Sherrif's task force.

I did some grocery shopping at 8:30 because we needed some things right then. As always I checked the bin behind finding as I expected that it was too early for the produce, bakery, and deli culls.

I was going to go back just after 10, but some marital canoodling delayed me till after 1:00 am. The grocery had a couple of self-rising pizzas in there packages tat needed to be popped in an oven soon, 3 racks of ribs, 2 meat loafs, some fried chicken and two huge roast turkey breasts. The dogs are going to eat better than we are this week.

I am tempted to see if the smoked ribs can be salvaged for human consumption. That seems dicey. IN these situations, I use my stomach as the guinea pig. My highly developed olfactory receptors haven't failed me ye, and I will probably err on the side of caution there. I baked the pizza's, fed the dogs some hot wings and fried chicken that I de-boned for them. I have a plate of deli sandwich innards for their breakfast prepared.

I also got several pounds of hand made, marinated mozzarella in individual vacuum sealed packages. I have a chunk of that marinating in my stomach at the moment with no ill effects.

Christmas is coming and it is a very lean year. I decided to hit the drugstore for Christmas bric-a-brac that they tend to throw away this time f year. As expected I got several strings of lights, candy canes and a little three pronged massager that one of my daughter always wants to buy from the impulse bin next to the register. I got three of them, one works, one probably has dead batteries and the third is good for parts.

Encouraged, I drive another 3 miles to the next one that usually has parallel culls. As I pull into the deserted parking lot I see a couple of old-style hawgs with the lights and fairings driven by a couple of burly shapes going the other direction. The turn in with me and hit the lights. I wasn't expecting that. The local police drive Kawasaki's and BMW's/ Yurns out it was some of Sheriff Joe's finest out looking for holiday drunks. This seems a worthy pursuit so I don't give them too much attitude. I try a little obfuscation with them though when they inquire about my destination and plans for the evening. It really isn't any of their business and I have no legal responsibility to tell them, nor do they have a right to expect an answer. We established together that I hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, that I lived about 8 miles North of where they had detained me. Despite the fact that again it is none of their business, I listed one of my planned destinations, omitting a couple of planned stops for dumpster in between. Slightly suspicious, the younger one asked how I had come to decide to get gas in my car at 1:30 in the morning. I explained that I hadn't I had noticed it low as I ran other errands. Tiring of the exercise, though I could have kept verbally entangled if I had wished to, I decided to out with it. I explained that my primary mission for the night was dumpster diving. The older cop smiled, having no doubt seen a reasonably articulate and apparently not indigent diver before. The younger was puzzled but didn't know what to say to that.

Had they come upon me actually in the dumpster ignoring the no trespass signs the conversation would have been about the same but with a bit of explanation of what it is I intend to do with my finds and a caveat about my ethics in general about privacy issues and leaving the surroundings as I find them or better. I have had maybe a dozen conversations with cops in the middle of the night over the years in and around dumpsters and it generally goes amicably.

Later I found several stuffed animals, some more legos, and misc toys that may or may not be something that will interest Santa's elves.