On Cell Auto

Whether you're on the road and around town all day like me or you travel cross country, if you have a medical condition you might want to consider what I've done. Over the last 3 years I've had 3 auto accidents. Yeah I know 3 accidents; kind of hard to prevent when 2 of them I was sitting at a red light and someone drives up the back of my car or van. Of course then there was the guy who after I had a green turn light for sometime, had his clip board fall on the floor of his truck and he reached down to pick it up. When he came up, in his words the light was red, my van was in the intersection and he didn't have time to hit the brakes. At the time he was traveling about 50 MPH. The force from the impact among other things broke the rear axle and housing, sending one wheel along with part of the axle and housing a distance from the accident.

As you can see auto accidents or just about anything can happen where you would need help. Having asthma and being allergic to several drugs I thought I should do something in case I needed help and was unable to tell a responder about my health. Medical alert bracelets or pendants can help. But for a few bucks you can set up a flash, jump or usb drive as shown in the photo, with your medical information, besides important contact data.

You can carry these with you at all times easily as they can be attached to your keys, carried in a holster on your belt or like me worn around my neck on a lanyard. Storage wise you don't need a huge amount of memory, 1 gigabyte is plenty and you might find some smaller ones on clearance.

I would suggest that the files you put on your flash drive be in both Word and converted to PDF. You can either buy a program to convert your documents to PDF or a few websites will allow you to convert them at either little or no charge. Both are standard formats that can be easily accessed and just in case say an emergency responder can't read one they could the other. Further you can update the word document easy, then convert it to PDF and replace the old version. Any images should be saved in JPEG form.

So what should you put on your flash, jump or usb drive? Well it depends on you and what you think is important. Here's what I've done, add more or drop some of my ideas.

In Case Of Emergency - When you plug in my flash drive it's as most plug and play. The first file is labeled "In Case Of Emergency". I then have several sub-files for information.

My Medical Condition - Here I list conditions that I have like my asthma.

My Contacts - I list in order who I wish to be contacted and may be of help in an emergency. Besides a name include home and work address; home, work, and cell phone numbers.

My Doctors - List all your doctors with phone numbers and addresses. I got their business cards and scanned them in as a JPEG.

My Drugs - Here I set up 2 sub-files, the first "Current Medications", a second I call "Drug Library". For current medications list everything you are taking, then anything you might be taking. Show both prescription and over the counter drugs, amounts and dosages.

Go to the federal government's drug website (Medline) and look up up your drugs, copy the information to word, or get the information from your drug store and scan it into to your computer. Then save the information on each drug in the Drug Library file. You can also scan labels of supplements, herbal and over the counter medications and save them in this file. That way if there are any questions the first responders or doctors will have first hand information about the drug itself.

Don't Use These Drugs - Here I list drugs that I can't take.

So there by doing this anyone called to help you at your time of need will have your information. Of course not to sound negative some areas of the country may not be as advanced to handle this at this time, but I believe in the future they will. Here in Central Oklahoma, most police, fire fighters and first responders have laptops. I've talked to a number of fire rescue personnel that have told me this is a great idea. They cite that they could plug this in and have the information they need. That the ability to have the patient's doctor involved early on could save a life. A number have stated when they come to the aid of a person who is down they many times are forced to look for information on the person. Decisions are made on what is known which may be very little.

What's my doctor say about my idea? Well to quote him beside that he thinks it's a fantastic idea; "I wish all my patients would do that". He also told me that he could access that information as well.

Other things you could do as an example, say you are watching your blood pressure you could keep a log on your flash drive; listing time, date and readings. 

Add an ICE number on your cell phone also. That's your in case of emergency contact number. First responders look at cell phones. Also put a card in your wallet alerting anyone to your flash drive. Remember anything you can do to provide information about your health during an emergency whether it's an auto accident or other could save your life.

Well fall is upon us, here in Oklahoma City our state fair is going on, a reminder of the season. With fall in most parts of the country it's time to start getting our autos ready for another season of cold, snow and ice. I'd suggest an additional item or task that you should perform that could make breathing easier as you travel this winter.

Beginning about the mid 90s auto makers began adding a cabin air filter to some models. As time has gone on these have become more common. For someone that has allergies particularly to pollens like I do this can help out by filter the offending pollens or dust out before they enter the car's heating or air conditioning system.

Why I recommend at this time that you replace the filter is first if you have more than 15,000 miles on the auto and it hasn't been replaced, it's due. Second if it has been used all spring and summer, it most likely is full or irritants. Why prolong the situation of pollen after the first freeze.

