Here are some upcoming festivities, just in case you want to jump into them now – please feel free to throw in others!

Vietnamese New Year Tet Festival
Santa Clara Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95111
Saturday, February 4, 10 a.m.-midnight.
Sunday, February 5, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
$5 Children, $8 Adults

San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade
Saturday, February 11, 5:30 p.m.-8 p.m., RAIN or SHINE
The parade starts at Second and Market streets and ends at Kearny and Jackson streets.
Free, but bleacher seats are $30 (plus s/h charge on total order), children under 2 are free.

Chinese Community Street Fair
Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Grant Avenue, from California to Broadway.
Sunday, February 12, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Pacific Avenue from Kearny to Stockton.
Free.

If we are heading downtown next year for the festivities, we are driving! Our plans to catch a cab from downtown SF at 2am on New Year’s Day didn’t go so well, and we ended up on BART instead.

I will be indoors mostly, keeping out of the rain. Heading over to a black and white gala at the Federal Reserve building. I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to buy a formal dress until this last week’s search. My last-minute answer – the Jessica McClintock outlet at 16th and Carolina in San Francisco. If you head over there anytime soon, all holiday dresses are 70% off of $65-$150 prices.

So what are everyone else’s plans for the evening?

Bicycles that were specially made for children with cerebral palsy, brain injuries, paralysis, blindness, etc., were stolen from their storage room in Berkeley. While detectives are following their own leads for investigation, officials of the nonprofit which owned those bikes, Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP), are scoping eBay and Craigslist for those bikes.

If you find anything, contact BORP please!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, BART became the first transportation system across the nation to offer wireless communication.

San Francisco stations where wireless devices work:
– Embarcadero
– Montgomery
– Powell Street
– Civic Center

San Francisco stations where wireless service is planned:
– 16th Street Mission
– 24th Street Mission
– Glen Park
– Balboa Park

East Bay stations where wireless service is planned:
– Oakland 12th Street
– Oakland 19th Street
– Lake Merritt
– North Berkeley
– Berkeley
– Ashby

Courtesy of this SF Chronicle article.

What does this mean for our BART ride? Extra conversations overheard…

But what a deal – $2 for two hours of parking on the SF side – less than what most parking meters in the rest of the City charge. Parking is free on the northern side of the bridge, but you’ll need $5 to cross back over if you’re from the City. There’s also a free muddy lot just down the road on the SF side if you’re brave enough to leave your car there unattended. And if you are public transportation-inclined, the 28 MUNI bus drops you off right there.

Also, don’t forget to bring a jacket. SF is a very windy city, especially on the Bridge…

The film dives into the deeply personal stories and everyday lives of families and communities struggling to fight a goliath. A working mother is forced to turn to public assistance to provide healthcare for her two small children. A Missouri family loses its business after Wal-Mart is given over $2 million to open its doors down the road. A mayor struggles to equip his first responders after Wal-Mart pulls out and relocates just outside the city limits. A community in California unites, takes on the giant, and wins!

Find a screening near you: Wal-mart: the High Cost of Low Price, or you can even host your own.