Recap

So much has happened this week.  It has been very busy.

Tuesday we went down the hill as usual.  But i didn't go into the office that day.  I saw a new doctor (post of itself, but a good thing, i think).  

Then we went to Pageant of the Masters (& Festival of Arts).  This link is to the history of the event.   And here is the gallery of them preparing.  My FIL bought tickets for the four of us to go.  Pictures are often drawn from real life into 2 dimensional representations.  This event takes real people & puts them into life-size reproductions of a picture, with lighting & make-up they make it real people part of the presentation.  We went the last day of the festival.  I think it ran about 6 weeks. 


Both Tom & Jeanet had been before, but Duane & i never had been.  I didn't have the energy to peruse all the art exhibits.  Honestly, if we do something like this again i will need a wheel chair.  Most folks won't understand that because i can walk, but i don't have the energy to continue walking.  



I'm glad we brought the binoculars.  We had good seats but still were far enough away that seeing the details would have been a challenge without them.  I'm also glad that a friend warned me to dress warmly & bring a blanket.  My FIL didn't think we'd need it, but then he was glad we had it along.  It was an outdoor theatre & it got rather nippy.

Wednesday i had a very busy day at work.  I also missed going to church as i'd been scheduled into the noon hour.   After work i did some quick shopping - an idea i had & Ikea made it happen.   

Duane & i handle warmth & heat differently.  We already had winter weight duvets on our bed, but that is simply too much for me.  I wake up warm in the AM, & my skin is cool to touch, but as the day goes on i get colder & colder & can't handle either heat or cold very well.  I often have to go to bed in the afternoon just to warm up.  So when i first go to bed at night, i need something to help me warm.  But as the night goes on & i warm back up, i need less & less covers & the winter weight duvet just about suffocates me!

Duane is just the opposite.  He wakes up & is putting out heat like a blast furnace (his skin feels like it is on fire to me) but he complains about it being "cold" in the AM.  As the day goes on he can handle either cold or heat just fine & in the evening he doesn't feel as cold as i do or as he did in the AM.  However, he wants lots of covers to sleep under.  


So, i thought that if i bought a lightweight, twin size duvet for my side of the bed, we could take out the second duvet in the big one.  I can sleep under the light weight duvet, & we fold over the big one so that Duane is under "winter weight" with just the one duvet.  When it starts to get colder, i'll keep the heavier duvet across both of us & switch the twin duvet to Duane's side of the bed so he'll have more.  Haven't figured out really cold winter weather yet, but we tried it for the first time last night & it worked well.


I'm told that in Europe, each person has their own duvet, usually twin size.  And that they often don't use a top sheet, but only the duvet, which is covered much like a pillow has a pillowcase.  It is taken off & laundered frequently.  This makes much sense to me, but we've never been able to obtain that.  We use both sheets & the duvet covers are for protection & decoration only.  I do think that changing the duvet cover is a pain & to do it weekly or more often to wash the sheets would be a challenge.  Maybe not if we were using twin size, tho. 

Thursday was another busy, busy day (for me, at least; i know i don't do as much as most people).  We got home & i rested some but i worked on some projects, too.  


Fall is coming!

This was our peach tree last year at the end of September.

This was our apple tree at the same time.


No fruit for us this year.  The peach tree died & the apples all were killed by a late freeze.  

Soon, we will be having the leaves turn, too.  These were taken in early October.  The signs for Oktoberfest are up.  It starts in a couple of weeks & runs thru the end of October.  I always thought it funny that it starts in September, but read recently that that is how it runs in Germany.  


 

Of course, after the color comes this.  Hopefully we won't have it come quite as heavy all at once as happened twice last year. 


I've lots & lots to say, as usual, but i'm ready for lunch.  Think i've said enough for now.  Oh, my sister Elsa may come up this weekend.  I hope so.  




Also, my friend Amrita posted on the Spas & Massage in India.  Fascinating.  Check her out.  She writes about so many interesting things.  


