This post is about my experience with the California’s Consumer Assistance Program.  I’m not going to discuss whether there should be a whole industry created for smog check (smog check stations, having to get a  costly smog check every two years for vehicles registered in CA, mandatory repairs, etc.).  I just thought the following information might be helpful, especially since not many people seem to know about the CAP.

Luckily the Smog Check Test Only Center where I brought my car gave us an application to apply for California’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP).  If your car fails its smog check, you may be eligible for up to $500 in repairs paid by the State, after a $100 co-pay.  You can qualify for the CAP program either a) if you meet certain household income limits or b) if you were instructed to take your car to a Test Only or Gold Shield station for the smog check on your DMV renewal notice.  We qualified under “b”.

We received an application from the Smog Test station, but you can also download one online.  After filling out the application, you can mail it in.  They’ll process the application and if approved, they’ll send you a confirmation letter.  After receipt of the letter, you take the letter, your DMV renewal notice, and your failed smog test notice to a Gold Shield Test Station, where they’ll diagnose your car and hopefully make repairs.  I hear it takes about a week to receive approval by mail.

I didn’t want to wait a whole week, and they don’t have a fax number.  So I found out that I could take the application to a local field office and have my application approved (or rejected) on the spot.  Luckily there are a couple field offices in this area – San Jose and South San Francisco.  I went to the San Jose location in the late morning.  It was in the middle of a complex of professional offices, almost like a dentist office.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was nobody else waiting – I was anticipating something like the horrors of the DMV, and I steeled myself against it by bringing snacks and toys for my son while enduring the epic wait.  There wasn’ t much of a wait when we got there.  I went straight up to the window, gave them my application items, and was told to wait about 20 minutes for them to verify everything.  So in those 20 minutes, my son and I walked around outside.  The people at the office are incredibly nice – nothing like government worker stereotypes!  Some guy even came out and gave my son a toy car!  Anyway, 20 minutes later, my name was called, and I received the approval letter for CAP.

I hear some people are denied assistance, but usually it’s because there are ownership issues with the car or if the registration on the car isn’t current.  In the latter case, the person can pay the registration fees to make the registration current, and then apply for the CAP.

So I then took my car, the CAP approval letter, DMV renewal notice, and failed smog check notice to a Gold Shield Station.  When I dropped off the car, I was required to pay the $100 co-pay.  I was really anxious that the $500 assistance from CA wouldn’t be enough to cover repairs (I tend to run through worst-case scenarios in my head), but it turned out to be enough.  My car needed a new oxygen sensor, which was replaced.  All of the paperwork for the State was taken care of by the Repair Shop.  After my initial $100, I think CA paid about $400 for repairs to my car to bring it into compliance.  When I picked up the car, they provided me with a letter stating that I had passed smog check.  I was then able to directly take my car to a AAA office with DMV services to complete the vehicle registration.

California also has other programs if you want to retire your vehicle (if making repairs really isn’t worth it) or if $500 isn’t enough to cover the necessary repairs.  They have more information about these programs on their website.

Since 1990 Perry’s Produce has been providing customers with fresh, great tasting produce available. We carry wide variety of organic and conventional produce. At Perry’s Produce we grow an abundant variety of the organic vegetables affordably price.

You can download a coupon for a free head of lettuce with $5 purchase here.

America The Story of US – premiering on HISTORY™ April 25 at 9pm/8c – is a six week event that provides a fascinating look at the stories of the people, events, and innovations that forged our nation. It will provide you with an unprecedented opportunity to bring our nation’s history to life for your students. This 12-hour series will be supported by educational materials tied to curriculum standards and is copyright cleared for Fair Use in the classroom by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities.

* HISTORY is offering America The Story of US on DVD to every school in the United States. School must be an accredited public, private or home school, grades K-12 and college. In order to receive your school’s DVD, your school principal (grades K-12) or Dean of Students (college) should fill out the request form below. HISTORY strictly limits each school to one request. DVD requests must be made prior to July 1, 2010. DVDs will be mailed around August 2010, and free shipping is included in this offer.

You can fill out the request form here.

I believe the nearest Regal Theater is in Dublin, and their free showing schedule is below:

Regal Theaters throughout the country will be participating in this film festival, in case you’re traveling with kids this summer.

Arrive early at your desired showtime – I’m sure the tickets sell out quickly!

Additionally, for the fourteen and under set, you can get prizes from many chain bookstores for doing some summer reading. Money Saving Mom has a great roundup of reading rewards programs from Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books, and other bookstores and businesses. The prizes include free books and store gift cards.

