special project completed

 this was the sixth and final day of the special project. we were sending out two thousand checks per day, and this day's file was a little under that amount. as usual, i like it when special projects are done as it tends to be a lower volume of checks to print and send out. three mail tubs were sent out, and the backlog of Fargo checks went down, just a thousand. any carryover is run through first the next day. i did hear from the manager that likes karaoke, who attended the same baseball game as i did over the weekend. she had a fun time, but i did not see her there. we ended up having two checks for payroll to pick up, payee on those two were the same, state of Delaware. 

guthrie theater open house

 the lid-lifter for the day was the open house at the Guthrie theater. i shared a photo booth picture from the event on Facebook. i was mindful of how much time i should spend there as i had another event to attend just down the road. it was the Minnesota Twins baseball game. the twins beat the white sox, 5-1. it was the third Twins game for me this season, and likely the last as the season's ending is about a month away. i go see the St. Paul Saints more often as well. i saw that i arrived early enough to pick up the Charlie Brown jersey i had ordered, it was a special themed ticket. it looks like his black and yellow shirt. the Twins pitcher, Zebby Matthews, i had likely seen pitch for the Saints. it was a good outing, had a perfect game into the sixth inning. the crowd cheered when he went to the mound when the ninth began. then the crowd booed when the manager pulled him. i had no problem with it, though. up by 5, two on, one out. winning the game is more important than a complete game. the relief pitcher did fine. only one run scored and that made no difference at all. odd that the attendance was not announced or even put on the big video board. it was also odd that a dude sat next to me in the eighth. that is a really late arrival for a game. the dude said i looked like someone famous, i wrote the name down on my scorecard. songs from the day included Lady Gaga's 'just dance' at the Twins game. a different Gaga song was played as my 'walking up' song when i was performing in the evening. another was 'choosing Texas' by Ella Langley. a big deal to hear it on a radio station that normally doesn't play country music. then later on in the evening i called my dad. 

bob uecker documentary

 in the late afternoon i drove over to Hudson, Wisconsin, and saw the documentary movie about baseball personality Bob Uecker. some of the clips from his performing career were familiar, including the movie 'major league', the sitcom 'Mr. belvedere', and the miller lite beer commercials. i was most familiar with 'the front row', but that wasn't the only one in it. this did lead to the term 'Uecker seat' being coined. another one had john goodman in it, who later on was the dad on 'Roseanne'. i made it just in time for the movie as i made a stop along the way to find a catholic church that had been converted into a Muslim Mosque. i got a few pictures and then i left, this was on the east side of St. Paul. it had likely been a while since i had driven that far to see a movie. i did that all the time growing up in central Iowa though, to see movies in Des Moines. besides interviews with Uecker himself, it was nice to see Bob Costas, as well as Joe Torre, and Bud Selig in it. after the movie i stayed in town and ate at a culver's, first time at one. the food tasted fine, but i am not used to having to specify what i wanted on the burger. or in the ice cream treat. lunch was at Jersey Mike's. songs from the day were from the car radio on the way to the movie. there was 'I'm the only one' by Melissa Etheridge, and 'bang' by AJR, i know it as the 'here we go' song. 

file won't open

 near the end of the day i was sent a UPS label but the file wouldn't open so i let them know. even if i could have printed it, there wasn't going to be much time to send it out same day. same colleague was asking for a check copy when i was out of office. i found out vacation replacement did handle it, though. the ticket opened on one of the check printers is still open, no one has arrived yet to look at it. i let them know that my manager has been notified about the delays. and now the printer is jamming in the maintenance kit area, so we definitely have a need for a tech visit. vacation replacement did the picture that was shared with others. payroll department had two people asking about checks to pick up, but there is just one to pick up currently. i said i don't know who the approvers are but i know i am most likely to get out of office replies on a Friday. in the evening i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries and it looks like based on the nametag that the cashier helping me in express lane was in HR. 

