Our best articles from 2018’s “Your Car Matters”
THANK YOU for reading this issue of “Your Car Matters”, the Tom Dwyer Automotive Services newsletter! We appreciate your interest, but we know if we want to keep your interest then we have to tell you about more than just cars. That’s why we work so hard to make this like no other newsletter you’ve ever read. While we occasionally talk about cars, repair, and maintenance, you’ll also find info on politics, health, food, science, humor and so much more. If you’re new to the world of “Your Car Matters” then 
there’s no better way to tell you what you’re getting into then to tell you what you’ve already missed… here’s a look at what we covered in 2018. What will 2019 hold? We don’t know, but we guarantee we’ll tell you all about it when it happens!
Dec 2017-Jan 2018
Just like this year, we opened 2018 with a look back. We try to run three Feature articles each month; larger articles that we spend quite a bit of time researching and writing. True to form, we had a couple Features on cars and our shop, including Insider Tips for the Best Dwyer Service, why we don’t do oil changes, the basics of buying quality tires, and our 30th Anniversary in Sellwood. But we also had articles on a Beaverton man fined for examining reality without a license, our Technician’s hobby of cleaning up Oregon rivers for art, the completion of the Sellwood Bridge, election integrity, Net Neutrality, and a wonderful example of effective journalism.
One 2018 article we’re particularly proud of sprang from a client’s comment in our shop. She didn’t like the #RESIST bumper stickers we had right after Trump’s election, so we wrote a detailed response in “Business or Politics… YES”. We dove deep into why Tom is so up-front with politics in his business and why the commandment to keep business and politics separate may be changing. We posted the article on Quora, where it’s been viewed over 5000 times and received almost 200 upvotes.
We also pulled together all the 2017 stories from our varied columns. January brought a full year of Tom’s Tidbits, Keith Tucker’s “What NOW?!!” Toons, Drew’s Kitchen, Shop Talk, Health Notes, Book Spotlight, Humorousness, Popcorn Shorts, and of course, News To Make You Furious. We told you it’s not like any other newsletter you’ve ever read!
February-March 2018
In February Tom grappled with the question of who, precisely, is a Domestic Enemy, and tried to define them so we’d know them when we see them. Not coincidentally, one of our Features for the month was an exploration of how the Constitution deals with a President who is impaired. We also said goodbye to Stephen Hawking, who died in March.
Shop Talk announced the winner of our “Fire and Fury” book giveaway, Health Notes showed you some mind-blowing medical technologies, Humorousness armed you for next month’s critical April Fools holiday, a client recommended TWO books for Book Spotlight, Popcorn Shorts looked at Oaks Amusement Park’s 113th anniversary and shared some great smartphone tricks, and News To Make You Furious lived up to its name with the announcement that copper mining was back on the table for Mt. St. Helens.
June 2018- Our “Ethics” issue
Our “Your Car Matters” staff was on hiatus in April and May, but back in the saddle for June when national and local events led us to make this our “Ethics Issue”. Locally, we were very honored to receive the Ethics in Business Award from Portland Rotary so we took some time to explain the central role of ethics in our company. Tom backed that up by explaining why ethics, in any venue, aren’t just a foofy luxury but are essential to success. A huge part of ethics is credibility, so our article on the Media Credibility Spectrum seemed particularly appropriate.
Nationally, James Comey’s book “A Higher Calling” had just hit, so we recommended it in our Book Spotlight with our own in-house review. We looked at the ethics of health in our Health Notes, pointing out the Goldman Sachs representative who did the math to decide who was monetarily worth curing. Wells Fraudo took a bow in our Popcorn Shorts with their “trust us” ad campaign amidst continuing and intentional fraudulent business practices, and News To Make You Furious closed out the tour through the swamp with a look at Scott Pruitt, poster boy for corruption in an administration where there’s a lot of competition for the title.
July and August
We stayed local in the summer, but stayed busy as well. One of our clients told us the only thing the Willamette Shore Trolley needed to be perfect, so we shared it with our other clients so they could help. We also told you about Tom Dwyer staff out-and-about Portland in two unusual ways. First, ‘The Mechanics’ competed in the 2nd Annual Lovett Deconstruction Dropbox Derby, an event started by our clients and friends at Lovett Deconstruction. We didn’t win, but we came up with a strong design that actually sold at the after-event auction! Our second appearance was even weirder: one of our staff used a complex process of cryptogenetic cloning to create the terrifying 10’ tall spider. Tom Dwyer was inexplicably sponsoring the appearance of Arachno Giganticus at the Portland Maker’s Faire, so we took this opportunity to warn you.
In other news, Tom’s Tidbits thanked John McCain for his final act of service, Shop Talk announced that we can NOW DO YOUR DEQ TESTING, a client recommended 2 books for our Book Spotlight, Humorousness showed the power of weaponized humor, and News To Make You Furious delved into the first-ever Pentagon Audit. Even Popcorn Shorts had a power-article… we showed you a way to thread a needle that will change your entire life.
September and October
As the elections approached, Tom was thinking about the importance of voting. To sum up, given a choice, he thinks we should choose to be free. As important as it is, many people around the country aren’t satisfied with just voting so we told you about a small slice of them who are standing on street corners around the country to make their voices heard.
Our biggest article this issue was one on ElectroMagnetic Frequency (EMF) Radiation from cell phones, power lines, and now-everyday life. One of our clients’ business is reducing EMF sources in people’s homes and offices so he was able to arrange an interview for us with international EMF specialist Dafna Tachover, who told us about much of the changing science and legal landscape around EMF. However, since the idea of EMF pollution is still ‘controversial’, we did more than just pass on her information. We realized that we, as an auto repair shop, were hardly qualified to determine if EMF is science or pseudo-science so we brought in many of the opposing views on the issue and delved into the whole process of science itself. The article grew from our original intent, but again, we’re very proud of the result and think you’d find the article very valuable.
But EMF was only getting us started. With Halloween upon us, we shared the most unusual mechanical stories we’d encountered… Automotive Horror Stories from the Dungeons of Dwyer. Terror and pain continued into Health Notes on The Neuroscience of Pain, and a horrifying look at Anti-Intellectualism in America in our Book Spotlight. More fear popped out of Popcorn Shorts with stories on newly discovered faults on Mt. Hood that could contribute to “The Big One” in Portland and the Achilles heel lurking in all US weapon systems. Finally, News To Make You Furious frightened us all with a terrifying look at a Holy Army takeover of America… not proposed by some terrorist whackjob, but by an incumbent candidate for the State House in Washington state. He won, by the way.
What’s coming in 2019
We took another break through the Holidays, but it’s a whole new year and WE’RE BACK! If you’re reading this now we hope you stay with us on what promises to be a true rollercoaster ride of a year. We’re planning new articles about your car of course, but life is much more than cars and we plan to comment on all of it. Please keep reading, share with your friends, and TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! If we’re trying to stay interesting, are we succeeding? Is there something we’re missing that you’d like to see more of? Is there something we’re doing that just grits your last tooth? TELL US! “Your Car Matters”, like everything else we do, is about YOU. And without YOU, nothing gets done here at all. Thank you for your interest in our unique little newsletter, and we hope to see you again many, many times in 2019!
