Primoday, Jaufre 27th 067.M42

Throne have mercy on me, I paid today for the excesses of yesterday eve. I knew that my debauchery had caught me up when I was woken by my alarm piercing my brain like the drill of a dental chirurgeon into a rotten tooth. And it went downhill from there.

An issue with the water systems meant my shower was ice cold, and I had to boil water on the stove to be able to wash my breakfast dishes. Nursing my sore head and seeking some analgesics in my bathroom cabinet meant I nearly ended up late for my shift - trying to run to catch myself up was an exercise in self-torture. And no less than I deserve, I should suppose. I made it to the floor with less than fifteen minutes to spare, with my cogitator managing to finally log in as the workday chimes sounded. I am thankful that He had mercy on me in that moment, it would show so poorly to be too hung over to make it to my shift on time in the first two weeks of my ascension.

I took some small succour from the idea that if I felt so wretched, surely Transcript-Adept Kader, who had drunk twice what I had consumed (despite her much smaller body mass!), would feel just as wretched if not doubly so… Or I would have taken some succor, had I not looked around from my desk only to see that infuriating grin spanning her freckled features! I do not know what manner of witch she might be, but she showed no sign of having upended herself in her cups last night. Where I could barely face the light of the lumens in the high gallery of the hall, she was laughing and chatting in her breaks like she was at a ladies' social! Next time we go drinking, I need to ask her what her secret must be.

My work for the week has been allocated. More transcriptions of vox transmissions between the Hadrigan Cartel and the Rogue Trader Lord-Captain Grazanias Drexor, conflicting trade offers from the Kai-Ten Conglomerate and House Franke. Each record is at least thirteen hours long, so just the three of them are going to take well over half the week - even if I don't take into account my other duties such as monitoring the Transcript-Adepts in my row and keeping an eye on the allocation of work between them. But I shouldn't moan. Three business meetings are nothing compared to what I've heard I can expect come the next Gathering. I should get my practice in now, so I'm ready for the onrush in two months' time. And having work to practice on in the interim means I hopefully shouldn't flounder come time to rush.

My row are continuing to go well, today I received the official error rate for last week - two point nine three percent. Since the last audit was undertaken, my team has improved their performance by less than half a percent, but it is still an improvement. If we keep working hard for this week, then we'll get that time off in the next! We just have to knuckle down and focus. And despite her irritatingly cheerful hang over proof nature and propensity to ask questions, the last couple of days have shown Madalene to be an accurate and fast worker. I simply hope she can keep up this performance, if she does she stands to easily become the best performer in the team. And she might yet set an example for some of the others on either side.

Thought for the Day: A life spent in the pursuit of glory is but a prelude to the noble death of a hero.

Addendum: Madalene asked me today how we were receiving this information from all of the trading cartels, marketing houses and various other institutions whose finances we oversee. She said that when she worked for the shopkeeper, she sent through a fraction of the information that we seem to have access to.

I've had to ask again for her to keep her questions to herself. We are handed the information from the Scribe-Master, who receives if from the Stack-Master, who receives it from Senior Stack Master Yevgem Arovak. It is our Duty to know this information, to type it into the cogitators as required. Knowing where the information comes from or how it was furnished to us is not our business. I hope she takes note of these warnings. I'd hate to have to discipline her for this.