returning inquiry letter

 i finally got an inquiry letter ready to send to the test scoring company i once worked for. i asked to be taken off their mailing list as i am doing fine with work at the bank. but it still means something to see the letter as i got work from them when others wouldn't hire me. at work there was back-to-back, or very close to that, meetings this morning. the second was the garden-variety team huddle, the first was done by my boss's boss related to return to office. there was mention of a 3 percent across-the-board pay raise if i am not mistaken. there was also an email from a business line where they wanted to cancel a check printing due to the incorrect check numbers on them. i said i hadn't printed it yet, and sent them to I.T. saying they would delete it so they could re-submit. easier to do when it hadn't been imported yet. in the evening i went on a walk and found 47 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy got married. i liked it because penny said 'park it' to amy's mom, then said sheldon and amy were lunatics for holding up the wedding due to science inspiration. pretty good having mark hamill as guest star, the officiant. it was followed by the one where howard can't get a security clearance due to FBI interviews with his friends, and sheldon tries to give him his spot. i am thankful i got some things done tonight, although i was laying down and told myself i needed to get up because it wouldn't take long to take out the trash or do the test scoring letter. all about being motivated i guess. 

mills fleet farm battery

 i went to my car this morning and it wouldn't start. figured it was due to the battery, as i was hearing the clicking sound. i popped the hood and saw it was from mills fleet farm. i had owned the car for over 5 years and understood this is the typical life span for a battery and called the repair shop, who gave me a number for the towing company. it was the battery, and now there is one from NAPA in the car. i briefly took it back because there was some rattling, was told it was likely due to the towing hookup and there was a simple solution for it. my vacation replacement was called in when i let my boss know about it. i said i still wanted to make it in when the car was ready and arrived just before 12noon, so i did a half-day. the main thing was getting the tickets for the refund checks submitted, and i did so just before i went to lunch. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 13 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when stuart hired denise at the comic book store, and penny helped raj discover a comet. it was followed by the one where raj's sister priya is in town on layover and leonard is interested in her. i also performed in the evening, the show runner brought me up with what sounded like a little kid or mickey mouse voice. the story with the most reaction likely was the one about a bathroom at work or changing lightbulbs. great seeing the performer who advised me to stay in front of the mic stand instead of aimless pacing around the stage. i have done so ever since and it works well for me. 

touching home movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from family dollar, 'touching home'. ed harris and robert forster were in it. i chose this one because it had a baseball player on the disc and figured this was going to have the sport in the movie, and it did. this was the story of two brothers that were trying to make it as baseball players. their dad is an alcoholic and lives in his truck. i actually cheered when the dad gets punched after it was discovered that he stole their money-that was intended for a trip to arizona for tryouts at spring training-so he could gamble and drink more. i understand there is a book about their experience of getting the movie made, after the dad died in prison. i like how they actually show them cooking the food, same thing i said about the movie 'winter's bone', the breakthrough role for jenny lawrence. there are scenes showing one of them in camp with the colorado rockies, early on in the movie. one was a catcher and the other a pitcher. one actor in it, playing one of their friends, looked familiar, my guess is he was also in the movie '8-mile'. 

i liked how there wasn't much to do today, but i still got out and went to cane's chicken in eagan for lunch. because they are still using charlie brown characters in their advertising. they continue to be drive-through only, and i've just had to accept it. i didn't watch much of the pro football games, but i know the vikings lost to the 49ers. 'the simpsons' was about homer's mom and homer seeking help from a therapist from his phone about it. i did look through my magazine and book collection, looks like i already have a special magazine about clint eastwood, from 2012, i know there is another edition in stores now. it was in the back of my mind that i had it as i recall mention to someone what was written about 'spaghetti westerns' in it as clint did some of those. during my walks i found 84 cents. 

old henry movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'old henry'. trace adkins was in it, in a small role. notable about this western was that there were no women in it, and the closing credits listed just 8 actors in the cast. it was about a widowed farmer who takes in an injured man who had a satchel full of money. i agreed with the main character's teenage son when he wanted to be taught how to use a weapon, but the dad wouldn't teach him. the setting was in oklahoma in the early 1900s, just before it achieved statehood. since it is a western, of course there was a body count. the injured man claims to have witnessed the killing of billy the kid by pat garrett. it was filmed in tennessee. 

after the movie was done it was time to get started on errand running. first stop was to my post office box, there was 2 items to pick up, including an eminem CD i ordered from amazon. then i dropped off recycle at the capitol, and made another visit to barnes and noble at har-mar in roseville. i got not only the companion book to the ken burns country music documentary, but also a thin book with stickers about the movie 'space jam'. i also stopped at the cub foods in the same complex and got a burrito for lunch, as well as some 'grinch' candies. then i dumped the movie at the gas station and made it home and had a late lunch. i had college football on for much of the day, and watched the ending of the minnesota/wisconsin game, gophers won so the iowa hawkeyes will play in the conference championship game. in the evening i made it to aldi for my weekly grocery order. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 9 cents. also notable about the day was seeing an inflated christmas-themed charlie brown display at cub foods, made shopping there more fun. of course i got pictures of it. 

