Task Description: Parrot Ticket #731 requests the addition of functionality to get the current user ID number. A prototype for this functionality was added in the get_user_id branch, but the feature has not been tested.

Steps to Complete:

1. Create a fork of parrot/parrot on Github
2. checkout the get_user_id branch, and examine the changes made
3. Test the new functionality, and write unit tests to prove that it does what it claims to do
   1. If it does not work, fix it.
4. Update the status on the trac ticket, and request that the branch be merged to master.