CNY eve

Heavy clouds gathering

The temperature has dropped significantly. Some stations say it's 3 degrees, others say its just 1 degree. Whatever it is, it's very very cold. Graupel has fallen at 11am and then rain. If it continues, it might snow tonight. Feels like the winters we used to have 20 years ago. Hope it wouldn't spoil our gathering for tonight. Just read on the news that there was heavy snowfall up in the north and also south in Hebron!! Nice start to the CNY  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/snow-blizzard-in-northern-israel-shuts-down-hermon-ski-resort-1.408651  and  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=254670 

There was a terrorist attempt at Qalandya checkpoint yesterday. A guy with an axe tried to attack but was shot by IDF soldiers. Hopefully this is not the first sign of more violence to come. The cold and rain should put anyone off the streets ... at least.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-security-forces-thwart-attack-at-checkpoint-north-of-jerusalem-1.408597  Another bad news is that IDF soldiers (who ride free of charge on public transport) will have to pay for their rides on the train on Sunday mornings. It's not fair as these guys earn little, travel long distances and sacrifice their lives to protect the country. What's a 10 shekel ride for the sacrifice they make?

So apparently my annual Chinese New Year dinner is the event to be and be seen. Everyone wants to get invited. Some are asking if they'll be invited, others are basking that they have been asked. Wow, never knew I was such a socialite in organising the social event of the year. People have been asking about the menu. It's going to be different from the usual menu offered to walk-in clients. For one thing, there'll be char siew pao and dumplings and Nien Gao. So who was invited? Well there's Val, Paul and John (all chinese), then Osvalda the librarian and Buscemi the professor, Johnny and Praveen (students), Pedro from Taiwan, and Loche another professor. And the disappointed rest will have to wait for next year to see if they'll get invited.

One thing good about Spring cleaning is you find alot of stuff you "lost" during the year. I found my library card this morning ... had been "missing" for almost a year! Also found some money that I stashed away in case of emergency. That's handy because it'll help pay for the dinner tonight.