cardinals season tickets

 it was a light day at work for overnight packages, only nine. it was aided by two business lines not sending any checks at all. notable among the overnighted checks was one going to the st. louis cardinals baseball team, related to season tickets. not the first time where i have seen a check involving a sports team. i had considered including a note saying i had attended two games in august but i did not, i figured i should treat it just like any other outgoing package. i did copy the label though, so i have the tracking number more readily available to check. one of those business lines that didn't send checks does account closures. when i inquired about it i got a response about other days they won't be closing accounts next month, so it does appear to be holiday-related. after leaving the office it occurred to me that a colleague was a no-show. i was told to expect someone on their last day near the end of the day turning in some computer equipment, but i never did. so i will just notify my boss when i return on monday about it. i gave my work schedule and didn't get any communication whatsoever on any changes, so no need to stay late as it would be the proverbial 'waiting for godot'. in the evening i went on a walk and found 83 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon went to meet a scientist that lives in the woods. amy got drunk early at her bachelorette party. it was followed by the one where amy wanted sheldon to meet her mom, and they did by webcam. after having the evening meal i went to the hy-vee in eagan for my weekly grocery order. first stop was to their liquor store where i got two cans of beer, alesmith and millstream, the latter is from iowa, the amanas. so now i have 6 beers waiting. just before i left work i checked the score and it sounds like iowa beat nebraska to finish their season strong. now it means waiting to hear what bowl game they are going to. 

take some, take all

well i found out it was possible to top what i had found while walking last night. i was walking past a laundromat and noticed some food on a table inside, the note said 'free, take some, take all'. so i claimed the 15 cans of tuna. the other things didn't appeal to me as much, such as a box of macaroni and cheese, or a bag of powdered milk. so i think i am good on cans of tuna for a while, something that is in my lunch every week. since it is thanksgiving i had two turkey dinners today, both were produced by con-agra. it was a hungry-man and a marie callender's. the former had more to it, and was higher calories as well. i had beer with both dinners, a leinenkugel and a schell, both oktoberfest, so now there are 4 beers waiting. and i had pumpkin pie with whipped topping for dessert for both dinners, although there is plenty of topping left over as it was just two pieces of pie. after having cereal for breakfast, halloween-themed kellogg frosted flakes, i put in a DVD movie. it was my annual viewing of 'planes trains and automobiles'. i've seen it many times before but i still enjoy it. then eventually the football games were on. the bears played the lions in the leadoff game, the bears won 16-14 on a last-second field goal. i liked seeing them use the 'charlie brown' theme song, officially known as 'linus and lucy', when profiling the personnel working the game. i knew i was tired during the second half, but i managed to make it until the end, aided by deciding to stand up. then i laid down and slept for nearly two hours. when i got up i decided to take my first walk of the day, it lasted nearly an hour. it was time for the evening meal by then. i watched some of the second game, raiders-cowboys, when i got back, raiders won in overtime on a field goal. this one was on CBS, and after the game ended they still had prime-time programming on, albeit delayed. 'young sheldon' was a rerun, when sheldon was asked to meet with a benefactor. then i did my second walk of the day, and all told i found 38 cents. i will likely get more beer when i go to the grocery store on friday. i also did some online surveys, but otherwise it was nice to have a day off and not having to do that much. 

box of crackers

 while doing the evening walk, i saw an unopened box of crackers at a bus stop. so i claimed it. near a dumpster i saw some thrown-out food and decided to claim the 6 cans of unopened tuna. it is sad to see so much go to waste. i have seen the public service ads saying 40 percent of food in america is wasted. i must be bringing down that total because i hardly ever waste food. expiration date on the crackers is may, so i have a while to finish those. during my walks i found 92 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when bill gates was a guest star. it was followed by the one where howard gets back together with bernadette, after he does the 'cyber nasty' with someone else. at work there was a visitor that asked if anything was different due to being right before the holiday. i said the pick-up time from the mailroom is still the same. there was a spike in the check volume on an early-morning file, well over a thousand, and there are days when it is under two hundred. most of them had a zip code starting with a 9 so that means plenty of these will be from california. i saw a gift card offer from meetup, but none of the available cards interested me. i don't have pets, for one thing. and the others were like a membership in a wine club, and yoga. my exercise is walking so yoga isn't what i do. 'the conners' was a rerun, it was before dan remarried. sounds like there is a new episode next week though. 

elmo on the back

 when i was driving to work in the morning i was behind what appeared to be a chipper-shredder truck. and on the back of the truck was an elmo doll. so of course it was nice to have something that made the commute less mundane. i got a picture of it when we were stopped at a light. i have some good pictures from driving, but i know full well to be careful about it. at work the box of canadian check stock arrived. i hadn't found the time to call about it the previous day. i was advised to do so by who had placed the order. also at the delivery table was two boxes of UPS envelopes. so i went back to the check shop and got out a cart for all three boxes. this was a rare one, where i don't think anyone rang the doorbell at all. usually there are some visitors, but not a big deal. i had to re-print nearly 500 checks after finding out most of one pack was shrink-wrapped upside down. i went through and confirmed the checks were identical-no more, no less. and the next day i will see about voiding the ones that will then be sent to the shredder. thankful i don't have to destroy checks that often. in the evening i went on a walk and found 64 cents. the 'big bang  theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were trying to get a wedding venue and it meant making a deal with kripke. it was followed by the one where sheldon's mom is called in after sheldon gets cats, as a way of trying to fill the void because the relationship with amy ended. 

