Author: Abby Normal
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Living in a Loop
Living through the Pandemic – A Journal (Part 3) By San San Lee I’m in a loop. Positive news, bad news, and never-ending uncertainty. The last 12 months have felt like a bad reality show, thanks to the onset of Covid-19, denials of its existence and gravity, quarantine, reopening, restriction, and shut-down cycles, topped off…
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Acceptance, Anticipation, and Hope
Holidays in Spain – A Journal By San San Lee Thanksgiving of 2020 has come and gone. Black Friday and Cyber Monday also had their turns. It’s December. We are in the midst of yet another holiday season and spike in COVID-19. Unlike other years spent at home in LA, I am in Barcelona. Growing…
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Coping with Uncertainty, an Unintended Gift
Starting My New Life – A Journal By San San Lee To weather the corona storm and sociopolitical ugliness in the US, we left LA for Barcelona at the end of August. We will be here until the spring of 2021, perhaps longer. I have always planned ahead and find uncertainty anxiety–provoking. We came anyway.…
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Corona Yo-Yo or Moderation
Much like yo-yo dieting, many parts of the country are on a yo-yo of closures By San San Lee Several years ago, I lost 50 pounds. After being diagnosed with high blood pressure, I realized it was time to take action. It was hard. It took me 11 months and I went down three sizes…
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Reopening – A Good Time for Paranoia
‘Life must go on. Unfortunately, we are left to figure out how to navigate the reopening on our own’ By San San Lee Birds are chirping, the sun is out, and the morning glories are flowering. Cool mornings and warm days – overcast skies as we move from spring to summer. A typical transition of…
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I Can’t Go Home Anymore
“I question whether I will ever be able to go back to the way we were” By San San Lee “I want things to be normal again and just go back to the way they were.” That’s how I felt as the coronavirus spread and cases of death rose, followed by stay at home orders,…
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What is “Service”?
A good friend of mine and I recently spoke on the question of what is “service”? He is in the hotel industry where he and his staff deliver one-on-one direct service while providing a very tangible product to customers. Based on the “real-time” exposure to his staff and the condition of the hotel product they…
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Whatever Happened to “Playing Nice”?
I recently closed a very difficult transaction for one of my clients – let’s call my client X Co. The transaction was difficult for a variety of reasons – tight time frame imposed by the other party (let’s call it Y Co), working in three time zones, inconsistent expectations of the parties, new personnel at…
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It’s a Beautiful Day
It’s a beautiful day. The sun is out, here is a cool breeze, and it is the weekend. I’ve had a good week – busy, but not too crazy. Clients seem happy. Yet it’s hard to relax and fully enjoy the moment. I am thinking about the next week, the next month, and the rest…
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Dealing with Business Cycles
Dealing with Business Cycles It’s spring. Things are a bit quieter. Sometimes this time of the year is slower and sometimes it is not. Yet, as things get slower, I use the opportunity to reconnect with business associates and friends that I have not spoken to in a while. In truth, reconnecting allows me to…