happier than ever, billie eilish

 this week i heard a song on my car radio when driving home from work and it blew me away. made a note of a lyric and looked it up when i got home. found out it was 'happier than ever' by billie eilish. i like the video on youtube more than the radio edit, for multiple reasons. noticed how the radio version seems to cut out most of the slow first half of the song, besides of course cutting out the swear words. it starts out with her sitting on the couch and on the phone. but we do see indications that things will change. there is water dripping on the floor and the lights flicker. then she opens the door and water rushes in, and she swims to the rooftop. i like the metaphor here. and i do like the second half more, because it is not only faster but also has more passion. and as we all know, i do like passion in music. and i notice how lady singers can bring the passion when the subject is relationships. she is wearing  a shirt that says 'i don't need to sell my soul'. the lyric i really like is 'don't waste the time i don't have'. as i have known way too many people who have wasted my time. 

at work it was a light day for overnight packages, just 8, fewer than christmas eve. i still stayed busy for most of the day though. in the evening i went on a walk and found 61 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends brought zac to the comic store and they won the costume contest on new year's eve. it was followed by the one where brent spiner, data from star trek, was a guest star,  at a wil wheaton party. i went to hy-vee in eagan in the evening as well, got a few pieces of christmas candy that was discounted- in addition to my typical grocery order. some different kinds than what i was seeing at walgreen. no egg nog, will have to see if aldi has any left when i go there. 

madden documentary

 there was a re-broadcast of the documentary about football great john madden tonight on fox. i watched some of it- after watching 'young sheldon' and the local news. i watched it in full on christmas day. of course it was re-aired in memory of madden, who had just passed on tuesday. at work i set aside 7 checks for a colleague then found out there should have been another one. i said some things are beyond my control. then i was added to an email thread about it. the boss said it went to another file and would print the next morning. facilities arrived to change the door code, and it was up to me to determine what the new code would be. took a few minutes to figure out one that worked, based on what the inner door allowed apparently. after work i went to the liquor store near work and got a can of modelo. so now there are 3 beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were in a sensory deprivation tank. sheldon loved it and amy hated it. this was followed by the one where amy was weepy, playing 'everybody hurts' on her harp after finding out she wasn't invited to go dress shopping with bernadette and penny. in the evening i went on a walk and found 52 cents. 

re-starting it worked

 at work the printer was printing each check with a blank page. when i met with my boss about my evaluation i was advised to contact a colleague. we hashed it out and found out re-starting would do the trick. he had dogs barking in the background, a corgi and chihuahua. i was re-using the blank pages and some of them had plenty of ink residue on them. in the evening i went on a walk and found 45 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy went on a tirade about 'impostor syndrome'. and howard didn't want a children's book about his time as an astronaut published. it was followed by the one with bernadette sounding like howard's mom at breakfast, saying 'he hasn't tried them yet' and the mom referring to raj as 'the brown boy', saying she was relieved he finally had a lady for a sleep-over. amy stayed at leonard's even after sheldon left, when sheldon went to a toy train presentation. for the evening meal i drank the can of alesmith with it, a san diego beer, so now there are 2 beers waiting. 

canceled bowl games

 i was planning on watching the holiday bowl on fox tonight, ucla vs. north carolina state. when the telecast was slated to begin i saw something else on, 'masked singer' if i am not mistaken, with something small at the bottom of the screen saying the bowl game had been canceled. articles i found online said it was due to the pandemic. four bowl games had been canceled earlier, and two are still slated to happen as they found replacement teams. iowa plays in the citrus bowl, hopefully that one will still happen. it would have served as a nice reminder of attending the 2006 edition of the holiday bowl, where cal-berkeley thumped texas a and m. i saw the zoo, sea world, and the bowl game's parade when i was in san diego. notable as well tonight was seeing an article how football great john madden has died. the documentary about him was something i had watched just days ago. at work my evaluation was moved back a day, to wednesday morning. not many overnight packages, just 9. fewer than christmas eve. in the evening i went on a walk and found 60 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends perform experiments on howard's kids when bernadette and penny were at a convention. amy saying 'want to bet against me?' was a line from it. it was followed by the one where sheldon ordered penny to get rid of a chair she claimed that someone else threw away. 'what's up buttercup' was a line from it. 

