Absolutely fantastic. I had obviously seen snow before (Portugal is a southern country, but it can get to subzero temperatures in the countryside and in the mountains!…), but since it only snows in Porto every 15 years or so (and even when it actually snows it is never that intense, just a few flakes that melt immediately when they hit the ground) I saw snow falling for the very first time. And it was magical, I was grinning from ear to ear 😀 .

Actually, I was a bit fortunate, as it only started snowing heavily when I was already inside my office – I still had to deal with the ice on my driveway (grabbing the bicycle in one hand, and the handrail in the other, while slowly and carefully climbing up the ramp out!… 🙂 ), but that was about it. And obviously, this being England, the public transportation systems grounded to a halt – my housemate actually had to get a cab in order to get to work, there were trains cancelled and major traffic jams along the motorway (it pays off to live close to campus! :D). Hopefully next week I’ll be able to make it to the airport to get my flight to Porto, fingers crossed… (I will give the whole day to get there, though, just to be safe!)

OK, any major news? Well, surprise surprise, Santa came earlier to my place and I got myself a shiny Galaxy S II (a review to follow, perhaps this weekend, time-permitting). On contract, with 10% off due to a student discount, I’m paying only £22.5 for 2 years, which is not too bad, especially when considering what the plan offers and that I paid nothing for what is still a very good smartphone (actually, all the images of this blog post were taken with it – and it films in 1080p, which I found pretty darn good 😉 ).

The work is, somehow, progressing (at least, that’s what I say to myself every day after staying up late in the lab ramming my head against the wall to make my code work). And today I got myself a new desk for my lab, so now I can work comfortably in my computer (properly stocked on tea, obviously). And next week I will have my last lab session of 2012, with plenty of lab report marking to follow (yay!). That, along with an article I will have to write for a conference proceedings will keep me busy while recovering from my surgery and hopefully keeping myself from being terribly annoyed of not being able to row when the river and the club are so close by!… 😛