Some people in the US may have heard about the storm this week. There were lots of various incidents as a result of all of the wind. Most long distance trains were canceled due to things falling on the track. A lot of internal flights were canceled, and some highways were closed because of 18 wheelers being tipped over by the wind. It was all a bit crazy. Luckily, we didn't feel any of it besides a bit of a chill. And we still have electricity as well, since there aren't any trees nearby to knock down lines. We mostly just watched things on TV, like a plane taking off diagonally because of the wind.

It has started getting a bit colder now, and it was a rainy week, though today is much nicer. Strangely it started sleeting for about 10 seconds in the afternoon, and then stopped. Didn't rain or anything though.

We've got good news about my dad's health. His tests for cancer came back negative for a second time. So everyone is very happy about that.

I've spent a lot of the week writing thank you letters to people who mailed me gifts, mailing out some last minute stuff, and other chores. Also, I got my passport back. I didn't get one of the new biometric ones with the fancy designs on the pages. I guess the government didn't meet their target of all passport centers issuing them by Christmas. The new passport still looks different than my old one. The old one has a glued on picture, while this one is digitized. The new one has watermarks and things too. It's exciting to have a new passport, but I need
to carry around the old one all the time too, because my residence permit is in it. I don't have to transfer it according to UK immigration, as long as I have both passports. I can transfer it, but it will cost me 200 pounds (400 dollars). It is very expensive, so I am loath to do so.

We have returned from our trip to the US, and I brought a chest infection with me. However, it seems that the same chest infection already struck Sheffield at the same time, so there is no risk of me spreading a global pandemic.

It was good to finally be back in our flat, especially after a long (though uneventful) flight. Of course, the light has gone out in the bathroom now (and the ceiling is 20 feet high so I can't get to it to change it). And the front of our kitchen drawer came off, so maybe it is not so nice to be home. :)

The other bad news was that my computer completely crashed right after I turned it on and I wasn't able to repair it. I've had to reload it from scratch. Luckily, there wasn't much on there that wasn't backed up. But it is still annoying.

Otherwise it is back to work and school. It's good to be doing something again.