The Problem with Work Trips

Is that they pay for my food. I've been trying to make some better choices at home, while also keeping it cheap. There are certainly a limited number of food items from which to choose that come in near $5 and aren't gross. But here in Tempe I just need to come in under $50 a day, which is really no problem. And I feel like I should aim for my limit since there isn't really any other advantage of travelling for work. The result is that I'm slowly being engulfed by my ever expanding waistline.

And why is it so hard to find healthful food which tastes good? It's not like it's an oxymoron or anything. There are lots of dishes which taste good and won't warp my belt, but none of them are for sale in a restaurant setting. The closest I've come to that ideal here was with a Caribbean salmon dish. And yeah, I know, fish in the desert is never recommended. And this was no exception. It was a Salmon steak, burned lightly on both sides, covered in a sickeningly sweet purple sauce, and surrounded by some intricately bitter broccoli and packing-peanut flavored rice. It arrived simultaneously with a garden salad: Ranch dressing, iceberg lettuce, and a single cherry tomato.

My dinner was not improved by the table of happily screaming kids, one of which shot a spitball at my booth. She wasn't very covert about it. I was reading my book and waiting for my food to arrive and I heard a phoof, a swish, and a sort of a squishy thud near my left shoulder. I looked over to find a rather sizable spitball adhered to the red vinyl. I flicked it off with the drink menu then looked up at the kids table to 5 kids looking elsewhere and 1 girl slowly edging her face up over the booth to see if the coast was clear. It was not, I was looking at her, so she popped back down. Another peak, then back down, and repeat. Eventually her pizza came and she forgot about my oppressive eyeballs and innate targetness.

Yay Tempe!