Top 5 Areas the Recession Has Hit My Friends

Some Vancouverites definitely live in a bubble sheltered away from the recession. Hence the sold out $85/person wine festival last weekend. How are all these people so confidently drinking away their money? I guess in good times, people drink; in bad times, people drink. But despite Vancouverites living in a bubble and personally only knowing 1 person that was laid off in my social circle, the recession has hit some of my friends in other ways. OK, there are 6 this time!

Friend #1: High school teacher in North Vancouver
Who would've thought recessions hit the public education sector. This friend claims that his public school is getting ready to take in the predicted onslaught of students whose families can no longer afford private school! This, combined with the fact that young families can no longer afford housing on the north shore, has meant a gradual decline in students there over the last few years. Fewer students = no need for that many high schools = high school closure = teacher layoff. So his high school is putting on recruitment drives with open houses for the posh kids who will be slummin' it with the public school kids on the north shore. PS - teachers in Surrey are safe, where enrollment is on the up and up!

Friend #2: Nurse in Toronto
Another surprise here! Who would think the recession would hit the health sector? My friend that recently moved from Calgary to Toronto is on the job hunt and claims that it's not as easy as everyone says. Recession-proof is what people like me would think! But she says no, that hospitals may not be laying off staff, but they're cutting back hours and hiring from within. So she doesn't expect to find work for a couple of months!

Friend #3: VP at big financial services firm in Toronto
This friend was the smartest finance major at UBC back in my graduating class. He worked in Vancouver for several years, and then went off to make bigger bucks in Toronto. At the height of the stock market rise. Within months, he was the type A, big swingin' dick flashing his money to anyone who would take it to kiss his feet. Got to be uncomfortable for us regular people. When I saw him recently in Toronto, he was "back to normal", humbled by the recession and the general awareness that he could be fired at any time. And thankfully back to a mindset where he's more appreciative of what he does have.

Friend #4: Former hedge fund guy
This New York City based friend has not been working since end of October. And doesn't expect to work for several more months. When I was in NY with him a few weeks ago, he had food in his fridge for the first time in years, and was talking about downgrading his gym membership.... hmmm, perhaps you should look at your $3500/month rent first?

Friend #5: Husband in wine sales
Like I said about the wine festival, when times are good people drink. When times are tough, people drink. Difference is, now people are drinking cheaper wines. And how perfect for him and his company that focuses on value brands! At least one of us is in a truly recession-proof industry (which not many of us can say!).

Friends #6: Girls who got great shoe bargains at Barney's Warehouse sale
For my friends who are NOT effected by the recession, they can now afford to buy the Christian Laboutin and Manolo Blahnik's that were 75% off at the Barney's warehouse sale. Stock up girls, as this is a once in a lifetime chancge to own a pair of $1000 shoes for $250!

Friend #7: Former Recruiter
One of my friends took a job in 2008 as a recruiter/headhunter. She left a great job in field sales to do this and was loving it. With companies doing more lay-offs than hiring these days, her firm wasn't seeing that much action. She's now out of work and ironically - looking for a job, sitting on the other side of recruiters' desks!

Friend #8: Cop
Last night, I had dinner with a friend who's a cop, and who's husband is a cop. Extremely recession-proof jobs. In fact, when more people are out of work, there's more crime. So much more that in the month of February, she worked double the # of hours she normally would in a month. And of course she gets paid overtime for it (unlike us in the software industry that are expected to work overtime for no more money). So now, she's bought herself a BMW. I guess when times are tough for some, times are good for others!

Top 5 Wines at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival

I'm not going to try to pass myself off as some sort of wine guru, because I'm probably the farthest thing from it. Somewhat to my husband's chagrin since he is in the wine industry, and developing quite a palate for wines. I believe in just drinking what you like, no matter what anyone else says or what the price point dictates. So I went to the Barefoot Wines Party and the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival last night.... and here are my Top 5 choices (not in rank order, just in order that I drank them!). You can clearly see that I lean towards sweet, not heavy!

1. Barefoot Bubbly: White Zinfandel
Fun color - pink! Great bubbly for women who need to no excuse to celebrate. It's sweeeeeet!