dolly parton postcard, newspaper museum

 i had a day off and went to the Minnesota state fair. an early stop for me was the newspaper museum, i had picked up postcards from there before. this year there was one honoring entertainer dolly parton, who just died this week. when i sang karaoke i heard two of her songs being performed, 'Jolene', and '9 to 5'. when i sang it was 'today' by smashing pumpkins, and the song after me was hole's 'malibu'. lunch was at the Hamline dining hall, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. the evening meal was in the food, and garden building where sang karaoke, a steak poor boy sandwich. i had some ice cream from the place next to the carpet slide, and when i went down the slide i screamed like lt. dan from 'Forrest Gump' in the hurricane. many of the places i visited were familiar. there was the milk booth, all you can drink for three dollars. and the St. Paul Saints section of fan zone, where i bought a scarf and a sticker. i picked up a free magnet, a round one, at the 4-h building. and i liked doing the scavenger hunt where the prize was a magnet, it's called the 'history walking tour'. one of the twelve stops mentioned visits by President Theodore Roosevelt. at the fine arts building, my favorite was one depicting a dog, using beer bottlecaps. i went to the oink booth at the pig barn, my only visit at a animal barn. and i saw the Charlie Brown statue at the kemps farm hands exhibit. i watched the 6pm newscast for WCCO, and did a massage chair demo in the marketplace under the grandstand. while waiting my turn at karaoke i went to some nearby places, including the farm bureau building, where i got a mixing bowl utensil. i capped the day at the america-250 Ferris wheel, where i was in the Andrew Jackson gondola. all of them had a president on it. i rode with a special needs kid and his parents. i was a little nervous about being so high up in this ride but managed to do well enough by talking a lot through it. nice view up there, seeing the capitol lit up at night. i picked up three buttons throughout the day, and one of the purchased postcards was a Minnesota version of 'grace', the old man praying over his meal. 

late arrival at picnic

 i went to a picnic in the evening, it was sponsored by one of the organizations that i am a member of. it was in Como Park in St. Paul. i was a late arrival as i wanted to get to cub foods first to pick up another state fair ticket. it was the last day that the discounted advance tickets would be available. this explains why i had to wait in line a little at the customer service counter. retired postal worker spoke of having a scheduling conflict on day one and we decided to reschedule for Labor Day, the final day of the fair. i said i was still going to attend on the first day as i already had the day off from work. there were little sandwiches in a big box, i had four ham or turkey with cheese sandwiches there and took four more home with me for later meals. i didn't know anyone all that well there besides maybe the event coordinator. at work, i sent the refund checks in a UPS envelope for vacation replacement, who spoke of having a mild back injury. the tracking number was sent to a colleague that i don't know as well but she was the one who arrived to drop them off in the shop. i hadn't done these in a while but the boss confirmed the address hadn't changed on where i send them to. 

two inquiries, same check

 i know well enough not to get too loud when i see 'duplication of efforts', but i still don't enjoy seeing when it happens. this was the case for the day. the st. louis file had an overnight from Friday that i found but no one emailed me in advance. the Iowa native first asked about it, and i said it arrived on Monday. then the manager of the same department asked about the check. i said it was no big deal to check the file for special handling even if there is no email as their file is usually low volume, around 25 checks. but i also said it was harder to notify it was overnighted, and share the tracking number, if not emailed. i noticed how the check didn't have to travel far, staying in the metro area, ending up in the east metro. i said my vacation replacement likely wouldn't have searched the file if there was no email, and i had a day off coming up for the state fair. the Iowa native said she hadn't been to Iowa's fair in years, and the same is true for me. maybe once since i moved out of state. 

goth theme at show

 in the evening i went to a comedy show at a venue i had seen before. it looked weird when i was in the parking lot, seeing someone dressed up for Halloween, a skull in their hand. i went in and found out the night's theme was goth. i spoke with the show runner after the show and was advised to send a private message through Facebook for stage time inquiries. the booker i was most recently familiar with had just stepped down from that role. i had most recently performed there in October. a few performers were familiar to me but not too many. memorable was seeing the new paint job for the bathrooms, looking like Popeye and Olive Oyl in the entrances. at work there was a request from the account closure file in Kansas City to add a check to the 'return to business line' overnight envelope. not a big deal, already had 19 in there by the time i saw the request. it was another check going to sin city. vacation replacement asked if anything had been set aside, i said there was three items. a blue company envelope, a FedEx envelope, and an interoffice envelope. 

