Unless You're Chaka Khan

Okay, you know the Living Social massage therapist that I was trying to make an appointment with but she had limited availability?

She sold almost 400 massages the first time out and I was a little put off with her hours, tone of voice and assumptions.

She was back on Living Social for Mother's Day and this time she sold about 500 massages. At least she has a website now with her hours of operation. She has also added two days that she's available during the evening.

I've seen other therapists who've been featured on group coupon sites get additional help (temporarily) once they've sold beaucoup coupons. I don't think this therapist will employ that strategy; it's a case of trying to have everything and be every woman which is not possible unless you're Chaka Khan.

MassageLuxe is on Groupon today and will be up for three days and they've already sold close to 5,000 massages on the first day. Now, that's a lot of people wanting massages or a lot of Mother's Day gifts.




Blogger's Note: Chaka is rockin' that outfit.

P.S. Happy Anniversary to my brother and s-i-l.

Keep Moving or Month-End Review, April

My body was all constricted. Neck, check. Shoulders, check. Upper back, check. My neck was particularly stiff.

Massage Therapist: Have you been stretching?

Me: Ye...,um, no.

After she asked that question, it dawned on me that I had not properly stretched in about three months. I had been feeling okay and just stopped incorporating stretching into my regimen. So, it's back to regular stretching to prevent constrictions.

April, I hardly knew ya -- here's a look back at how things went down. There wasn't very much exercise diversity this month but there was exercise. ☺



10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones!

Stretching, 2 x's

Bicycling, 6 x's


Give Me 10!

Fat Blasting Cardio, 1 x

Lawn Mowing, 1 x


Personal Training With Jackie: Power Circuit Training

15-Minute Upper Body Circuit, 7 x's

Rock Climbing, 6 x's

Route Tally for April 30th:

Spring Cleaning, Ascended, 2x's; Down climbed, 2 x's, 5.6
Let Me Smang It Girl, 5.8
Eats, Shoots and Leaves, 5.9 (Attempted)*





I Think We've Met Before, 5.9 -- Ascended 2 x's
Lead Tag Friendly, 5.9
Pandora's Box, 5.9
The End of 2010, 5.9**
The Maze, 5.9 (Attempted)

Swimming, 5 x's


Treadmill, 1 x (Only Time Spent at Gym)


Walking, 19 x's


Wii Fit Plus, 1 x


*Eats, Shoots and Leaves is not a very friendly route at all. I actually bought the book for which the route is named in New York almost four years ago. I had banned myself from book-buying but couldn't resist after reading the joke on the back cover.

**Thanks to Patti who coached me up The End of 2010. She was on the ground belaying and coaching. I heard Keep on moving. Keep on moving. Keep on moving. I did keep moving and it felt really good.


How was your April?

The Rough Guide to Group Coupons

When I'm in decadent mode, I like to up the ante so a post-Florida massage was definitely in order.

I broke out a Living Social voucher which had been tucked away. The first time I attempted to contact the therapist, she said that she didn't have any evenings available for a while. Since I was on vacation, I didn't need an evening time slot. Here's how the convo went:

Me: Yadda, yadda yadda...I thought I would try since I'm on vacation.

Therapist: I bet your vacation is now.

A brief aside: I don't like it when people make assumptions and I was trying to get an appointment with more than a week's notice and I didn't think that time frame was out of the realm of possibility.

Therapist as she's looking through calendar: I'm booked for April. I don't work very many evenings. I have children and obligations.

Me: Do you work on the weekends?

Therapist: I don't do very many weekends and, on Saturdays, I share the room with four other therapists blah blah blah...

She puts me on standby in case a weekend opens up.

I'm all kinds of annoyed because why would you do a group coupon with such limited availability knowing how some of those group coupons can explode. I decided not to get a Groupon for a recreation center because they sold over 1,000 and I wanted the pass for the pool and with only three laps lanes, I don't think I would have had much access.

At any rate, there's something to be learned from most encounters.

So, here are a few of 'Drea's tips (and I'm sure you've been waiting) for group coupons.

Read the details carefully. I picked up a Groupon for Kaldi's knowing that they have delicious baked falafel. In my haste to pick up the Groupon, I didn't realize that it was for one specific location, one that doesn't have baked falafel. I ended up giving the Groupon away.