2. Pierre Sparr Gewurtz
Smells sweet when you take a sniff, but it doesn't taste as sweet as it looks. Still, a lovely lovely wine. I have no idea what this French website says, but it came up on my Google search for this wine.

3. Sokol Blosser Evolution
Interesting wine.... a blend of 9 grape varietals they say!








4. Caymus: Conundrum
This was one fresh, but still had nice depth.

5. Prospect: Vidal Ice Wine
My wine list wouldn't be complete without an ice wine! I tried a few (that I already knew) and settled on this as my fave for the festival. It's not as syrupy as some ice wines... a good level of sweetness. And a better price point than some more expensive ones too - $39.

Top 5 Things I Like in Toronto This Week

Couple days of personal, couple days of business in Toronto - I discover the east coast side of my personality yet again. Here are reasons I'm liking Toronto!

1. Bigger Everything, Urban Center

There's something about bigger buildings, bigger business, bigger opportunity. It definitely feels like you're closer to the center of action (at least for Canada). Or perhaps I only appreciate this because it's opposite of my regular west coast life. A difference in size creates a subtle difference in culture that you crave to experience and be a part of. Bigger is not necessarily better always, but it's better this week!

2. Friends: Brains, Laughs, and Looks

Got to hang out with Vancouver and C-Town boys in Toronto on Saturday night. Dinner at Vidara, then onto drinks at Adelaide Street Pub. Here, Debb and I are hanging out with The Brains, The Laughs, and The Looks.

3. Queen and King Street West

Saturday night, Sunday day, and Monday night - dinner, drinks,

brunches and strolling down the urban streets of Toronto. Less polished than Robson, more of walking neighborhood than Main, less west coast sporty than Kits, cleaner than Gastown, cheaper than Yaletown. That's the run down of Queen and King Street for an urban girl's ideal shopping and dining!

4. Great meetings!

Along with bigger everything came some great meetings on Monday and Tuesday. Met with partners and potential new partners ranging from channel partners to mobile carriers to mobile device makers. For some of these opportunities, more goes down in Toronto, making flying all the way there worthwhile.

5. Workouts
Surprise! I actually worked out 2 times on this trip away. My PT Josh Neumann would be impressed. Usually, it's a stretch for me to workout once on a trip. This time, I was hauled there by Marc and Debb - thanks guys!

Top 5 Reasons you Know you Travel Too Much

I'm now home from a week's travel, where I went to New York, Chicago, and Milwaukee. I realized I travel alot - mostly for work, and luckily my work takes me to decent cities. How do I know I travel more than the average person? Well - here are the Top 5 reasons:

1. I know my passport # by heart
I've filled out my share of the US Customs forms

2. I feel at home at the United Red Carpet Lounge in Chicago O'Hare
I now hate sitting in regular waiting areas in those seats that have bars in between so you can't sleep. Too many loud annoying people. Trying to find an electrical outlet in which to plug my laptop, only to find that they are against the wall with no seats, so you end up sitting on the floor. And paying for drinks and snacks at the airport is unnecessary when you can get it all free in the comfort and serenity of the lounge!

3. I get EXTREMELY annoyed when travellers don't know what the hell they are doing through airport security
We all have to do it, and it's the same routine in every airport, so I wish people would just quickly proceed, remove their laptop, throw out their water, and move on.

The worst was one time at Toronto Pearson where the teenage girls in front of me were trying to negotiate with the security dude to let them bring through 4 bottles of water. There is no negotiation at airport security. NONE. Putting on a cute voice and tilting your head to the side will NOT make the security dude change his mind. This is not the VIP line up of a club we're talking about. Airport security, girls - ever heard of 9/11? The shoe bomber? As I stood there boring holes through their head with my eyes, I was contemplating whether to kick the girl in the ass to kick her through the metal detector, or pick her up and shove her through the bag screener. These are the rules girls, just follow them and everyone will be safe!

4. I have a collection of the best hotel bathrooms
It's easy to rate hotels by the quality of the bathrooms in the rooms. I don't always remember to take photos of them, but will soon post the Top 5 hotel bathrooms. The Hyatt Regency in Schaumberg, IL where I was for a few days this week had recently done an entire renovation and you could tell - beautiful bathroom counters and tiles!