late fame movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'late fame' in Columbia heights. i recognized Willem Dafoe in it, who played the main character, the writer. this movie was more 'impactful' than most as i could relate to many aspects of Dafoe's character. living as a recluse, a steady day job, isolated from family, and keeping his artist exploits a secret from those who know him best. i liked the 'gloria' character as well, the actress. she seemed to be a callback to the 'holly' character played by Audrey Hepburn in 'breakfast at tiffany's'. she was fun to be around, secretive about her life, and when the truth was revealed, it was ugly. another reviewer said it was also inspired by the character played by Liza Minnelli in 'cabaret' but i wasn't as familiar with that movie. the lies and 'with-holding information' unraveled near the end of the story, and when this led to arguing i said 'passion'. i like seeing it as long as it is onstage and not in my real life. i also found a scene that was a reminder of how i took charge of my own performing. all too often, i would support friends and i wouldn't see them reciprocate. then i said i mostly show up only if i have stage time, and no surprise i got better as a performer. this was when the main character said to a young man, 'you don't read mine i don't read yours'. and i did perform at a open mic in the evening, the fill-in show runner was there. when i arrived i said i am ready to go, it helped that i had just heard johnny cash's cover of 'hurt' on the car radio. in the morning i did laundry and went to a caribou coffee as well. after the performing i went to have some ice cream at McDonald's. after the movie i was driving home and heard Pink Floyd's 'wish you were here' on the car radio. the line that resonates with me most was 'did you exchange a walk-on part in the war, for a lead role in a cage?' thankful i did the opposite, due to performing. i prefer to be 'in the fight' as refusing to fight got me nowhere. 

hadestown movie/play

 in the evening i went to see a filmed version of the play 'hades-town' in st. louis park. down to one screening a day, so i said i needed to see it now. i read how at the outset that it was expected to be just a five-day run in theaters, but it was 'brought back by popular demand', staying in the top five in the box office for longer than those first five days. the film started its run in theaters a month ago, on the weekend when i was in st. louis, MO, and this was likely why i didn't hear about it at first. i lucked out finding a listing for it on fandango and said this was a better idea than attending another event that i heard about on Facebook as i likely would have had some awkward conversations about why i was no longer at an open mic that i was performing at for a while. the story was good, i knew it was a modernized version of a story from ancient mythology. and i had seen Eva Noblezada from some earlier movies, among these 'yellow rose', and 'easter Sunday'. i liked her character, and the narrator as well, but it was hard to like Eva's love interest. it was a reminder of my former self, as that character wore his heart on his sleeve and was naive. i found a quick meal at the grocery store, cub foods, near the theater before going in. i found some things to do before the movie as well. there was getting a blizzard treat at a dairy queen, then i had lunch at matt's bar in south Minneapolis. i had a 'Jucy Lucy', their famous sandwich. i had a seat at the bar near the door, close to the cook and we chatted a little. i took home half of the fries as even a half order was more than what i usually have, and i drank a grain belt beer with the meal. i didn't do much after getting home from the movie. 'Freeze frame' by the j. Geils band was playing at the bar, and 'Radiohead's 'creep' was playing on the car radio on the way to the movie. 

answered own question

 the Marshall office can be weird. i was contacted by a colleague from there asking if a check had been overnighted. i said i could only research it if i have a check number or a tracking number. then she supplies the tracking number and said it was on the way, so she answered her own question. there were two ad-hoc files for our tax specialist. there was more of an interest in the first one, the Canadian file. sounds like it had to go out same-day. just minutes after i was emailed the file, it was printed. had to wait until a big Fargo file was done printing, but it was nearly finished by then. in the morning i got a ticket in for the check printer that needs a maintenance kit. now it is a question of when the tech is arriving as these are usually marked as 'low priority'. i picked up another Charlie Brown word-find at Walgreen along with some tea, and cookies. in the evening i made it to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. the autumn cereals have arrived, i bought two boxes. one was Count Chocula and the other was pumpkin spice cheerios. i went there after a meetup event at a micro-brewery. saw the dude that wears the cowboy hat. i ordered from the food truck our front, but only fries as they were sold out of sandwiches by then. i was talking to someone on the patio who didn't know a meetup event was happening, but when a dude cut in and she was more interested in talking to him i said 'it's been nice' and moved to another part of the establishment. truly a case of 'reading the room'. 

