若い職員の提案を、慣れてからでいいと返してしまった。あとで資料を読み直すと、手順を省きたいのではなく、確認事項を見落としにくく並べ替えたいという話だった。長く同じやり方をしていると、変える説明を聞く前に危ない点を探してしまう。用心は必要だが、それだけでは話が進まない。明日、提案の意図をもう一度聞く。採用すると決めたわけではないし、変えられない部分もある。それでも、読んでから答えるのは普段こちらが教えていることだ。言い直すのを大げさに考える必要はない。そう思うわりに、最初の一言を帰り道で何度か練習した。

لاہور والی بیٹی کہہ رہی ہے امی کچھ دن آ جائیں، میں کیلنڈر لے کر بیٹھی کہ کون سی تاریخ کی چھٹی مانگوں۔ تنخواہ کے بعد جاؤں تو پوتے کی فیس نکل جائے گی، پہلے جاؤں تو ٹکٹ شاید سستا، پھر یاد آیا بہو کے ہاں مہمان آنے ہیں اور میں نے کھیر کا کہہ رکھا ہے۔ ہر تاریخ پر کسی اور کا کام نکل آتا ہے، اپنے سفر کی تاریخ بس نہیں نکلتی۔ بیٹی کو فون کیا حساب سمجھانے تو بولی آپ صرف دن بتائیں، باقی ہم کر لیں گے۔ اتنا آسان ہوتا تو کب کی بتا دیتی! اب کیلنڈر پر تین دائرے ہیں اور مجھے خود یاد نہیں کون سا جانے کا تھا۔

I'm comparing two ovens for the kitchen renovation and have reached the stage where more information is producing less certainty. One has features I would use twice a year and then resent cleaning; the other fits the space better but has controls I dislike. My partner asked which would cook our actual dinners. An irritatingly useful question. I removed four columns from the comparison and the decision became fairly obvious. Then I found another model. I have not added it yet. There should be a point at which researching a purchase costs more evening than the difference is worth, but I would prefer somebody else to decide when I've reached it.

I keep returning to one wrong note from Sunday, which nobody has mentioned and probably nobody noticed. I know precisely what happened: I looked toward the choir a fraction too soon and my hand carried on with an older version of the passage. The explanation is available, the correction is easy, and still the mistake keeps volunteering itself while I do the dishes. Meanwhile I can barely recall the long stretch that went well. If a pupil brought me this account, I would have something sensible to say about proportion. As my own pupil I am less receptive. I have played the measure correctly several times now. At this point it may simply be a very boring thought looking for attention.

new kid on prep got through the rush without someone jumping in to finish for him and kept pretending it was no big deal. i know that face, i probably still make it. told him his station looked good and he grinned for half a second before getting all professional again. felt good watching him settle in, especially because the chef in my first kitchen wouldve found one dirty corner and made that the whole story. then i got home and my roommate had eaten the leftovers id labelled, so my generous spirit lasted exactly as long as the drive. he said he thought the label meant it was available. it was my NAME, man. incredible interpretation.

Mi mamá mandó una foto del almuerzo del puesto y me dio una alegría rara ver el seco en la misma olla de siempre. Le respondí que me guardara, sabiendo que no iba a llegar, porque desde donde vivo y con la salida del restaurante se me hace tarde. Después me quedé medio bajoneado. No extraño que me cocinen solamente; extraño sentarme ahí sin tener que escoger entre verla, dormir o lavar el uniforme. Rosa me dijo que podía ir otro día y sí, tiene razón, pero yo estaba extrañando ese almuerzo, el de la foto. No se lo expliqué muy bien. Le mandé un audio a mi vieja preguntando cómo estuvo la venta.

Bought a cabinet for the laundry room and now I'm trying to explain to him why the shelves need to go in a particular order before anything goes back. He says the detergent is one bottle, it can sit on any shelf. But there's also the spare detergent and the basket and the stuff we never use except when we can't find it. I drew the arrangement on the cardboard box. Then realized I hadn't allowed for opening the detergent cap under the shelf above. I swear to God, I measured everything but the hand that has to use it. Haven't shown him the revised drawing. He'll enjoy that too much.

Mon fils a voulu me lire son texte pour le cours d'arabe. J'étais content qu'il vienne me le montrer sans que sa mère le demande, mais j'ai eu peur de ne pas savoir quoi répondre après. Il attendait un avis, pas seulement que je signe une feuille. Je lui ai dit quel passage m'avait plu, celui où il décrit son camarade qui arrive en retard, et il a ri parce qu'il avait pensé à un vrai garçon. J'ai été soulagé de l'entendre rire avec moi. Après son départ je suis resté fier, puis un peu triste aussi, sans raison claire. Mon père aurait trouvé les mots exacts pour parler de ce devoir. Moi j'avais seulement dit que c'était bien vu.

Un homme que j'accompagne m'a dit qu'il avait attendu mon rappel toute la veille et j'ai senti la honte arriver avant de retrouver dans ma tête ce que j'avais promis. J'avais bien promis. Je me suis excusé, sans lui raconter tous les autres qui avaient eu besoin de moi, mais j'en avais envie, pour qu'il voie que je ne l'avais pas oublié par mépris. Il était poli, c'est presque ce qui m'a fait le plus mal. Le soir ma femme a vu que je parlais moins. J'ai dit que j'avais raté quelque chose, elle n'a pas fait de leçon. Je lui en suis reconnaissant, et je suis encore triste d'avoir été pour cet homme un téléphone qui ne sonne pas.

Hands were properly cold after waiting outside a farmhouse while the customer went to find the spare key he was sure existed. By the time he came back empty-handed I could barely feel the little bits in my pocket, kept grabbing the wrong thing. Sat in the van with the heater on my fingers and got that horrible hot sting as they warmed up, then suddenly everything felt normal again. Funny how much I need the ends of my fingers to tell me what's happening. They look like nothing, bit of grubby skin, but the job's rubbish without them. Had a hot sandwich afterwards and burnt the roof of my mouth because apparently the rest of me hadn't got the message about temperature.