5. My friend Dom moved to NYC about 18 months ago and I've seen him there 5 times
Yes, I do love New York, so whether it's personal, business, or study - I love hanging out there. All the better with friends that live there. And friends that have big apartments there. :)

Top 5 Celebrities on Twitter

I'm pretty new to Twitter but have been playing around with it recently. I figure I need to keep up with the online social trends - got Facebook, got Linkedin, got Blog - now, got Twitter. I'm at www.twitter.com/angiehirata. I have a few friends on there, but the most active people on Twitter seem to be celebrities or media people. Anderson Cooper (or his assistant) puts links on there ever 3 minutes. Not very interesting. What's funny is the celebrities that are on there updating what they are doing or thinking every hour, giving us intimate insight into their personal lives. Makes you realize how normal they are. And what a strange feeling to see P. Diddy's new sneakers, or hear about Ashton Kutcher's martial arts classes. If you're ready to be bombarded with minute-by-minute updates from your friends, celebs and other randoms, join Twitter and add these celebs to your "Follow" list - just to check out this bizarre phenomenon:

1. Ashton Kutcher: http://twitter.com/aplusk

This guy is addicted. Or he has an active personal assistant that just follows him around and updates everyone on his thoughts and his activities. From jogging on the beach today where he commented on the paparazzi's shots of him, to getting ready for Demi's private Oscar party, to commenting on his step-daughters shopping. Is this for real? I actually think he might be really doing this one.

2. P. Diddy: http://twitter.com/iamdiddy

Top of the list for most annoying celebrity Twitter person I've come across. I may remove him because his Tweets show how much of a self-centered jackass he is (check out his Twitter home page screenshot to the right - a little narcissistic, no?) and his over-use of multiple punctuation!!!!!! (annoying!). But first want to send him a personal Tweet asking if he thinks Rihanna should get back together with Chris Brown!

Anyways, he posts pics of his ugly-ass sneakers, tells people about his upcoming audition for a movie that Ashton is backing, writes self-motivating tweets! Yesterday's tweet: "see even I have to fight for my dreams. Ashton is my friend but I still have to audition . I will fight. I will win. I will succeed!!!" I'm not kidding - that's a direct copy and paste.

3. Kevin Smith: http://twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith

Not that active, but of course, really funny and witty. I wish he'd post more often so he can drown out the annoying voices of P. Diddy on Twitter. He has posted about Jason Mosier ("Jay" from Jay and Silent Bob), Wayne Gretzky, and his daughter's lack of softball skills.

4. Britney Spears: http://twitter.com/britneyspears

This one is a mix of personal stuff and self-promotion stuff posted by her assistants/managers. Not particularly a fan of her, but it's interesting to see some down-to-earth comments and insight into her life. Beyond what the paparazzi is saying about her, I'm actually happy for this girl that she can actually self-promote where she can control the message. And tell the world random things like the fact that she got take-out and went home to watch Pride & Glory. Weird.

5. Demi Moore: www.twitter.com/mrskutcher

OK, this one is probably not real. I think her PA is tasked with updating. She's not as funny as Ashton and kinda lame. And some of her playing off of what Ashton was tweeting about is a little pathetic. I did learn today that she bought a Kindle. Don't know what that is? Don't worry, a few days ago I didn't either... until I saw a dude on one of my flights this week with one, saw Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com founder) interviewed about it, and then bought a present on Amazon.com and saw it promoted on the home page. Suddenly, it's everywhere. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00154JDAI

Know of other celebs on Twitter? Let me know!

top 5 Things a Cop from Appleton, WI said to me in a 5-Minute Conversation

This morning, in a crowded hotel breakfast buffet in Milwaukee, I sat down to enjoy my morning yogurt with a guy at a table. Turns out he was a cop from Appleton, Wisconsin that showed me that stereotypes ARE based on some truth! Where's Appleton and what are the stereotypes you ask? Doesn't matter where Appleton is, I'm just saying it's small town mid-west USA!

