Well, the people at work finally cottoned on to the fact that I'm back and operationally ready, so I have lots of work to do now --- not so much that I still can't check my favorite Pern bboard every few hours or so, but I definitely had more to do today than I did all week last week. Least favorite on my list of new things to do: I've been assigned to understudy our local budget coordinator. See, there's someone that quit at work and today was her last day, and she was the budget coordinator till she managed to sneak the job off to someone else this year, but she was going to back up the new budget coordinator, but now she's bailing, so there's just the budget coordinator and me, the newly assigned backup. Me --- the one who has trouble balancing her bank accounts every month and hasn't done it successfully since she was in college (the early years: the scrupulous years). I fear the worst for our budget.

I was actually not going to write tonight, because I got home and felt sleepy, mostly because I ate more than I should for dinner. Notes to anyone who frequents the restaurants around Siglap:

- The newly opened Padi's Nasi Padang is not as good as the restaurant it cribbed the concept from, the inimitable Rendezvous, and its food is nowhere as spicy as nasi padang ought to be. Okay, the chili sauce for the keropok is pretty darn good, but the rest just don't quite do it yet. Nevertheless, it was deceptively busy last night when we ate there with my parents.

- Onyx is still overpriced, but they have good set lunch and set dinner deals on the weekdays. That's the only time we eat there. Their pasta is better than Pasta Fresca's. How sad is it that a cafe-with-a-nail-bar makes better pasta than a restaurant with the word 'pasta' in its name?

- Onyx, however, does not telecast the World Cup. Conveniently, Cafe Cartel (right next door) does. Guess where most of the Onyx busboys and waiters spent their free moments?

Yes, the World Cup has begun. Yes, I have lost any control I ever had (slim as it was) over the television set between 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm (or later) every day. However, T mentioned in passing that the World Cup-dedicated cable channel in fact broadcasts the games around the clock, so if there's no need for him to watch it live, I can always try to fob him off on a repeat telecast.

So far I have watched bits of the opening ceremony (which was also fun to mock, not because I dislike Koreans/Japanese/the World Cup/football but because the opening ceremony of any event on this scale is eminently ludicrous), Senegal surprising France 1-0, Germany trouncing Saudi Arabia 8-0 (or was it 9-0?) and England forced into a draw with Nigeria (1-1) last night. T has watched all of these and is currently watching Italy vs. Ecuador. He's pretty much living on the couch this week.

Still no energy to recap the US trip. I am turning into such an old woman.