no cue ball

 i went to perform tonight, and when i was leaving the venue i notice the pool table had a sign on it saying 'no cue ball'. guess that does make it harder to play the game. not sure what story got the most reaction, it might have been the 'couch gag' or the one about ads in a mall. at work the fluid bottles arrived for the envelope stuffer. i was expecting only one but there was two. they were dumped at the branch in the morning and i got out a cart and moved them to the check shop. i put out two envelopes of checks for the tax specialist at the lockbox and just after i went inside i saw a man wearing a vikings hat at the box so i guess they got picked up right away. there was a dial-in meeting at mid-morning, a quarterly one going over the numbers i think. i paid some attention to it but not a lot. as usual, i wanted to keep working, and at that time of day it meant some big check files were ready to print. near the end of the day i let a business line know a check wouldn't be going out as it still needed to be approved. it was 5 minutes later, but i still decided to let it wait until the next day. after i was done performing i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 23 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when bernadette had her second child, and sheldon decided to play a very long board game related to the second world war. it was followed by the one where sheldon decides to use a virtual presence device but still gets injured because he wants an autograph from a guest star, a founder of apple computers. i liked it because penny said 'you're not here!' 

7 days cake bar

 i ended up at the nearby family dollar to get lunch because it was really windy and i didn't want to go that far to find it. i found a hormel chicken meal there and i picked up a dessert as well. it was a 'cake bar', mixed berry flavored, by 7 days. hadn't heard of the company before, but i do see some offbeat brands depending on the stores i shop in. the wrapper said it is a product of romania and was distributed by a company out of east rutherford, new jersey. it tasted fine. i also got some DVD movies, 3 in all, and will have to find the time to watch all of them. while looking through the discs there were 3 others of interest and will probably not try to buy them until the three just bought have been watched. i did my annual viewing of some charlie brown specials just before i ventured out, the halloween and thanksgiving editions. when those two were done i noticed the vikings/packers game had just started, the vikings went on to win on a last-second field goal. next game on was cowboys/chiefs, plenty of field goals and the chiefs went on to win that one. i spent some time re-copying notes onto a larger page so i could read things better, every so often this is necessary. i had pizza for the evening meal, and 'the simpsons' was about smithers meeting somebody after homer fixed them up. burns took a while to finish a puzzle. then i went to read some more from the two books i bought this weekend, mostly from the history book with 115 different tales in it, 2 pages per story. one of them was about entertainer jack benny. then i called my dad as it was time to do so, it had been more than a month and thanksgiving is soon. during my walks i found 1 dollar 27 cents. 

protege movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'the protege'. i recognized sam jackson, michael keaton, and robert patrick in it. it was a thriller about assassins, one being rescued as a child in vietnam. i liked seeing what businesses were used to cover up the assassin activity, they were a rare-book shop and a dry cleaner. it was filmed in multiple nations, the closing credits listed romania, bulgaria, vietnam, as well as great britain. the story showed that not everything was what one sees on the surface, as there are some faked deaths later revealed. once the movie was done i needed to get started on errand running. first stop was the post office, but there was nothing of note to pick up. the orders placed with e-bay and amazon haven't arrived yet. then it was on to the barnes and noble book shop in roseville. i picked up two books there, one of them was 'anatomy of an actor' about george clooney. i saw it last week and said i wanted it because one of the movies profiled was 'up in the air'. the other book was 'shocking secrets of american history', and there are plenty of stories in it. i saw how it was next to another history book of interest, about theodore roosevelt on trial for libel in 1915. now that i have those two there is one left to get, the companion book to the ken burns documentary about country music. i was in harmar mall and there is a cub foods in that complex, so i got a burrito for a late lunch then headed home. i dumped the movie at the gas station before i made it home. i had college football on today but didn't watch it closely, after a while i fell asleep. i made it to aldi for my weekly grocery order in the early evening, then had some pizza once i got back. later on in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents. it bothered me for a while that i didn't write down a song i recently heard when out and about, but i seemed to recall the sentiment well enough to look it up online, it appears to have been 'anything but down' by sheryl crow. 

half pies

 i was looking for a half pie at cub foods tonight and was pleased to find one! it was pumpkin as well,  just the kind i had hoped to find. also got some whipped topping while there, in a bowl. i prefer this kind over what is in a can. i still made it to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly grocery order, after i was done at cub. and i got a can of beer at hy-vee's liquor store, a paulaner, my first visit there in a while. so now there are 6 beers waiting. during my walks i found 81 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy appeared on the professor proton show, after getting permission from sheldon. it was followed by the one where howard ended up at the hospital with the 'robot arm'. at work i got a compliment about the shirt i was wearing, and i told yemen native about it when i got home as he helped me choose it in preparation for a date. when i was in the branch this morning checking for deliveries i was asked how i was doing by one of the employees over there. it caught me off-guard as i wasn't used to anyone doing this when i make a brief appearance. even said so, but i said things were going fine. another little box arrived, addressed to me but when i opened it i found out it wasn't for me. so i emailed the recipient and was told to send it to their desk. once i resealed it and wrote 'forward' on it, i did just that. 

