A Somber and Subdued 2008 Holiday Season

The holidays have come and gone and it sure did feel different this year, obviously. The kinetic energy to grab the best deals and buy as much as you can carry to the car was…restrained. The checkout lines were not as long as in past years. I’ve been walking through the San Francisco Center for a week. It’s located in the heart of the downtown shopping district, a stone throw away from the famous cable car stop. It’s home to Bloomingdales and Nordstrom and the energy is very different, almost subdued. It’s like you want to dip your hands into the jar full sinful sweets but can’t because you know it’s bad for you. That’s what the crowds looked like as they snaked slowly between aisles of 50-70 percent off sales bins. They didn’t clamor over each other and hoard bundles of red tagged stuff. People browsed, poked and prodded, looked again and then walked away.

Before Christmas, the crowds were plentiful but not as packed and hungry. I figured the recession cloud was hovering over the center and as a result people were watching their wallets, waiting for the really big sales after Christmas, what retailers recently termed as the second Black Friday. I don’t have the sales numbers but even after Christmas, the usual frenetic energy I’m used to seeing in past years was absent.

It’s a weird feeling or vibe. You see and read the news reports of how people are cutting back on their spending. Merchants and retailers are bleeding badly. News reports says that even if businesses made profits on the second Black Friday, the revenues would not make up for the year’s losses. I’ve definitely cut down my spending and so have my friends as a result of the sinking realization that there is absolutely no guarantee that your savings, assets and job will be safe. How have I saved? I started to watch my everyday expenses when gas prices started to hit the $4 a gallon mark (ugh). I mostly drive when I do my errands and go to work, sometimes making several round trips, basically not effectively managing my time and polluting the air!

I got angry spending more than $50 on gas to fill my little Jetta that could (choo-choo). Plan of action: I started to map my driving routes so that when I visit a friend in the Peninsula or go to a café in San Francisco to write, I’d make a pit stop to the grocery store, bank, mom’s house or whatever along the way to my destination. When I worked briefly in the city’s financial district (where it’s cheaper and more sane to take public transportation), I bought a month long city fast pass which covers all of San Francisco MUNI buses/trains and the BART train. And guess what? I survived. Even though gas prices have dropped to their lowest in four (or five?) years, I still take public transportation and map out my driving pit stops. Now why did I not do this before? Can anybody relate?

Alzheimer's hits again

I just found out that actor Sean Connery, who passed away last October, died of complications due to Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's debilitates cognitive function. The cause of his death hit me three-fold: He was my mother's favorite movie star, they are both in their 90s, and she too has Alzheimer's. According to a recent AARP feature story , I was shocked that the great jazz singer Tony Bennett has Alzheimer's. Tony was also another idol of my mom. She would always perk up whenever she heard his infamous "I left my heart in San Francisco" ballad. Photo by Dyna Lopez In 2017, one year after his diagnosis, my mom, brother, and I watched him for the first time performing in San Francisco to a packed audience amongst a sea of silver-haired ladies. He was 90 at the time and did not disappoint. He belted out hit after hit and showed no signs of the debilitating disease. She sang along to a melody that was unfamiliar to my brother and me. My brother asked her, ...

Veteran's Day is very different this time

I usually don't think twice about Veteran's Day. I see the parades of retired military veterans on television, most wearing their uniforms proudly and offering a interview or two about sacrifice, remembrance and honor of the soldiers who fought and died for freedom. My only connection to Veteran's Day is my father, John Villegas Lopez. He served in WWII when he was drafted as a Philippine Scout and fought alongside United States serviceman against the Japanese when they invaded the Philippines. He escaped from the Bataan Death March and suffered from Malaria for a month before returning to serve again. It's shocking to know that 700 WWII veterans die every day. Only 2,530 are still alive. It was of course sobering for my parents to see the numbers shrink every year as a majority of my dad's fellow comrades have passed away. He outlived most of them until this past May. My father of 88 years joined them when he lost his courageous battle to lung cancer. The last...

How to make money in this economy

http://blog.futurewomenleaders.net/blog/bid/19763/How-to-generate-business-in-a-recession-for-less-than-50 I've been attending various workshops and lectures in the Bay Area targeting small business owners and current/future entrepreneurs. I wrote a post for Future Women Leaders about one of the lectures conducted by a Business Expert and Marketing Consultant. He shared an inexpensive checklist of strategies on how to stay afloat during these hard times, gain traction and build smart partnerships. Very helpful advice for any business regardless of the size (are you listening Corporate America!) and industry.

RamblingDyna

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