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Sunday, December 22, 2013

Christmas party no 2

It has been a crazy week at work. The upcoming holiday is long with many days off, and there were so many things we needed to do before we take vacation. We have done some fun things also. Thursday evening we had a second Christmas party, this time only for the employees at the main library (the party arranged by the social club is for all library employees at the university; some 30 institutions). This last party was also enjoyable, with very good food, a treasure hunt (through most floors of the building) and a difficult quiz (the theme was TV series - name all the characters of Dallas and other challenging questions).

Friday morning it took a while before my colleagues showed up for work, but most of them did. My department had the last meeting for the year, and it was more of a coffee break than anything else. We were treated to saffron buns, ginger snaps and chocolate.

Saturday my father and his girlfriend came to visit me. They brought the Christmas present I had asked for - a broom and a dustpan. Not that exciting, but that's what I needed. We also went to the nearest mall to eat lunch and check out some stores. It was crowded, since it's so close to Christmas, but we didn't have many errands so we got out of there after just a few hours. I took the opportunity to go grocery shopping also, since my father has a car.

Finally, I would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The next blog post will appear in January.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Weekend trip to Stockholm


The weather changed again pretty quickly. All snow was gone by Monday and it's now dark and rainy. It has been a very mild winter so far.

Saturday I got a cold, which was not surprising as many of my colleagues had the same. I stayed at home until Wednesday around lunchtime. I had two meetings booked that afternoon, so I just attended them.

Friday afternoon I went by train to Stockholm. I have relatives there (my mother's cousin), and I visited them over the weekend. My sister also visited, she had attended a course arranged by a school there, and she had the final exam Saturday. We really didn't do much in Stockholm, just some shopping. It was a nice visit, despite the rainy weather. I returned home Monday.

Today I'm at work, even though I shouldn't be. I had forgotten to book the train ticket for Christmas, and it was necessary to get that done. This year's Christmas present from work is a large platter (for serving food on) and a box of chocolate (already consumed).

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Christmas party in a snowstorm

Ok, now we got snow... It has been a terrible week weatherwise. Very high winds (35-40 m/s) and rain/snow. We are experiencing high water levels (ocean water is flooding streets in Malmö) and power outages. The traffic problems have been (and still are) very extensive. The only train line that is open is a short distance on the west coast line. I had to borrow the storage round car in order to make it home both Thursday and Friday. Everything was cancelled; trains, buses and ferries.

Despite this extreme weather, we had our Christmas party Friday evening. Several people couldn't come because of the weather. But those who attended had a very good time. We had rented a place in central Lund, and we all agreed that we should do that again. Very practical facilities, with a fully stocked kitchen. It's a lot of work, but we prefer to do our own party, rather than having it at a restaurant. We had a theme for this party, the 1970s. Many of the guests had taken this seriously and had dressed up in the style of that era. Very fun, and we gave a prize to the best outfit (a young guy in punk clothes). The social club turned 40 this year and we celebrated this by publishing a 1973-2013 chronicle. The booklet contains descriptions of the social club activities, like parties and excursions, and lots of photos. It was handed out at the Christmas party and was well received.

Today most of us rests. Not me, though. I had to drive to Lund to get the party things (candleholders and everything that was left over) back to the library and also pick up more forgotten things. It was very treacherous to drive, not because I had problems, but because of all the optimistic drivers who don't have spiked tires. I got stuck when a taxi couldn't get started again at a traffic light.

So, now I was thinking I would take the train home... Let's see how that goes. (According to the traffic authority website it should work).