space jam magnet set

 the 'space jam' magnet set arrived at the bank in the morning. i wanted it sent there as i knew i couldn't send it to a PO box. there are 3 sheets of magnets. one has movie characters on it, one has cereal mascots, one is a basketball court. thankful i chose it as it still looks like the best option on prizes for buying general mills products that were promoting the movie. still finding the fruit flavored snacks in grocery stores, but i knew there was going to be a wait for the magnets. it was a low volume day on check printing, found the time to call about check stock and the delivery date has been moved up. but hard to tell if there is enough inventory to make it that long. i performed at the open mic in the evening, one performer invited a  heckler onstage. for my set i think the one with the most reaction was about my coat or my annual watching of christmas specials on DVD. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 12 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when wil wheaton had a celebrity dungeons and dragons game, including william shatner and kareem abdul jabbar. it was followed by the one where penny gets a hemorrhoid commercial. had to laugh at this one when amy said to penny i can't let you move back to nebraska, her social life lives and dies with penny. and leonard's mom tells leonard to 'buck up'. 

covid booster shot

 this afternoon i went to a walgreen and did the covid booster shot. it was a location i had been to before but it had been a while. it was in my former neighborhood, and when the printout of the consent form was presented to me i noticed it had my former address on it. i let them know i don't live there anymore and they said they are updating it. there was a bit of a wait to get it done and there was an apology for that but i said i didn't have much else planned for the day. or for a while in terms of any kind of events, no current event tickets. it has been in the news about events being called off due to covid, not just college football bowl games but also shows at the guthrie theater, so it is just as well i have nothing booked for a while. the band-aid is red and has the cursive 'w' on it, part of the walgreen logo. after the shot was done i got a look at the discounted christmas candy and got 11 pieces. i said all along i was going to do more than just the shot while there. then i drove home and watched part of a documentary about the 'miracle on ice' on ABC. i considered going out for a walk but i wanted to do some other things first, and i was tired. after the evening meal i watched 'the simpsons', a rerun about a traffic jam on evergreen terrace, then a rerun of 'one day at a time' and laid down for a while. before the shot i got some things done in the morning. after having cereal for breakfast i watched some DVD's, christmas-themed. this was 'rudolph', 'the grinch', and 'frosty', all of these were the animated classics. then i went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. shortly after having lunch it was on the road to the appointment. during my walks i found 37 cents. by late in the evening it had snowed. 

yankee from olympus

 i went on mutiple walks throughout the day. during the first one i went past a little free library and selected a thick book from it, 'yankee from olympus'. it is about oliver wendell holmes, the supreme court justice. it is hardcover and has a built-in bookmark, a ribbon. already flipped to the part about his military service during the civil war. and it is in there, where he says 'get down you fool' to president lincoln. during the fourth and final walk i saw police cars with their lights on, going to a nearby nightclub. 9 cars in all, some city police and some state troopers. all told from these walks i found 82 cents. it worked just fine staying in for much of the day. i checked the paper and was pleased to find some good programming on. in the early afternoon it was a documentary about football great john madden. i learned something from it, how he taught a class at berkeley about football after he was done coaching the raiders. and how it took a while to get elected to the hall of fame. it was on before a football game on fox, that i didn't watch. in the evening it was boxing matches on fox, same as last weekend. these were from newark, NJ, and apparently the first boxing card in the USA on christmas since 1969. I saw four this time, one of them had joey spencer in it. saw him fight at the minneapolis armory in 2018. his fight ended by knockout in the 5th round. three of the four shown ended early. the third was a split decision. one ended in the first round, spencer's was the first shown. the fourth was scheduled to go 10 rounds and was called midway through the 10th, a TKO. after i got back from the first walk of the day i put in a DVD, the one with two charlie brown christmas specials on it. i know the first one well, but the second, 'christmas time again' was like watching it again or the first time. such as seeing 'handel's messiah' in it, something i had just seen recently. there are some more holiday DVD's i can watch tomorrow. of course i liked watching some more of 'yule log' but i heard some songs more than once when i would watch it a little at a time. i had two turkey dinners today, as well as blueberry pie with strawberry ice cream. i drank beer with both, a millstream and a bauhaus, both craft brews. so now there are 3 beers waiting. 

