I received my awesome secret santa gifts tdoay, much earlier than I had thought possible (I actually wondered if they were gifts I had ordered for other people, quite the surprise).

My gifter saw that I was into woodworking and messaged me asking what could be useful. I mentioned that my compass was a piece of crap and I could use another. Well he/she delivered and sent a monster 12" long compass that probably weighs 2 lbs. This glorious thing could make a circle wider than my torso (that's a valid measurement unit, right?). I made a few test circles with it in the shop (see the first picture), and it worked great... no slipping or slop in the movements, just what I wanted. Considering that I previously had this POS: http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-843-Compass-Scriber/dp/B00004T7R8 , the 12" monster is a huge step up.

He/She also sent me a book by my favorite author, Brandon Sanderson. I've been wanting to read this for a while, so I'm excited. It also came with a peek at the next installment of one of his other series, which I've been desperately waiting to read... quite a nice bonus.

So thank you kindly, mysterious redditer. You made my day with your generous contributions to my wood shop and reading entertainment. I'll have to send you photos of the compass in use on a project someday.

Edit: Oh shit, the copy of Elantris is signed by the author, Brandon Sanderson! That's a really nice touch, didn't notice until I went to start the book this evening. Thanks for the nice extra, reddit gifter.