Cost wise is in many instances about the same or slightly higher than replacing an engine air filter. Quick lubes and even tire stores that perform other types of auto services offer this service. Making it a habit of replacing the engine air filter, cabin filter and even the fuel filter at the same time and every 15,000 miles can help keep major expenses down while helping to prevent break downs.

For the do it your self-er replacing the cabin air filter isn't anymore difficult than replacing an engine air filter. As you can see above on my van it's mounted in the cowling just below the windshield. Removing a cover that snaps in and out; then simply reach in and pull out the old filter, just reverse the procedure to install a new one. Now this might not be the same for all vehicles but it is for the Freestar and Focus. Consult the owners manual or a maintenance manual if you have any questions or let a pro do it as I mentioned earlier. I will say that my old cabin filter after 15,000 miles looks nasty and always looks worse than the engine air filter with the same mileage.

So what vehicles are we talking about, well here's a list of some:

• 1999 - Up BMW 3 Series
• 1997 - 2004 BMW 5 Series
• 2002 - 2006 BMW Mini Cooper
• 2000 - 2005 Buick LeSabre
• 1997- 2005 Buick Park Avenue
• 1997 - 1999 Cadillac Catera
• 2003 - Up Cadillac CTS
• 2000 - 2005 Cadillac DeVille
• 1997 - 2004 Cadillac Seville
• 2005 - Up Chevrolet Equinox
• 2001 - 2006 Dodge Caravan
• 1995 - 2000 Ford Contour
• 2001 - Up Ford Escape
• 2000 - Up Ford Focus
• 1999 - Up Ford Mini Van
• 1996 - Up Ford Taurus
• 1998 - Up GM Mini Vans
• 1998 - Up Honda Accord
• 2001 - Up Honda Civic
• 1997 - 2001 Honda CRV
• 1999 - Up Honda Odyssey
• 1998 - 2003 Lincoln Continental
• 2002 - Up Lincoln LS
• 2000 - 2005 Pontiac Bonneville
• 2002 - Up Pontiac Vibe
• 2000 - Up Saturn
• 2002 - 2006 Saturn Vue
• 2002 - Up Toyota Corolla
• 2002 - Up Toyota Camry
• 2001 - Up Toyota Highlander
• 2001 - Up Toyota RAV4
• 1998 - Up Volkswagen Beetle
• 1998- 2005 Volkswagen Jetta
• 1993 -2004 Volkswagen Passat

This is a basic list but should give some clue as to what vehicles are involved. Your best bet is to check your owners manual or contact the dealer. Anyway to breath easier change your cabin air filter.

In a sign of the times CNN and USA Today, reported that Omni Hotels with their 45 locations will eliminate having phone books in their rooms. In doing so they join Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Kimpton Hotels, along with Westin, Sheraton, Aloft and Element, operated by Starwood Hotels.

It is cited that the phone books go largely unused and add “clutter” to the rooms. The replacement for this move is to either to go online with your lap top if you have one; using their WIFI which may cost you anywhere from $9.95 to $14.95 per day. Another alternative they cite is to use your smart phone (cell phone) and go online to find what you need. I do this all the time; I haven’t used a phone book in sometime; instead when I search on Google or Yahoo, I can save any useful site to favorites on my phone. One thing I like by doing this is that with my Blackberry all I need to do is roll over the business’s phone number and hit send. I don’t have to worry about dialing a wrong number. Using your cell phone eliminates any charges that the hotel could charge you for using their WIFI.

This is just one reason why businesses should have a mobile website. Once the consumer finds out how easy it is to make use of their cell phone by going online I think there will be an explosion of demand. Those businesses that get on board first will have a clear advantage over their competition.

This is the idea behind On Cell Auto; by putting auto and travel information on one site it’s there when needed. No need to waste time looking for help when say you need a tow or you’ve locked your keys in your car. No need to have multiple bookmarks for all your auto and travel information. No need to pay a head of time for services whether you use them or not as with an auto club. With the information on your cell phone help is just a click away.

To read the USA Today article click on the link: More hotels are evicting phone books from rooms

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Due to problems with this blog platform please make your comments on my other Blog at www.OnCellAuto.info. That way I can respond.

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Aug 3, 2008

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The other day a friend called me and asked if I had gotten the July first, edition of the Daily Oklahoman. The Daily Oklahoman is our newspaper here in and is the largest in the state. My friend told me that in the business section there was information on Mobi and the mobile internet. I hadn’t gotten a copy as I get most of my news from either the television or online. So while I was out I picked up a copy.