blue lightbulb

 when i got home from work this evening i noticed right away how the kitchen light didn't work. eventually i decided to replace it with the blue lightbulb that was in a little-used desk lamp. i think i got this blue bulb as a giveaway at a twins baseball game, it was billed as a way to support the police. i know it will get used more often now. i also went to the family dollar near me and got two more bulbs, they were GE soft white. i once worked for GE so of course they have name recognition. at work there was an email near the end of the day that recognized me for overnighting a check to omaha. it had been returned to the office i am in, i had sent it inter-office mail and not sure why it was returned. i say it is a case of just showing up and doing my job.i completed two of the three things on my list to do. i made a supply order for overnight envelopes, and called for an oil change appointment. it is a little over two weeks out as they still don't have early evening weeknight appointments. call center rep said it was due to covid, i am tired of hearing that excuse as it can be a cop-out. but i also know i have to go with what is available and i am unwilling to take a day off just for an oil change. in the evening i went on a walk and found 33 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj met a lady from his planetarium gig, and became friends with her husband. it was followed by the one where sheldon meets amy. i like this one because howard said 'good god what have we done?' because he and raj blackmailed sheldon into meeting her, after signing him up for internet dating. i drank a coors light with the evening meal and now there are 5 beers waiting. i also watched 'young sheldon', a weird one about his engineering instructor ripping up his assignments when he turned them in. 

checked the book box

 i told myself i needed to check the book box, one of them anyway, to confirm what i might already have in terms of what books of interest to me that i recently saw at barnes and noble. there were five, and it appears i already have two of them. the self-help book and the baseball book. so getting just three does make it easier to justify getting a charlie brown swatch as well. the self-help book i have as a paperback and the one in the store is hard-cover. the baseball book is probably from a different year, has a slightly different title, but still looks a lot like what is in the store. if i do get it i will want to inspect it closely first. so at this time it is not on the priority list, all in the name of 'stressing quality'. i hated the feeling of getting something i already had, it has happened before with each of the three categories if media i think-books, CDs, DVDs. even if it is not too often, i try harder to wait on buying anything for this reason. also because i know that cutting spending makes it easier to pay down credit card debt, and i like how much the balance has shrunk since the pandemic began. at work there was a team huddle, then a little later was the one on one with my boss. i was rushing to get an agenda sent for the one on one, after being out on monday and wanting to get caught up on my normal duties on tuesday. in the evening i went on a walk and found 70 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and raj had a rock band gig with bert at a bar mitzvah. it was followed by the one where sheldon and leonard have a fight, then leonard tells penny the story of why the elevator is broken. i also watched 'the conners' and it is yet another reason why i don't like the darlene character, trying to dictate her daughter's life. a therapist was called in to settle the dispute, and it ends with darlene telling harris to move out. i mainly watch it for john goodman anyway. 

fig newtons, goodies table

 i saw more goodies on a table at work on another floor. this time there was some fig newtons, so i claimed one and ate it right away. also nice to see little bags of doritos, and crackers. i claimed some of those but will be saving them for later. and there still was some packets of apple cider and cocoa, had one at lunchtime. there wasn't too much left over from a colleague filling in for me on monday, most notable was a check to be overnighted but need a physical address. i think this is one where i just send it regular mail and don't bother holding onto it in hopes of getting an alternate address. i still need to send a 'one on one' agenda to my boss, as that meeting will be wednesday. i would have done it today but i wanted to stay caught up on normal duties. not easy to do when i saw some inter-office envelopes to handle. they were in a tub in the mailroom and didn't want to wait for someone else to sort it. actually there was more than typical, as i recall it was seven. the number of overnight labels to do was a little higher than typical as well. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 16 cents. so i have enough to get a beer from the liquor store next to hy-vee when i go for my next weekly grocery order. after work i got 2 cans of beer at the liquor store near work, a modelo and a corona, so now there are 6 beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were testing their friends based on who should get roles at their wedding. i laughed a lot at the end as amy said 'bestie!' and hugged penny after penny called her an idiot. i think it's because i would have done what amy did. it was followed by the one where a visitor stays with sheldon, and penny calls her 'dr. slut-bunny'. 

disciplined browsing

 i had the day off for a dental appointment in the early afternoon. once it was done i decided to look around at mall of america. i was pleased how i was able to be disciplined while browsing. i was at the mall for nearly 2 hours on a fact-finding mission and didn't buy anything. this was the third barnes and noble book shop i looked at. so now i have more ideas for books in their discount, or 'annex' section. also saw a charlie brown jigsaw puzzle there. next month when i have a week off i am more likely to spend money at the mall. this would include the mirror maze, as well as the limited-engagement 'failure museum'. i found out there is a swatch store at this mall, and there is two price points, the smaller one is $85 so i still might get a charlie brown swatch. even saw an expensive 'simpsons' donut-flavored candy bar at a store i found in the directory since hallmark has closed. before the appointment it was nice to do some more online surveys, and for breakfast i finished up the pancake mix by making some waffles. i went to perform in the evening, and another performer saw me at the bar just after i got my beer and was telling me about something he found online 'simpsons'-related. somebody who made a flanders hot chocolate. he ordered a pizza and it arrived when he went to the showroom but eventually he came back to the bar. i think the story that got the most reaction was the one about a technically vulgar song i had heard on the radio. during my walks i found 1 dollar 62 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns where when raj and howard were fighting at a birthday party and ended up in the bounce castle. at the end, sheldon and amy did as well. it was followed by the one where sheldon had dinner with penny after she and leonard broke up. and penny takes sheldon to disneyland. 

