So I downloaded Skype ages ago, though haven't found someone to call yet. (Skype is a free computer programme that lets you talk to other users with a microphone, or you can even call a telephone from your computer.) I've been toying with the idea of buying some "SkypeOut credit" which lets you call a phone from your computer - not free, but very cheap.

While investigating the charges for such a thing, I ran across a reference for something called iCall. I'm downloading it now. Supposedly it would allow me to call any phone in the US for FREE from my UK computer. This would be very good, if it does what it says! The site is www.icall.com if anyone wants to check it out. And if anyone wants to be a guinea pig and receive a call, let me know! I'm not huge on phone chatting in general, but it's all in the name of science.

OK, I've just installed iCall, and the sample call during setup had quite a lot of lag. I'll definitely have to test it with someone who is used to computers and their flaws! I've discovered one plus that iCall has and Skype doesn't - with iCall you (my friend in the US) can call a local access number and then put in my extension and it will ring on my computer! If I'm not online, you can leave a voice mail and I can pick it up for free. :D So far (without having actually placed a call in either system) iCall is winning on features!

The access numbers are here: http://www.icall.com/access_numbers.php

If you want my extension let me know and we can give it a shot! :)

I got a lavender bath set. Oh well.

Merry Christmas everyone, or Happy holiday-of-your-preference. It's definitely Christmassy here, albeit no snow on the ground. Bitterly cold though, so if we DID have precipitation it would be snow! Or possibly ice.

Our tree went up on Saturday. It's so nice to have a tree glowing and a fire in the fireplace and a cat on my lap and a Martin next to me. Much nicer than having a cat glowing and a Martin in the (unlit!) fireplace and a tree on my lap and a fire next to me. Our tree is actually remote-controlled, it is the coolest thing. We bought a device called "Bye Bye Standby" which allows you to turn off electrical appliances without unplugging them. Did you know that if your toaster is not being used but is plugged in then it is using electricity? Ours used the equivalent of £40 per year. Ridiculous. We unplug it (ie "switch it off at the wall") now when we're not using it.

In the UK there are switches on the wall electricity plugs. You can turn the entire outlet on or off by the switch. People are encouraged to turn things off at the wall to avoid using unnecessary electricity - like the toaster. The Bye Bye Standby acts as a switch for items that are plugged into hard to reach places.

We also have our router and modem attached to one - so now if we are not actively using them we can easily turn them both off, and I can also reboot the router from the other side of the house if I need to!

On Sunday we went to Martin's mom's house for her Christmas party, and saw some people whom we knew (and in my case, some people whom I don't really know). It was surprisingly fun. On Monday Martin's mom and I went Christmas shopping in London and saw some of the lights and decorations. I took a video of the great window display at Debenhams: they had rigged up dozens of stuffed animals as marionettes and had them playing with various toys and decorations. I will try to upload the video to Photobucket or something.

On Wednesday I went spinning with some of the members of the London Guild of Weaving, Spinning and Dyeing. It was kind of fun but the average age of the members looks to be about 65, so their events tend to be catered for people who don't have to go to work. So the spinning circle is always on a Wednesday from 11 to 3. They say they want to increase their younger membership but they don't take into account the fact that people have to work full time... I don't think I will be joining the Guild next year, because I have seen next year's meeting schedule and most of the months involve guest speakers talking about their life's work. I don't enjoy those types of talks.

Today at work is our Secret Santa thing. Last year I got a manicure set. I don't remember EVER getting a nice Secret Santa present. Maybe this year will be different?

Things are definitely calming down here. Japanese is over (I think I bombed the oral exam but probably aced reading and writing, or at least b-ced it) and my final programming class is tonight. My project is 90% done so I'm not worried. My tutorial problems are done for tomorrow's lectures, today's Open Day went off without a hitch, and my experimental Fluids Study Hall was a great success with the five students who attended - although I think the other person who teaches fluids tutorials is not too keen on my rocking the boat!

At the end of last month I got a bonus in my paycheck for my efforts in admission and in fluids tutorials. The government got about 40% of it, but I got the rest, which was nice. It's already earmarked for a special concertina I have my eye on.

Next week I will get to go home at about 4:30 every single day, which is going to be fantastic. A very nice change from getting home at or after 10 PM two nights a week! Monday is an afternoon staff meeting and during the rest of the week I am taking First Aid Training. I did it at RIT too but it's long expired and mostly forgotten. My standard first aid response these days is a dash of Neosporin (not available in the UK!) and a Band-aid!

Happy December everyone! We don't get snow here (or rarely, anyway) but I still enjoy the Christmas season. For a long time I didn't, but the last few Christmases have been really great so I like it again now. :)

Things are slightly less frantic here now. My evening classes finish this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. I have a Japanese test on Tuesday night and a project to finish on Wednesday. I think I'll do OK with both, though I need to practice for the Japanese test.

I'm nearly finished with the Christmas quilt, and am hoping to finish it next weekend. A bit more quilting, some buttons to attach, and the binding. I'm also starting another weaving project, after visiting the Handweaver's Studio for supplies last Friday.

Next weekend is my weaving/spinning Guild meeting, which should be interesting because it's a competition meeting and not a listen-to-some-person-drone-about-their-life's-work meeting. When I have to pay £2.50 to attend I'd rather not listen to a life's-work story. Unfortunately the London Guild branch doesn't really have workshop meetings; instead they primarily invite guest speakers. There is a spinning group that meets every other week, but it's a Wednesday at 11 AM - what working person can make that regularly?? I'm using my last vacation day to attend on the 19th, to see what it's like.

I've gotten my hands on the latest Zelda game, it's for Nintendo DS and it's called The Phantom Hourglass. It's fun; I'm nearly all the way through it, I think.

Well, time to get offline and back to my craftwork! I'll take some photos of things and get them onto Flickr soon: http://www.flickr.com/photos/avamil/