Food Gone Bad

It hasn't gotten hot here in the desert yet.  The days are comfortably in the 80 degree range.  We might hit 90 this week, but anything under 100 degrees is fine here.  It's a dry heat and we know how to stay in the shade and start our days before the crack of dawn -- the coolest time of day.  Yet, despite the fact that we haven't started the inevitable string of days that will be over 105 degrees, the dairy has gone bad.  Not all the dairy, but there is evidence that products are not being kept properly refrigerated from the packaging plant to the grocery shelf.
How did I come to realize this?  I accidentally purchased "fat free" cottage cheese.  I prefer the full fat version, or at worst, low fat, but never, never fat free.  If you were to purchase the product and get the full fat included free, that would be fine, but that is not what fat free means. 
I purchased my groceries early in the morning.  It was a pleasantly cool morning.  I went directly from the grocery store to my home, unloaded the groceries, and put the cottage cheese in the refrigerator.  The next day I opened the plastic pint of fat free cottage cheese, still unaware that it was fat free, tasted it, and it was awful.  It was not merely the taste but the consistency -- sort of a gelled, slimy, creation. 
I inspected the container for an expiration date.  I was well within the the pre-expiration date period.  Upon perusing the container my eye fell upon the words fat free.  The alleged cottage cheese was not like regular cottage cheese.  The curds were held together by some sort of thick, gel-like, white product.  I checked the contents.  In addition to "cultured pasteurized grade A organic nonfat milk,  pasteurized organic grade A milk, pasteurized organic cream" and salt, there were four, yes four stabilizers, and carbon dioxide (to maintain freshness).  When did CO2 become a preservative?  Are there employees at the end of the assembly line in the packaging plant exhaling on each container of cottage cheese?  I was so disgusted by this fat free, quadra-stabilized, CO2-enhanced dairy product that I telephoned the toll free telephone number on the container.  I described my experience to the man in customer relations, because the container stated, "Your satisfaction with our products is our primary concern.  If you are not completely satisfied, please call 800-..." 
Their cows are pasture raised and never given growth hormones.  Their fat containing products are quite delightful.  The customer relations man listened to my disappointment with the fat free product.  I described the consistency and said I could not eat it.  It was just too weird -- a combination of bad taste and bad consistency.  He said it probably was not kept properly refrigerated and asked for the name of the store where the product had been purchased.  He also said my purchase price would be refunded. What a nice surprise.  Note: the refund has not yet arrived, but I trust it is in the mail.

The hungry plaintiff's attorneys are wondering whether I suffered any damages that can be linked to the offending fat free cottage cheese.  Unfortunately, none that would require at least a year of regular massage, a relaxing extended five star vacation in Hawaii, and an in-home sauna.  However, an inorganic cream cheese that was mysteriously soft and spreadable, when it should have been a firm, barley spreadable 8 ounce slab, may have turned my stomach.  Despite mild symptoms of food poisoning hours after eating the cream cheese, the surprising spreadability and taste were so seductive, and the expiration date was so far into the future that I did not question it at the time.  I should have known that the product consistency was so different, so soft and spreadable, that something was amiss.  If I get any more unpalatable or unusual food it will be returned to the grocer for a refund.

I plan to eliminate dairy until winter -- unless there is a really hot sale on my favorite organic ice cream.  

 

Got Grifters?

Am I the only one who gets solicitors coming to the door at least once a week?  They drive up the dirt driveway in big shiny pick up trucks.  My dog barks.  And barks.  And barks.  Grifters never ring the doorbell.  They just get out of their trucks, usually with someone remaining in the passenger seat, and walk around the perimeter of the house.  When I step outside and ask, "Who's there?" they say they notice I need chimney repairs, my driveway paved, or roof work.  They offer a free estimate.  Apparently roof work and driveway repairs are big grifter business.  I would not need driveway repairs if those big grifter pickup trucks were not coming up and down my driveway, wearing it down.

I have a "NO TRESPASSING" sign.  They claim they haven't seen it.  They always apologize when I tell them they are trespassing.  They are generally quite polite.  They sometimes have out-of-state plates.  They leave when I say I have someone who does my repairs.  Maybe I should suggest the grifters go to the local police station or sheriff's department and inquire whether they need roof or driveway repairs.

I bought a "NO SOLICITORS" sign and hung it at the bottom of the driveway, hoping to stop the grifters before they drive tonnage of pickup truck up my road.  They claim not to have seen that sign either.  It is red!  I am frustrated.  I got two more "NO TRESPASSING" signs and added "NO SOLICITORS" in black permanent marker on one of them. I am looking for the best, in-your-face place to hang the additional signs.

Frankly, I wonder whether these folks are trying to sell home repairs or just casing the area.  Is it just the economy?  Are these just out-of-work guys trying to drum up business and make the payments on their new, shiny pickup trucks?  Or is grifting a highly profitable business that enables one to afford a big, shiny, new truck?  Grifting is a line of work that does not appear to start early in the morning.  They generally arrive late in the morning or after noon.  Don't you want a job where you just show up at a house, mid-day, whenever and wherever you want?  Anyone else got grifters?

4/2/11  Grifter Addendum:  Update regarding how to respond to suspected grifters or other trespassers who come to your homestead to sell you services --
1.  Note the color, make and model of their vehicle.
2.  Note the license plate.   Are the plates out-of-state?  Remember the license number - write it.
3.  Is there a business name on the truck? 
4.  Are there any tools or work gear in the truck?
Out-of-state plates, no business name on the truck, and no tools or work gear in the truck bed may be indicate grifters.  If you observe suspicious activity by strangers on your property, give the information to your local police or sheriff's office.