Although I was homeschooled and never had a report card, I’m sure that I would have loved to trade good grades for free food or tchotchkes from corporate America. Deal Seeking Mom has a roundup of companies which offer prizes to kids who bring in a report card with at least one “A.”

And the weekend at home gave me an opportunity finally to visit the Union City Old Alvarado Farmers Market run by the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association. It’s held on Saturdays year-round from 9AM-1PM at Alvarado Park (3871 Smith St.) The park is a great venue for the market – not only are there playgrounds to keep kids entertained and to tire them out, but it’s also really shady, which will be nice during the warm summers. My only complaint that the pathways created by the vendors for strolling and browsing are a bit narrow, and oftentimes there are tree roots that make it a little difficult to navigate a stroller.

There are a lot of vendors at the farmers market that sell local fruits and vegetables. Because Union City has a sizable Asian population (particularly Filipino), I would say that the offerings lean toward Asian produce, like daikon, taro, Thai basil, bitter melon leaves, water spinach, pepper leaves, etc. Although I’m Chinese, I was unfamiliar with a lot of the vegetables – but the vendors were friendly and happy to answer any of my questions. Some vendors sell by the pound, others have the vegetables pre-bundled and sold for $1. There were also a wide variety of fruits today – strawberries, peaches, apricots, etc.

They also had some vendors selling prepared foods. There was a tamale/funnel cakes/churros vendor. We tried their churros – they were freshly-friend pencil-sized churros. A portion of 8 pieces was $4, 15 pieces cost $6.50. There was also a vendor selling cumin lamb kabobs and Chinese pan-friend buns and green onion pancakes. The cumin lamb kabobs were $2 each – they were on the small size, but had great flavor. The green onion pancakes were also $2, and it got you a large deep-fried pancake. They were pretty good, but I prefer the pan-friend variety. There was also a kettle corn stand. For a full list of vendors, go to the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association website.

From June 26 to Aug 22, the market will feature a summer concert series with live music. To kick off the program, Mariachi San Jose will perform on June 26th. The concerts last from 10AM-12noon. To see the full program, go here.

I wish I had taken pictures to post on the blog, but I forgot my camera! Next time I go, I’ll be sure to bring my camera so I can post some pictures.

I had a great Saturday morning, and to top things off, we went across the street to Paddy’s Coffee so I could get some coffee while my son enjoyed his churros. This was a very friendly coffee shop frequented by regulars (Paddy, the owner, seems to be a wonderful guy) with great coffee. This will be the subject of another post. This was my first time to Paddy’s, and we’ll definitely back. It’s great to find a local coffee shop that’s not a chain!

Even in the chilly Bay Area, it’s getting warm enough to go swimming!  If your little ones are still at the swim diaper age, though, you know that those single use disposable swim diapers are expensive.  Here is a way to save three dollars on a large package (18 diapers for size M) of Huggies Little Swimmers at Target:

Huggies Little Swimmers are on sale at Bay Area Target locations for $8.99 (large package).

Print a $1.50/1 coupon from Target.

Then, print a $1.50/1 coupon from coupons.com.

Bring both to Target for a final price of $5.99 for a large package of Huggies Little Swimmers!

Mother’s Day Weekend Celebration at Playland Not At The Beach – El Cerrito, May 8-9th. Bring mom to play games, enjoy magic shows, treasure hunts, stay all day! Mom Gets in for Half Price when purchased with a full priced admission!

Mother’s Day Tea Party at Annie’s Annuals – Richmond, May 8-9th. Come enjoy our sweetest and most romantic event of the year! Join us in celebrating those ladies who give and do so much for us – Moms! As our way to say Thanks Mom! we will be giving away ONE FREE 4-inch PLANT for Moms & Grandmoms.

The Sweet Shoppe Northern California’s Sweet & Savory Festival – Jack London Square, Oakland, May 8-9th. The Sweet Shoppe is Northern CA’s first celebration of all that is sweet. This two-day indoor confectionery festival celebrates the SF Bay Area’s pastry chefs, confectioners, cupcake fairies, local restaurants, specialty vendors, cheese makers, vintners and more. Tickets for the two day event start at $12, but kids 14 and under are free! Event highlights include:

• Sticky Stage – Showcasing pastry professionals demonstrating heart-warming every day classics. They will offer tips on at-home sweet success!
• Le Petite Sweet – A hands on children’s area where learning and making are intertwined featuring Bay Area culinary arts students sharing their new skills.
• Bubble Bar – packaged flights of champagne for tasting. Partnered wine makers will be onsite to teach all things bubbly 101.
• Savory Shop – gourmet cheeses, hearty sandwiches and such for those desiring treats with a bit more salt.