I got a letter from my secret santa a while ago saying my prezzie would come soon and to my great pleasure he shipped it soon afterwards. I just wanted to say that it might take a while to get to me in The Netherlands, because I've been blacklisted. I.e. all my packages go through customs and are opened. :( This also means it takes 30 days extra to reach me. Tracking says it's in customs now, I'm not expecting it before February..

Update 26 Jan 2010:

So the mailman came by today with a huge package... with a Reddit alien on it! I had to pay 45 euros to get it; the import taxes, as predicted. However, I didn't expect it to be this much. It's 17 euros just for the customs check itself. Apparently the thing inside was worth 28 * 5 (VAT = 20%) = 140 euros! (I couldn't help calculating it) WTF! Somebody broke the rules..

The customs form said "Vacuum cleaner, other". I was dense enough to not be able to image what the hell was in it (A Dyson?). Who would think sending me a vacuum cleaner would make a great gift?

So I open it up.. And got this great letter:

"Please forgive my blunder, In delaying so long your plunder, I had many dreams and visions, And with them many revisions, Longer and harder each day I thought, Until one day on what I bought, A gift I know I personally enjoy, Though I broke the rules with this small toy, Of timing, and budget en Christmas spirit, I hope you think of me every time you hear it! ~VROOOM~ - ChaOSmaker69"

Well, I don't think you broke the Christmas spirit. It's a Roomba!! I love it!! Although there is no way I deserved this..

This specific Roomba is for heavy duty stuff; sweeping up coarse materials. Like one would find in workshops or student rooms.. I am a CS student by chance and would love to try to program the little bugger.

I haven't tried it yet because I'll have to get a power transformer first. In Europe outlets have a higher voltage than in the U.S. (230 instead of 110).

I feel kind of guilty for receiving such a great present. I really, really like it. Thank you!!