A technician wants us to change where the vehicle keys are kept because he starts before reception opens. His suggestion is convenient for him and impossible to trace if three people use the same drawer. I am looking for an arrangement that still works when I am not there to ask who took what. A named collection the previous afternoon might be enough, provided the job and driver do not change overnight. That is the part to test. I have written a one-week trial beside his proposal instead of another permanent rule. He will have to record the return as well. Nobody ever forgets the part of a procedure that gets them out of the office.

An old catering customer called to ask if I would make lunch for a small event. She said nobody had matched my chicken since, which was a very effective opening line. I felt pleased before I felt anything else, and for a few minutes we were talking about food as if the closed business had simply been on leave. Then she asked what I would charge. I told her I no longer take orders and gave her another number. She was perfectly kind about it. Afterward I felt rather flat, not because I regretted saying no, but because I had enjoyed being remembered for something good from those years. Hayi, I can miss the cooking without wanting the invoices back.

Changed into my trainers before joining the taxi queue and could feel exactly where the office shoes had pressed across my toes. Usually I do the swap quickly, today I sat on the low wall for a moment and let my feet spread out properly. The left heel was tender when I first stood, then less noticeable once I was walking. By the time I got home I wanted tea but also actual food, not the handful of peanuts I had called lunch between two deliveries. My daughter warmed a plate while I washed my hands. Sitting at the table with both feet flat felt surprisingly comfortable. I had apparently been perching on the edge of chairs all day.