gateway movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'the gateway'. i recognized bruce dern in it. odd that the first scene bruce is in we see him but he has no lines. but he does have lines in all of the scenes he is in after it. the story was about a social worker trying to help a woman that works at a casino, she has a young daughter. the setting was apparently st. louis, based on some of the things in the background, but it was filmed in norfolk, virginia, according to the closing credits. a dead giveaway would be when there were scenes outside of an elementary school and the school's name is 'tidewater'. this was a crime thriller, due to the woman's estranged husband getting out of prison and resuming his criminal activity. there was a body count, as there was drugs involved. i cheered when the main character punched an obnoxious colleague at the office, but of course it meant that he got fired. i liked seeing his car in it, a classic chevy monte carlo. the movie held my attention throughout. 

just after midday i went to a restaurant in roseville and saw a friend who was in town, it was brawler. it was nice to see chalm-skinn there as well. two others showed up, but i didn't know them, sounds like they were co-workers from this restaurant. the food was good, cooked right in front of us. i had the house tea. then i went to the nearby barnes and noble book shop at har mar mall and looked around at not only the books but also the CDs and calendars. i got pictures of the things that interested me, and it led to finding out if i could find any of them for less on amazon. i ordered one of them on amazon tonight, an eminem CD. i still might go back to this location eventually and get some of the other items on my list in person. in the evening i watched the conclusion of a 2-part episode of 'the simpsons' which involved a shooting at a donut shop. it was a weird episode, to say the least. a review found online said it was a parody of shows found on netflix, and a big inspiration was 'fargo'. later on i went on a walk and found 48 cents. i woke up kind of early this morning and listened to the maroon 5 CD that i had just picked up this weekend, before putting in the movie. 

hook up to stem

 i went to pick up a DVD movie tonight and a lady asked me to help her with getting air into a tire. i said you hook it up to the stem. after that she said it wasn't working but i saw the tire go up. this was a day where i liked not having too much to do. i made a small deposit at the credit union, a dollar coin and the vending machine refund check. i went to a nearby book shop, and hallmark shop, to research what they had for charlie brown calendars. both had them but i prefer a larger wall calendar and it looked like only hallmark had it. of course 'selection varies by store' so a different barnes and noble might have what i am looking for. i went to the post office and paid the 6-month fee for my box. there was 3 items to pick up, including the amazon order, the maroon 5 CD 'jordi'. i bought ahead a little for sandwiches at the speedway gas station, getting two. one was for lunchtime today, the other for monday. the iowa-minnesota football game started in the mid-afternoon, i listened to it on the radio. iowa won 27-22, after trailing at halftime, 13-10. iowa did enough of the right things to win, that is the most important thing. the defense held when it needed to. during my walks i found 1 dollar 40 cents. i made it to aldi for my weekly grocery order in the early evening. it was nice hearing from the button, who sent a facebook private message saying she had seen ads for a snoopy swatch on the trains in new york city.  

soiree karaoke

after work i went to a karaoke event at a british-themed distillery. next door was a microbrewery that had tacos as well. it was time to eat so i got tacos and brought them to the karaoke site. first time i had done karaoke in over a year, since the pandemic hit. of course this meant there was no watching of 'big bang theory' reruns tonight. i heard some songs i knew, including 'la bamba' as well as a french version of 'those were the days my friend'. although i knew the translation was 'flower times'. the final song i heard was 'moon river'. i had been there for 2 hours by then and it was about time to leave and figured it was a good one to leave on. i did perform one song, wanted to do the french version of 'angel of the morning' but the jockey couldn't find a karaoke version of it on youtube. in french it is called 'au revoir et an demain' so i chose one called 'au revoir' by meghan oak since i did see a karaoke version of it. before i got home i made a stop at a holiday gas station  to get the paper, as well as a sandwich, because the tacos i had didn't seem to be enough. later on i went on a walk and found 31 cents. as i was leaving work i saw some boxes on another floor, so i got out a cart and moved them to the check shop. i knew that they were envelopes, the two largest were anyway. the third, a small one, was a toner cartridge for a copier. i stayed a little later than i normally do but i wanted things caught up as i am out of the office on monday for a dental appointment. my boss was in for a short time mid-morning, bringing two laptops down to the check shop for safe-keeping. two check files that had been arriving late fairly often recently were a little earlier, so i liked being able to get them out same-day. 

