Office Opened Late

    I called the hotline this morning before I ventured out and it said the office would open late due to the weather, at 11am. I still needed to go move my car for the snow ordinance, then I went to a convenience store nearby for breakfast. I was pleased that they had breakfast pizza, I don't have it too often. I slipped and fell when I was coming back from getting the pizza, and orange juice.
  There were multiple ways we were informed about today's schedule. I had an email waiting for me when I arrived. When I called the hotline I noticed the emergency services people had called to inform me of the late start as well. It was a number with all 2's and a somewhat robotic voice.
   I will have to admit I was a little punchy, especially after one colleague said he needed to train me on another thing but he asked too early. I need to finish my normal duties first! I was also preoccupied with finding out what was done about the hours we didn't work as we were told not to show up until 11am. Some showed up before this time anyway, and some were even later or I think didn't make it in at all. After a while I was told we would still be paid for those hours, much like a holiday luncheon.
   Looks like I have a date on Saturday afternoon at a coffee shop. I was exchanging text messages and we finally spoke by phone. I am fine with waiting until then as I was tired after work. I tried to make it to the comedy club tonight but I got my car stuck twice, so I decided to pick up some supplies at Walgreen and go home. I finally decided to get started on mending a navy coat that a college roommate gave me. I had shopped around to see if somebody would do it for me, but it was expensive. So I decided I should be able to mend it myself, just by using needle and thread. The lining was torn, especially in the sleeves. I have one of the sleeves completed already. It shouldn't take much longer before it is truly wearable again. It wasn't that wearable if I couldn't get my arms in the sleeves comfortably.   

Four Weddings And A Funeral

    After watching two episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' tonight, I put in the DVD of 'Four weddings and a funeral'. I enjoyed the movie, it had a natural progression to it. The Hugh Grant character was best man at the first wedding, and he meets the Andie MacDowell character there. It made me laugh when he spoke of the next one being 'A wedding from hell' for him. What helped with this feeling was the visits of 'Ghosts of girlfriends past'. The second wedding was a couple that had met at the first. The third was Carrie's, and Andie played her. It was in Scotland, she married a politician. There was some bagpipe music in it, not sure what it was. I did decide to find 'Scotland the Brave' on Youtube after watching the movie, as bagpipe music reminds me of attending Canadian Days. A man died at the third wedding, probably a heart attack. This was the funeral, just days later. The fourth wedding was for Charles, and Hugh played him. I had read the Wikipedia article before even getting the movie on loan from the library, and I was intrigued when it said Charles gets punched here. It is revealed, by his brother doing sign language, that he loves somebody else. The closing credits confirmed plenty of Elton John music in it, including 'Crocodile Rock'. I think I may have seen some previews when it was at theaters 20 years ago. I now recall how Fiona, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, being asked if she was married (no) and then if she was a lesbian.
    With 'Big Bang Theory', the syndicated rerun was one where a lady scientist visited the university as a guest of Sheldon's and ends up sleeping with all of his friends. I hadn't seen it before. The prime time episode was a rerun, but it was the return of Professor Proton so I really liked seeing it again as it was Bob Newhart guest starring.
    I did the final Olympic event at work around midday, the Wii biathlon. I often went the wrong way after doing the shooting. I don't think I earned a medal in any of the four events, but I still liked participating. We were given the weather hotline number by email as there is plenty of snow expected. For this reason, I had no problem staying in as I had no place to go. Two E-bay orders arrived, 6 World's Fair postcards total. So there are 5 orders outstanding at this time.

Jump, Kriss Kross

     I liked doing Wii dancing near the end of my workday as usual. One of these songs we danced to was a cover of 'jump' by Kriss Kross. I recall this song when it was a hit back in 1992. They wore outfits backwards, though I wasn't surprised how this fashion trend didn't catch on. Some outfits are uncomfortable backwards, like bib overalls. Like many other sessions, it was just me and the event coordinator. Other songs we danced to included 'Girlfriend' by Avril Lavigne, and 'Call me' by Blondie. Another was by Harry Belafonte, I recall the lyrics including 'Hey Senora'. It was an active dance song, same as 'Jump'. But I didn't mind this at all, as dancing can be a good form of exercise.
   I have an online dating match who used a few terms that I decided to look up to understand their meaning. One of them was 'Fin De Siecle', I knew it was French, and 'Fin' means 'The end'. The article on Wikipedia said it meant 'End of the century'. Then it went on to cover things related to it like degeneration theory, pessimism, and artistic conventions.
    I had a dental appointment after work, and I fielded many of the same questions as before from the dental assistant. Still not much to say to her about how it's going with dating. I was asked how I spent my holidays as well, and about concerts. I said I have just one concert ticket at this time, for Lady Gaga in May.
    At the comedy club tonight, the show closer was the school bouncer. He did the one about how he doesn't like to do paperwork. He also did one about being spanked as a kid, being told by his parents that it would keep him out of jail. But it didn't, then he explained why. It was due to having an expired car registration and not paying for insurance. The godmother did one about having a rescue dog, a big dog that spreads out on the bed. The sub teacher spoke about more than just the radio show, as he also had a public access TV show at one point.

