Last night I decided to splurge and get a sub at Subway. I eat pretty light, most of the time, and I generally always walk around with a dull twinge of hunger I can just ignore if I concentrate on something else. At 6 p.m., though, I discovered my apple (for my regular 6 p.m. apple-and peanut-butter snack) had gone bad. I threw it away. I was really hungry by the time I started home, so I decided to go ahead and spend a little money. Sometimes its okay to eat until you’re full! So I bought a foot-long meatball sub with extra cheese. I gobbled it down. It was yummy. I’ll remember that taste and savor it for the next couple of weeks, as I go about eating my gruel and porridge and occasional frozen dinner.

Maybe I need to start packing a bigger lunch. For the life of me, though, I don’t know what I’d put in it. Maybe two chicken sandwiches instead of one? I’d have to buy and boil a lot of chicken. See, the problem isn’t that I have bad eating habits; it’s that I’m cheap. What I usually eat is very nutritious, and nutritious food is notoriously expensive. Moreover, fresh fruits and vegetables don’t keep very long, so I end up having to throw out expensive food. It’s hard for me to spend money on food, because it feels like I’m eating money. I could spend my money on some thing that has value and will give me more than a moment’s pleasure. But pleasure from food disappears all too quickly – as does the money you spent on it.

Speaking of chicken sandwiches, I was boiling some chicken this evening for my sandwiches on Dann’s gas stove. I went down to check on it after a while, and the living room and downstairs smelled strongly of gas. I saw the eye under the pot of chicken had gone out, and I quickly surmised that it had boiled over and put the flames out. I shut off the eye and thought about what to do next. My first option, which was to light the eye again, was immediately rejected as images of the house exploding suddenly filled my mind. Nope, try again. I decided instead to open the windows and let the downstairs air out before I put the chicken back on to boil. It was really cold outside. Really, really cold. Dann and I both went upstairs and put on some more layers while the downstairs aired out.

See, it’s little things like “don’t start an open flame when the room smells strongly of gas” that make all the difference between success and failure in life. Many people don’t realize it, but it’s the little decisions you make along the way that eventually determine whether you’ll be a computer technician or a fireball. Me? I like to think I have a good dose of what it takes to succeed.

Quip for the Day:
Dann: I’m fat.
Me: What are we going to do about it?
Dann: Eat ice cream until it goes away.