Stealing .... 101

Sometimes you get yourself in trouble when you aren't even trying.  It's a mistake officer ... I didn't mean to!!

So I was at the grocery store buying these crazy expensive cheap pieces of meat when I almost got myself in a pickle.  By the way, this is CHOICE meat, not prime ... and the reason they call it POT roast is because you have to cook it in a pot for 8 hours for it to become sort-of tender.  

There was no room in the little cart since that's where my big purse was lounging, so I stuck it in the rack underneath.  I guess Safeway has finally cut back, because there was only one lane open with a lineup of carts full to the brim.  Okay then ... I'll just check myself out because I'm in a big hurry.

I loaded up my two bags and quickly rolled out the door.  With the bags in the back seat, I looked down to see the meat.  YIKES!!  I quickly looked behind me because I expected a tap on the back and some cold handcuffs.  

Surprise ... there was no one there.  My first thought .... oh look ... I just got $40.00 worth of meat for FREE.  My second thought was ... yeah right, you'll go to Hell if you don't go back and pay for it.  So back I went and explained to the nice girl that I forgot to ring it up.  She looked at me sideways.  I know, I know ... but I'm an honest customer and my conscience wouldn't let me drive off.

Honestly, I think they will be losing LOTS of money from people doing the same thing on purpose.

Trying to be more efficient, I left my purse in the truck and just took my debit card.  She rang it up and I ran the card through.  Nothing.  I tried it again ...  she said it did not go through.  How could that be ... I just used it??

On the fourth try she said it was denied, so I had to run all the way BACK to the truck and get another credit card.  This meat instantly became more trouble than it was worth!!  TWO HOURS LATER, I finally get a fraud alert on my phone.  Someone was trying to use my card in Safeway TWICE in a row.  

Now really, how often have I done that at a fabric store ... purchased more than once, and never EVER did they put a hold on the card.  Frustrating, to say the least.  It took fifteen minutes on the phone TWICE, to go through a myriad of recorded messages and verify it was me, even though I already made the purchase on the OTHER card.

By the time I got home, I wasn't all that enthusiastic to be smoking the expensive pain in the butt.  But here goes .......  I decided to only take the chance on ruining ONE, so I cut it in half the long way, making two big pieces of pot roast, each only about an inch thick.  That went in the smoker for two hours.

It came out at about 160 degrees and I wrapped it in foil, putting it back in for another two hours.  Rather labor intensive, this pot roast.  Next you unwrap it, chop it up and toss it with barbecue sauce, a tad bit of very expensive honey and a little more seasoning.  Back in the smoker it went.

After another hour I checked the tenderness to find it okay, but a little dry around the edges.  That's burnt ends.  No one ever said they were juicy.  Usually made with the top flap from a brisket, you need a big glass of something to drink and maybe Cole slaw to moisten it up a bit.

All in all, it was pretty tasty, but a LOT of work and not something I would do often.  If you weren't aware, brisket has a different taste than other pieces of beef.  This is NOT brisket.   Ribs are much easier in the long run, and I haven't almost gone to jail from buying them.

Then came the REAL disaster.  There I was, quilting away on the quilt I don't like one bit, and suddenly there were loud noises from the bobbin.  OH MY GOSH!!!  I stopped it as fast as I could.  I turned it all off, then 30 minutes later gave it another shot.

It stitched out beautifully ... seven rows of an eight row quilt.  That's when it happened.  The needle didn't want to go down, making yet more horrible noises.  I stopped the quilting and called the manufacturer.  

Seems I have a "bind", whatever that is.  We did some testing to discover it's dead in the water and must go in for repairs.  The wait line is 3 months long for repairs here.  Remember my neighbor recommending a nice gentleman who might be able to fix it?  I cancelled that appointment because it was going so good.  

Thankfully, when I sent him a message, he said he would come by Tuesday and see what he could do.  Until then, I'm out of luck.  I thought going back and paying for that meat would bring a little sunshine into my life!  NOT!!

At least I have my buddy, my pal, my shadow to keep me company and console my quilt-broken heart.

What to do ... what to do.  Maybe I should head back to Safeway and see if I can walk out with a big slab of baby back ribs!!  Hone my skills so to speak.  Yeah, that will never happen.  I don't have the slightest bit of conscience when it comes to some things (that I won't mention), but stealing is not my game.  Here's hoping today is a better day.