Posted on 1/1/2022
Photo by Juha Lakaniemi on Unsplash The rest of the U.S. has a skewed image of Florida at times. It’s funny how people from Northern states tend to imagine Floridians as sunbathing on January 1st. (In truth, we sometimes can– but it isn’t often.) Contrary to popular belief, the cold does eventually find its way to Florida. We’ve even seen a few white Christmases in our lifetime (albeit brief). And there will be many mornings in wintertime where the windows frost beyond our ability to see clearly. While a dose of morning sun is usually enough to melt this away, sometimes we need to be somewhere before the sun can get to our vehicles. If a frosty morning has the Floridian in you utterly ... read more
Posted on 12/1/2021
Photo by Valentin Petkov on Unsplash It’s December, and as usual, a white Christmas is a complete longshot for Ocala. But we do know how to entertain ourselves! We spend a lot of time, as Floridians, pursuing the many leisure activities that are available to us year-round. What if this year, we spent some time sharing our holidays with the people in our community? Instead of planning a night in to watch your favorite rendition of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, imagine if we not only planned that, but also looked into local libraries who could use a story-time person to read A Christmas Carol to kids? Granted, public speaking isn’t for everyone. Is baking your ... read more
Posted on 11/1/2021
Photo by AD_Images from Pixabay How many of us remember the lessons from Sunday School? There are so many important values and lessons from the Bible about being righteous in the face of wrong. To think of the superstition and oppression during that age, it’s astonishing to see something from that era that clearly makes strong ethical arguments and lessons. One lesson that has always sat with me is the story of The Good Samaritan. Jesus tells this story to answer a lawyer who asks him, “Who is my neighbor?” The Good Samaritan is about a Jewish man (like Christ) traveling on a road to Samaria, who is beset by wicked men (presumably Samaritans) who rob him of his cl ... read more
Posted on 8/31/2021
Photo by Dan Barrett on Unsplash All Floridians come to know and understand that we have five seasons in lower Florida. We go through Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer, and then Hurricane season usually hits Florida right where it hurts. When it passes, we have an Autumn that feels like a breezy summer and a winter that feels like a cold Autumn. When hurricanes come to call, you must protect what you can by shuttering windows and sealing doors where possible. Keep a slightly larger stock of provisions in case of panic-buying from the crowd. When most people realize they should be stocking up on supplies, they are already facing panic-stricken shoppers snatching up anything and everything. Water and toilet paper ar ... read more
Posted on 7/31/2021
Photo by kalhh from Pixabay Florida weather can be a terrible thing to behold. Violent thunderstorms are the cost of enjoying Florida’s sunny, beautiful days. Each year, tropical storms and hurricanes move inland on Ocala, and just north of us, we’ve seen an increase in violent tornadoes over the last decade. Once violent weather comes calling, the best you can do is react with heart and consideration. Here are our tips for what to do in the very worst Ocala weather: Hard Rain - when the rain comes down so much that your windshield wipers can’t remove it, the strategy is to stop driving, as you can’t predict the road ahead of you. Turn your hazard lig ... read more
Posted on 6/30/2021
Photo by Spencer Everett on Unsplash Are you ready for summer? In today's blog, we’re looking at surviving the summer heat in Ocala with a car! The summers in Ocala are scorchers and can be damaging to the unprepared. So here are our top 5 tips for surviving the summer heat in Ocala! Stay hydrated - it’s the most straightforward step on the list. Make sure you are getting enough water in the day. Being properly hydrated will prevent many other problems. Keep up with current traffic - a check on LocalConditions.com can save you a lot of heartaches later. You can find out where traffic issues lie, like constructi ... read more
Posted on 4/30/2021
Photo by Tristan Billet on Unsplash Welcome to our May blog! There’s loads of news and things to cover. But first, we invite you to a charity car show event that’ll be taking place May 16th called the Car, Truck, Jeep & Bike Show to support Boys & Girls Club of Marion County. Before spilling the beans about all the cool events coming up, let’s chat about the issues that your car can develop from not being driven often! With the pandemic, business models have changed, and more and ... read more
Posted on 3/31/2021
Photo by Kenny Gaines on Unsplash Welcome back to another PALS Ocala blog! We hope that life has been treating you well throughout March and you are achieving all your goals. The PALS Ocala website has a page for what we call ‘Partners’. These aren’t partners in the strict sense of capitalism; they represent our partners in building a better Ocala together. If you click the link and go to our website, you’ll discover some of the many charities and organizations Linda and I support. We’re proud of these organizations and the work they are doing for the life and soul of Ocala’s adults, children, families, and even pets. It’s a collection ... read more
Posted on 2/28/2021
Welcome to March! With the new month comes the beginning of allergy season, and there are lots of things to do to prepare for it if you want to minimize the trouble it can cause you. Allergies don't affect everyone the same, thank goodness, but your car can be a moving hotspot for irritants. And just as those irritants can trouble your body, a heavy pollen count can also disturb your vehicle. A vehicle covered in dust, or pollen, or soot, means that tiny particles that form can try to get into the engine and can eventually clog up your fuel system, as well as your air intake. So if this year's pollen count is exceptionally high without enough rain to keep it washed away, consider these critical pieces of advice: Wash your car and vacuum your engine out. Cleaning out the chassis helps prevent pollen from getting into the vehicle's engine and damaging the fuel system. Replace the air filters. In the heaviest pollen, they will begin to clog up ... read more
Posted on 1/31/2021
Welcome to February! It's a month so chock full of observances and events that you'll want to check back in to remember them all! We had to cut out more than a third of them. There were just too many to mention this month! We want to wish you and all the special people in your life a warm, affectionate St. Valentine's Day. We hope you are getting all the love you need in your life to succeed and thrive, and we most certainly want to make sure that every time you come to Pal's Ocala, you receive the kind of love, attention, and friendship you deserve as our valued customer, friend, and neighbor. There’s very few challenges we won’t accept at Pal’s Ocala, because it’s important to us to see your problems solved. Every visit to Pal’s Ocala should be coming home to old friends. If we’re not giving you the best in customer service with every visit you make, please let us know. We don’t want to be a joyless transaction center; we wa ... read more