sandwich from speedway

 i did well on getting groceries for the week when i went to Aldi the day i got back from Chicago, except for one thing. the evening meal at the end of the week of work for me. how i handled it was going to the nearby speedway gas station the night before and getting some popcorn and a ham and cheese sandwich. this meant i could spend some more time in after work before heading out tonight. when i did go out, it was to the Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. it was a small order, just nine items. i liked how i closed out the week with a fairly low volume day. it was just over two thousand checks, and there was no backlog to do in the morning like the two previous days. the number of overnights was lower as well, just twenty-four, and four of these were ones i just had to print the label as it was from the newer Cincinnati file. I've understood for a while in my work how the overnight volume is a big factor as to how long i stay after my normal leave time to have it caught up and in the box to be picked up. there was a gopher hockey game on fox-9 plus, but i didn't watch much of it as i wanted to get on the road. gophers lost to Michigan, i later found out. when i got back i watched a rerun of 'Boston blue', i hadn't seen that episode before. looks like this show will be back with new episodes next month. and likely some guest stars from 'blue bloods'. 

resilience, care, respect

 there was an email from the CEO, in reference to the recent immigration agent activity in the area. it spoke of resilience, care, and respect. i am used to hearing from a senior leader every so often about the 'news of the world', especially when it is a local thing. it is 'business as usual' in my corner of the bank. i am still being asked for information about checks i overnight. when i do, i don't just send the tracking number. i also check it in the system. there was two like this for the day. one of them was from the i-pay file, and it is 'on the way'. i sometimes have to tell a colleague that it is all about when UPS picks up from the box onsite, and this is just once a day and sometimes a little early. it was marked as an urgent manner on their end. another was delivered back before Christmas. it is still a case of me saying 'i did my part' in some form or another. there was another colleague added to a thread about two hundred tax checks expected soon, now i am told for February. i liked hearing from payroll, as i hear i am still getting some tax forms to send out this year, but the volume will be way lower. looks like we won't be seeing Texas and California like before, which were high volume in the past, especially the latter. now i am hearing it will be just one state, new jersey, and about two or three hundred, instead of thousands. all due to automation. i said i knew i had enough envelopes to cover it, as i already had some for their paystubs. 

digital mail issue?

 i heard from a colleague based in St. Louis, about returned checks that i am to send there. i said i don't get them for their business line that often, and i send them about once a week. when i do there is usually two or three checks in an envelope. there was some mention of going to digital mail back in November, i know i had sent some since then. during my summer visit to this city, i did find this facility, in the suburbs. i was interested in where it was since i sent things there often enough. the backlog did become smaller on the Fargo checks, as it usually does as the week goes on. it was over three thousand and now it is down to just over a thousand. the boss was not in, but not a big deal. i still got the work done just fine. 

interest accruing

 first day back at work, as expected there were some emails waiting for me. there were two of note from those two days. one of them said a colleague was on bereavement leave. the other was about a check i had overnighted. vacation replacement said i would be returning soon and would handle it. i needed the payee, check number and amount, and at first i didn't have all of this information. then someone from Fargo was roped in, and the check number yielded a different payee. i sent it to the address on the check, which was the dealer and not the bank. i was hearing 'interest accruing' on this loan, but i had done my part. it was overnighted by me, and the tracking number said it was delivered to the dealer. also, when i was out, it looks like some of the supply orders arrived, including the two boxes of UPS envelopes. it was a high-volume day for the Fargo checks and still getting the hot product error at times. it meant i was able to get the smaller file completed and out the door, but the other one will have to wait a day. 

pigs don't fly

 i began the day in elk grove village, Illinois, at my hotel, the super-8. i still like the continental breakfast and had a waffle again. as usual, i like how there isn't much to do on the final day in town. besides the breakfast, check out of the hotel and get on the road back to the airport. i did go past one place i recall from living there and noticed the Butera grocery store i once shopped at has changed again. it became a Walmart for a while and now it is a 'pickleball club'. at the hotel, i saw a wall phone with a GE logo on it, a reminder of my former employer. turned in the rental car and got on a tram that took me to the terminal. i bought some postcards and a sticker, then saw a big sign saying, 'pigs don't fly'. it was a public service ad from the USDA to prevent African swine fever. i flew a different airline leaving Chicago than the one that brought me there, wanting to use some miles to make one of them a free flight. two more notable songs from the trip, due to having the radio on in the rental vehicle, was by Sabrina Carpenter, and Eminem. first time i had heard Sabrina, it was 'espresso', i liked the line 'my give-a-damns are on vacation'. and as for Eminem it was one i wasn't familiar with, called 'smack that'. when i landed back at MSP i did go into some shops. first was open book, it had name recognition as i am a member of the loft literary center. i bought a greeting card. then it was to a Minnesota-themed shop where i got a Linus candy bar, along with a Charlie Brown and snoopy can cozy. then it was home. i picked up my car from long-term parking, checked in there for the first time since i had heard of a chance of snow and wanted to avoid being towed. no snow emergency texts on my phone, so it must have been very little snow when i was out of town. there was some snowfall when i was in Chicago, thankful i had a snowbrush to take care of it. then it was to Aldi to get groceries and watching 'jeopardy'. i went to perform in the evening, and most of my stories were about being out of town. 

