Like many of you, I’m taking a little time off this month.  More on that in the next section. This month’s newsletter is filled more with tidbits than real substance. Hey, it’s summer. I hope you still enjoy it.

Here are some important items this month:

First: I’m taking a break this month.  The office will be CLOSED July 3-5 for the Independence Day Weekend.  I’ll office will also be CLOSED July 22nd – Aug. 1st. It’s a combination of my having a medical procedure right before my wife and I take off for a trip to Maine. We’re taking a small cruise ship (100 passengers) along the Maine coast, visiting small towns between Bar Harbor and Portland. We’ll be aboard a brand new vessel just making her third run. This is something different for us, so I’ll be reporting back with details next month. 

Second: My other office in Old Saybrook will be open again on Sunday July 11th.  There’s a lot happening in Old Saybrook this month, with the annual Arts & Crafts Festival on the Town Green set for July 24-25. Unfortunately we’ll miss it this year since we’ll be in Maine.  In August, I’ll be working in Old Saybrook on Sunday Aug. 8th.  I currently work out of my Old Saybrook office just one Sunday each month, though I spend most of my free time up there.

Third: I’ll only be in the office for 2 Saturdays this month. There are currently appointments available for both Saturdays.  Please check the “Important News” page on my site for the most current information.

Lastly: Just prior to 6:00 am daily I post my Next Available Appointments on my website, also on the “Important News” page. The information I post is only accurate as of 6:00 am. I still send out the Monday Morning Mailing List, which lists any available spots for that particular week.  You need to specifically ask for that mailing.  As an alternative, I also offer a 24-hr standby list for anyone who is interested.  Just call me for any particular day. Cancellations do happen. 

The Question of the Month segment returns this month since I was too busy in June to research another “Educational Tidbit”.  Besides, it is summer and it’s hot.  I spent slightly over a week working in my office without air-conditioning with the inside temp actually reaching 91, so my brain is a bit fried.

Question: I have a friend who could really use your services. I remember that you closed your client list late last year. Are you taking any new clients?  While I haven’t officially made an announcement before now, the answer is Yes, I have “unofficially reopened” my client list so I am accepting some new clients. Last fall I’d reached a point where I was fully booked 2-3 weeks in advance.  So if you called me and were in pain, I couldn’t help you anytime soon.  It bothered me greatly and my only recourse was to close my client list.  2010 has been both interesting and difficult so far. Some of my regular clients have had to cut back either due to the economy or illness; some have moved totally away from the region and a few others, unfortunately, have passed away. I’ve also had a few people ask to unsubscribe from the newsletter recently (I don’t think I said much that was too controversial – unless they were Delta Frequent Flyers J). So as clients have disappeared, I’ve be accepting a few new clients this spring. As the folks on my Monday Morning Mailing list may remember, last year at this time I typically had just one open appointment out of 30 each week. This year I’ve had 4-8 open spots at the beginning of each week.  So it’s actually been a lot easier to get in to see me. I’ve even had a few evening spots open up recently, which rarely happened in the past. 

So if you feel a friend can use my services, please feel free to pass along my name or forward this newsletter to them.  

If you have a question you’d like me to answer in this space, preferably about massage therapy, just send it to me and I’ll get to it in a future issue.  Please use the Comments or Questions link in the left column. If you’re reading this on the internet, use the email link at the bottom of the page.  I have been known to answer non-massage related questions, but please, don’t ask me any political questions here. I don’t want to lose all my clients... 

I know that many of you are no longer carrying your checkbooks around with you. So I am reconsidering my stance on accepting credit cards.  It’s a lot more complex than I’m willing to go into here.  But I have found a processing company that allows me to use my current cell phone.  The trouble is that I’m an individual merchant, so I can’t take advantage of any group or special discounts. The miscellaneous fees make accepting credit cards very expensive. And unlike a gas station, I’m prohibited from extending any additional discounts to clients who pay by cash. I haven’t raised my fees since 2006, though my rent has increased a couple of times since then. But I will eventually have to raise my fees anyway, credit cards or not.

So my question is:  Would you like me to begin accepting credit cards soon, knowing that it will be necessary for me to raise my fees at the same time? I would of course keep the fee increases to an absolute minimum.  I’m very interested in hearing your thoughts.  I’m happy to keep things as they are until I have to raise rates.  I could always begin accepting credit cards at a later time. The only reason I’m considering it right now is for your convenience. For me it’s an additional book-keeping headache.

  They’re all set for their own July 4th parade around our Old Saybrook circle. We just have to keep Ted out of the heat, so I may act as his personal “umbrella carrier”. They love to watch the fireworks, which they can spot from our living room window.  But they hate the noise...

For the last two months we’ve been dealing with medical issues with my furry children.  I’m happy to say that Ted is doing very well with his heart medications, even though the pet insurance doesn’t want to pay for the meds.  I guess they’d rather he died.  His sister Allie had another brief scare when a lump on her rib cage suddenly grew and became infected.  It turned out to be nothing major and it isn’t cancerous.  Now she’s just dealing with a return of some allergies, but she’s good.  

As for me, I had my skin cancer checkup last month and my doctor took 2 biopsies.  Both were negative, so I think I’ll spend this weekend working on a tan... just kidding.  Yes, I did mention a medical procedure back under special announcements.  I have another upper endoscope scheduled for later this month. It’s a routine check to monitor a problem I have with my esophagus and stomach. But they have to knock me out to stick the camera  and tubes down my throat, so I’ve scheduled it to create the least amount of problems for my clients.

Has anyone else noticed... in Bruce Park, the Canada geese have obviously been watching the people. I travel through the park about 4 times each day and I’ve seen this many times. The geese are now using the pedestrian crosswalk between the Rose Garden and the pond.  It’s the law in CT to stop for pedestrians in a marked crosswalk unless the crosswalk has its own traffic control signal.  The geese have just 2 legs and the law doesn’t specify that pedestrians are human. Those are some smart geese, eh?

Carol and I went to the Mohegan Sun Arena a few weeks back to see James Taylor and Carol King together. It was a blast. They first sang together back in 1970 and they have their original drummer, lead guitarist and bassist back with them. Carol was a prolific song writer before she began singing her own music. And JT is well... he’s an icon. They’re up at Tanglewood this weekend, though it’s sold out. They’ll be back at Madison Square Garden later this month. It’s special. 

One of the things that really annoyed me at the casino was all the people who were obviously spending their unemployment checks trying to make a killing. We couldn’t get into a decent restaurant at 5:00 pm! I’ve never seen the casino so busy, even in a robust economy.

Cirque du Soleil is currently in Hartford performing “Ovo” under the Grand Chapiteau along Rt. 91. While not as spectacular as “Kooza”, this show has some great clowns and the couple doing the rope act was incredible. It was old school... no safety wires, nets or spotters. Beautiful to watch while keeping a lump in your throat. The little girls juggling the fruit and vegetable slices were great too. Cirque is in Hartford for another two weeks. It’s easy to get to and parking is a breeze.  

Here are some of my favorite quotes for this month:

“Impossible is only a word” -- Guy Laliberté, creator of Cirque du Soleil 

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” -- Bertha Calloway

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” -- Sigmund Freud

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” -- Oscar Wilde

 “Any sufficiently advanced bureaucracy is indistinguishable from molasses.” -- Unknown

For additional information or to schedule an appointment, please call (203) 253-5576 and ask for Bob Jensen.  You may also email me: healinghands@snet.net