You had nine lives I can't believe they're all gone

I set out intending to get to the Jurong Bird Park, but it started to rain. That's normal enough, but I was hoping it would pass, which the heavy rain will often do, so I had lunch. After lunch, the rain hadn't let up, and the strap on my bookbag finally broke. (Specifically, the loop to which the strap is attached snapped.) I've been expecting this for months, but still had to go home to get the replacement bag, of the same kind but in almost pristine shape, and by that hour there really wasn't time to get back to the park. Maybe tomorrow, if it doesn't rain.

So instead I got to a computer store, where I noticed a pack of rechargeable batteries on sale, with the promotional item of a free battery charger. That is certainly sensible and no one could argue whether it was appropriate. Therefore since there was another rechargeable battery being promoted, that one would have to be silly. The other rechargeable battery pack came with a free pack of toiletries, meaning, a set of tweezers, a nail file, toenail clippers, and those little scissors used for trimming things. You can see how any rechargeable battery needs them.

When I bought a USB port and those DVD-R blanks I'd meant to get last week, the sales clerk reached behind the counter, took something I couldn't quite see, and tossed it in my shopping bag, with the assurance, ``It's free.'' That's comforting, but doesn't identify it. Even back home hasn't cleared much up; it's not listed on the receipt, and looking at it is ... sort of a plastic coaster with five semicircles of different colors on the outside. The cardboard backing includes a drawing of a flower stem, so the entire thing looks kind of like a plastic flower coaster. It's an ``Exclusive imation Premium'', free, but I'm still not sure what it is. Plainly, the promotions department has gone quite mad.

Trivia: In 1358 the tenants on London Bridge paid, in total, £160 4s in rent. Source: Old London Bridge, Patricia Pierce.

Currently Reading: Curse of the Narrows, Laura M MacDonald. It's really not a good idea to read a book about the Halifax Explosion and its aftermath when you do most of your reading during meals. I'll have to plan future reading appropriately.