Don't wait until the last moment to redeem your coupon. Give it away, trade it or sell it on Craigslist before you let it expire. And, on that note, keep track of expiration dates. I know that Groupon will email you when expiration dates near but others will not. There are some group coupons that are valid for six months and others for one year. It's not a bad idea to print the coupons so that you have a visual reminder. I like to keep mine in a folder in the order of expiration.

Get in there and join the discussion. My rock climbing gym was featured on Groupon. I wanted to get one since I heard that it would be good for the new gym that they are building. The Groupon needs to be redeemed by Oct. 18th. The new gym is supposed to be finished by then but stuff happens with construction so I wanted to know how that would affect the rules of engagement. I got my question answered and I purchased the Groupon. Ask your question early in the day so that the merchant has time to respond and know that some organizations won't respond at all.

If you're getting a group coupon for a massage, lots and lots of people tend to purchase these coupons. If it's for a chain massage place, there's no need to worry because they'll have plenty of therapists and flexibility with times but if it's an independent therapist, check to see if they have a website. Online booking is a bonus but not necessary. If they have a blog with their availability, that's cool too. If you can't get an idea of when the therapist works, proceed with caution because if, say, 600 people buy the deal and the therapist is only available on Monday and Tuesday in the morning, that may not work for you even with a year to use the coupon.

Don't be too impulsive. Group coupons, like anything else, can be addictive. I bought a Groupon for the movies but I seldom go to the movies and the day (close to expiration date of coupon) that I went every single movie was sold out and movies at other locations had already started.

Group coupons can make great gifts (pedicures, manicures, facials, spinning gyms). Just don't give a a chain massage one because the person that you gifted will be harassed at the end of their massage to join the gym chain -- the last kind of experience you want them to have after a massage.

Do your research. The group coupon might say that it's 51% off but companies have been know to tinker with the truth so check out the company's website. Likewise, see if there are any testimonials. In addition, check out the hours of operation and distance. Is it really a deal?

I've had very good experiences with group coupons and I've been introduced to businesses that I might not have ever gone to had it not been for Groupon, Living Social etc.

What has been one of your best group coupon experiences?

The Kicker

Another 10 days had gone by and I still hadn't heard from the massage therapist.

Had I blown things out of proportion?

Was I being a prima donna?

I finally decided that I couldn't let the situation draw out any longer, sent the email that had been sitting in my drafts and felt sorry when I hit send because I didn't want to do it. I wanted *it* to work out but I also didn't want to be disregarded. If someone is disregarding you, it should definitely not be your massage therapist -- someone that you go to for restoration.

I got a rapid response back with an apology, an explanation and an agreement to refund the money at a later date -- if that's what I really wanted. And, then, the nail-biting started. Was it really what I wanted?

The kicker is that I like her. She's funny and into martial arts (like that too) but the last few months have left me wanting to get in the ring with her. I figure that we're evenly matched. I outweigh her but she is trained.

I didn't want to end "the relationship" but I didn't know if I could depend on her to consistently reply to correspondence and, because I'm prone to hold emotional grudges, I thought it best to just get closure especially when I found myself thinking about how rottenly she had behaved while getting a massage from another therapist.

The Cup Is Already Broken

My dedication to self-care thing has hit a bump in the road.

I went to this massage therapist several times, decided that I felt comfortable with her and figured that I should do the practical thing and get a package. You're familiar with massage packages, right? Typically you buy a certain amount of massages up front and get the, say, sixth one free or at a discount.

As soon as I bought the package, the massage therapist stopped being responsive to emails. She would answer one email then not the next. I completely understand if someone is busy but to not respond is just foul. I thought about venting on Yahoo Reviews, Yelp or Twitter but I really didn't want to take that route.

When I've seen the therapist, she's been professional (for the most part) and personable. I also sensed that she is a hustler which is not an entirely negative thing in my mind.

I think it's safe to say that I have been a fighter -- often in defensive stance but, as Tina Turner sings, I don't really want fight no more.