smartphone adventure begins

 i had the day off as veterans day is a bank holiday, so early in the day i went to a cell phone shop and found out what phone plans and devices they had. it was near an aldi grocery store i had shopped at before a closer one to me opened. i got a simple plan because i don't use streaming, cable TV, or sam's club. in the evening i let my college roommate who had helped me the night before know i had chosen  new provider. in the afternoon i let another roommate know what i had chosen when i was called. it was when i was doing the second of two calls to pay bills. usually i press the wrong button and lose the call i wanted to switch to, but not this time. i got the bill paid after hearing from this friend, first time we had spoken in over a month i think. my plan sounds like it will be slightly cheaper than the one i had. and i spent some of the afternoon going through text messages to glean the phone numbers i want to move to the new phone. it surprised me a little how there were about 30 numbers from family and friends. i also made it to a walgreen in the late afternoon for a snack, and in the evening to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly order. i am attending an event friday evening so i figured it was good to move up this errand one day. later on in the evening i went on a walk and found 38 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends tried to find bitcoin from 7 years earlier. it was followed by the one where sheldon gets drunk when accepting an award. i had a bottle of coors light with the evening meal so now there are 4 beers waiting. 

ramping up research

 when i got off work i saw an email saying my phone would stop working next week. so i decided it was time to ramp up research with cell phone providers. it led to me contacting my college roommate as i was hung up on all of the phones having california prop-65 cancer warnings. the response i got was that all phones will have this warning, nothing to worry about. it was sent in a text message as i was asked to call later, only seeing it after i finished the voicemail. i am satisfied with what i found online and will try to go to a place in the morning as it will be a bank holiday. i am hopeful to get it all done in person and have the new device before the other one is shut off. at work there were two check files sent late, again. so running them through the machine will wait until the next business day. the checks to be overnighted went out, although i went by amount and payee names as the check numbers weren't matching on the email request. in the morning i brought down envelopes for payroll, two full boxes and a partial one. 'the conners' wasn't on as a country music awards show was on, so i could more easily find the time to do the phone research. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 52 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj was a spy for bernadette as he was dating her co-worker. the friends also acted out their version of edison and tesla as kripke double-crossed them in a military project. it was followed by the one where they act out 'lord of the rings' by fighting over a ring. i laughed a lot during it even though i had seen it before. it was no doubt a farce in more ways than one. 

changes at general electric

 i once worked for general electric, but it was in a finance business that was spun off many years ago. my former employer made the news due to changes in its structure, deciding to split into 3 companies. the article i found said the aviation unit will keep the GE name, but the energy and healthcare units will be shed. i wonder if i will get any mail about it as i did at one point related to an offer to buy out my pension account. i turned down the offer, figuring it meant i would get it all now and nothing later. i still have a 401-k managed by GE, and i recall seeing something about a 'reverse stock split' although not that much of my account is invested in company stock. the number of shares has went up over the years, i think due to any dividends earned being used to purchase more shares. i know full well it will be a while before i will be retiring, but it is still a good idea to stay in the loop about things. it was my first day back at work after taking a vacation day. some things were left behind by my colleague, including a check to be overnighted to canada. sounded like he was getting error messages trying to create the label, i was able to get it done though. i noticed one check file had some duplicated check numbers, a small file, and this led to them re-issuing those checks. so it means i will have to void some checks and send them to the shredder. our tax specialist asked where some checks were, i said i only print what has been approved. found out the approver no longer works for the company, so another approver was found and those checks were ready to print near the end of the day. in the evening i went on a walk and found 28 cents. after work i went to the nearby liquor store and got a bottle of coors light, so now there are 5 beers waiting. i got one bag of chips out of the vending machine at work, i wanted two but it jammed. i called it in and it sounds like a refund check will be emailed to me. the 'big bang theory' reruns included two scenes where the song 'almost paradise' was used, one of them being after sheldon was ashamed of working with bert. it was followed by the one where stan lee was a guest star, and sheldon went to jail for contempt of court. 

resurrection cemetery, mendota heights

 i had a day off from work, so i decided to get over to resurrection cemetery in mendota heights. i knew how some famous people are buried there, including sports team owner bob short, and railroad baron james j. hill. i am thankful i went to the office to get a map, as this made it easier to find what i was looking for. at first i tried walking there from the office but this didn't work well, i made a wrong turn. so i got in my car after studying the map better. those two graves were close, in the same section. i also saw one for a pohlad, but it wasn't carl pohlad, the minnesota twins owner. it was harold, and an obit for carl mentioned a brother named harold. bob short passed in 1982, but it appears his wife is still alive, as there was no death date listed. this had been on my list for a while in terms of things to do, i had printed a page back in march about it from the 'find a grave' site. i did a little cleanup around my home as well, getting books from a sale this fall put away in a box so i could throw away the torn brown paper bag it was in. and i got some photo booth strips into a photo album, two from this year. another was from an early 2009 visit to tampa, florida, for the outback bowl, when the iowa hawkeyes were playing in it. some postcards from travels were put away in albums as well, actually the same amount was swapped out, all in the name of 'stressing quality'. two taken out were greeting cards saying 'sorry', not sure why i had kept them for as long as i did. i did my best to make it a productive day, including more research about cell phone providers although i haven't signed with a new one yet. i did an online chat with one provider and i gleaned some valuable information from it. during my walks i found 78 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and bernadette's kid said her first word, also when bob newhart appeared because sheldon didn't want wil wheaton to become professor proton. it was followed by the one where leonard wouldn't take sheldon to switzerland, raj went instead as penny and sheldon were both sick. there was no open-mic to attend tonight, the facebook invite was canceled less than an hour after it was sent. some mention of an attendee last week later tested positive for covid. i decided to stay in and turned on the radio to the monday night football game, bears-steelers, the bears lost. 

