A vehicle can fail a smog inspection for a variety of reasons, so it’s important to be prepared prior to your appointment. Here are five common issues to address:

1. Warm up your vehicle. Since a smog inspection requires a vehicle’s catalytic converter to be hot, a cool engine can result in an unwarranted test failure. That’s why it’s a good idea to drive your vehicle for at least 20 minutes before bringing it to a smog check facility. If you know your wait time will be more than 30 minutes, keep your engine running to make sure it stays warm. Read more

It’s easy to tune out news about automobile recalls—most aren’t serious, and they usually don’t apply to a vehicle you own. However, my ears perked up when my 2003 Toyota was among millions of cars being recalled. Vehicles of many different makes (Honda, BMW, Subaru, Mazda, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan) have Japanese-made airbags that could explode upon impact and injure drivers and passengers with flying shrapnel. That’s pretty scary. I called my local Toyota dealership right away to schedule the “fix” specified in the recall. The free repair was completed with minimal hassle earlier this year. Read more

You spent countless Sundays at open houses. You signed 50+ legal documents. You wrote a check for a single, heart-stopping, six-digit figure. And now, drumroll please…you’re the lucky owner of your very first house! Congratulations! Now it’s time to get to work. Here’s a checklist of all the things you should do when moving into a new house. Read more

If you’re like most people, you think of your home as your sanctuary—a refuge from the uncertainties of the outside world. However, you may not realize just how many dangers can be present within its very walls. Hazardous substances like mold, lead and asbestos are present in many United States homes, often without the homeowners’ awareness. Since the only way to identify these threats is with professional inspection, you should consider having the following tests performed in your home:

1. Mold testing
When mold develops inside a home, it’s typically due to an excess of moisture, whether from a slow leak, poor ventilation or as a secondary effect of catastrophic water damage. Read more

More than 120 years since its inception, chiropractic treatment has finally come into its own as a health care alternative, having gained widespread acceptance by professionals and patients alike. According to Dr. Jag Dhesi, owner of Springtown Wellness Center in Livermore, more people than ever are turning to chiropractic treatment because they’re attracted by its attestable results and natural, non-invasive character. “There are few instances in health care where a patient comes into an appointment wincing with pain and walks out pain-free—especially without any kind of injection, pill or surgical procedure,” he says. “However, with chiropractic, that’s often the case.” Read more

A lifelong animal lover, David Weiss has been serving Sonoma County residents and their pets at Four Paws Pet Ranch in Santa Rosa since 2009. We asked David some common questions about pet boarding in order to gain a better understanding of the field.

Q: Why should I bring my dog to a boarding facility when I can just leave it at home?
A: To put it in a nutshell, leaving your dog at a boarding facility will keep it active and engaged. Not everyone realizes that most dogs are pack animals by nature, which means they’re social. When you leave your dog home alone, he’ll generally spend the whole day lying there, Read more

When working with a service company, sometimes a dispute arises from an unmet expectation or a simple misunderstanding. Many disagreements are resolved after the parties work with each other using the contract for guidance. Sometimes people find it difficult to resolve a dispute on their own. The Diamond Certified Resource is here to help. Our mediation department helps people craft their own agreements. Diamond Certified dispute resolution is always free and we back it up per the terms of our Performance Guarantee. Read more