Communication gap

I'm really going to have to learn how to communicate better. I'm obviously doing something wrong.

If you were to get this message from me, setting up the time for an interview, what would you think?

"Shall we say 6 p.m.?"

We showed up at the interviewee's house at 6 p.m. on the dot and they had expected us at 8. Not only that but the spouse seemed somewhat disgruntled because there were other things that they had planned to take care of between 6 and 8, when they expected us.

I apologized profusely, sure that the mistake was mine, but still thinking that I would not have made an interview appointment for 8 p.m., knowing that I would have to drive 80 miles home after it was over.

But, no matter. We got that settled and had a great interview.

The exchange with today's interview subject included this: "I'll be on the road by 10, but I'm meeting Alison at the Grand Lake and we'll find a restaurant somewhere around there. I'll call you when I get to Oakland." The interviewee then suggested a Japanese restaurant near where I was meeting Alison.

When we arrived at the appointed place of the interview, there was surprise because the interviewee had no idea there would be two of us coming and thought that the interview was going to be conducted at the Japanese restaurant.

Sigh. Did I not say "Alison and I" and did I not specifically say that "we" were going to have lunch, "not YOU and I of course, but Alison and I" ??

As I said, I need to learn how to communicate better. Tomorrow we are doing an interview at 11 a.m. at the home of the subject. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to screw that one up.

However, despite the mix-up, the lunch was FABULOUS. We had been recommended a Japanese restaurant in Oakland called Mijori. One of those little neighborhood hole-in-the-wall places that looks like a hundred other places, but this was so good. Alison had a rice bowl, which looked wonderful.

I had a bento box with my choice of ingredients. I chose beef gyoza and tempura and it was amazing.

Everything was flavorful and the fried stuff was very light, not greasy-heavy at all. Best of all, neither lunch cost more than $10. Definitely the high point of the day.