no time to die movie

 this afternoon i went to see a movie, 'no time to die', the latest james bond film. it had been on my list for a few weeks and it finally worked in my schedule to see it. guess it helped that the bears are playing on monday night, after two straight weeks on being on local TV, which is unusual when they must compete with the packers and vikings for the time slots. the movie was long, more than two hours, but i guess i didn't notice it as it held my attention throughout. notable was the opening scene was kind of long, because it took longer than expected to get to the showing of the title and the theme song. i understand this is the final bond film starring dan craig. the first one i saw at theaters was 'goldeneye', so i am most familiar with pierce brosnan as well as craig in the lead role. i have watched the others on video, except for the two starring tim dalton, and the earlier 'casino royale' from the 1960s. not sure how i feel about this one, as the ending left me stunned. many of the things that bond fans expect are in it, such as the martini. and the car chases. the closing credits do say 'james bond will return'. 

this wasn't the only movie i watched today, as i put in a DVD copy of 'wayne's world'. seemed like a good time to watch it when i had just seen a tribute show to the band queen this week. one thing i noticed that i hadn't before was some of the music in it. not all of it was heavy metal. there were two songs written by chris cornell in it, one performed by soundgarden and the other by temple of the dog. i am aware of how grunge was becoming popular around this time. before this i got some more items into the comedy souvenir binder, i was nearly a month behind on doing so. once the DVD was done i had lunch, and went to target where i was disappointed to find out the maroon 5 CD i wanted wasn't there. so i got the lady gaga and tony bennett disc instead, 'love for sale', and the maroon 5 CD was ordered on amazon. later on i went on a walk and found 75 cents. i am also deciding to put a winter-themed charlie brown bowl into regular use after the hard fiber storage bowls i was using for cereal both cracked. i found it at a fedex office a few years back and hadn't used it much yet, not sure why. because it had a handle and didn't look like a soup or cereal bowl? well i try to buy things only if i plan on using them. 

god committee movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'god committee'. i recognized kelsey grammer, julia stiles, janeane garofalo, and dan hedaya in it. the movie was about a committee deciding who was getting a heart transplant. in an early scene i correctly predicted that somebody was going to die, and they did, this became the heart donor. it seemed that everybody had a dark secret about their life. it was hard to follow at times when the story kept shifting between 2014, when the heart transplant happened, and to the present time 7 years later, when kelsey's character was in the private sector. actually it first said december of this year, and that hasn't arrived yet. as a history major i liked mention of robber barons, specifically henry ford and andrew carnegie, although it was in reference to dirty money. in terms of one of the factors on who got the heart was one of the three candidates happened to be the son of a rich man. it held my attention throughout, and as usual i paid attention to the closing credits. it also listed kelsey grammer as an executive producer, and said the movie was based on a play. and i liked knowing there was a sia song in it, 'lullaby'. after the movie was done i had to get started on errand running. this meant going to the post office, and there was 4 e-bay orders to pick up. then i dumped the movie at the gas station and got a sandwich there as it was lunchtime. also got some halloween candy, reese's peanut butter, out of the discount bin. i watched some of the college football games of the day, but not a lot. one of them was the army-air force game, from the rangers baseball stadium in texas. i laid down for a while and then it was evening so i went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 45 cents. i also decided to re-copy some notes in order to toss another page into the box of paper to be shredded. 

christmas merchandise, already?

 in the past week i noticed how some stores have put up christmas merchandise already. seems kind of early since i have plenty of halloween candy i haven't eaten yet. target had christmas-themed cereal, and so did hy-vee in eagan. the latter i visited tonight. i got an ornament there, as i found yet another 'space jam' item. another ornament of interest to me is the grinch, as i don't think i have one of those yet. i know full well i have plenty of charlie brown ornaments, as well as one of rudolph. in addition, for the 5pm surprise a radio station played 'jingle bell rock' when i was getting started on the drive home from work. as for work, not much out of the ordinary. a supply order arrived, some envelopes. doorbell rang and then the agent brought them in. the spare maintenance kit arrived, but much like before it was hard to find at first. found out it was dumped at the branch, and the branch manager brought it over before i had the chance to check there. i am told this happens when the regular UPS driver is absent. a colleague advised me to change my out of office reply to have people contact the shared box, not a big deal, a simple solution. of course this is my last act before leaving, to have the reply set up. later on in the evening i went on a walk and found 2 dollars 16 cents. this included a dollar coin, one doesn't see them too often. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and amy were working together and it led to some jealousy on the part of raj, as well as sheldon. then it became a parody of 'tom sawyer' because bernadette conned sheldon into doing chores. it was followed by the one where sheldon ends up in a ball pit because he is stuck on a science idea. he also tries menial jobs and eventually figures it out. i laughed a lot during this one, including when one hears the ring tone from leonard's phone, the voice of the joker from 'batman'. 

