Sep 22
I’ve always been a weekend automotive hobbyist and, not to toot my own horn, I thought I was a darn good one. I’ve been doing my own repair work for years, but then I made my first mistake by thinking I was a pro at working on rebuilt engines. I was planning a cross country [...] [...more]
Posted: under business.
I’ve always been a weekend automotive hobbyist and, not to toot my own horn, I thought I was a darn good one. I’ve been doing my own repair work for years, but then I made my first mistake by thinking I was a pro at working on rebuilt engines. I was planning a cross country trip in my 1974 Austin Mini Moke, which is a rare convertible Jeep- like vehicle. I thought it would be a fun time to take this toy from Florida to California.
I guess my first mistake was thinking it was a good idea to take a 1974 across the US. Everything on this thing was practically new, so I knew if I rebuilt the engine, we’d be in business.
I only made it an hour of the way and blew a head gasket. But I was so happy during the first hour that I couldn’t get the smile off my face! I had the top off and the wind was blowing freely through my hair. My wife and I were so excited to go on our adventure and, luckily, we had AAA, and they came and towed the car in for us. The vehicle is still sitting in a shop in Orlando.
You may have thought this issue killed our fun and ended our trip, but the fact is, we’re in Monterey, California as I write this post. We try to keep a positive attitude and not let setbacks like this hold us from having a good time, so we rented a Mustang convertible and continued the trip.
As much as I wanted to stay back home and see what was going on with the car, I haven’t even called the mechanic. I’m going to wait until I get back and get updated after the problems are fixed, and at least I went to an honest mechanic. My friend lives in Orlando and we’re all fixer- upper kind of guys. I’m just a little green yet, but he has always been a wiz with engines.
Monterey has been nice and we’re staying right by the pier and just had a delicious supper at Bennihana’s tonight. We’re going to the aquarium tomorrow and I guess the moral of my story is, when life deals you lemons, make lemonade.
Sep 09
While the global recession has caused consumers to exercise greater discretion when it comes to their discretionary spending, some areas of the service economy in particular are poised not only for rapid recovery, but also for rapid growth. Particularly, careers in massage therapy offer practitioners the opportunity to get in at the ground floor of [...] [...more]
Posted: under business.
While the global recession has caused consumers to exercise greater discretion when it comes to their discretionary spending, some areas of the service economy in particular are poised not only for rapid recovery, but also for rapid growth. Particularly, careers in massage therapy offer practitioners the opportunity to get in at the ground floor of huge demographic and political shifts that will effect greater spending on preventative and alternative medicine like massage. While the last couple of years have seen damage to done to the top lines of massage therapists’ biggest employer – the hospitality industry – economic recovery, combined with an aging population and a political regime that is inclined to be more generous with entitlements, all lay the foundation for serious growth in the industry. In a word, as demand for massage therapy as an alternative and preventative medicine grows and the consumer economy recovers, pricing power will return to in-demand providers of massage therapy.
A career as an LMT begins with education in a massage school that consists of classroom learning and school massage for practice. The programs, which span anywhere from 9 months to 2 years, culminate in a certification exam in the practitioners’ state (many states reciprocally acknowledge other states’ certifications.) Making the change to a career in massage is therefore a less significant investment in time and money when compared with other potential career changes, especially with schools like Cortiva in the business. Beyond that, school consists of lots of of that enjoyable school massage from fellow pupils. Upon graduation, massage therapists typically earn wages upwards of $25/hour, and it is not uncommon for licensed massage therapists to earn upwards of $75/hour, working independently, just a few years out of school.
Beyond being a certification that is relatively easy to obtain and is the ticket to work in a growing industry that actually helps people, the LMT certificate also provides its holders with the flexibility that comes with a career as licensed massage therapist: the freedom to set hours, the freedom to work pretty much anywhere in the world, and, thus, the freedom to make work secondary to life.