Query timing of sub clause

Question

I can’t quite understand why the subordinate clause here is in the present when the main sentence is past.  Nous avons passé une bonne journée ________d'avis. I wrote “sans que je n’aie changé” but the correct answer was in the present “sans que je ne change”…
(We had a nice day without my changing my mind).

Chris Wirt · Accepted Answer

It is a common misconception that the subjonctif passé is simply used to express past actions. Rather, it serves to emphasize the sequence of events when one action has definitely occurred before another. Otherwise, the subjonctif présent is generally used, even for actions in the past.
This situation arises because, in French, there are really only two tenses of the subjunctive, compared to a much larger number of tenses in the indicative. As a result, the subjonctif présent functions as the default subjunctive tense, regardless of the actual time frame.N.B.: Actually, there are also other tenses of the subjunctive mood in French but they have fallen out of use and live only in very high register literary French.

Suzy Andrews · Answer

thank you, Chris….and because ‘changing my mind’ didn’t definitely happen before ‘we had a nice day’, one uses the present subjunctive?

Chris Wirt · Answer

Either that or the sequence of events isn't the primary focus of the sentence.