This week Colin passed the next level of his Japanese proficiency test. Our cocky co-worker Tom failed. That news made us happy. That made us feel bad. Last night Colin came home drunk. He`d been to a bar in the suburbs where we live. It`s difficult to work out which ones are hostess bars. He went in one that had `pub` in the name. The place was run by a mother and her two daughters worked the bar. Two old men were also in the bar and they sang karaoke. Colin was quite drunk so he kept telling me, "The daughters were nothing special but you know, if you were drunk." And he was drunk but he`s always faithful. In the bar they told him that he had bird shit on his jacket. He told them that he already knew. A bird had shit on his shoulder as he went to work in the morning. "I don`t believe in fate or any of that bollocks," said Colin, "But the universe is against me."