hy-vee hot dog

 the office closed early due to the holiday. of course the check printing volume was lower. surprised to have a team huddle, scheduled at the last minute but we needed to have it related to the holiday. along with one about finding out i had check stock i couldn't use. i hadn't eaten my lunch that i brought so i went to a nearby hy-vee convenience store and got a hot dog. then i went to a target and got a box of holiday rice krispies. while there i also got some cheese, and some small bottles of milk and orange juice so i could stay in a little longer on sunday morning before going to the grocery store for my weekly order. it is my fifth box of holiday cereal this season, i am currently working on the first one, elf on the shelf. when i got home it was still earlier than typical for me and i didn't know what to do at first to fill in the time. so i slept for a while. when i woke up it was early evening by then, so i got going on the meal. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when santa told sheldon he couldn't bring back his grandpa, and he woke up to the nightmare. it was followed by the one where sheldon went to texas to help with his sister's baby delivery and the storyline was inspired by 'it's a wonderful life' about how their lives would have been like if they hadn't known sheldon. later on i went on a walk and found 57 cents. i heard from a friend who let me know about an event, i said i wasn't going because i wasn't invited. definitely not the first time, probably not the last time, where i hear about and event i wasn't invited to. not a big deal to me. i have the 'yule log' program on, an annual thing i like doing, plenty of good christmas music on. i re-scanned my TV so i could watch it, as it is on 5-2, channel 5 is the ABC affiliate. i got the NBC affiliate back, channel 11, for the first time in a while, in years.  

sierra trading post commercial

 i have been seeing a commercial for sierra trading post fairly often. notable is david spade as the narrator saying 'beat it steve' at the end. i had to look up this company as i hadn't heard of them before. wikipedia said they are owned by the same company as tj maxx and marshalls, also being in the off-price market, but for outdoor recreation and fitness gear instead of clothing. my weekly grocery visit to hy-vee in eagan was moved up as they are closing early on friday. i stopped at their liquor store and got a light beer version of grain belt, so now 5 beers are waiting. i went to cub foods before it to get some things as well. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 98 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both christmas episodes. it was when leonard's mom visits and gets drunk with penny. it was followed by the one where sheldon gets a leonard nimoy napkin from penny. at work i sent two handwritten envelopes to the branch manager when asked by email if anything arrived, as they were expecting a cashiers check. usually i just take out the mail for my department but not a big deal to search for these. especially when i know the mail isn't sorted every day.  

unreliable mill

 i called the supplier of check stock and was asked if we could wait 3 weeks for a shipment, i said probably not. something about an unreliable mill supplying them. explains being shorted this month, getting 26 boxes, order was 40. went on a walk this evening and found 1 dollar 24 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy wouldn't let sheldon have zac's baby. it was followed by the one where raj and leonard switch rooms due to priya.  

crooked envelopes

another service call was done, was told the problem was the envelopes were going in crooked. machine was run on high speed so the checks that needed to go out still did. but there is still over 3 thousand waiting to be run through. it was nice to take a call related to return to business line in st. louis. 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon went to the 'zone zone' to report howard's neighbor. it was followed by the one where howard's mom was in the hospital. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 32 cents. 

kronos hacked

 i get back from a week off and found out kronos was hacked, so it meant using a less advanced version of timekeeping. and a call from my boss to submit timesheets. one of two meetings, the other was about a big check file coming soon. a tech looked at the envelope stuffer as it wasn't sealing. in the evening i went on  a walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon meets the 2 fermilab people, and it was followed by the one where bernadette spies on priya. the open-mic had a thin lineup, flautist is in france. i think the one story of mine getting the most reaction was the one about the soap boutique. 

handel's messiah

 in the late afternoon i went to a performance of 'handel's messiah'. it was at a lutheran church in south minneapolis, st. john's. the building's interior reminded me a little of a church i attended for a little while as a kid, the 'un-united' presbyterian church. my family eventually defected to the other presby church across the street due to the squabbling, hence why i called it that name. i had a free ticket to attend, but it looked like there wasn't many seats left in the lower level when i arrived. only half of the pews were available, the other half-alternating pews- were taped off in the name of social distancing, a reminder of the times we live in. i asked about seating on the upper level, and was told it was available. i might have been too tired to have a full appreciation of the music being played, i don't know. but i know full well i liked it more when the audience stood up and helped sing the 'hallelujah chorus'. i have long said i liked the hymns more than the scriptures at church, because i like being an active participant. i was told it would be a shortened version, and it was about 90 minutes. i got a few pictures at the end of the show. then i went home and had the evening meal, the second half of the can of chicken bologna from family dollar. i don't see myself buying it again as it was too salty. i got a little farther on going through newspapers, and had to check why there wasn't a friday paper from late august 2016. as expected, that was during my visit to new york city, i checked my entries. 'the simpsons' was about fat tony being a godfather for maggie. later on i went on a walk and found 34 cents. 

