RamblingDyna

I've been soooo busy these past two weeks that I neglected my blog. Like a plant without water and proper sunlight, my blog has laid dormant in the dark lone corner. Time to rejuvenate and give it a kick start! Ding dong...Bueller? Bueller? I'll start by summarizing why I've been away. Two weeks ago I played SF city tour guide host to my friend (and former Sega of Japan colleague) who visited me from Tokyo for four days. Half the time I was working so thank god she knew how to take public transportation by herself (Bay Area Rapid Traing (BART) and the MUNI cable car). Since s he stayed in the heart of Union Square, we walked through Chinatown all way to Northbeach. Strange, but for a Friday dinner night, Chinatown wasn't busy with the usual foot and car traffic. Northbeach was pretty oh hum as well. Yup, it's the effects of the poor economy. Last Tuesday , I was in downtown San Mateo for dinner and it was a ghost town. A sign that more people are making their...

Too many horrifying and senseless crimes are hitting the East Bay and Contra Costa counties. On New Year’s Day, a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer, Johannes Mehserle arrested 22 year old Hayward resident, Oscar Grant and several other passengers at an Oakland station as part of their investigation of a fight on a San Francisco bound train. Johannes Mehserle shot Grant in the back as he was sitting face down. Mehserle resigned the same day Grant was buried. Non –violent protests by the community against police brutality followed in wake of the investigation. A month and half later and still reeling from the BART shooting, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the nation, mourned the death of four Oakland police officers killed in the line of duty, the deadliest shooting of California law enforcement in decades. A parolee gunned down John Hege, Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai on March 21 during a traffic stop, later taking his own life. Thousands from law enforcemen...

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...