no second check

 the payroll manager asked me of there was a second check to pick up, i said there wasn't. already had one and she said 'she'd pick it up when back in the office. still wondering when that one check will be picked up but i have a place in the shop to keep it until then. there was a check for the manager that likes karaoke, i found the time to get it there shortly after i was done with lunching. i said an upcoming weekend, at the end of the month, will have a baseball theme. there is a movie, and a game, i want to see that weekend. this was a 'drop and leave' as she was in a conference room doing a dial-in meeting. i asked vacation replacement if he'd eaten at a culver's but hasn't. i don't think i have either. i know it is a burger and fries place and there are plenty of others that I'm more familiar with. i got the idea to eat at one due to finding out that the baseball movie I'd like to see out of town is in a town that has one. i see their ads on TV all the time, and i know there are locations nearby it just hadn't made my list yet. not even during lent when it sounds like they have a fish sandwich. i get one at McDonald's instead, the famous filet-o-fish. 

nimrods movie

 in the evening i went to see the movie 'nimrods', or 'the green day movie', in Eagan. normally i see movies on the weekends but i checked the schedule on fandango and it said there weren't going to be many screenings if i waited that long. i was in a rush to make it there on time where i didn't even go home after work and ended up eating at the theater. i got chicken tenders, fries, and bottled water. i still like it where they deliver to my seat, and of course it means i have to let them know what auditorium i am in. i was the only attendee at this screening, this has happened before. and it seemed to explain why there won't be many screenings this weekend in this area. the music in it was good, recognized plenty of the songs in it but there were some 'deep cuts' as well. the only 'spoiler' i could offer really isn't one at all. the three friends make it to Los Angeles to see green day in concert. it wouldn't be much of a movie if they didn't. i fully expected this to happen. but it was 'the thrill of the chase' that i wanted to see. too. and when it was said that the band would 'appear as themselves' then most people should expect that it would end with a green day concert. i saw on Facebook in advance a posting that said, 'say what band member you are'. i said 'drummer' and i was correct. i was the 'forgotten person in the back' in the jobs in held in school, being a dishwasher and janitor. this helped me identify with drummers. this character was nerdy and more sensible than his friends as well. after the movie i went to a Walgreen and got some string cheese, and an ice cream sandwich. the latter was inspired by the movie i had just seen, as one of the vehicles the friends drove in it was an ice cream truck. while driving home i heard on my car radio a song that had been in the movie, 'time of your life' (good riddance). and i was wearing my green day shirt in honor of the event. at work, vacation replacement asked if there were any checks to forward on in the shop, i said there weren't any refund checks just returned checks. i was also asked if any checks i print start with a 5, i could think of three business lines fitting this description. guess it was a refund check issue. 

copy the shared box

 i let a colleague from the Marshall office know that it is best to copy the shared box when sending overnight labels. she is the vacation replacement, it explains why some were sent on a one-day delay. i had to email them to say we didn't have the labels yet. nothing like the threat of sending it regular mail will get them to send us what we need. i got another overnight request, this time from account closures in Kansas City. this was from the 'loopy lady' and was after i had sent the tracking numbers for the day. normally we only overnight if it is 'return to business line' or if over 10-grand, this was neither. then the manager i am more familiar with, who gets the 'return to business line' checks, contacted me and asked if i saw it. i said i had, two checks going to the same place in sin city. and my standard line is 'will send tracking numbers when available'. this day of the week is usually high volume for check printing due to the two Fargo files, and this was no different. i don't like having checks left over at the end of the day, but any 'carryover' is run through first the next day. and i am trying to avoid the printer that needs a maintenance kit until i find the time to call in a ticket to get a tech to look at it. we all know how i like it when i can use those two printers simultaneously. but i also know those two files have a longer leeway on getting their checks out. 

abbey road themed jacket

 in the evening i went to a karaoke bar and went up to sing two songs. notable was a lady who asked me at the bar if i had been on the 'comics unleashed' show. i said i wasn't but some of my friends have been. she was wearing a Charlie Brown jacket that looks like the Beatles crossing the street, so an 'abbey road' theme. she had sung 'landslide'. another lady did a smashing pumpkins song, '1979'. the songs i did were inspired from where i was over the weekend. there was 'drive' by incubus, and 'kids aren't alright' by offspring. the stories i get from karaoke bars are good for my comedy sets. i think this is why i missed going there on a regular basis. but now i am averaging once a month, which is easier than once a week. at work, the lady that places supply orders for me asked for a check to be overnighted. she said the business line was bugging her about it. i said i would send a tracking number when it is available. 

