Mother Nature has shown ruled the summer thus far with an iron fist. The weather forecasters are raising our hopes that we will actually get to enjoy a typical hot Manitoba summer. Fingers crossed.
After the most brutal winter in history and the wettest spring in memory, do you really want to spend your time dealing with roadside breakdowns? Which you you rather be doing?
Our roadside assistance program offers guaranteed help when the unexpected happens. Sign up today.
The fate of the Montreal Canadiens was sealed Thursday night when they were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the loss, the progress the team made this year has helped renew faith in a franchise that has been without a Stanley Cup in 20 years.
But for the safety of the fabled championship trophy donated by Lord Stanley of Preston, a Habs drought may not be a bad thing.
The tales of damage and dings to the famed chalice are legendary, and the Canadiens, winners of 24 Stanley Cups in their history, are far from immune. In fact, there was one occasion where Les Habitants could have definitely benefited from roadside assistance, courtesy of Dr. Hook.
Back in 1924, the Canadiens were celebrating their latest Stanley Cup victory over the Calgary Tigers. A group of players – and the Stanley Cup – were en route to owner/general manager Leo Dandurand’s home for a a celebration when their vehicle got a flat tire.
This is where, perhaps, the team should have called for a fix, rather than working on their own. Instead, the players got out of the card and did the work themselves.
Amidst the drama over fixing their flat, however, the team quickly got back in their car and drove off to Dandurand’s, leaving the Cup on the side of the road.
One can only imagine the stories that hockey historians would share today had the Cup not been recovered soon after. While the trophy wasn’t in its recognizable form today, it still was an impressive silver presentation bowl at this time and easily could have been stolen.
The moral of the story?
First, when you have a flat, the last thing to do is take your valuables out of the car if you’re going to DIY getting back on the road.
And second, don’t take chances – if you encounter a flat, calling for roadside assistance when you’re at all unsure of what to do is your best course of action.
Ahh to be 16 again.
We can remember the excitement of finally being old enough to be behind the wheel of our parents’ car or truck. Sure, the ‘milkman van’ wasn’t the funkiest four-tire transportation we had to drive, but it served its purpose – it gave us freedom to go out on
Manitoba roads, riding high with our cronies.
Of course, we can all remember incidents that happened during those carefree days that all the sudden made them not-so-care-free. From running out of gas (and not having cash) to our first fender benders, we went through that all-important rite of passage and came out on the other end that much wiser for it.
That rite of passage continues today for teens in Winnipeg and across the province. Inevitably, something will happen either to you new driver of one of their friends. It’s the unfortunate reality that new drivers face.
Of course, as parents, we want to do all we can to protect our kids, and short of giving them hockey helmets to wear in the car (which we all know they wouldn’t be caught dead wearing), the best we can do is to arm them in case there an emergency arises.
This is where Dr. Hook comes in. Our pre-paid, rechargeable gift cards will help your new driver out when they’re in a pinch without them having to resort to the credit card with a tight spending limit.
Shop online now for your rechargeable Dr. Hook gift cards and let your teen start driving with a little piece of mind.
At long last, the gift-giving season is over.
Christmas and Valentine’s Day, unquestionably, are the two biggest present times of the year. Leaving aside birthdays and anniversaries, you’re more likely to spend money on someone else in late December and early February than any other time of the year.
Just because these seasons are finished, however, doesn’t mean that kindness stops; in fact, the best way to show someone you care is to give them a gift during one of the ‘off seasons’ when a gift is least expected.
One of those times is now, when you’re clear of the holidays and into a dreary time between Valentine’s Day and Easter, where the snowy weather is giving one last inclimate push before the mess of melt happens.
This is going to be a problematic driving time ahead for Winnipeggers, as slush and melt turn frozen overnight on a regular basis and leave an air of unpredictability when you head out in the morning or leave an event in the evening.
Arm your loved one in case a roadside emergency occurs with a Dr. Hook gift card. These refillable cards can be ordered in a variety of denominations and help you make sure those close to you have a safety net should an accident occur.
For more on Dr. Hook gift cards, click here or call 204 956 HOOK today.
Stay safe Winnipeg!
Chances are you awoke this morning to a bit of a chill – that’s because Winter has come back to Winnipeg.
While the last week has had more moderate temperatures, which even allowed for some slush and melt to develop, this week we are back to freeze-over temperatures.
Unfortunately, this means that slick roads can develop again, right after a snowfall like we saw last night and can cause some havoc on Winnipeg roads.
Perhaps more importantly, it also means that drivers need to adjust back to ‘winter driving’ habits. For a period we were able to zip down streets at higher speeds, not worrying as much about fishtailing. At least for the next week, that can’t happen, lest you end up needing roadside assistance.
Remember Winnipeg – driving alert to the conditions and the vehicles around you is the number one way to ensure your travels are safe and sound.
Stay warm Winnipeg!
While tonight’s festivities roll on, we do want to remind Winnipeg that New Year’s Eve comes with its challenges on the road, especially for 2013.
Most Winnipeggers, by now, know that there is an inherent caution that comes with travel on NYE 2013 – people for whatever reason will err in their judgement and unfortunately pull-overs by Winnipeg Police do occur due to intoxication.