1. "This is a nice hotel"

I'm talking Brookfield Suites, not even in Milwaukee, but in Brookfield, Wisconsin. This is not the usual caliber of hotels I stay at in big cities. In Brookfield, I thought I was in a timewarp, circa 1986 with pink walls, green doors, cream trim, and way too much tropical floral.

2. "I've never been out to the west coast before"

This is not a child I'm speaking with. This is a man in his 40s. Never been out there? You don't even need a passport to go there, don't need to cross a body of water, and you haven't been there? Hopefully, he's left Wisconsin. But then, I did meet a person a few years ago that came to Vancouver, having left Arkansas for the first time in her life. Americans need to get the duece out of their state.

3. "Is it Vancouver or British Columbia that's hosting the Olympics?"

OK, I know at Expo 86's Saskatchewan Pavilion, Americans asked where the country of Saskatchewan was. But Vancouver and British Columbia - are you serious? Maybe Obama's plea for American kids to stay in school and "not give up on your country" will be extended into some more basic geography lessons for Yank kids.

4. "Wisconsin is a big drinking state"

Apparently, drinking and driving is also a big part of what they do here. I guess being the home of Miller, lots of dairy cows, and the Greenbay Packers has somehow fueled this.

5. "A guy from Wisconsin died in Vancouver last year."

Great, thanks for cheering me up at 7:45 this morning. (He was talking about the guy that died on Grouse Mountain hiking the grind at the wrong time of year).

Top 5 Highlights from MacLean’s “The End of Democracy?” Cover Story

In the March 9th issue of MacLean’s, the cover article, “The End of Democracy?”, points out that autocracies are on the rise around the world, and democracy is only prevailing in North America, Western Europe, and a handful of other countries. Whereby other countries may be looking to Russia and China as “success stories” for the fact that autocracy and economic success can coincide together. So here are some interesting observations from that article.

1. “Political freedom expands during prolonged periods of prosperity and contracts during regression or stagnation.” – Benjamin Friedman, Harvard University economist

This seems to make sense that when there’s a recession, people just want someone who can get them out of the recession. They are thinking less about capitalist and selfish desires and freedom per se, and more about the basic need for surviving – getting medicine, food, the basics. Something that autocratic leaders can capitalize on to get into power.

2. “’Exporting democracy’… describes a thing that cannot be. [It] is not a product that one consumes. It is a set of values, habits, expectations, and principles… So by its nature it cannot be exported.” – James Traub, director of policy, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

Interesting. Just like you can’t have a “war on terror”, because terror is not a tangible person or thing (as my husband always says), you cannot export democracy. Traub believes that democracy cannot be forced, but it can be nurtured.

3. “…the best way Americans can spread democracy around the world is to be the best model of a working democracy that we possibly can.” – Peter Beinhart, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

This comment would be true for Canada as well. That said, wouldn’t Canada be a great representative? Our economy is doing better (for now), our healthcare system is better, our education system is better… so why did MacLean’s interview more American “experts” for this article than Canadians? If the US wants foreign autocracies to take note of a working democracy, they better get their economy, healthcare, and education system in better shape.

4. “Chinese are better off and more satisfied than ever, and value stability and security over democracy.” – Maurice Strong, former Canadian diplomat

So we are led to believe. That may be, but isn’t the stability and security false if you don’t believe you have the freedom to read what you want, think what you want, and write what you want, about your country? So they are plodding along, and some enjoy the material goods of capitalism. But can political autocracy and economic capitalism exist together?

5. “…Over time, more democratic societies seem to be more prosperous and therefore better trading partners and treaty partners.” – Thomas o. Melia, adjunct professor at Georgetown University and executive director of Freedom House

He argues that democratic countries need to promote democracy abroad, not just for the freedom of the people and to “fight terrorism”, but to have an economy. He clearly ties a strong economy to democracy.

So there are interesting and opposing views in this article. My conclusion? I believe in democracy and capitalism, but also believe in the role of government in social provisions like healthcare and education (yes, truly Canadian, aren’t I?). So I’m still skeptical of how autocracy and a strong economy can exist together. But perhaps I’m being naïve and China will show the world how this is done…