We are staying home next week.  (Hooray!)  :)  Labor Day is Monday (a holiday) but we never go down on Mondays anyway.  And Friday is our anniversary.  Six years now.  Don't know what we'll do.  Probably just dinner.  Duane is going to a training on Saturday (the 11th). 


Thanks for stopping by & i hope y'all have a lovely weekend. 





373

Different complaint

When i first began working as a massage therapist in Costa Mesa right out of massage school, there was a loophole in working so that if you were working for a chiropractor you were not required to obtain your own license to work.  Costa Mesa eventually made that illegal & required for all MTs working to obtain their own license regardless of where they were doing the work.. 


I freaked out a bit about this because i'd heard really awful things about the licensing process & was afraid of it (i don't test very well anyway).  The test had been written by my former teacher & she was rabid on making massage a "medical" profession.  She believed that no one with less than 1,000 hours of training should be licensed & i heard she wrote the test with that in mind to try to eliminate folks with less training.  Current standards usually require 500 hours, & some require even less.  I have 1,300 hours currently, but still was afraid of the test.  So, i went to work in other cities that didn't have this requirement.

A couple of years later i met Dr. Ketner.  I liked her work very much & eventually she offered me a place in her office to do massage.  But that meant i had to do the dreaded Costa Mesa license.  I doubt i would have done it for anyone else but i bit the bullet & went thru it.  


The fact is, many people doing work other than massage use the term "Massage Therapist" to hide what they are (illegally) doing.  It has to do with pleasuring men in a way that can land you in jail.  So everyone doing massage is under quite a lot of scrutiny & suspicion.  In fact, most cities license MTs thru their vice department at the police station.  


But i did it.  And i think that the test my teacher had originally written had been re-written by the time i took the test 6 years later.  It was entirely fair & not a mess written for someone working on a doctorate in physical therapy.  

But my point in all this was that i began working with Dr. Ketner.  The room was entirely set up by her.  All the furniture, linens & equipment in the room were hers, also the pictures.  I provided a blanket, some towels, & a tiny table on which to put my supplies.  

I didn't run a very busy practice.  Those were the days when i had more energy & i did do some marketing, but nothing was very successful.  Still, i had people coming in to see me.  Then Dr. Ketner told me that Dr. Geske was looking for someone in his office & i might want to split my time & that i could pick up some additional people.  So i began working two offices.  This was no additional stress as Dr. Geske is in Costa Mesa too, & i already had that license.  

At some point in time, as i wasn't covering many hours, Dr. Ketner invited another MT, (i'll call her "Dee") to work out of the office.  As i wasn't paying for the room/office but only an hourly % & none of the equipment was mine, there was nothing i could say about this.  It wasn't a problem at first, except that i didn't like how Dee would set up the table.  I did think it a bit odd that she never contacted me or tried in any way to coordinate.  Maybe i should have made the effort as i was there first, but it seemed to me that it would be more natural for her to call me & say "Hi, i know you've been working the room, but i'm going to be there a few hours now too & wanted to let you know."  Oh well.  It was a problem at the end of my time there, because Dee scheduled herself with a client at the same time i had someone & we had only the one room.  I wasn't very happy about that, but i transferred my person to Dr. Geske's office (Dr. Ketner was in the process of moving in with Dr. Geske then anyway).  


So we made the move to Dr. Geske's.  I was pleased about that because now i could work with both doctors without splitting my time between offices.  It took some adjusting, but it worked out well, especially as we were living in Big Bear by then & i was driving down to work.  (Before i'd lived within 2 miles of both places.)  I bought the sheets & equipment from Dr. Ketner she had left from her office.  (Since i was already established at Dr. Geske's, i already had the whole room set up, but i was pleased to be able to buy the towel warmer & some other items.  Unlike Dr. Ketner's, at Dr. Geske's office i started with an empty room.  One hundred percent of what is there belongs to me.)  

About a week after Dr. Ketner moved, Lori (office manager) & i were quite shocked when Dee walked in one day & began looking around to see what the office was like.  Lori didn't know her & didn't know what she was doing.  She said, "I'm the new MT & have come to check out the office."  BUT, it was no longer "Dr. Ketner's office."  Dr. Geske was who she needed to talk to & make arrangements.  AND, the massage room was no longer set up by the doctor.  All the items belonged to me.  