wet hot american summer movie

 before midday i went to see a movie in Eden Prairie, 'wet hot American summer', 25th anniversary edition. the screening started so early that the mall's food court wasn't open yet. but it was open after the movie was done so i still ate there, hat a gyro sandwich from the Greek place. as for the movie, saw it as i recognized some of the actors in the cast, especially Janeane Garofalo and Molly Shannon, both SNL alums. i had seen some movies about summer camp before, most notably 'poison ivy' with mike fox. much of the story was ridiculous and unlikely, so one would call it a 'farce'. memorable was the camp director and the science teacher trying hard to impress each other when they started a dating relationship. this was after the teacher first said 'no' when asked to teach some of the campers. it was another reminder of how the movies depict the kind of summer camp that i didn't experience. for one thing, it depicts most kids getting to and from camp on buses. i was used to parents getting us to camp. i went to three kinds of camps, two of them were church-related, and didn't enjoy any of them all that much. my cousin once contacted me about the first of two church camps, saying she had good times there. except she didn't recall the camp's name or even the camp's executive. well, she didn't have the same experiences as i did. on the way to the movie, i heard 'sweet dreams' by Eurythmics again, still a reminder of a trip to San Francisco where i bought their greatest hits CD. besides a gyro, after the movie i also had a blizzard treat from dairy queen. and i picked up some Charlie Brown stickers from the Miniso store. along with a history book from Barnes and Noble. then it was to the cub foods in Eagan where i got some cereal and a pair of socks that look like piano keys. in the evening i did not go to perform as i went to the 'nitro circus' at the Saints baseball stadium. it was moved back one day, even though there was little or no rain on Saturday. i hadn't seen an event like this before, in person at least. maybe on TV. this was plenty of BMX and dirtbike stunts. notable for songs played there was 'kids aren't alright' by offspring. it was kind of loud there, it was why the information booth if any patrons wanted or needed them. 

popsicle then labelmaker

 this was another day at the fringe festival. one stop was at Bobby and Steve's nearby for lunch, having a little godfather's pizza much like a week before. this was after i had been at Rarig for volunteer appreciation day, and i got a popsicle there. then it was on to two shows in another neighborhood. first was at the storytelling school near the walker art museum. i parked in the ramp at the museum and made it just in time for the show, which was about etymology and linguistics. i guessed the one about a 'hippo' being a 'river horse', but i still learned from the show as expected. then i walked down the road to the phoenix theater in uptown Minneapolis and saw the 'label maker' show. it was the sixth and final show that i saw during this 11-day festival. it was the one where i was given a show card for. i wiped away a tear when the storyteller, a one-woman show, spoke about being spanked by her mom. it sounded familiar, using fear and shame to keep a kid in line. notable was the songs used in the show, too. this included 'drive' by incubus in this segment. then i walked back to my car and saw a puppet theater that reminded me of my meetup friend, the retired postal worker. i sent a text about it. when i got home i made it just in time to get groceries at Aldi. i watched some of the baseball game on fox, brewers-dodgers. the brewers won. 

was it bad breath?

 in the morning i got a breakfast sandwich from McDonald's, an Egg McMuffin, then i got on the bus. normally i have cereal but i was out of milk. i realized after the fact that when i changed seats how my timing was a little off. it was just after someone had boarded, who was a row behind me. i was asked if it was due to bad breath, and i said no. i liked the view better on where i had moved to. the dude wasn't on for long, got off before i did. at work there was two visitors. early on it was the janitor, and during this time i also went to another floor to get the reject fax. the other was an unexpected shipment of envelopes. i guess it was due to a backorder, but the full order was sent instead of just the backorder. we will just order less of that kind next month. i cut open one of the boxes to confirm what kind it was and then said to the courier that the code was covered up by the tape. during my visit to Walgreen in the morning i got more than just the customary cookies and a drink, also a travel magazine that mentioned the centennial of route 66 on the cover. in the evening i went to a meetup event at a micro-brewery near the Saints baseball stadium. i did chat with the cowboy hat guy that i knew from previous events, but later on i listened to a dude that works for the airlines. some of what was said made sense, though. it was in reference to a 'buddy pass'. if one wants to ensure that they are getting on a flight, then buy a ticket. then i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. 