Domino's Pizza Rally

     I went to the comedy club tonight and was surprised by the big crowd. One comic said it was a Domino's Pizza event. It explained why I saw an SUV on the way inside with a tire cover, which had  a the single domino on it. One sign said it was the 'Domino's GM rally and awards celebration'. I liked a joke by the 'Self checkout' comic, it was in relation to his Ford Escort car. When he replaced it with a hybrid car he said he got into a 'Slap fight' with another motorist. After the show, I liked getting to listen to the show runner discuss pro basketball with some others.
   During the show I briefly stepped out to the bar area to check on the Iowa-Indiana basketball game. This was when I found out it had been postponed due to venue problems. It has not yet been rescheduled. It is late in the season, so there are limited options for a makeup date. One of these may be playing the game right before the conference tournament.
   I had a medical appointment just before midday, a physical. I seem to be fine, which is nice to know. I was asked to give my email address as I was granted access to my medical records online. When I returned to the workplace the third Olympic event, the skeleton, was in progress. I did participate, but I had hoped to do more- like work the event- since I am on the Communications Council. I had to say I was unavailable due to the appointment. Hopefully I can help out with the final event, the biathlon.
   It was annoying to hear some whining while my car was running, so after work I had it looked at and was told it was low on power steering fluid. I figured this was one thing normally checked at oil changes, which was just over a week ago.

Saving Private Ryan

   I went to the comedy club tonight and I spoke with the sub teacher before the show. Much of it was related to my call in to his show. He was there with his lady, who told me she is also a teacher. When he went onstage tonight, he did a joke about his high school football coach showing the team a movie before a big game. It was 'Saving Private Ryan'- the wrong movie to show as it left them too emotional to play. I have seen it but not at theaters. I saw it on video when I was visiting a college roommate nearly 10 years ago. He lived near Waterloo, Iowa, at the time. He is ex-military and usually likes to see military movies. When he was one of my roommates we saw 'Courage Under Fire' at theaters.
   Some of the early comics were not funny at all to me, but I have a higher standard for comedy than I did. The 'Extra murder' comic did his 'Watching Labyrinth' joke, hadn't heard it in a while. He almost did the 'Extra murder' joke but then it became one about homeless people asking for food money for a particular fast food place. The Fargo native did one about doing a show in her hometown. And the 'Bathtub comic' did one about his plans to attend a friend's wedding in Australia. He wants to hug a koala.

Take Me Home Tonight, Eddie Money

       I went to perform at a comedy show in Coon Rapids tonight. After the show I went to refuel, and as I pulled into the gas station I heard a song on my car radio. It was 'Take me home tonight' by Eddie Money. It seemed appropriate as I was on my way home by then.
   It was a fairly full day for me despite being a day off from work. I had a breakfast sandwich at McDonald's and made it home in time to listen to a radio show. Some of my comedian friends were guests on it. The sub teacher is the show's moderator. I did call during the show and he did field my call. I started off by saying it was the most I had ever heard anyone say 'Dildo'. One of the guests happened to be the 'Cashew comic', and on Facebook he even had a photo holding up a piece of paper asking if he could say the word on the air. Around midday I made it to the Family Dollar store in my neighborhood and got more than just the Lance Nekot (peanut butter) cookies this time. I also bought two CDs and a DVD. I watched the DVD already, it was an HBO documentary about the Miracle on Ice Olympic hockey team from 1980.
   Other things I did included going to the library and finding the movie '4 Weddings And A Funeral' on video. I will find some time to watch it this week. Then it was on to the fitness center.  

10 Years In Minnesota

        It took me a little while today, but I finally thought of how it was a milestone day for me. I moved from suburban Chicago to the Twin Cities on Valentine's Day weekend 10 years ago. In many ways it seemed appropriate that I marked 10 years of living in Minnesota by attending a comedy show. The rap/comedy act known as Valley Meadows was performing. It was at the show where I spoke of the 10th anniversary. I said I am in no way sorry now about having to move here, even though at first I didn't want to move that bad. I have a circle of friends that I didn't have then. I did say more than once how I do my best to support my friends, and my 'Bestie' along with this act are near the top of my list. There was a joke about hoping to move up to the 'Bestie' title, but it is in many ways taken. I saw some of their merchandise after the show, two different types of shirts. One kind of shirt I had seen before and the other I hadn't. I said I did have one shirt already, it was promo for a combined tour with the girl band the Dirty Curls. I like the 'Joe Biden' song by the Dirty Curls, and was told the sub-teacher from this act would be playing Biden in the music video. I liked seeing both comics do sets before they combined to do the Valley Meadows act. Some of these jokes I hadn't heard in a while, like 'One dollar of gas' or 'Sharing cookies and bullets' for one. For the other I liked hearing 'Eye candy as a bookstore employee' and 'Comparing marijuana to NASCAR'. I liked getting a free Valley Meadows sticker after the show, and I already had the CD. It was a shortened version of their act, but I liked hearing the 'Hot dish' routine along with 'Don't substitute my love' along with the cop-hating song.
   I did various things today before the evening arrived. I sent a text message to one E-harmony match in hopes of getting a date scheduled this weekend. It will have to wait, as I got a response right away about being out of town to visit family. I got a new battery for my car, and went to Dairy Queen to use my 2-for-1 Blizzard coupon. Much like before, I eat one there and take one home. It means one of them is covered right away.
   Then after DQ it was on to an event at a bowling alley in St. Louis Park, called Park Tavern. It was slow going due to the snow, and I arrived about 30 minutes after the event began. There was pizza served, and since I hadn't eaten lunch yet I liked having the pizza. I bowled some as well, and completed one game, a 92 score, one strike and one spare. I got another game started, a better pace than the first as I had a 53 through 4 frames, but the time allotment ran out. The lane lights were shut off as my ball veered off into the gutter just before it hit the pins. I noticed how one woman had the same approach each time, different from mine. She would stand behind the line and swing her left arm back and forth a few times and release the ball. I do the customary thing of walking up to the lane and releasing without a pause at all. It in many ways is typical of many of my weekends, where my meals are irregular. I had a Spam single and two pieces of string cheese before I headed out to the comedy club. I had just been to the grocery store for my customary weekly grocery run.