The question he finally asks

I asked a question at work today. This should not need its own entry, which is probably why it does.

On the bus, I opened the notebook to the list from yesterday. Arrange inspection was still unchecked. So was call him before he calls me. The empty line for her was above both of them.

I copied the inspection onto today's page because the car was the reason I was on the bus again. I left the other two where they were. That made the new page look manageable without making the old one less true.

At work, a file came back with a note to use the corrected figure throughout. There were two figures it could have meant. One agreed with the source. The other made the total already in the file come out properly.

I could have asked the person who sent it back which one was corrected.

Instead, I opened the earlier versions. The first one supported the source figure. The next supported the total. A later one had both, in different places. I checked when each had been changed, then checked the calculation again in case one of the figures would become obviously wrong if I looked at it long enough.

It did not.

I chose the figure that made the total work and changed the first section. Then the first section no longer agreed with the source. I changed it back. The total stopped working again.

This was useful in the sense that I had now proved both versions had a problem. It did not tell me which problem we were supposed to keep.

I started writing a message that said, Just confirming which figure you want me to use.

That made it sound as if I knew and was checking a detail. I deleted it.

I wrote: There are two possible figures. I can make either version agree in one place, but I cannot tell which result we need to preserve. Which one do you mean by corrected?

I read I cannot tell twice before sending it.

The reply was: Use the source figure. Keep the old total beside the new one so the difference stays visible.

That was not either of the clean versions I had been trying to produce. Both totals had to stay in the file. I would have to check the surrounding text in each section, not just replace a figure.

It also meant the file could move.

I changed one section and sent it back before repeating the change everywhere else. The next reply said: Yes. That's what I meant.

The remaining sections are on tomorrow's list. If the answer had been simpler, I might have finished today. I had wanted to ask once, receive the right figure, and get the time back.

At the end of the day, I wrote:

Checked source.

Compared versions.

Corrected first section.

Those lines are true. They make the work sound private and methodical, interrupted only by the file being unclear.

I added: Asked which figure to use.

I went back to the reply. Keep the old total beside the new one.

I will need those words in the morning. I have only copied mine.