voices in my head, anyma

 in the evening i went to a fringe show at the Barker center at the U of M, it was a dance show called 'noise'. plenty of music was used for this show, some was piano tunes but also some that would be found in nightclubs. notable for me was hearing 'voices in my head', found it on YouTube after i got home, it was by Anyma. another one in this show was by Abba, 'thank you for the music', near the end. there were seven dancers, sometimes all were onstage, sometimes only one, sometimes a number in between. i had seen some dance shows at fringe in years past and was pleased with what i saw and this is why i attended this one. my only complaint was how it ran short. as i was leaving i checked the time on my phone and said they could have done ten minutes more and i would have been fine with that. it was the 10pm slot so i didn't do much after the show. i went back to my car, parked in a nearby ramp, and went home. at work, there was a request in the shared box that i didn't know if i could handle it, for an escheatment. when i let the boss know, i noticed it was forwarded to customer service. when i sent the mail tubs to the mailroom near the end of the day i picked up empty tubs and there was an interoffice envelope as well, a refund check was in it. the Marshall file wanted a check overnighted to Ford credit, and i did but i noticed two labels were sent. i used the first one as it had a form to go along with the check. 

tax credit auction

 late in the day i asked the tax specialist if he had done a tax credit auction, the answer was no. it was in reference to a check i overnighted to the bank's office in st. louis, for over $3 million. i know i do send tax checks to others from time to time. this same tax specialist asked to be notified right away when his tax checks were ready in the afternoon, as those needed to go out right away. this meant these weren't held for courier pick-up the next day, which is the customary thing done. someone from the Cincinnati business line asked if a check would be going out. i let them know that it arrived late Tuesday, after i had left for the day. i said it would be going out as i had the UPS label that i needed. 

red blanket on windshield

 i saw a weird thing when i went to my car in the evening. there was a red fleece blanket on the windshield. i took it off and everything else looked fine to me. i got in and went to vote, as it was the day of the primary election. i went there after having the evening meal and watching 'big bang theory' reruns, making it just under an hour before the polls closed. after i submitted my ballot i got a bag of microwave popcorn from a vending machine on one end of the actual voting area. i did not keep the blanket, got plenty of those already. at work i dropped off returned checks on another floor, given to the team lead, as vacation replacement was absent, due to illness. 

rafferty and the gold dust twins movie

 in the evening i went to the Trylon cinema and saw the movie 'Rafferty and the gold dust twins', from 1975. this is the first one i am seeing from their summer 'road movie' series. i wasn't too familiar with Alan Arkin, but i had seen some shows that Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips had been in. i do like road movies, although this one fell short on the ending. at the outset, the ladies said they wanted a ride to New Orleans, except we don't see much of that city. we see plenty of Las Vegas, as well as Tucson. since i had recently seen 'American Graffiti' i noticed two actors in that one was in this one- besides Mackenzie, also Charles Martin Smith. i liked seeing some familiar things in it, such as one scene early in their road trip where they stop at a dairy queen. we see Dennis the menace in the background and i knew this cartoon character had been a part of their ad campaign for a while. i plan on seeing two more movies in this series, but that is all for this month. the other two will be in September. after the movie i stopped at a Walgreen on the way home and picked up some drain opener for the bathroom sink, which was draining slowly. at work, i sent some refund checks to another floor even though vacation replacement was not in. a colleague locked them up for me. the boss asked me to do a MICR ruler test on a check, and it looked fine to me. 

just a dream, nelly

 i went to the St. Paul Saints baseball game and after it i was walking past a restaurant and heard a song that sounded good. i decided to do the 'talk into mic' on my phone and found out it was 'just a dream' by nelly. must have been a popular song as i found out it is in the 'one billion club' on YouTube. probably haven't heard it that often before. the Saints lost to Louisville, 11-3. there was plenty of the long ball in this game. i showed up early as it was their art day, and that meant there was a giveaway- the team card set. i like getting this set. after the game i walked around downtown quite a bit and got a sandwich from the gas station near the stadium. another stop was Candyland for some popcorn. then i ended up performing at the open mic. i plan on being back at the stadium in a week to see the 'nitro circus' show. not a big deal to take a day off from the fringe festival, but i still need to figure out my schedule for the rest of this 11-day event. there are three more shows that i would like to see. it likely means seeing one of them on a weeknight. 