There were 2 articles that while they were small, they got my attention. Any business owner should take notice of the information in these 2 short stories. Here’s some key facts from both these articles that appeared in the July first Daily Oklahoman.

From the article, “Made In Oklahoma: mobiManage”: a story about a company in that builds mobile websites.

Google Chief Executive, Eric Schmidt, has been quoted that mobile content will be bigger than computer based web surfing.

Three (3) billion smart phones, the cell phones that can surf the internet are now active. That’s not a typo not million but billion.

Less than 1% of the 80,000,000 dot com, net and org sites can be loaded on these phones or are mobile friendly.

From the article, “The Magic Touch”, these facts:

In the first quarter of this year 7,300,000 or 7.3 million smart phones were sold. Compared to the first quarter of 2007 in which 3.5 million smart phones were sold. That represents an increase in sales of 106%.

Blackberry maker RIM in its first fiscal quarter added 2.3 million subscribers; up 6 percent.

So do you have a website? If not I would advise you to get one; at my windshield repair company here in Oklahoma City, I’ve seen an increase number of customers saying they chose my company because we had a website.

If you don’t have a mobile website, again get one. By doing so you would be on the ground floor of something that appears to very soon become huge. Last year I set up a mobile website for my windshield repair company. At this point the counter for it is moving almost as fast as the standard website; and yes sales have been happening from it.

Some of the things you can do with a mobile website:

a)     Not just show your address, but the ability that your customer can enter there location and get directions to your auto shop on their cell phone.

b)     Show your hours of operation

c)      List the forms of payment you take.

d)     Awards your company has received.

e)     Groups you are a member of like, TRAA, ALOA, BBB, etc.

What is the advantage to a mobile website? Well here are a couple of examples of how this would work for an auto service or repair company.

Someone locks their keys in their car. With On Cell Auto a mobile website instead of walking for help or to get a number out of a phone book, they simply get help by going online to On Cell Auto.

If a car owner say slides off the highway and gets stuck; again they can quickly get help by going online to On Cell Auto. While they may have a cell phone if they don’t have number to a towing company the phone is useless. By going online for help the dangers of walking along the road are eliminated.

So how do you know if the website you have now will work on a cell phone or how it will look? Go to the website Ready.mobi, it’s a free service. Enter your web address and test it. Not only will it rate your website’s mobile ability you can actually see what it will look like on several of the popular cell phones. While you’re at it test OnCellAuto.com, let us know what you think.

Of course you can get your auto service and repair business on the mobile internet fast by signing up with us at On Cell Auto. We’ve already solved many of the problems and a number of consumers have contacted us about using our website and how they like it.

Most car and truck owners never give a thought about the battery until it won’t start the engine. No matter whether you just left the lights on killing the battery or the battery has come to the end of its life, there are some safety precautions you should know. Failure to follow these precautions can result in serious injury or death.

To begin, a battery stores electricity and through a chemical reaction releases it to start your auto or truck. Contained inside the battery are lead plates and sulfuric acid. The acid can burn skin, cause permanent eye damage or blindness, and instantly remove paint if it gets on the painted surface of your vehicle.

As a battery is discharged, hydrogen and oxygen are created. Both gases are highly explosive when they come in contact with a flame or a spark. A battery that explodes can cause serious injury or death to anyone near it at the time of explosion. Major damage to the car or truck can also result. Keep in mind as mentioned above, when the battery explodes, acid is thrown everywhere and lead parts can become shrapnel.

Another hazard is that while the battery only produces 12 to 13.2 volts, it is designed to release several hundred amps instantly. Enough heat can be generated to quickly melt metal, as well as the ability to burn skin.

That’s why it’s important that you use caution while working around a battery, jump starting the vehicle, replacing the battery, or performing any other services.

In talking with a number of people over the last week I’ve gotten a lot of feedback. One thing I‘ve thought about doing but haven’t is putting on the net site a frequent question page. I’m being asked some of the same questions about "On Cell Auto" and as I build the page, here are answers to some of the common, and a few unique, questions.

Can you believe it, were 1 week away from the Memorial Day weekend, seems like I was just dealing with the snow and ice.

When I began On Cell Auto I knew several things. First there was no role model, this is a new concept of having the internet on a cell phone. Besides that most people haven’t got a clue about what the possibilities are and the advantages. Few know about the dot mobi domains either.

With all the rain we’ve had here in Oklahoma, combined with else where around the country including Ohio where I have family, one of my contacts Wade, gave me the idea to write this post.