Long & short, Dee never made the transition to our office.  Her license was expired & she didn't make a good impression with Dr. Geske at all.  He didn't care for her attitude of entitlement.  

He has talked about bringing in another MT a couple of times.  Neither has worked out, but the first time he approached me about it, he did say, "You're not going to get weird about sharing the room, are you?"  Um, yes & no.  I told him it depended upon the person & how we would be able to divide things.  As it never hit reality, we've not had to work that out.  


But i am a bit "weird" about this because all of the items are mine.  I purchased them.  I set them up.  And the room isn't very big.  There is not a lot of space to share with someone else for storage.  And while we can work out the using of my equipment, i guess, i will not share linens.  Which means things could get weird.  It also doesn't seem equitable to me for someone to come in & use my equipment.  THEY don't have the cost of setting it up, nor does the doctor.  


And this comes up now?  Dr. Geske interviewed a MT yesterday.  

That is his right.  I'm not working very much at all (i average maybe 3 hours a week).  I very much wish i could do more, but reality is right now i can't.  So i understand him wanting to do this.  But he didn't mention it to me so i was shocked & rather upset when it happened.  And he's not discussed it with me, so i don't know if he is interviewing her for the room he has empty (& she could set up herself) or for the room i currently utilize & contains all my belongings.  He didn't discuss it with me after wards, either, so i don't know what is going on.  I asked Lori, & she told me, a bit sharply, that she doesn't know, she wasn't informed either.  

I'm "over it" now, although a little anxious.  I wish he would tell me what he has in mind.  A long time ago i worked for a couple of different chiropractors & i was never able to store anything at their office.  Two of them i had to bring my table with me every time i went there, & all my linens & oils for the day.  Since i no longer live in OC, that really isn't an option for me.  I've nowhere to store the linens if i couldn't leave them there.  Oils & lotions go bad stored in a car. Shlepping all my stuff around would make massage impossible for me.  The reason i've been able to continue is that the room is set up & i don't have to do a lot of work each time i go there to prepare.  I've essentially given up doing massage in BB because i don't have a room set up to do it, & taking all my stuff each time was wearing me out, even when Duane went along & did most of the carting. 

I don't like surprises & i don't like changes.  I certainly recognize his right to do as he wishes with his office, especially in the light of the fact that i'm there so little & not bringing  in many clients or income.  I wish it was otherwise.  


But in my experiences in the past, a new MT is usually "vetted" by someone already there.  When i worked a spa, no one was hired without one of the established MTs checking out the work the new MT did.  That meant that part of an interview process was that the interviewed MT gave someone a free massage.  Standard.  Instead, i feel like i'm in the dark & don't know what is going on.  






All images free, provided by Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals website as a benefit to their members. 

371

So far, so good

Two days done, two days to go.  

I was pretty exhausted after lunch today, but then we did some work on each other (this is a "hands on" class) & i felt much better & managed the rest of the day.  


Duane will be down tomorrow & we go to dinner with Sis #3, F, & some of their friends.  Sis & i had dinner together last night, too.


Someone i know is here as well.  She is in the CST II class (more advanced).  I've traded with "C" a couple of times in the past.  She seems excited to see me, but i'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual.


Our energy levels do not match at all, & when she worked on me, i found that she didn't listen to my needs.  

Her energy simply makes me tired because there is no way for me to enlighten her to my exhaustion.  She just doesn't "get it."  


One thing i find when i am being worked on is that i need the therapist to work SLOW.  That is the only way my body accepts the work.  If it is not done that way, it just is not effective for me.  I've been amazed at the number of people i've had massage from who work at a break-neck speed.   What they are doing at that speed is sports massage, & that is not appropriate to most of the population!

I told C over & over as she worked on me that i needed her to slow down.  She kept justifying her speed by saying, "But you need so much work!  We have so much to get done, if i go slow we won't cover it all."  But the fact is, i'd rather have 1/4 of me get work done that is effective than to have all of me "done" but with no effectiveness at all.  