i played the fool, song

 i made a nice discovery on 89.3, the current, a local nonprofit radio station. when i was driving home after fringe shows i heard a song introduced as a TV theme song, it was 'i played the fool', performed by REM's frontman, Michael Stipe, with Andrew Watt. sounded good to me, made plenty of references to stand-up comedy. haven't seen the HBO-TV show, 'rooster', though, it's apparently the theme song for that show. it was an active day. there was some errand running i wanted to do early, including getting a check deposited at the credit union. it was a rebate check from the insurance company. then it was on to fringe, where i picked up a little godfather's pizza from Bobby and Steve's for lunch before my ushering shift at U of M, Rarig. it was on the lower floor. after this was done, i went to a show at the barker center, 'hell on wheels', a 1930s labor union story. then i went home and did some more errand running. i got groceries at Aldi, and in the evening i went to see two more fringe shows in uptown Minneapolis. the first was at Bryant Lake Bowl, called 'road trip'. it was an 'improv' show, two dudes from Alabama, where the crowd helped with ideas on each stop. then i had a beer in the bar area and walked over to the phoenix for the next show. this was 'when i was afraid'. it was a storytelling show, although not realistic in terms of what one might see at a 'moth' storytelling show. i spotted a performer in the crowd that i was familiar with and was given two show cards for the shows she is doing. i said one of them i am more likely to attend based on my upcoming schedule, as there has been just one performance so far. then i got some snacks at the nearby Walgreen and drove home. 

bing bing chocolate cones

 i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan in the evening and sometimes i buy items in the discount cart. this time it was a box of chocolate cones called 'Bing Bing' and it tasted like sugary wafers. also notable was getting a single serving slice of spam. i made a morning visit to Walgreen near work as well. when i got back from the grocery store i continued to watch the baseball game on TV, the St. Paul Saints were playing Louisville and the saints won. i will be attending a game there this weekend. at work i swapped out a toner cartridge from one of the check printers in the morning. i don't get the same warning message from it like i do from the one near the main door, though. with that one it is a case of having to swap it before i can print again. but for the one farther in the shop, i knew it was time as there was too much 'residue' building up on the checks. the message board did say 'very low' for a while but i usually don't care as long as i can print. 

video call testing

 the boss asked about calling me to test the video calling. i saw multiple images. first were purple mountains, then a field of white flowers, then a loft apartment. eventually i saw him superimposed on the loft apartment scene. something about needing to test it for calls over to India. vacation replacement said it was likely a background filter. it was popcorn day around midday and as usual i like doing this event. i wasn't there for long, eat the snack and then back to my floor. i also sent returned checks to another floor, i don't leave the shop that often to go there but i wanted those moved by the end of the week. and i heard a weird conversation in an elevator, a man on a cellphone who was oblivious to the fact that i was there. in the evening i went to the u of Minnesota, west bank, for the first day of the fringe festival. i did two ushering shifts, in the Rarig building. i saw some show cards already on the table on the main floor and picked two up. but i would expect more in the coming days at this venue and others. there was a dust-up about picking up my credentials, but it was worked out. i was sent to two different places in the building, neither one had my shirt or volunteer card. then i went to the lower level and someone at the information booth said it was found at the main floor table. i was given a shirt by her, and it worked out as i had the card by the end of the night. probably won't see the two shows i ushered at, as i picked out what interested me before this 11-day event began. i liked the second shift more than the first as i had more to do. i was taking tokens as patrons entered the venue and let them know we were ready to admit when the tech gave the green light. it was the same volunteer usher i was paired with on both shifts. i have one more shift to do, this weekend. i prefer seeing shows after all of the ushering is done that i signed up for. i got some juice, cheese, and ice cream at Bobby and Steve's at the end of the night, then drove home. 

dairy queen hats

i let the manager that likes karaoke know that i saw an email from the Twins ticket office saying there were still tickets available for their Charlie Brown theme night. i responded to it and said i had already ordered my ticket for that event. she spoke of already having plenty of shirts and jerseys as giveaways from baseball games. i said i had plenty of hats, shirts and jerseys as well. this explains her ordering tickets right away but was fine with no themed item, claiming it wasn't on the app it was ordered from. i spoke of how i had no Twins hats when i moved to Minnesota, and at one point had four but now i am down to two as i donated two of them to goodwill. some of those were sponsored by dairy queen and hat coupons attached to them. payroll was notified about two checks that are ready for pick-up.  

