A client changed one word in the English version of a report and asked me to leave it because it sounded more positive. The French says the work is planned; his word makes it sound as if the work has already been agreed. It is a small difference until somebody uses the report to promise a date. I have drafted an explanation with two examples, then reduced it because nobody needs a lecture before breakfast. What occupies me is whether he genuinely reads those two meanings as the same or simply prefers the stronger one. I can explain the wording. I cannot tell which question he is actually asking without making the exchange unnecessarily difficult.

On my morning walk I noticed I was keeping the same brisk pace even where the road became uneven, so my feet were doing small corrections while the rest of me kept pushing ahead. I slowed down near the corner and could feel how firmly I had been holding my jaw. No call to take, no headphones, and still my body seemed to be preparing an answer. By the time I turned back, my breathing was easier and my shirt was damp between the shoulders. At home I sat before opening the laptop and felt the warmth in my legs gradually settle. Then one child called from the other room and I stood up before I had even finished the glass of water.

My younger brother rang to discuss something from his nursing course and kept asking what I thought, although he plainly knew more about the subject than I did. I enjoyed that more than I care to admit. Usually our conversations reach the cost of something quite quickly, and I listen with part of my mind already doing arithmetic. This time he was excited and wanted an audience who remembered how hard he had worked to get there. I was proud of him, but also pleased to have a call that did not make me useful through my wallet. Afterwards I felt rather mean for noticing that distinction so clearly.