Last Friday, I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant (Sesame Chinese) for lunch and was surprised to find the place empty when it’s usually busy (especially on Fridays). A few more people did eventually show up, but it hit me that this was just another example of the tough economic times we live in. This thought lead to another realization: there has never been a more important time than now to support local businesses.
We’ve seen so many big companies announce massive layoffs lately that it won’t be long before that pain trickles down to small businesses (I’m sure it already has). Of course, most of these big companies will survive this economic crisis but there is a good chance that many of these small businesses won’t, which is why they need our support now more than ever.
Next time you plan to go out to eat or do some shopping, try to remember to support your local businesses first. Instead of eating at a chain restaurant, eat at your favorite local restaurant, even if it means having to go a little bit out of your way. Otherwise, that local business may not be here after this crisis has subsided.
If we don’t support our local businesses today, they may not be here tomorrow. Let’s start today!
Ticketmaster sucks! I know this opinion is well documented all over the internet, but I wanted to add my own complaint.
Today, I was planning to purchase my ticket to see Cynic play at the House of Blues in Chicago. As I went through the checkout process, their ridiculous charges that nearly doubled the ticket price were more than I could take. Now, I know Ticketmaster has always been bad about these additional charges, but I didn’t realize they had gotten this bad:
| Ticket: |
$20.00 |
| Building Facility Charge: |
$2.00 |
| Convienence Charge: |
$8.70 |
| Taxes: |
$0.35 |
| Order Processing Charge: |
$4.60 |
| TicketFast Delivery: |
$2.50 |
| Total: |
$38.15 |
How in the world can a $20 ticket end up costing $38? It’s ridiculous! Now, I could have avoided the $2.50 TicketFast Delivery fee by choosing the Will-Call option, but that is more trouble than I wanted to deal with. What makes me angry about this charge though, is that they are charging me $2.50 to print the ticket off on my own printer!
Anyway, due to Tickemaster’s exessive greed, they will be getting $0 from me today and probably in the future as well. The only possible exception may be for shows in town when we can purchase the tickets at the box office. That seems to be the only way to not get completely ripped-off by Ticketmaster.
I’m a huge consumer of information. I love to learn as much as I can about nearly any topic and I’m good at it. My old boss used to ask me to research various issues outside of my normal area of expertise because he knew I could find an answer and usually find that answer quickly. At various social gatherings, friends often ask me questions when they are stuck for an answer because I usually know the answer or can find it fast. It’s something I’m good at and something I enjoy.
However, one thing I struggle with is sharing what I learn with others online. Offline, I’m OK but I know I consume massive amounts of information online and rarely give back any insights I may have gained from it.
So, one of my goals for 2009 is to start giving back. Getting back into this blog is a step in that direction. Got any questions?
Yet another year has gone by so here are the highlights:
- Having a baby (baby to come in 2009).
- Had a great time vacationing in San Diego.
- Harakiri is still moving towards that next album (a little slower than I’d like, but we’re still moving).
Hmmm…I’m sure there was more but that’s all that is standing out in my head right now. I’m looking forward to 2009. Some big changes are coming (the baby) and I know I’ll sleep less but it’s still exciting!
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