My grandma in Ohio has used brown lentils in her sauce for forty years and it's always perfect. The trick is to undercook them separately before adding them in, so they finish in the sauce without turning to mush. I actually prefer that softer, thicker texture it gives the whole dish, it makes it more hearty. A beige sauce just means you need to add more tomatoes and herbs, not that the lentils failed.

My friend got stranded in Berlin with a similar booking site issue.

Oh man, I once gave myself a reverse mohawk by ACCIDENT.

Yeah, that "slow start" thing is really common. I remember reading that the first Gundam movie did so badly they just gave up and sold the film to TV channels for cheap. Now look at it.

That "spec freeze" idea from amy is spot on. It's about setting a clear line, which we need in a lot of places. Like when my friend kept changing our weekend plans last minute, I had to say "final answer by Thursday or I'm making other plans." It worked. @jennifercooper, I get that some back-and-forth is normal, but constant rework isn't a process, it's a drain. The engineer needs to do their homework first, not use your drafted work as their scratch pad. A signed agreement makes the cost of their changes clear to everyone.