Well, 2008 is over, which is good, because it brings us another step closer to leaving the "naughties" or whatever this stupid decade is supposed to be called and joining the, errr, tens. Personally I can't wait for the forties where we all get to be in black and white and enjoy quaint wartime propaganda and rationing. I won't talk about the traveling thing, because you've heard all about that enough already, but yeah, this year, on the 28th of June, I stepped off a plane to begin real life again in the UK. Traveling was interesting, and for the most part, pretty good, but I was very, very glad to be back. Looking out of the window on the ride home and seeing how green England was really made me very happy indeed. So, of course, did my wonderful girlfriend Kristy, who met me at the airport and pampered me and was generally brilliant. I spent the first week or so back in absolute bliss, relaxing at my mum's house with Kristy, being fed and watered and recovering. I would have enjoyed the summer a lot more if it didn't feel like a mad dash, but unfortunately putting your life back together again is a big task, so I didn't get to do a lot of what I'd usually get up to in Summer: juggling in fields, parties, etc. Not having students around makes Summer a little harder to enjoy because it feels like less of a break. Around the end of July I started a job at Optimor working on BillMonitor, a mobile phone price comparison engine. I started out as a java programmer, but quickly took up a python job when one of our programmers vanished off the face of the earth, and ended up taking on even more responsibility as our workforce decreased in size. It's been a hard job but for the most part it's been pretty cool and it's been an incredible learning experience. When I got my job, I had nowhere to live in Oxford, so I spent 3 weeks sleeping on the floors and couches of Simon, Plau and Kate, and Maisey and Sam. I am indebted to all of them for their amazing hospitality - thanks guys! After that I found a house with Simon, Anya, and Rich. It's a lovely house with lots of bare floorboards, a garden, a conservatory and a lovely lounge. We do a lot of cooking and we generally have a nice time of things. The house manages to stay more or less warm through Winter and we often seem to be very grown up. I spent most of my wages from it buying all the things I was missing: a bed, a new phone, a new PC... The stuff you'd expect, really. I've now pretty much got myself back on track and I'm starting to save some money, but unfortunately pretty much every penny I earned over the course of 2008 went into necessary purchases. The Winter malaise has hit me hard this season and I've felt somewhat stifled over the last few months, but finally it seems that Spring is coming and my 2009 can start properly. I swing from hopelessly creative to paralysed by writer's block on an almost daily basis, but I'm hoping that this year a good Spring and Summer will sort me out. New year's resolutions include: go out more, learn about whisky, get more things done.