I played cricket after missing two weekends and forgot that remembering a shot is not the same as having the legs for the run afterwards. Nothing dramatic, just reached the other end much more out of breath than I expected, while my teammate offered his very useful commentary on my fitness. Today getting up from the office chair needs a small advance notice to both thighs. I did walk downstairs at lunch instead of staying with the laptop, and the first few steps were stiff before it eased. The younger fellows asked if I had been to the gym. I said competitive sport, which sounds better until somebody asks about my score.

I am preparing for my appraisal and the draft is again full of team results, with my own work hidden inside them. The manager should know who handled those escalations, but that sentence has not helped in the last two promotion cycles. I can clearly explain a fault to an angry client; apparently explaining why I could lead a team is much harder. Wrote down three examples of training freshers and kept wanting to add that anyone would have done the same. Anyone did not. That sounds arrogant even here, but it is also accurate. My wife has offered to read the draft after dinner and I am trying not to soften every line before she sees it.

My daughter asked me to put the phone away because she hadn't reached point three of her school story. I laughed first, as if she was giving me a performance review, but she didn't laugh with me. Felt quite ashamed then. I had heard the beginning and was waiting for a reply from work, so in my head I was doing both jobs properly. From her side I was looking down while she talked. I kept the phone in the bedroom and asked her to start again, but she said the first part was over already. We did eventually get to point three. I am glad she tells me directly, though it was not pleasant hearing how little attention I had actually given her.