Any last orders?

I'm leaving for New York on the 15th. Will be in Chicago until the 20th. Then back to New York and then back in good ol' London on the 28th.

This is a last call for addresses if you would like postcards/Christmas cards/Thinking of you in this freaking bitter cold weather cards!

This is also a last call for anyone who wants to meet up in New York/Chicago or wants presents from New York/Chicago! Nicole's birthday present is already on the list.

And a very desperate request for anyone who's able to house Lionel and I on the 15th for one night to avoid us having to spend the night at JFK airport, on transit to Chicago the next day. We sleep on floors, own a sleeping bag and are generally clean and well mannered.

Ah, the life of a backpacker on a shoe string. My granduncle sponsoring my air ticket and my EEE department tour guide income only just manages to cover my accomodation! How many more snotty A-Level kids do I have to entertain to earn enough money for a decent holiday? (Although in all fairness, they're not snotty... except the ones who would rather go to Oxbridge)

p/s: London folk - keep New Year's Eve free! And vote for a) Popiah party, b) Charlotte's various (and suspicious) finger food recipes or c) 2 mins in the microwave Iceland frozen food packs OR d) all of the above!