The Correct Answer

Day 321: Solve for X: (S + F) (U + D) + A³ = X

where S equals stress, F equals fear, A equals anger, U equals a sense of uselessness and D equals dread.

The correct answer is pie, lemon meringue in this case, and there's a history there. My dad was diabetic. Normally, he stuck to carefully weighed portions of food and daily injections of insulin which were the treatments of the time, but he had one weakness: lemon meringue pie. Once every year, he would have my mother make one for him, in full knowledge that he'd eat a slice and "sleep" for the next 24 hours or so as a consequence. He knew he might not wake up from that "sleep," but took the risk anyway...just once a year, once, that's all. One slice of pie.

He wasn't faced with the same equation we have today, no. In fact, his diabetes could be directly attributed to his having tried to fight against the very things we see daily now on our streets. You see, he was starved in a prisoner-of-war camp for four years before finally being rescued. His diabetes was a result of the inhumane treatment he received there. I think he could be excused his annual piece of pie, given those facts.

I haven't reached the "pecan pie point" quite yet (the ultimate solution), and it's to my credit that I only ate one piece of this pie before bed. One slice, just one, and I had a rough night. Maybe I'll have the rest of it for lunch today.