Today's lunch. A French roll with warm, melted cheese soaking into it, and a crisp apple. For such a simple meal, it tastes amazingly like a gourmet feast.

(I lunched with friends this weekend who promised a road trip to a nearby Cheese Nirvana. I hope they don't forget. I also hope they don't scorn me for actually loving cheddar cheese.)

I brought ham, too, but I didn't eat it. At least, I don't think I'm going to eat it. Buehler went out and brought back a turkey sandwich today. We split one once or twice a week. It was very thoughtful of him, but I suspect it was a sort of tacit apology for that screaming, cursing fit he had earlier this morning. (Wasn't directed at me, but at another employee and a project they're working on that I'm grateful not to be involved in.)

The problem is, he brought this "lunch" to me at 11:30 and I normally don't eat lunch until around 1:30. So...I ate the sandwich and now 1-1/2 hour later, I'm already starving again, which is why I'm now savoring bread and cheese. If it proves necessary, I have the back-up ham sandwich for later.

In the meantime, I'm filling up the gaps with chunks of almond-studded dark chocolate.

Maybe it's because half a six-inch sandwich (1 oz turkey, a suggestion of cheese, a tomato slice, and some lettuce) isn't really a humongous meal, but I feel pretty certain I'll wind up eating the ham.

Yes, I'm obsessing about food again. Having porked on 3-1/2 pounds in the last couple of months, I'm about to have to go back on the old diet again.

But I'm also obsessing about good food. Sigh. I've made the decision to be diet-free until after Escapade.

So...what else is new? I'm frightfully busy at work. Too much so to be blogging, but ten minutes won't make that much of a difference. (In fact, after tonight's viewing of the climactic episode of the Spike-a-thon, I'll probably spend a couple of hours working.)

Glancing SEN-wards, we see that particular monster sitting there, looking smug on the sidelines. It's happy because I spent Sunday fussing with it. Being, as it was, a lovely sunny day, I took the text of the story, toddled across the street to my neighborhood Starbucks, and soaked up sunshine and lattes in equal measure for three or four hours while I made yet another attempt to carve some slash into this ostensible slash story.

Given the chance, I'd have done the same thing yesterday, intead of working. Once again it was sunny and almost seventy degrees. A perfect day for sitting outdoors, drinking coffee, watching the world stroll by, and dinking with a non-urgent project.

Today, snow is pouring down. If nothing else, it makes it a bit easier to focus on the job.

And, speaking of the job, I'd better get back to it.