recycling center

 i drove over to a recycling center this morning and dropped off some newsprint there. i mostly saw cardboard boxes in the big donation bins. now that i have found it i will likely use it more often. i liked how it was self-service and it didn't take long. then i went to the post office and checked my box, nothing there. i saw a long line and said i kind of expected it, since it is the saturday before christmas. i got farther along on the newsprint but it might take a while. in the evening i went on a walk and found 55 cents. i watched some boxing on fox in the early evening, it was broadcast from the minneapolis armory. i saw some boxing there in 2018. there was three matches, first one was a unanimous decision and the others ended in the fourth round. surprised that one of them lasted as long as it did since there was four knockdowns, three of which were in the first round. two more christmas cards arrived, one of them from my friends in st. louis. not a big deal staying in for most of the day as i get more done this way. having breaks was still necessary, not just watching some boxing but also going to aldi to get groceries. 

newsprint reduction

 this was the day when i finally got to the last thing on my list from the week off, 'reduce magazine and newsprint volume'. i stayed in for most of the day, except in the evening when i went to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly grocery order. i also picked up a beer from their liquor store, a can of paulaner. it  essentially replaced the one i drank the previous day, so now there are four beers waiting. i tried to get the newsprint in date order so i was more likely to get the oldest ones moved out. i found an article about the wisconsin couple and it was moved to the cabinet where comedy souvenirs are kept. it was from may 2011 and i let the comic know on facebook about it. most of what i still need to go through is from 2016 or later. i badly wanted to get rid of anything from 2013 or earlier, as-good or bad-it was a reminder of being in a relationship that i am no longer in. i have two more days to work on it before i head back to the office so i want to clear as much as possible. i had to research the recycle guides that are mailed to all residents to see where i can send the newsprint to. already have a box full, ready to go on saturday, must get there before they close at 12noon. i know full well what game plan works for a cleanup plan like this one. it means doing movie watching won't happen, but i still will go to a performance of 'the messiah' on sunday afternoon because i already have a ticket for it. during my walks i found 1 dollar 80 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when zac asks leonard to be a sperm donor. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy go with penny and bernadette to a dance club, the couple kisses after they get home, then amy threw up. she has a smoking monkey in her home. 

frustrated passport photos

 i figured it was going to be a rather simple thing to go get passport photos at walgreen, and i was wrong. i get them done, along with some photos pulled off of my own camera, and headed home to have lunch. i read through the instructions for the renewal application and it says glasses are not allowed in the photo. so i had to go back and do them again. it took something like three attempts to get an acceptable photo when i made the return visit. i was already frustrated from having to return, and even more frustrated by the failures on the return visit. i said i was trying to be cooperative and follow instructions by the employee doing the photo, but it was still coming out wrong. so i said i just needed to go home before i found anything else that was going to frustrate me. so it made sense when i got home that i laid down and slept for a while. i really hope this is the end of this frustration cycle, as i was frustrated last night as well. it meant seeing only one 'big bang theory' rerun, where sheldon and amy test a rumor in their circle of friends. howard proposes to bernadette as well. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 19 cents. i also sent a letter to the editor to the paper in my hometown, a follow up to last year's where i said i would get the covid vaccine when it was available. 

charlie brown swatch

 in the afternoon i went to mall of america and got a charlie brown swatch. it is the baseball-themed one, official name is 'first base'. the box and bag it came in also has charlie brown characters on it. i got the homer simpson donut-flavored candy bar at another store, and a mocha shake at wahlburgers. in the morning i sent plastic bags to cooper's grocery and got a charlie brown popcorn tin there. next stop was dropping off recycle near the capitol. on to the copy store to print out an event ticket. then to spire credit union in roseville for a st. paul winter carnival button. finally to jc penney for using up the gift card that just arrived about a week ago. i made it home and had lunch there, and i was off again, this time to a church to pick up a ticket for seeing 'the messiah' this weekend. then i made it to the mall of america. so i saw two malls today. at the first one a salesgirl tried to give me a free sample, and invited me to sit down, at what appeared to be a soap boutique. i figured whatever they were selling wasn't for me, told them i wasn't buying anything. as i was leaving i asked what prices these products were, as expected it was more than i was willing to pay. and i gave back the free sample. during my walks i found 2 dollars 1 cent. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy had a funeral for their theory, and it was a crossover with 'young sheldon' where his VHS tape was taped over by his dad's football game. it was followed by the one where priya was sarcastic to leonard because he cared a lot about sheldon's stolen things in an apparent video game. it was also the one where the ladies get together and amy cues bernadette about what to call priya. i went to an event in the evening but i was denied entry due to forgetting to bring my covid card with me. so i had to go home and get it, and missed close to half of the show. it was frustrating and i pounded the steering wheel of my car on the way home. 

