I’m not sure whether we’ve got a case of détente or mutually-assured destruction, but neither Ms Squeaky nor the man who confronted her have shown their face on my train again. Which suits me fine – I get to ride into work in peace and quiet each morning, safe in the knowledge that the most stressful part of my journey is working out the Sudoku puzzle in the Times.

So another week’s over at last. Got one bid out the door and was enjoying the brief lull in activity when I got dragged into another one this afternoon. Words that are never music to a consultant’s ears on a Friday afternoon: “Do you have some time free to help us get an urgent proposal for a priority client out the door?”

To a novice consultant, this means “would you like to get involved in an interesting piece of work with one of our most important clients, which we’ll surely win and for which you’ll receive praise and glory?”

To a jaded cynic like myself, however, this means “would you like to give up your weekend to do a rush-job for partners who will criticize you for not doing a perfect job (despite no direction, limited input, and impossible deadlines) for a deal that we’re probably not going to win anyhow, and piss off a ton of other partners as you try to do a credential-gathering exercise when most of them are relaxing at their weekend houses?” Uh, no thanks. (Jerome, I suspect quite a lot of this scenario looks familiar to you!)

Luckily I’m off to France tomorrow morning. I might have bent the truth just a little bit and implied that I was leaving this evening – so I promised that I would be happy to roll up my sleeves and help, but only until 5pm. Result: I seem like a good corporate citizen, I don’t have to put up with an irrational partner, and I don’t have to give up my weekend. Survival of the fittest, baby…

We’re off to visit Aude’s grandfather in Calvados this weekend, although no trip to France would be complete without a stop at the Wine Society to stock up – so we’re going to do the entire tour with a boot full of wine (they’re closed on Sunday, so we’ve got to buy everything on the way out rather than on the way back). I’ll take the camera along, so check back on Monday for the piccies.