finally, repair completed

 in the morning my phone said the home internet repair was completed, two minutes apparently after the tech had arrived for the day. when i went home after work in the evening it was up and running, after being down for three weeks. and after i was skipped on one appointment and kept getting rescheduled. there was a survey but i haven't responded to it. at work the computer monitor on the envelope stuffer went black while i was doing the first stack of checks for the day. i tried to figure it out and then let my vacation replacement know, who knew what buttons to push on the monitor to get it back. re-booting it didn't do the trick. thankfully it was figured out early enough that i got back on track in a short amount of time. and it helped that it was a lower volume of checks for the day as well. during my walks i found 62 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard raj and stuart sing 'hard knock life' from 'annie' when doing chores. it serves as a reminder of a connection to its companion show, 'young sheldon', as the latter had an episode where the play 'annie' was staged. it was followed by the one where an FBI agent interviews the friends about howard. 

before you go, lewis capaldi

 recently i had heard a song on my car radio and it is still stuck in my head. it is 'before you go' by lewis capaldi. i liked reading about it as it was a very personal song for him, about the suicide of his aunt when he was young. the more personal songs tend to be more successful as we tend to know ourselves well. the line that meant the most to me was 'well time can heal, but this won't'. this is sad but true about many things. there are plenty of questions in the lyrics, and i liked that as well as i tend to do this in my own writings. i sometimes ask questions that might be hard to answer, but sometimes the most important thing is just asking. back at work after the day off, it was nice to be back. as expected, some mail left over so i delivered it, such as more NSF statements to a senior leader that is sometimes in the building but not too often. there was a team huddle in the morning, in the conference room near the breakroom. vacation replacement was joining remotely and asked about the blank pages on some of the check printing selections. i said i had let i.t. know last week, but no response yet. i forwarded the email to my boss and some action got done. my boss was on the original email but had been on vacation when i sent it. during my walks i found 1 dollar, all in quarters. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when we meet priya, raj's sister. 

grippo's bbq chips

 i had a day off from work as it sounded like i needed to be home for an internet service repair. i decided to get lunch at a nearby gas station, which included a sandwich, as well as barbecue chips i hadn't seen before. they were called grippo's, from cincinnati. a little too spicy for me though. technician did not arrive until the afternoon, about two hours after lunch. after twenty minutes the tech left and said someone else needed to fix it, which was annoying. same thing i had heard two weeks prior. i did my best to stay busy until the tech arrived. i shredded junk mail, hadn't done that in a while. and i watched three more episodes of the 'charlie brown and snoopy show' on DVD. now i have watched 12 out of the 18. in the evening i performed at an open-mic, and some of the bank stories i told were rantings. show runner liked mention of the play i had attended as i said it wasn't the first western i had seen there, and after i was done he sang a little from 'liberty valance'. during my walks i found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon did a video to be seen by space aliens. it was followed by the one where sheldon thinks he is screwed because amy wants him to meet her mom, done over a laptop. 

tr baskin movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'TR baskin' at the trylon cinema in minneapolis. liked seeing what chicago looked like in the early 1970s. it starred a young candice bergen, along with peter boyle and james caan. it was about a young lady leaving her small town and telling her parents via telegram that she went to chicago to seek fame and fortune. i know what it is like to leave a small midwestern town for chicago so it was relatable to me. before the movie i went to use a gift card given to me by yemen native for the lowbrow restaurant, also in minneapolis. i had the reuben sandwich, plenty of fries with it. liked the baseball card themed counter at the bar, i had some of those cards. then i went to the ragstock in uptown minneapolis and found a brown leather jacket with a zipper that works for me. i tried on three before i said 'we have a winner'. after the movie i saw the big dog at an ice cream place with his two kids and the baby mama, for a mother's day event. the ice cream there reminded me of what i had in new ulm as it had the same cow logo. during my walks i found 1 dollar 2 cents. i did laundry in the morning. i also called my college roommate. as i needed an advisor. i was advised that the wrong number and whatsapp invite from thursday was likely a scam. i did say i didn't like being pushed to get on the site, and i was ignoring the text messages for two days. so i finally said 'i have had enough' and blocked the number. as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

men on boats play

 in the evening i went to see the play 'men on boats' at the round theater in minneapolis. it was based on the journals of john wesley powell, who led an expedition in utah and arizona on rivers. at times the performers were in the seating area to get to the next set as it is a small venue. enjoyed the show, laughed a few times. the man at the window was condescending though, hard to forget that one. nobody needs to tell me to get to my seat or turn off my phone, i got there less than ten minutes before the show began so i was still a little early. earlier in the day i went to the open book building and looked at an exhibit at minnesota book arts. i heard about it when i was at the loft for a member event a few months back and knew this exhibit would be closing in less than a month. nothing special but i liked the postcards i found in the adjacent gift shop. bought some of animals, of a bald eagle, turkey, giraffe. elephant, and foxes. some were for just a half-dollar. looked at another ragstock, this time southdale mall in edina, still not quite what i was looking for. shopped for groceries at aldi as well and had a sandwich at jersey mike's for lunch. i had some godfather's pizza before the play. during my walks i found 57 cents. 

animal cookie blizzard

 after work i had an animal cookie blizzard at the nearby dairy queen. there are six different flavors for the summer and now i have had three. i stayed a little late to see that things were caught up, no surprise there. i tend to do this on the last day before a day off. it will be my first vacation day used this year, on monday. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy build a blanket fort. it was followed by the one where howard gets advice from famous people to 'make the move' on bernadette. ten items bought during my visit to hy-vee in eagan for groceries. 