failure museum, mall of america

 this afternoon i saw the 'failure museum' exhibit at the mall of america. some things profiled there i had heard of, such as the edsel ford car, and some i hadn't. there was even a display about ex-president donald trump. i learned something while there, which is typical when i visit museums. i had heard of ayds diet pills and recalled how nobody would buy them when the name sounded too much like AIDS, the disease. i found out the product had been around for a while. the souvenirs i bought were postcards, a book of 8 as well as 5 singles. i got a mini blizzard treat from the dairy queen as well. in the morning i went through the potato chip bags in the bottom drawer of the fridge and wrote down how many of each kind from the past few months before sending them to the trash. now it is easier to see the beer cans there. in the evening i went through pens, testing them, and threw out what didn't work. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy found out their theory was disproven in an old russian book. it was followed by the one where sheldon couldn't figure out howard's card trick. before the mall i told off a condescending copy store employee. 

robots squirting ketchup

 i like how one can see art most anywhere. this was true with a bowling alley i found next to the nook in st. paul. there was a mural depicting 2 robots squirting ketchup and mustard at each other. there was cans of beer, pabst blue ribbon, in it as well. i did a zoom meeting this morning where the moderator spoke of this bowling alley and i hadn't heard of it. so when i was out doing some errand running i found it. this was in the afternoon, after having the car worked on. i stopped at a walgreen and got some cheese, and a cookie tin with a charlie brown theme. i was also on a 'fact finding mission' about covid booster shots. i was advised to go online and scheduled there. the appointment is for just under 2 weeks from now. this was day one of my week off. i liked being occupied for most of the day, but the trick is to have the rest of the week be full of things to do. in the evening i went on a walk and found 45 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj showers with anu. it was followed by the one where sheldon tries to have his own party when his friends go to raj's because leonard is dating priya. but he claims the 'new' friends 'were having fun wrong'. one of the things they did was sing karaoke. i also performed at an open-mic in the evening. somebody found me after the show and spoke of my story about a public bathroom. 

joe bell movie

 i watched a DVD movie this morning, a redbox rental, 'joe bell'. i recognized mark wahlberg, connie britton, and gary sinise in it. i kept telling myself to 'look up the marky mark movie' as i had seen an image of it on the display next to the machine. it no doubt got a reaction out of me at times, as it was about a gay boy getting bullied. it wasn't revealed right away that the kid had taken his own life, it was depicted after the dad was well into his cross-country journey that included speaking engagements along the way. i heard some pings from my phone during the movie but figured it could wait, and checked after the movie was over. i didn't watch much of the pro football games, just from the first half of raiders-chiefs. i filed away some online articles i had printed, and went to family dollar. i got 3 more DVD movies there, including 'the fighter', a boxing movie. and a can of chicken bologna. it wasn't until early evening when i dumped the movie back at the gas station. later on i went on a walk and found 81 cents. i also listened to the lorde CD i picked up this weekend, so i could destroy the scratched copy. i am re-using the case it came in. since my first copy was 'ex-library' it arrived in a more durable case. i have to give credit to the perfume commercial i was seeing on TV, using her song 'team', reminding me to get a better copy. 

home fries movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from family dollar, 'home fries'. i recognized drew barrymore in it. i didn't know much about it before purchase, but this movie left a lot to be desired. it starts out with a man admitting to having an affair and dying of a heart attack. drew's character is pregnant and works at the burger place, hence the movie's title. one reason i didn't like it was the brother feud, one of them kept flicking the ears of the other while he was driving. along with the mom admitting who her favorite kid is. i liked drew in it, but not much else. i watched the movie after getting back from errand running. of course first it meant having to dig out my car after the snowstorm. just as i was putting the shovel in the back of my car somebody wanted to use it. i said i would help them only if i get to use it. so i shoveled around their car so they could get out. they said 'sorry', i asked what they were sorry for. i dropped off recycle near the capitol, then got a vegetable tray and a burrito at cub foods. then i picked up one package at the post office, a CD from amazon, lorde's 'pure heroine'. it is replacing another copy that was scratched. i decided to be more careful when ordering, i only order 'good' and not ones listed as 'acceptable'. by the time i got home it was time for lunch, so i put in the burrito and ate it before starting the movie. after the movie was done i watched some of the army-navy football game. i also did some planning for having the upcoming week off, shuffling through papers in my letter sorter. then it was time to get my weekly grocery order at aldi. after that i was out again, this time to a holiday potluck as a meetup friend's place. hence why i bought the vegetable tray early in the day. he told me about an open-mic at a place i hadn't heard of. i like reading some from his coffee table books about beer, and both listed anchor brewing and the maytag heir as its boss. and there was mention of 2 kinds of budweiser, had only of the st. louis version. later on a documentary about musician frank zappa was put in. i liked the bite size chicken brought from chick-fil-a. there was even a 'husker du' board game, i had only heard of the band. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 27 cents. i found out the dude went to hill-murray, before the merger. 