queen family sing-along

 this evening i watched 'queen family sing-along' on ABC. a big deal i watched it as normally it is 'young sheldon'- or the news- for me in this time slot. it ran for an hour, and i liked seeing some performers i had heard of doing queen songs. this included alessia cara, and fallout boy. the former did 'killer queen', the latter did 'under pressure'. my most vivid memories of the band's songs begin after the passing of frontman freddie mercury, with 'bohemian rhapsody' being in the movie 'wayne's world'. the song was in the lineup tonight, but i know full well it wasn't the full version. a year later, i saw the brian may band open for guns-n-roses at a concert in iowa city. of course there was seeing the bio-pic, also called 'bohemian rhapsody', 3 years ago. sang 'another one bites the dust' at a karaoke bar to get a free ticket to an advance screening of the movie. it was great to hear all of the songs that were in the show, but the MC left a lot to be desired. playing a hotel concierge didn't do much for me. but it is the sum total, so i am thankful i watched the show. later on i went on a walk and found 68 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny talks of becoming friends with leonard's mom. then leonard and amy talk at each other about it, sounding jealous. it was followed by the one where leonard and sheldon's apartment is broken into, and we hear 'intruder alert' when a security system is installed. at work there was a technician that arrived in the morning and did the installation of the maintenance kit on the main check printer. around the same time there was another visitor, replacing batteries in the doorbell chimes. two check files were late, enough time to print them but not enough time to send them out. but they know the rules on submitting them. so it rolls over to the next day. after work i did 'steal a base, steal a taco' at taco bell. so it meant i had 4 tacos, and i ate 2 of them tonight. after stopping there i went to a walgreen to find more discounted halloween candy. as the saying goes, 'selection varies by store'. it is the third different walgreen i have visited since they went on sale. so i have plenty of goodies for a few weeks now. 

haiku writing contest

 i see plenty of emails each day in my hotmail account. today there was one from my school, the university of iowa, about a haiku writing contest. i have done their writing contests before, but not haikus. so now it is a matter of if i can think of anything to put into a haiku format. i am used to doing writings much longer than this. sounds like i have more than a week to figure it out if entering. at work i got caught up on running checks through from the previous day. and i finished the online classes due at the end of the month. i did two on tuesday and the third was done this morning. i like how they don't take long to do. i also called near the end of the day for a maintenance kit for the main check printer. there seemed to be a communication gap between me and the call center agent, had to tell them i am not in a branch. 'the conners' was about darlene's son mark meeting someone, they do movie night with ben and watch 'casablanca'. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 8 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the 'council of sheldons' was called as sheldon wanted to be more care-free and wear flip flops. it was followed by the one where sheldon wears hulk hands given by raj, a deal made because raj wanted to go to a mixer and meet women. i drank a bottle of coors light with the evening meal and now there are 4 beers waiting. 

study the ballot

 i did not watch any 'big bang theory' reruns tonight as it was election day and i wanted to study the ballot before reaching the precinct, a school. it is nice that sample ballots are available online, must enter your address of course. an odd numbered year so not as many offices on the ballot as an even numbered year, but mayor was up for election. there was ranked choice voting, i made 4 choices and we were permitted up to 6. some school board seats were also up for election. i was used to the precinct being one i could walk to, but i am aware that things change. i most commonly have voted in schools or churches, so being back at a school is no big deal, plenty of space available. had to ask for an 'i voted' sticker as there weren't any next to the machine where i fed my ballot in. i liked looking at the wall of fame near the entrance on the way out, famous people who attended the school. i knew about the baseball player, had to look up one who had a mic next to him in the picture. as expected, it was a musician. one sign said 'so happy to see you here today'. i ate before i went to the precinct, and it didn't take all that long to finish voting. then it was time to go home and watch the world series, game six. the braves beat the astros 7-0 to take the series 4-2. the scoring started with a 3-run home run. later on i went on a walk and found 47 cents. at work there was one check file that had a much higher volume than expected, so i emailed to confirm it was correct. usually the file is much lower than its 'companion' file, both from fargo. not all checks went out due to the high volume, but over three-quarters of it did. just under 2 thousand left over to run through the next day. early in the morning i went to an adjacent building to send some mail over there. first time i had done this in a while. if i see it in the tub at the end of the day, it seems needless to rely on someone else to try to get it there when i am so close by. after work i went to the nearby liquor store and got 2 bottles of coors light from the closeout cart, so now there are 5 beers waiting. 

ping-pong eyeball

 i went to perform tonight and the show-runner said the place was a little messy due to a wedding the night before. i would have guessed a halloween party, based on the party favors i saw there. i kept some of the items as comedy souvenirs, and one of them was a ping-pong eyeball. i also saw a pepper packet, and a sweetener packet from caribou coffee. along with the typical wrappers from the candy that is available there. i was on much earlier than expected, because it was a lighter lineup than usual. and a different show-runner than most mondays was also notable. before i went to the venue i heard from the yemen native, who said he had just returned from getting groceries. after the show i went on a walk and found 14 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy hugs ramona after amy gets engaged to sheldon. it was followed by the one where kripke sabotages sheldon during his phone interview on public radio. i made two stops at different walgreen locations, one near work and one near home, to get discounted halloween candy. i got 11 pieces at the first one and 4 at the second, the fifth item was a bag of reese's peanut butter with glow-in-the dark wrappers. at work some of the check files were delayed, a small file still went out but not the larger one. i like giving them the chance to tell me which ones are to be overnighted. also heard from a colleague who needed to try printing checks from home. it was done in the morning, an 'overflow' page went to the paper copier, but otherwise it went fine. i still had to positive pay the file.