I'm horrible at telling people that things aren't working for me.  We stopped trading because our schedules didn't match.  I was relieved.  Someone today, learning she was from OC, asked if she was a good therapist because they needed someone they could refer to.  There just isn't a good answer to that.  First, i don't think she is a good therapist because she works much too fast.  But more important, i don't think she's a good therapist because she doesn't listen.


I hate saying that because i feel so critical.


And i've mixed feelings about the "doesn't listen" stuff.


About 3 years ago i had someone come to me for massage.  She has Fibromyalgia.  She wanted deep work done.  I felt very strongly that we should not do deep work.  I tried & i tried to talk her out of it.  But she insisted that was what she wanted done.


I try to honor folks for knowing their bodies.  I encourage people to listen to what their bodies are telling them.  And, "the customer is always right."  Every part of my therapist self was saying this is a bad idea, but i gave into her pressure & did as she asked.    


I contacted her a couple of days later about a different issue, but asked how she was doing.  Horribly, she replied.  She felt better for an hour or two & then much, much worse.  It wouldn't work for her, she said, & she wouldn't be returning.


I was incensed!  I felt that in fairness she should at least return & allow me to do the work i felt we should have been done in the beginning.  There are modalities that are very appropriate & effective for Fibromyalgia; deep work is not.  I felt it was completely unfair that she would hold me accountable for something she insisted that i do!


So, if i had refused to do that work in the beginning, she probably would have walked out & refused to let me work on her.  But, as i did the work she asked & she didn't have the result she desired, she wouldn't return.  I couldn't win.  Either way i lost a client.  


It did teach me.  I have a policy that i simply won't do deep work on a Fibromyalgia patient, especially not the first time out.  


I do still want to listen to my clients & to honor their feelings & desires, but i will never again go against my strong gut feeling as a therapist.  I might lose a client over it - & i would/will feel badly about that - but i won't compromise what i know to be right. 

Anyway, those are the things that have come up for me emotionally this weekend.  It isn't as big a deal as this makes it sound.  I do just hope that i can come up with a polite but non-critical way to tell her that it just doesn't work for me.  (Of course, part of me says that what my criticism is based on is from a year ago & maybe she has learned . . . but part of me says that such thinking falls into the "fool me twice" category.)



323

I'm spoilt

A lot has been going on, but not that much to write about.

Thursday we got home & it was cold! Lit a fire that night for the 2nd time so far this fall. Friday we went to Oktoberfest with some friends for "locals" night. We didn't stay late. Duane & Elaine entered the log sawing contest & got 3rd place. We didn't take our camera so don't have pics. But i wore braids & Duane got pics of that. I'll post them eventually. And i've got the log they cut off.

Saturday AM we got our 3 cord delivery. They were suppose to arrive at 8, but came at 7. (That is AM!!!) The pile is big & most of it will have to be cut before it is stacked. I'll post a pic of that too.

I didn't get the massage i was suppose to last week, so David kindly volunteered to give me one on Saturday. It felt soooo good, but i was still achy & hurting afterward. Made me wonder what i have done. And he helped Duane drag the glass over to put a temporary greenhouse over our tomatoes. Another pic to take.

Saturday was also Duane's grandma's 90th birthday & the family had a party yesterday & we went down for that. We also went to another party for a friend's 4 year old & Duane got to visit with some friends he rarely sees. We were gone all day. I hate going down the hill when we don't have to, but it was good to see family & for Duane to have a chance to see friends. Duane's grandma is confused a lot of the time & she was some yesterday too, but she understood it was her birthday & was in good form.

I was able to get a massage (the one owed me) today, too. I was still hurting after he worked on me, but now that i've been moving around some since i don't ache as much. Also, on Sat. David worked on a scar on my leg & i noticed a huge difference when Daniel worked on me today. David did really great work on it for it wasn't painful today as it usually is. :) So i guess it took two massages from skilled folks to get me going.

Lots of emotions, too, but i'll write of them another time. Duane is waiting for me. We recorded & are going to watch the premier of Stargate Universe. :) We both like scifi.

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