gas station security guard

 on the way home after work i stopped at a holiday gas station, i got the paper and a chicken stick. also saw a security guard there, which is not typical. i hadn't stopped there much before, at least the inside part. usually i just get gas and then resume the commute to work. but i knew i still wanted the paper despite a winter storm warning in effect so it made sense to get it there when it was on my normal path. the cashier told somebody in front of me in line not to be too choosy as they expected to get busy, i think they wanted lottery tickets. i made it home to watch one 'big bang theory' rerun, where howard said 'i choose you' to bernadette and then was grounded by his mom. amy consoles penny, her 'bestie', when she meets priya, who is dating leonard. not a big deal to stay in tonight, as i didn't have anywhere to go. as usual, the news was telling us how bad it was out there with the winter weather. there was mention of I-35 near faribault being closed for a while due to pileup when a semi was blocking the road. i stayed until i was caught up with the overnight packages. there was 11 near the end of the day on business lines i hadn't seen before or rarely saw before. i got an instant message saying they wanted them overnighted and the tracking numbers, four of which were going to canada. the requestor said 'you are a doll' but of course it remains to be seen if it leads to any other recognition of going 'above and beyond'. when i was leaving work i already saw a snowplow working on the parking lot, as most cars had left by then. i still have some things to do this weekend, and i understand the storm warning expires early saturday morning so it should be no problem getting it all done. 

funko figurines

 i am surprised that i am still finding items related to the movie 'space jam'. when i was at walgreen for an afternoon snack i found a funko figurine, it was of bugs bunny. it says there are 12 kinds, although bugs is pictured twice. i have seen these before, as i have one related to 'big bang theory'. at work i noticed the chimes on the check shop doorbell were different, now it is the national anthem instead of sounding like a grandfather clock. found this out when a check was picked up this morning. more boxes arrived, these were larger than before, and the names i recognized were sent to their cubes. the ones not recognized were sent to the delivery table, and i let h.r. know about it. later on in the day i noticed the volume at this table went down, more than half of them were claimed. my weekly visit to hy-vee in eagan was moved up one day as i heard the weather report, a winter storm warning will be in effect on friday. i got a can of bauhaus while there and drank a can of modelo with the evening meal so there are still 4 beers waiting. when i spoke of this at the liquor store the cashier said they had been busy for this reason. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 37 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon's friend from texas, tam, was in town, 'he knows what he did'. penny and bernadette meet anu and they talk about raj. it was followed by the one where leonard meets a rich widow at a fundraiser event and does the 'walk of shame'. 'young sheldon' was about missy, as well as sheldon, having a case of 'the yips' in different ways. one while pitching and the other while taking exams. 

idle chatter

 there was a virtual meeting in the early afternoon, forgot to look at the schedule and it was the same time i normally take lunch so i still ate lunch during that time and ended up just listening. i think it was about returning to the office, of course i am already there. i said it was 'idle chatter' because i didn't know any of the people on the call and it seemed to be about a lot of social things, such as if a coffee shop was still open and who was bringing in food to the office. i recall what a maintenance employee had said when i was fine with a former employer cutting back on potlucks, how are not paid to be social. it was hard to tell how many of these people would be at the same office, judging by the names as well as the businesses being mentioned. my boss's boss sent an email about a check to be overnighted to st. louis, it was for over $6 million, so i sent the tracking number when it was available. otherwise i don't think anyone rang the doorbell all day. in the evening i watched 'the conners', it was a rerun, louise shopping for a wedding dress. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when stuart brought denise to howard and bernadette's and a song kept playing by sade if i am not mistaken. raj meets anu. it was followed by the one where sheldon asks penny for acting lessons because he isn't good as a lecturer, and students review it by saying 'kill me now'. during my walks i found 30 cents.  

