Last Wednesday, I arrived at the office to find I'd left my keys at home so could not lock up my bike. Later, I interviewed Lord Browne over lunch and afterwards couldn't find the tag I had been given for my coat. And then, on the way back, I started drafting the interview in my head and missed my stop on the tube.
上周三，我到公司时发现，我把钥匙拉在家里，不能锁自行车。稍后，我在午餐时间采访了布朗勋爵，然后看到我大衣上别的饰物不见了。接着，在回程的地铁上，我开始在头脑里草拟采访稿，结果坐过了站。
　　
All three mishaps took time out of the day and were bad for morale, but at least I did the first and last unobserved. The second was done with the former head of BP quietly watching as I squatted on the floor of the restaurant and rummaged in vain through the squalid contents of my handbag.
这三件糗事既浪费了时间，也影响了情绪，但起码第一件事和第三件事都没有让人看到。而第二件事发生时，我蹲在餐厅地板上，在手提包里一堆杂七杂八的东西中徒劳地翻找，英国石油的前首席执行官则在一边静静地看着。
　　
These small lapses took place against the background of a much bigger lapse. For hours last Wednesday (and on most other days too) I sat at my desk feeling that I was hard at work, whereas what I was actually doing was e-mailing, looking up random things on Google, reading assorted blogs and talking to people. I faffed and dithered, and ended up writing what I had to write in a mad, headlong dash.
这些小失误发生的背景，是一种严重得多的怠惰。上周三（其它日子也大抵如此），我在桌子前坐了整整四个小时，感觉自己在努力工作，而其实我是在收发电子邮件、在谷歌上随意浏览、看各类博客、与人交谈。我无事瞎忙，慌张失措，最后才匆匆忙忙地赶写必须完成的稿子。