s Auto Care at 815-756-7413 or Bockman’s Truck & Fleet at 815-754-4200. You can also visit us online at Bockmans.com. *Our Chinese New Year Special does not include tires.

–Z.S.