Cell phone companies are not smart

Emily and I just changed cell phone plans. We're currently with "3" because they have Skype-enabled phones, which is great, 'cause we can take calls from anyone in the US at any time, and we can call or text each other for free by using the Skype function.

When we first got our phones, the smallest plan we could find (that included a Skype phone) gave us each 300 minutes/texts, 300 minutes for calling other "3" customers, and unlimited Skype for £15 each per month. The initial contract was for six months, which we just completed.

We decided last week that since we had been using nearly none of our minutes and texts, we should switch to a smaller, less expensive plan. So on Monday I called 3 and switched us to a plan that costs us each £9/month and gives us 100 minutes/texts, 100 "3" network minutes, and unlimited Skype. Sounds pretty normal right?

Well, here's the funny part: while I was on the phone with the guy, he said we could either change our old plan to the new one and we would pay a small administrative fee, or he could put it through as an upgrade, which would be free. Apparently, you can only upgrade when you've completed your minimum contract, which we had done, but the best part was that since it went through as an upgrade, today in the mail we received two brand new cell phones!

So we decide to pay this company £12 less every month, and they send us two £100 phones! So now we have two spare phones for people to use this summer while they're visiting, and after that, well, I've got no qualms about selling them...

Our first barbecue!

For the last two weeks, Cambridge has had some fantastic weather - highs in the mid-60s, breezy and sunny. So Emily and I decided we should try out our barbecue and enjoy an afternoon in the garden.

On the menu were hamburgers (with a little Jack Daniel's Barbecue sauce mixed in), steak fries (jacket chips, according to the bag), deviled eggs and British barbecue beans - which disappointingly ended up being beans in tomato sauce, just like every other can of beans in the UK. We still don't know what made them 'barbecue style'.

Emily's action shot of me grillin' it up

Except for the baked beans, it was a great American-feeling afternoon - all of the food was great, and having Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper on the side was a plus. We're definitely going to try this again, especially once we have more people around this summer =)

It only took seven months...

Well, Emily and I have been in Cambridge for seven months now, and we finally got around to being tourists around town. Last Monday we both had a day off for the Easter weekend, and so we decided to brave the crowded streets and visit some old buildings.

First up was King's College Chapel, which, if you've never been, is the iconic Cambridge building.

Here is Emily, attempting to 'squish' the chapel

This was Emily's first time to see King's up-close, and one of her first comments was "I would hate to have to get married here; this aisle is ridiculously long." It's an amazing building, and if you haven't seen it, you should.

Emily made me stand like this to make the picture "less boring"

From there we walked across the bridge and the backs and took some more pictures, like this one:

King's College Chapel, from across the Backs

and then headed next door to Clare College. The first thing we saw at Clare was the Clare Bridge, since we were on the opposite side of the river from the college. The Clare Bridge is home to the stone sphere which doesn't have the famous slice. (This is my preferred way to refer to the interest surrounding the incomplete sphere, because I don't think that something which is merely the space left behind by some other thing should be attributed any fame; there's nothing there, so how can it be famous? Rather, there is quite obviously a famous wedge of stone out there somewhere in the world, and Clare Bridge is well known for not having it.)

I like this picture, because I think it looks like Emily impersonating the world's oldest Pac-Man

We then toured Clare College, which is rather subdued compared to the other colleges nearby, but is still very nice, especially the Hall and the Chapel. They also have great gardens, and you can actually walk on the grass!

Another hundred years, and this path is going to be completely unusable.

From Clare we headed over to Trinity College, which ended up being pretty disappointing. We got to walk through the Great Court, which is pretty huge, but the Hall and the Library were closed to visitors. We did get to see the Chapel, which has statues of Newton, Tennyson and Bacon, which inspired Emily to tell me that if I ever have a life-sized statue of her made, it has to be out of white marble. -- Also, we're planning to go back sometime to see the Library --

The Wren Library -- could you imagine pulling an all-nighter here for a final?

Last on our list for the day was a visit to St. John's College. The Chapel is very beautiful, and we were lucky enough to hear the organist rehearsing when we went through. We weren't allowed to take any pictures though. We did, however, find an outside door that was either built for me, or a short bishop with a tall hat:

Matthew finds his Cambridge niche

We also saw the Bridge of Sighs, which - when I was much, much younger - I thought got its name from the fact that the lowest arch is shaped like a frown.

*sigh*

That pretty much concluded our day, except for one last photo that I think is pretty cool. This is a picture down a cloister, and at the far end you can see across the Bridge of Sighs to the door on the opposite side.

The closest we got to the Bridge of Sighs, thanks to the porter standing guard just of frame.

All in all, it was a very pleasant day. Now we just need to go punting and visit Auntie's Tea Shop, and we'll be true Cambridge tourists!