A version they could use

The file was still open at the section I had marked.

I opened the earlier reply beside it. Use the source figure. Keep the old total beside the new one so the difference stays visible.

That had been enough to correct the first section. It had also created more work in every sentence that had been written as though there would only ever be one total.

I worked through the remaining sections in order. Where both figures already appeared, I read the words around them. Where only the old result appeared, I checked the source before changing it. The work was slower than replacing one number everywhere, but I had already learned what that shortcut would miss.

The last section had both totals in the right places. The sentence above them still called the old one current.

I changed the sentence and read the section again.

Then I searched the file for the old total. Most of the results showed it beside the source figure, the way the reply had said. One result was in a note I had not changed. I corrected that too.

There was no next unchecked section.

I attached the file to a message. My first draft said only that the remaining work was done. The file would show the corrections without an account of how I had made them.

I added one sentence.

I used the source figure and kept the old total beside it, as you told me. The remaining sections are finished.

I read the message once. The second sentence was a status. The first was also true.

I sent it before I could turn the first sentence into a description of everything I had checked.

The reply came after I had moved to something else.

Got it. I'll use this version.

There was no comment on the question I had asked or the time the correction had taken. They had a version they could use. That was the purpose of the file.

I closed my copy.

When I got home, there was water in the bowl beneath the sink. I emptied it, wiped the bottom of the cupboard, and checked the repair messages.

The last one still said they would send the next opening when they had one.

The file was no longer waiting because I had left part of it unfinished. The sink was still waiting on an answer I did not have.

I put the bowl back under the joint.