The Law of Procurement

The same thing again — from consistere, to stand together. Not intensity; sameness.

1. 01Acting in the same way over time, so the result can be trusted
2. 02From consistere — to stand firm, to stand together with itself
3. 03Free of contradiction between what is said and what is done
4. 04Unchanging in the essentials while the days change around them
5. 05Regular enough that others can plan on her
6. 06Even in quality — the tenth is as good as the first
7. 07Compatible with itself; no part working against another
8. 08Steady in practice rather than dramatic in effort
9. 09Repeatable — the reason a thing becomes obtainable at all
10. 10The plainest and most underrated form of power

To level a thing — to take the humps out until it lies flat and true and can carry weight.

1. 01To make level, flat or smooth
2. 02To make equal — to bring two sides into balance
3. 03To settle a score or square an account
4. 04To take the spikes out of a week so the work can be measured
5. 05To spread effort evenly rather than in bursts
6. 06To smooth the surface so something can be built on it
7. 07To bring to a uniform standard
8. 08To steady a thing that has been running hot and cold
9. 09To reconcile — to make even what was uneven
10. 10To make the ordinary day carry the same weight as the good one

The getting of a thing, completed. Until it is obtained, it has not been reached.

1. 01The act of obtaining; the coming into possession of a thing
2. 02From obtinere — to hold on to, to keep hold of
3. 03Attainment — reaching what was aimed at, in hand
4. 04The point where an aim stops being an aim
5. 05Acquisition made properly, through effort and not accident
6. 06The successful end of a pursuit
7. 07What is actually in the house, as opposed to what is expected
8. 08Procurement in the singular: this thing, got
9. 09Achievement that can be counted, weighed or shown
10. 10The proof that consistency was real

Continuing without lapse — from constare, to stand with. Preserving is the better part of this word.

1. 01Occurring continuously over a long period without a break
2. 02From constare — to stand firm, to cost, to hold its value
3. 03Unchanging in loyalty and in practice
4. 04Preserving — keeping a thing in being rather than restarting it
5. 05That which does not lapse when nobody is watching
6. 06Enduring through interruption, weather and mood
7. 07Fixed and invariable, so everything else can be measured against it
8. 08Persevering — the same woman in the long middle of a thing
9. 09Steadfast in a way that costs something to maintain
10. 10Consistency grown up into endurance

To obtain by labour and by desert — what is earned cannot be taken back the way a gift can.

1. 01To obtain money or reward in return for labour or service
2. 02To gain something by merit — to deserve it
3. 03To acquire through work rather than through luck or favour
4. 04To bring in — the income a house actually runs on
5. 05To become worthy of a thing before receiving it
6. 06To gain a reputation by conduct over time
7. 07To make a return on effort, so effort compounds
8. 08To pay for a possession with something of yourself
9. 09To secure by right rather than by permission
10. 10To turn constancy into revenue

The one who obtains — not a woman who got something once, but the office of getting.

1. 01One who obtains; the person through whom a thing is got
2. 02A procurer in the honourable sense — she sources what the house needs
3. 03The one others go to because she comes back with it
4. 04A getter who also keeps — obtinere means to hold on
5. 05The office rather than the event: obtaining as her work
6. 06One who can be trusted with the errand of a whole estate
7. 07She who converts constancy into supply
8. 08The rung of the ladder a woman climbs by obtaining
9. 09One who earns her way into possession
10. 10The woman a thing is obtained through

Sticking together — from cohaerere, to cling as one. Every part of the estate holds every other part.

1. 01Characterised by sticking together; forming a united whole
2. 02From cohaerere — to cleave together, to be joined throughout
3. 03Holding together under load without separating
4. 04Unified — the house, the work and the money agree with one another
5. 05Well-integrated, so nothing leaks at the seams
6. 06That which keeps a group or a life from coming apart
7. 07Internally consistent across every room of the estate
8. 08Bound by an inner force rather than an outer clamp
9. 09Cohesive learning — knowledge that joins to what she already holds
10. 10The quality that makes keeping possible at all

To continue to exist — from indurare, to make hard. Not gritting through; the preserving quality itself.

1. 01To continue in existence; to last
2. 02From indurare — to harden, to make durable all the way through
3. 03To remain in being when conditions argue against it
4. 04To preserve — to keep a thing safe from lapse or loss
5. 05To bear a hardship without being changed in the essentials
6. 06To persist as a mastery rather than as a survival
7. 07To outlast — to still be here when the season turns
8. 08To hold a standard over years, not weeks
9. 09To carry weight without deforming
10. 10To make permanent what was merely started

Many things obtained and kept — the plural is the point: procurement that accumulates.

1. 01Things obtained, taken together — the holdings of a house
2. 02Attainments that were kept rather than spent
3. 03A plural estate: many gettings, each one still in hand
4. 04The record of what constancy has brought in over years
5. 05Provision stocked, so the house is never bare
6. 06Acquisitions that cohere — they belong to one another
7. 07The increase that comes from obtaining and not losing
8. 08What she can hand to someone else because she still has it
9. 09Procurement matured into inheritance
10. 10The perfected form of the single obtainment she began with