I’ve discovered Pandora – the web radio that creates a custom playlist based on music you like. I’m using it to play “spa” music on my laptop while I work. I find it helps me concentrate and keeps me from distractions.
I had started to get new stuff for my iPod (there’s only so many times I can listen to the Hawaiian thunderstorm even if it does keep the cat away!) but the variety of stuff on Pandora is great, it doesn’t repeat, and it’s FREE.
I had the most amazing l massage experience yesterday. No – it wasn’t a happy ending or at least not that kind of happy ending. I had bought one of the Bliss packages at Yoga Tree last year. You know, the yoga sessions and a massage for $99? Such a deal! And yet I’d never gotten around to using the massage, and it was expiring so I finally booked an appointment with Jordie over at the Valencia studio.
So he was totally hot but professional and was doing this Chinese pressure point and Qi Gong thing which I had never had before. Halfway through I’m just zoning out to the spa music and my tongue starts to do something. It just felt odd – maybe like if your tongue could fall asleep and start tingling? Or buzzing.
So I told Jordie my tongue was buzzing or whatever and he says Well when the energy starts releasing from the muscles it can end up anywhere. Within minutes my left foot is doing the same thing (definitely not like your foot falling asleep – more like its vibrating at a high frequency – but of course its not moving) and within about ten minutes my entire body is in this state.
Well he also had me deep yoga breathing the entire time (the prana) – maybe I was hyperventilating? My body felt like I was lying next to a Tibetan prayer gong that was struck and causing me to vibrate in sync. It was totally crazy.
I was even a bit lightheaded at the end, and the whole effect took about fifteen minutes to dissipate. By that time I just felt so fresh and relaxed it was as if I’d awoken late, on vacation.
So whatever, I think I’ll be going back for this Qi Gong pressure point.
I’d had a call last week from a friend and past colleague who had been laid off from 8×8 a few weeks ago. He had been hired on contract by Wells Fargo for work related to a recent bank acquisition, and they also needed a project manager for the area he would be working in. He had recommended me as he knew I was also looking for a project.
In the process of pursuing this I called past colleagues down in Los Angeles at the bank I have worked for as a consultant off and on for seven years. I had done project management and process reengineering work with execs in their Retail and Commercial customer service divisions quite successfully. We had finally parted on good terms because I gotten to tired of the weekly commuting to LA – and with ever increasing security checks it took longer and longer anyway.
So I called to okay them giving me references for a position up here in SF. And the next thing I knew someone down there called me Friday morning to offer me another contract – but one that I could do for them from San Francisco. This bank has its HQ here in San Francisco but all the operations I had dealt with were in Southern California. I even negotiated a higher rate!
Sweeeeet! This contract is going to be 25 hours a week with their Wires and another Commercial group to complete a process reengineering initiative. Which allows me to continue my freelance writing for a large high-tech consultancy – writing projects that pay very well, but are far from full-time. Those projects had ended when the economy tanked last year, and only in the past few weeks had restarted. But now that client is in the process of rewriting all their web content and they want me to do all the case studies so they gave a consistent voice.
Cherry on top is the bank has a great, diverse set of employees who are actually good at what they do and fun to work with. Same for the high-tech consultancy. So I’ve now got two clients who between them will get me back to full-time work.
I feel like James Cameron / Leo DiCaprio – I’m on top of the world!
Queeristan - everywhere you are 