life changers church

another morning that started with continental breakfast, but this time i chose cereal and toast. it looked like a 'smart toaster' as no lever to use, just buttons to program it with. then it was on to Hoffman Estates, for a church service. it was at life changers church, attending with a former coworker and her family. this included her husband, and youngest daughter, my guess is she was fourteen. i sent a text saying i could be found inside near the cafe. the service lasted about ninety minutes, starting and ending with music and most were standing. when we got to the scripture and sermon part, we sat down. it rang true with me, with mention of 'power', as i thought of how a favorite word from working in corporate America for a while became 'empowerment'. we had lunch at a nearby place, i had a wrap sandwich but needed a 'to-go' container for half of it much like the others did. eventually, we all needed to leave. i had another Wolves hockey game to attend, and the others had the daughter's soccer game to attend. i said i would like to make it back to the area next year. since my final payment on the car loan is this summer, i can more easily afford an annual trip. the hockey game felt different from the word 'go', compared to the previous night, and the result was different. the wolves might have trailed just like the night before, but there were more shots on goal this time. the wolves beat Manitoba, 4-3, in overtime. i enjoy the music played by the organist at this venue. 'Keep them separated' by offspring, when a fight was broken up early. 'Afternoon delight', from the movie 'good will hunting', during the 'kiss cam' segment. i bought one souvenir, a sticker with the team's logo on it, with the state of Illinois outlined. it pairs well with the free 'breakaway' magazine from the night before. it was nice relaxing back at the hotel after the game, nothing else planned for the rest of the trip. for the evening meal, i finished the wrap sandwich and fries, and got a donut and coffee at the nearby Dunkin Donuts. i watched some of the day's football playoff games, then on WGN i liked finding a show called 'backstory', which included a segment about 'donut day' from the salvation army. i found some peanuts at a nearby gas station, and another souvenir. it was a model racecar, with 7-11 as the sponsor, though i found it at a Mobil 'supreme station' which had a grocery store cart on the sign. it told me there would be more merch than a typical convenience store, and i was right. 

exhibit hall, wolves game

 another active day in Chicagoland for me. i liked starting off with the continental breakfast at the hotel, especially the 'make your own waffle'. then i drove around a little in the nearby northwest suburbs, to familiar areas. i went to the heavenly massage in mt. prospect, near the mall. after that it was on to Des Plaines, the town i once lived in. a few things had changed, no surprise there. i spent some time around the Metra station in the middle of town and got a pic of the sign at the former movie theater, now an event venue. there was an ad on their electronic sign inviting people to watch the bears-packers playoff game there. and in a window, i saw a poster about a drink called 'Marlot' that said 'do not enjoy responsibly'. i also got a pic of the small Lincoln statue inside the library after i went in to use the bathroom. i noticed the place called 'gift depot' is gone, replaced by a larger building that looks like housing. it was lunchtime by then, and i went to the first 'Ray Kroc McDonald's, or actually, the one across the street from the site of it. it is in a newer building, with no indoor seating. not a big deal, i went inside to place my order and then ate in my rental car in the parking lot. the house i once rented a room in now has a sign in the window saying, 'notary public'. i think i did research before that my ex-landlord no longer lives there. some nearby houses still had Christmas decorations up, some of them inflatable. i got a pic of one that had some snoopy decorations, another had the grinch. then it was on to Rosemont to take the train into the city. i looked around at the exhibit hall and bought one book from the u. of Missouri press. it was about baseball, i know, shocking. it is about the sport and 'the liberal-republican tradition in America'. i also got a pic of a couple dressed up in American revolution-era outfits. the dude wanted to share with me the letters from famous people about his cross-country walk in that outfit. i got some order forms from other places, since not all were selling their books at the convention. when i was leaving the convention i heard the smashing pumpkins song '1979' and saw many on the streets in bears gear as soldier field was nearby and it was game night. i needed to get on the train back to Rosemont to attend the Wolves hockey game. the wolves lost to the Texas stars, 3-1, final goal was on an empty net. when i was looking for beer to drink back at the hotel while writing, after the game, i was checking the score at two stops. when the wolves game ended, my phone said the bears were trailing early in the 4th. first stop, still trailing but narrowed the gap. then i ended up at a bar, but found out no karaoke, i found out THEY WON. must have been a wild 4th quarter.