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.

Spent too long preparing dinner in shoes I should have taken off when I got home. By the time the sauce was ready my feet were hot and my hips felt stiff, despite the watch having congratulated me several times for standing. Apparently standing motionless while chopping is not the same as going for a walk. My partner finished the vegetables while I sat down, then I ate too quickly because I was hungry and impatient with my own excellent meal. The usual mild burning arrived later. I know this sequence. It did not improve through being familiar. We went for a gentle walk and I was mostly comfortable by the time we came back.

The new officer disagreed with me in a meeting and had the figures to support it. I was pleased, then briefly irritated that she had found the point I had missed, then pleased again once I stopped being ridiculous. She didn't make a performance of it. We changed the recommendation and moved on. Later she thanked me for backing her explanation, as though I had done something generous by accepting arithmetic. I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. It is satisfying to work with someone who can argue clearly without turning disagreement into a personal emergency. I told my partner this and he asked whether I was describing myself. Not entirely.