Having said that, I still feel like Bernie Mac in that Secrets and Lies episode of The Bernie Mac Show -- I want to be unpunkable:

Yeah, I know what you did, Jordan.
I know it was you.
It was you that cut down that cherry tree.
Jordan, you're trying to punk me.
I'm going to let you know I'm unpunkable, okay? (3:00)*

When I didn't hear from the massage therapist a second time in a six week span, I was thinking that she is going to make me do something that I don't want to do and that's going to cost me more money.

I drafted a letter noting my frustration and stating a request for the return of my money. I shortened it -- made it less harsh because, really, I don't want to fight. The email is in my drafts and I was going to send it in a few days but I felt like just drafting the email signaled the end of the relationship. I don't get rid of annoyance easily and I certainly wouldn't want the person who is annoying me to touch me.

Of course, I hear from the massage therapist before I send the email. There was a part of me hoping that she wouldn't respond because I don't want to deal with her anymore -- knowing that she might respond when and if she feels like it in the future.

So, okay, what kind of lesson am I supposed to learn from this experience?

Patience? Understanding?

I remember this story that was in Prevention. Geneen Roth goes on a meditation retreat; the teacher holds up his favorite cup and says As far as I'm concerned, this cup is already broken.

I also remember something that Hazira said to me years ago when a friend properly broke my heart. You can enjoy your friends without them being perfect. This concept is a hard one for a perfectionist to swallow. Or, it's a hard pill for a purist, as Patti likes to call me, to swallow.

I don't try to be a perfectionist but I'm a Virgo:

You are bashful, but you have all the necessary wiles and weapons, including a determination to pursue happiness. You seek romance, and commitment is an integral part of it. If you are in love, you go to any lengths to make sure it works. On the flip side, if you are in an unhappy relationship, you will snap the cords with ease.

You can be deadly practical and divinely romantic at the same time. You are a perfectionist, but not perfect yourself. You have your negative traits. You can be sickeningly prompt, and think that you are the best critic in the world.

I also think about Alice Walker's The Same River Twice where she responds to critics of The Color Purple. It sticks with me how Walker says that the character, Mr., even though he's an abuser, that his love for Shug Avery redeems him as a human being.

I used to actively look for that redeeming quality in people. But now?

I returned the therapist's last email and I'm waiting to hear from her again...





*The whole unpunkable thing starts when Bernie Mac has Jordan fake an asthma attack so that they can go to a Clippers game (to see Michael Jordan before he retires) then Jordan uses the secrecy surrounding the fake attack to get away with many things.

Reality Testing

The climbing crew is all over the place. Patti is dealing with some wall situation. It's Chris' son's birthday. Joe climbs as his schedule allows and Becky -- not sure what she's doing. All that to say, climbing will take place tomorrow; I shifted gears, called Anita who swims with me and doesn't mind going on Saturday or Sunday.

I took my bike along too because today was gorgeous and I couldn't resist hitting Grant's Trail after swimming.

I often feel like I need to say something like namaste before I get in the pool. Despite my struggle with front crawl breathing et al., the pool provides untold peace. In addition to working on front crawl breathing, I also worked on doing the sidestroke on my left side.

By the way, I so want this Halloween-inspired swimming suit available at Swim Outlet. Then, I could really assume my identity as Super 'Drea. ☺ After all, I do change (quickly) into a lot of costumes. Really, you should see how fast I get from work to Kate's class and how I change clothes somewhere in between.



And guess what? I just happened to win a $100 gift certificate from Swim O.

Congratulations!

SwimOutlet.com has sent you a $100.00 gift certificate!

MESSAGE:

Congratulations Andrea! You have won a $100 gift card in honor of our Twitter launch. Thank you for being a valued SwimOutlet customer!

My shoulder feels great. I lifted my bicycle out of the basement and onto the bicycle rack with no problem and I also encountered no nasty tugs when I did the sidestroke. I wanna thank the academy my massage therapist who has been significant regarding my shoulder success.

In other news, I felt that reality testing was in order.

I have been quietly freaking out about the number on the scale rising. Ironically, my friend was uncluttering and came across some pictures of when I was really living large...

I took a few pictures which set my mind at ease to a certain degree...

If you exercise with others, does the scheduling ever get complicated?

Hope you're having equally stunning weather in your town and that you were able to exercise outside.

You are exercising, aren't you???