Mr B has been unable to access talkingcock.com this whole time (i.e. the lead-up to and follow-up from the political succession/handover business in Singapore). I couldn't today, either. Anyone know if the site is truly down, bona fide, or if it's just those of us in Singapore who can't access it?

That aside, August 12 was significant to me not so much because the country got a new Prime Minister, but because I finally got paid and my bank account is no longer teetering on the edge of bankrupty. Unlike Mr B, I was alas not the victim of bureaucratic incompetence, but of my own spendthriftedness. I resolve to do better this month. (Do not scoff.)

Of course, I might be doing better already if I hadn't agreed to do a girls' night out with Mrs B on Friday, while the boys were having their boys' night out (see Terz's cab-centric and hence rather scanty report of the proceedings). There was plenty of white wine for me, which mayhaps agrees more with my constitution than the traditionally preferred red wine, and abundant Absolut for Mrs B. Former students, who heard me recount on Wednesday night that I have indeed done the drunken descent into puking and sleep (though never both at the same time), may be relieved to know that no puking was involved on Friday, though there was plenty of sleep thereafter.

Lots of sleep last night too, though I suspect that it was residual fatigue from the workweek catching up with me, along with the pleasant gustatory effects of my mother's cooking.

I'm not usually one to post online quizzes, but this is from the The Guardian, so it's not your usual Quizilla annoyance: Gods and monsters quiz, in honour of the Olympics being hosted by Athens, naturally.

You scored 9 out of a possible 10
Gold medal
Either you are the reincarnation of Pelops himself, or you're a eight-year-old who has just finished a project on
Greece at school. Either way, you can expect a hero's reception when you step off the plane.

I knew all those days poring over Greek mythology condensed (and sanitised) into children's books would be good for something.