pen found on bus

still riding the bus to and from work while the light rail is unavailable. in the evening i saw some discarded items near me. i kept one of them, a pen promoting a credit union. there was a smiley face on the clicking end of it. most of the rest of what i found was trash, including two empty beer cans, and was tossed in bins when i got out at the hockey arena. i heard from the Marshall office, asking if i got all of the UPS labels for their checks and i did. this was due to the man being at a medical appointment. there were three in all. two checks were sent to the manager that likes karaoke near the end of the day. i spoke of how 'yeah' can have different meanings. for this colleague, i knew it meant 'great to have what i need'. with my niece i know it means 'understood'.  

i want your sex movie

in the evening i went to see a movie in Edina at the mall, 'i want your sex'. this was the title of a song by George Michael, but the song wasn't in the movie. i was trying to figure out how to get it in my schedule, and weekends were pretty much already booked for a little while. this was why i made a weeknight available. the movie storyline is mostly told through flashback to police officers who are questioning one of the main characters. then eventually we get back to the scene it started with, the reason why police got involved. i liked the movie until it got to the ending as some things about it just didn't make sense to me. i was familiar with some of the actors in it. this included Cooper Hoffman, Johnny Knoxville, and Margaret Cho. this was about cooper's character working in an art studio, being hired to be a sexual muse, hence the title. at work i did a recalibration of the sensors on the inserter machine and it works better now. i figured it was better to try it early in the day as i had more time available. 

pancakes and basketball

 in the morning i went to have coffee at caribou and a lemon loaf as i knew the pancake breakfast through the alumni chapter was later than when i usually eat breakfast. it was at a bar where they have game watches during the football season. much less crowded for this event though, and fine with me as i usually won't go for the football games. we did a group picture before leaving for the basketball game. the local team, the Minnesota lynx, was playing the Indiana fever, and Iowa alum Caitlin Clark plays for the fever. the game stayed fairly close throughout, the margin wasn't any higher than 13 points as i recall. the lynx won, 108-100. since it was a close game i feel that i got my money's worth. there was a dust-up about seating, i had to ask someone to move as they were in my seat. she claimed to be confused, being off by a row, but i check the row before i go in. i got a hot dog and bottled water at halftime. later in the day i went to perform at an open mic, i was on near the end as usual. i heard from my niece and the gift of toy cars was enjoyed, i liked hearing that. a picture was even shared with me. i had previously heard, a few days prior, about the other gift i had sent, the book. these were sent in the same box. 

american graffiti movie

 went to Canadian days in little Canada in the morning, for the pancake breakfast. i was able to pick up a festival button at that time to get into this event. i noticed the buttons didn't say 'thunder bay' like before, their sister city, and the schedule of events didn't list a performance of the bagpipe band either. who knows for sure why? once i was done eating i did get a good look at the car show. one of the pictures i shared from my camera phone was of a Packard clipper, owner said it was a 1955 model. i sent it to the meetup friend, the retired postal worker. it was in the back of my mind about a request to share photos from an earlier car show and wasn't sure how. then i told myself it was easier to share if it was taken on my phone instead of my more customary camera. another one shared was with cul-de-sac, as i saw a Hamm's beer bear in the back of a chevy pick up next to an old Milwaukee sign. i guess it was simulated tappers. i also saw a Rolls Royce there, you don't see those too often. and when i saw a smashed penny machine i needed some time to justify another visit at this event. i said i usually make two visits and didn't make it the night before. the other was that i could have some ice cream when i returned. i found the necessary two quarters and a penny at home. i returned only after all of the errand running was crossed off of my list, which included getting to the post office to pick up an e-bay order. i also had lunch, a sandwich at Jersey Mike's. along with getting groceries at Aldi. it was the first smashed penny i had acquired in a while. no surprise when i looked at the collection, as the most were from st. louis. this was ten in all, a city i visit annually. next highest appeared to be from mall of America, along with one of two albums. the other album was from mt. Rushmore. after this i noticed a decent number from the Minnesota state fair, mostly from the KARE-11 booth, the local NBC-TV affiliate. in the evening i went to a screening of the movie 'American graffiti' at a place near the former Schmidt brewery on west 7th in St. Paul. i hadn't seen it in a while. last time likely was when i saw it on VHS during my year and a half of living in West Des Moines after i had finished college.