'de' and 'of'

 i had three checks going to the same address in phoenix, memorable because the street was 'joan of arc'. although the system didn't recognize it so i searched online and found out it was 'joan de arc'. i know it is the same meaning, although 'de' fits the literal french of this name. i saw multiple emails from customer service about it, wanting check copies, which is not typical. i said there would be just one tracking number for it. also notable was seeing a 'zero' or 'un-printable' check on another file. i didn't hold up the entire file over it, i just avoided printing that one check and let the business line know about it. more boxes came in, sounded like it was 'return to office' equipment, except none were for my boss. there was 6 small boxes where i recognized the names and moved them to cubes based on the names on the phones. somebody recognized other names and took ownership of distribution on the others. i sent one to the branch manager and was told it was forwarded to our office as a nearby branch had been closed for a while. in the evening i reminded myself to check when some 'live' versions of episodes of 'facts of life' and 'different strokes' would be on, it was when i was watching the news. i made it over to ABC while 'strokes' was on, saw most of that episode. kevin hart was playing arnold. i had seen some of these before, so i know i can go to the network's website to see the full episodes. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy went on a scavenger hunt when they were trying to figure out what a wedding gift was. it was followed by the one where the friends took two cars to big sur for a conference and bernadette met an ex there, a tall man. during my walks i found 35 cents. 

6 boxes makes 25

 there are plenty of boxes of computer equipment that has been arriving lately for my boss. through the end of friday it was 19, and six more arrived earlier today. he arrived in the afternoon, when i was at lunch, and went through the 25 boxes and said there was even more on the way. lunch was also when a bog envelope order arrived. usually i am there to let the delivery man in. i finally got an answer about what to do with a check for over a million that was to be overnighted, it was to send it regular mail to the p.o. box on the check so i had just enough time to get it out at the end of the day. in the evening i went on a walk and found 22 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were on their honeymoon and sheldon threw away some hot dogs. and back home amy's dad was trying to hide from her mom. it was followed by the one where sheldon ends up helping penny on an app about shoes as he was being annoying and was kicked off leonard's team. for the evening meal i drank a corona with it so now there are 4 beers waiting. 

nadine in dateland movie

this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from family dollar, 'nadine in dateland'. i recognized janeane garofalo and john ross bowie in it. the movie is about somebody who runs a dating service but is herself unlucky in love. although we end up seeing some of the reasons why, as she is clumsy on dates. i bought this movie because i like janeane's comedy. i am trying to think of how i feel about this movie. the main character's friend, a trust fund baby, is a lesbian and this does lead to some of the sub-plots such as running into the friend's ex in a grocery store where they hide behind a display of little debbie snack cakes. a young boy, a computer nerd, is later revealed to be still in high school and that he lied about his age to get the job at the dating service. then there is the spying on the target of the main character's affection, in order to save her business- as her mom's ulimatum was to woo him. needing some help in order to do well in dating, that part made sense. but the deceit involved doesn't, as one can get found out. also notable was the john ross bowie character having his parents as part of the dates. i think this is why the movie can be considered a 'farce' because that is ridiculous. so i am ambivalent about this movie, as the premise was good but the end result left a lot to be desired. 

i still had some things to do, most notable was getting the laundry done. as usual i get it started and don't spend all of my time 'babysitting' it, as i want to watch some of the pro football games on TV. so it meant going back when i knew it was time to move things to the dryer, and when the dryer was done. i showered at halftime of the vikings-lions game, and got started on laundry at the end of the 3rd quarter, lions went on to win a close one. i had it all done by the evening. after '60 minutes' there was a program on CBS about the lighting of the national christmas tree, hosted my ll cool j and president biden spoke at it. some songs were performed as well. during my walks i found 1 dollar 71 cents. 

stillwater movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'stillwater'. i recognized matt damon in it. this was a free movie for me as i had 15 rentals in my points account. it is about an american student convicted of murdering her roommate in france. after watching it i realized this did remind me of hearing about amanda knox, and i did find some articles online where knox herself is critical of the movie although this is a fictionalized story. i like how the french part of the story is in marseille, a reminder of how there is more to the nation than just paris. the movie gets its name from the city in oklahoma, where damon's character is an unemployed oil driller. he goes to france to visit his daughter, and hires a private investigator to help free her. and he tries to do some detective work on his own, and a local actress becomes his translator. i liked the part of the story where he becomes a part of the translator's life, as she has a young daughter. he even takes the little girl with him to a soccer match, although the closing credits seem to say the soccer field they filmed at was actually in paris. the movie reminds viewers of how some things can be similar to american life- people liking sports, seeing the city's slums, and the 'code of silence'- where some don't want to be seen as a snitch so they won't talk. it is long, over 2 hours. but it held my attention for most of the time. in the background of one scene i noticed a fridge magnet saying 'i am charlie'- in reference to the murders at the place where charlie hebdo was published. 

