I had a dream. I would hand an agent a spec, close the laptop, make a sandwich, and come back to finished, tested, committed work.

Here's what actually happened. I handed over the spec. I made the sandwich. I came back. The agent had written one paragraph and was asking, very politely, whether I approved section 1 of the design.

I approved it. I sat down. I waited.

Section 2. Approve? Yes. Section 3. Approve? Yes. The spec? Yes. The plan? Yes, obviously, it's the plan I just watched you write. And how would I like the plan executed? However is fastest, please, I beg you.

Then it started building. One task. Then a review of that task. Then a fix for the review. Then a re-review of the fix. Then the next task. I watched a progress log scroll past like a train at a level crossing: no stopping it, no getting past it, and no idea how many carriages were left.

I'd refresh the terminal. Still on task 3. I'd answer an email. Still on task 3. I'd start a second sandwich purely to have something to do with my hands. Task 4, under review.