Never a daal moment

A 20-second conversation led to a day of scrambling to answer demands for information. Overall positive developments afoot but indicative of how internal dynamics are often the most time-consuming aspects of being at work.

One result was being late for lunch with old friends Amy and Roger. We made our usual passive aggressive exchanges, and likely led Roger's colleague Stacey, who we don't know but who Rog invited, to make a complaint about our behaviour to the building management.

Spontaneous evening curry with Robin and Michelle, which was much raucous fun. Why does Indian, above all cuisines, lead to that over-stuffed feeling? Carb-tastic pasta and pizza; walking out of the restaurant is still easy. Lashings of nachos and tortillas; spritely enough to go for a jog. Naan bread and poppadoms; having to be wheeled out clutching stomach in agony.

We talked about the lives we have led (living in Cambodia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo) and places we've travelled and how this has shaped our attitudes to relationships. It was a really interesting Friday evening.