wrong number, whatsapp

 i checked my phone when i was at lunch and saw a text message i didn't recognize. area code was in california and asking about a barbecue. i let them know it was a wrong number but i invited them to add me on linkedin. counteroffer given to me was whatsapp, which i am not on. i wanted to confer with friends first to see if any of them use it. one can't be too careful. during my walks i found 1 dollar 54 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends play a ping-pong game where the prize was a dr. who phone booth. it was followed by the one where sheldon had too many cats after he ended things with amy. then they get back together and he gives away the cats. there was two episodes of 'young sheldon' tonight. these were better than some others this season, felt like they were phoning it in on some. george sr. gets a vasectomy in the first one and dies at the end of the second one. i drank a pryes with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. 

workday demo

in the afternoon at work i did a workday demo. since my vacation replacement was out the team lead asked about rescheduling, but i said i was fine with keeping the same time. for one thing, the fargo files had not arrived yet and i wanted to stay busy. those files did arrive later, and all i had time to do same-day was load them so i could print them next morning. i liked the exposure i got on the demo, which should help some more with searches on checks and ACH statements. weird how i had two calls at the same time on the check shop phone before lunchtime. saints called me back about getting a rain check used, now the ticket order has been placed for a game in june. the other call was about the check stock order arriving, so i got out the carts and brought it into the shop. during my walks i found 25 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends had the last dinner made my howard's mom. it was followed by the one where sheldon uses a virtual presence device. 

no fargo files yet

 vacation replacement dropped in early in the day, wanted to help out. i said there were no fargo files yet. something about wanting to stay busy and it was going to take a while for the updates on his laptop. during my walks i found 56 cents. 'big bang theory' rerun was when amy asked if penny was a slut, when penny drove and was a chaperone during her date with sheldon. 

envelopes discovered late

at work the big shipment of envelopes for the month was discovered late in the day at the branch, 24 in all. so i took the time to get them on carts and moved into the shop at least. during my walks i found 5 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were about howard trying to get his mom's ashes. it was followed by the one where we meet amy, and howard said 'good god what have we done?' since he and raj blackmailed sheldon into meetung her. 

la boheme, mn opera

 plans for the day are to see 'la boheme' at the minnesota opera in downtown st. paul. i liked reading how it is what inspired 'rent' which i did see on broadway in 2005 near the end of its run. it was in italian so it meant reading subtitles above the stage. memorable was the final line, 'why are you looking at me like that?' at midday i went to eat at mall of america, some pizza and ice cream. looked around at ragstock as well. i am looking for a replacement for my leather jacket and what they had wasn't quite it but there are some other locations to try. during my walks i found 1 dollar 38 cents. 

house bunny movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase, 'house bunny'. a comedy club employee had recommended it a while back. there were a few things i liked about it, such as two songs in it, 'take a bow' by rihanna and 'girlfriend' by avril lavigne. but i also saw it as largely a rip-off of 'revenge of the nerds'. as it was about a misfit sorority trying to keep its house and the elite one was trying to sabotage them. another scene was a rip-off of 'forrest gump' as well. it was about a playboy bunny finding another job, as a house mother of the misfit sorority. after it was done i went to do errand running, including picking up an order at the post office and paying for my box. in the afternoon i went to the st. paul saints baseball game, as i read how they were wearing the charlie brown jerseys, postponed from the rainout of nearly a week earlier. saints had a big first inning, 7 runs, and it held up as they beat louisville 9-6. there was a star trek theme and an ushertainer dressed as mr. spock. in the evening i watched some baseball on fox, rays beat the mets 3-1. during my walks i found 98 cents. 

cotton candy blizzard

 after work i went to the nearby dairy queen and had a cotton candy blizzard. it was a nice way to cap off the week at work. there are likely some more flavors i want to try this season. it was a fairly slow day at work, no complaints there. my boss wanted me to submit a timecard a little early so he could approve it before going on vacation all of next week. in the evening i went on a walk and found 93 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard's mom passed. and the theme was 'let it go' about various things. it was followed by the one where we meet joyce kim, when leonard tells the story about moving in to penny. i heard from my college roommate that lives in the area, but grilling will have to wait as our schedules aren't matching up just yet. i will figure out some events to do this weekend, one is likely a saints game. 

coffee and wine

 i went to walgreen at lunchtime and i got more than just a snack. i also got a greeting card as i liked the sentiment on it. there was a cup of coffee handing off a baton to a glass of wine. i don't drink the former that much, and hardly ever drink the latter, but i do like beer when i am performing. and sometimes i need a drink after a long day at work. this was true after the machine kept jamming but i must have guessed well after a while after moving a few levers as it stopped jamming. i drank a can of pryes with the evening meal and got two more beers from the liquor store, a pryes and a michelob, so now five are waiting. 'young sheldon' name-checked the ricki lake talk show. and sheldon called the teddy ruxpin toy a 'nightmare' and i had to laugh about that one. i do recall how both were a big deal for a little while. later on i went on a walk and found 27 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the ladies found embarrassing videos or writings by all three. it was followed by the one where sheldon had a visitor, the 'slut bunny'. 

twins bottle opener

 i found my fourth item this week at work with the bank's logo on it. this time it was a bottle opener with the twins baseball team logo on it as well. actually it was five as i claimed a sticker saying 'i love where i work'. it took a while but i am finally getting branded items at work, all due to cleanup getting ready for the move. the one on one with my boss was in the afternoon, some of the questions were about the move. but it was obvious that we weren't on the same page when we talked about bus passes as those passes can be used on light rail as well. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 76 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon had spaghetti and hot dogs with penny.