We say this every year but it certainly bears repeating – if you have any, and we mean any trepidation of getting behind the wheel tonight, then we strongly encourage cabbing, using Operation Red Nose or finding a designated driver who has not consumed a single ounce of alcohol.
But the greater concern this year is the unseasonably cold temperatures. The unfortunate reality is that heading out to a party could mean not being able to plug in your car and coming out, at say 1:30am, to a car that won’t start.
If this situation does happen to you, don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Hook Towing in Winnipeg. We will be on call for you tonight should you run into any problems and require our roadside assistance.
Have a Happy and Safe New Year celebration!
Winnipeg is just about to head into its busiest traffic season – the holiday season.
Yes, Christmas Day travel is limited but Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve are three of the highest days of the year in terms of traffic volume, and when traffic is high it means there is a higher propensity for traffic accidents.
With winter conditions being what they are this year, we cannot emphasize enough that you should take extreme caution on the road. By now we’re fairly accustomed to the concerns of drunk drivers, but we’re not as cognizant of the distracted driver or the road-rage driver. Between Smartphones (despite the legal implications) and the mad dash drivers make to beat the lineups for door crashers, Winnipeg turns into a free-for-all on roads which can be extremely hazardous.
We know the anxiousness that comes with the season, but we highly, highly recommend that it is better to take care and arrive late than to try to rush and run the risk of needing our trucks.
Have a safe holiday season.
The City of Winnipeg has lifted the residential parking ban.
To the delight of all Winnipeggers, plowing of streets down to concrete is all but done on side streets and we’re free once again to park overnight on front streets.
However, we’d still like to caution against this.
The unfortunate reality of parking in front of one’s residence, especially in the harsh winter conditions we’re currently in, is not the best choice to make. With regulations preventing one from extending a cable across sidewalks, plugging in from the front of your home is not an option.
As such, leaving your car on streets can mean a dead battery when you go out in the early morning.
Yes, we know the temptation – head in through the front door means less time scrambling through the garage, less noise to wake up everyone (if you have a creaky door like many of us do) and fewer things to possibly trip over, especially if you’re coming home in the wee hours (say like you will be doing in all likelihood on New Years’ Eve), but the reality is leaving your car without energy flowing in can mean a frozen four wheels in the morning, and no one wants to have to deal with that when we’re already late for work, the kids are howling or it’s just plain too damn cold out!
So with this in mind, Winnipeg, we highly encourage you to keep your car in your garages, on your car pads, or on your driveway where you can plug in.
If you do end up with a dead battery, Call Dr. Hook right away at 204 956-4665. We’ll help you get your car back in working order before you know it.
Stay warm, Winnipeg!
If there’s anything worse than a back lane or street that hasn’t been plowed, making Winnipeg roads torturous, it’s not being able to get into your car in the first place.
We’re not talking about locking your keys in the car or forgetting them at the office after security locks up; instead we’re talking about that rather unfortunate where snow and ice have built up so much that you literally can’t open the door.
This is one of those cases where home remedies may be your best solution.
One of the tricks we always hear about is using a hot air dryer to melt the ice buildup. It’s pretty practical if it can be achieved, but that can be hard to do if you’re parked away from a power outlet or, you know, have a hot air dryer.
So we crawled the web in search of some other handy tips for opening your car, and here are a few home remedies for your frozen four-wheel.
1. Praise Lifehacker for this gem – hand sanitizer, which seemingly everyone carries these days, can be used as a lock de-icer.
2. WikiHow offers up five suggestions (including our aforementioned hot air dryyer), the simplest? Push on your car door to break the frozen seal.
3. Catalogs.com, appropriately, has a variety of methods listed. Heating a key with a lighter, if available, isn’t a bad step.
Of course, lock de-icer is still the best solution, but if you don’t have this at the ready, then you now have some more solutions in your back pocket.
Stay warm Winnipeg!
When it comes to driving in Manitoba, stuff happens.
On a busy thoroughfare, a dark highway or on your own residential street, we encounter all kinds of mishaps from dead batteries to flat tires.
In days of yore, this is what we had our ‘Emergency 20’ for. You remember this – the single bill you’d fold into your license and hold for that time when you needed roadside assistance.
And yet, even though we knew that $20 bill had a very useful and understandable purpose, we’d use it for other things en route. Maybe we “needed” to roll through McDonald’s or legitimately were out of cash when we went to the grocer. Either way, that Emergency 20 wasn’t there, often when you needed it most.
Recognizing the eternal peril of not having this money when the worst happens, Dr. Hook has the perfect solution for you – our new Prepaid Roadside Assistance Gift Card. Now, you can load up your card and be prepared if you ever run into trouble on the roads in Winnipeg or across Manitoba.
The best news is that ordering your prepaid gift card is as easy as a few keystrokes. Simply click here to access our purchase page and you’re well on your way to peace of mind, either for yourself or for someone you love.
Our gift cards never expire, and there is no membership required.
Remember – Dr. Hook Towing in Winnipeg offers 24 hour-a-day service year round. If you’re in need of roadside assistance in Manitoba, call us right away at 204 956 4665.
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