once the movie was done i knew i needed to go out and get things done. i stopped at the post office, only one item to pick up, the charlie brown shirt from cane's chicken. i had to check my amazon account and found out the CD ordered just over a week ago is still on the way. one would think it would arrive quick when the seller is in the same metro area, but i guess not. then it was to the gas station where i dumped the movie, and on to the dealer to do an oil change. they claimed i needed work done on the brakes, i had heard this before, and i was given an estimate. but i prefer to have the shop that did the brakes earlier look at it as well. as i went to leave i wanted to use the bathroom but the door was locked but i knew the area well so i went to use one at a nearby cub foods. since it is a grocery store i bought some cheese, and another box of 'space jam' fruit snacks. surprised that i am still seeing them at stores when i saw the movie at theaters 4 months ago. then i went to maplewood mall and bought 2 CDs there at the barnes and noble. one was greatest hits by fallout boy, the other was lauren daigle. of course the latter was inspired by her song 'you say' becoming the 'theme song' of my chicago visit more than 2 years ago, my most recent visit. then i went home and went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. by then it was evening, time to watch the big ten football championship, the iowa hawkeyes were playing michigan. iowa trailed 14-3 at the half and was blown out. during my walks i found 2 dollars 8 cents. for the evening meal i had pizza, but not the kind i normally have as they were out. i had to use the conventional oven to heat it up and i prefer the microwaveable kind. 

insurance offers

 the only item in the mail was from my credit union, it was an offer for car insurance. i already have this kind of insurance, and like the company i have, so it went into my shred box. i've had these kind of offers before, but it is usually for accidental death and dismemberment insurance. in the evening i made it to hy-vee for my weekly grocery order. later on i went on a walk and found 41 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard was included as part of raj's lecture at the planetarium. bob newhart also was a guest star in a dream sequence after sheldon and amy had a fight related to amy being taken off her own research at the university. it was followed by the one where amy kept saying 'hoo' when she was around penny's friend zach as she was aroused. at work there was 19 boxes of what looked like computer equipment for my boss, and when i emailed it sounds like he will be in monday afternoon to go through them. there was some surprise as to how quickly they had arrived. i also let the branch know how their slot in the mailroom hadn't been checked for a few days, was told it was due to the manager being out for all of this week. 

amazon vans

 while driving to work this morning i was stopped at a light and saw 3 amazon delivery vans in front of me. i don't see this kind of scene too often so i got a picture of it. i have one order from them on the way and will likely place another once the current one is picked up. i also saw a sign in a parking lot that said 'no more sanctions on ethiopia and eritrea'. at work i found out there was more i had to do with my UPS account. it was no longer sending the notifications on each label created to customer service. so i tested it by having it email me as well, and i got 6 of those, so i guess that is back on now. at the end of the day i had somebody ring the bell and it was a branch employee. i said usually nobody asks about the mail tubs. it didn't make sense to me how an employee who picks up mail doesn't have access. once i had finished closing overnight envelopes i found this employee and was told whoever it was had left access in a car that had broke down. i said i wanted to have answers ready in case my boss asks about it. in the evening i went on a walk and found 54 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy went dress shopping. penny and bernadette said they didn't like the one she chose, but sheldon liked it. it was followed by the one where penny was trying to fool her dad into thinking she got back together with leonard. for the evening meal i drank a modelo and now there are 5 beers waiting. 

king of what?

 i went to see an old friend tonight, the d.c. native, who was in town headlining at the comedy club. when i was greeted upon arrival i was called the king. i should have said 'king of what?' but said 'that is elvis presley'. some others were there as well such as sub teacher, the sidekick, and chalm-skinn. i drank a bottle of grain belt while i was catching up with all, and hearing stories being told. one was about staying with arizona chicago. even though i did not get stage time tonight it was still worth it to go there, as it became a fact-finding mission. i heard about stage time at another venue, and how to get a guest set at this one. sounds like a few things had changed since the pandemic began. later on i went on a walk and found 95 cents. also said to myself  'the haves and have-nots' when i saw a man sleeping outside of a coffee shop. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and leonard went to texas to visit sheldon's brother to convince him to attend the wedding, they went to a tire shop. it was followed by the one where the friends go to a screening of 'indiana jones' and amy invites herself to a slumber party. at work i was asked how much stock is in a box of check by my boss's boss by instant messaging. it was around the time when i getting ready to send the monthly supply order, where check stock is a big part of it. i got locked out of the overnight label system and when i got back in i lost all of the 'favorites' or internal customers, so eventually i will want to re-add those. when i called our customer service line i was told i was 'inactive' even though i use it every day. my best guess was that something in the system expired due to it being my service anniversary, 18 months.