we are young, fun. and janelle monae

recently I was watching a video and heard a song in the background. I recognized it as 'we are young' by fun., and Janelle monae. the video takes places at a bar where the band is performing. and for some reason a text message is being sent, and eventually this phone starts a fight. I do like the angst in this song, and this appears to be where one first hears 'tonight, we are young'. I always thought that it was funny to see this band's name: 'fun, period'. other lyrics I liked in it are early on, 'getting higher than the empire state' and 'seat taken by some sunglasses'.
   I had the day off so I could go to new ulm for Oktoberfest. but it started off weird, dealing with the smoke alarm going off while showering. at first I pulled an Alfred e. neuman (what, me worry?) and waited a little before I decided to step out and investigate. the shower probably tripped the alarm, as the door wasn't shut all the way. I tried to wave away the steam but the alarm still chirped for a little while longer. but I didn't have that much left to do by then in the bathroom.
   I made the most of my time in new ulm, and outside of it as well. I love the lunch buffet at the godfather's pizza in st. peter, so I stopped there on the way to the festival. I arrived around 2pm and looked around at some stores, after going to the chamber of commerce first. I liked getting a button at the chamber about shopping in new ulm. and I did find some treasure at the second-hand stores. I found four books for a dollar, including one about Olympic athlete bruce jenner. another was about the TV show 'mork and mindy', a third was about the movie 'American graffiti', and the fourth was about various TV shows, published in 1971. I saw one photo in it, of musicians glen Campbell and johnny cash. it was nice to find a charlie brown and snoopy tin as well, it says 'happy holidays' and once held shortbread cookies.
    I made it to the final glockenspiel performance of the day at 5pm, and after that I went to sleepy eye to see the linus statue. it is across the street from the hardee's, so I got a chocolate shake at the hardee's. then it was back to new ulm. I made my customary visit to the fountain inside german park, and there was more activity than typical. I heard some music from the area, it was 'living on a prayer' by bon jovi. guess there was a high school football game at the nearby venue. then it was on to turner hall where I had a drink, schell's beer of course. when I see their rathskeller sign I am reminded of what dad would say to me when I was young: 'you can find me in the rathskeller'. I had hoped to make it to the hotel for the evening festivities in time for the keg tapping, but it was not to be. I still did eat at this hotel, now a best western, it was a holiday inn. I had a landjaeger on a bun, with sauerkraut, german potato salad, german chocolate cake, and some 1919 root beer. looks like there was a slight change in venue as the poolside stage wasn't being used, there was an outside tent instead. I left shortly after I was done eating, and headed back to the twin cities. as usual I brought some CDs to make the drive easier for me. my playlist: REM, toad the west sprocket, cowboy junkies, and billy joel.
    I liked how the drive home was fairly uneventful, didn't need to stop anywhere along the way. I made an early stop to get a look at a historical marker, making a mental note about it on the way into town. it was at a Lutheran church and school, and had an American revolution bicentennial logo on the marker. this was in courtland township if I am not mistaken. I stopped to look at another marker in this town on a previous visit. I think this is the town that went with a joke name for a drinking establishment: calling it a 'crow bar'.

TTI technologies

I was going through my bank statement from august and at first wasn't sure what a debit card purchase was, from 'TTI technologies'. so I went online and did a search, and found mention of 'business centers'. so I figured this must have been from checking email when I was at my hotel in new York city. I like being able to understand all of what is there, even though I probably should have reviewed it much earlier. it was one of a few things I decided to do tonight before I ventured out for a walk. another was going through souvenirs found at performance venues and get them into binders. and then there's shredding junk mail, something done once a week on the average. once I noticed it was raining I decided not to go out at all. there was a pro football game on, which made the decision easier, cardinals- 49ers. cardinals won, rare to see a safety and it was at the end.
   I panicked a little when I found out what method of payment was used for the football ticket purchase on stubhub, where it appears to be automatic payment. I expected it to be paypal credit, where I would get more time to pay it off without paying interest. this would be for the iowa-minnesota football game this weekend. I haven't ordered much from stubhub in recent years, so it was largely irrelevant for a while as to how I paid with them. but crisis averted, as even though it was from my checking account there is enough in it and payday is soon as well.
    when I saw news of hurricane matthew at midday in the breakroom I know how some people think, wondering how it would affect the major college and pro football schedule. there are 3 NFL teams in the state of florida. hard to say how it will, as there are various options available to get the games in like change the time it is played, or even the venue it is played in.
   at work I was a little cranky when my boss came around and asked about the special requests, saying I usually submit the payoff report first. but I decided to check and found out there was just two special requests to find, and got them sent on. I did allude to it later in the day, saying I am still getting used to integrating this one into my schedule.

paid holidays announced

at the office I saw an email this morning, announcing the paid holidays for next year. looks like there are some changes, most notable is having two more holidays. this would be president's day, and veteran's day. those two weren't recognized at this office before. something about how it made sense to be closed those days since there would be no mail delivery, at least from the post office. though there still would be deliveries from other couriers.
   I did perform at the bar tonight, more about the weekend in iowa city. also mention of a recent match from internet dating. when I said performing is what I do in the evening, including karaoke, I was informed by this match about doing karaoke- but needing liquid courage.

micro sleep

I experienced 'micro sleep' while in a booth at the performance venue tonight after I was done performing. this has happened all too often lately, including while taking the bus home in the evening. I should know by now to get more sleep overnight, that means retiring earlier. easier said than done.
   at the office it was an easier day as expected. no problem doing the payoff report, new titles, and some new contracts as well. had to contact the 'not much help desk' about getting back into a system that I hadn't used in a while. but my duties have changed some.

dish towel becomes rag

I decided to keep a dish towel I found in the street as a rag for my car. it was dirty and I let it soak in soapy water in my mop bucket but knew it would be hard to clean it entirely. probably would mean dry cleaning, and I mainly do that for actual clothes and not towels. so when I was leaving to go to the comedy club tonight I had it thrown in the trunk of my car. it had been hung up to dry for much of my day, while I was at the office. nothing wrong with having another rag, much like having another snow brush.
   at work I saw the Filipino man and spoke of getting started on the travel guide for his native land. he did say the etiquette mentioned in it is correct, about it is best to avoid being pushy. I have read that part, and the history, that is it. this item is the one thing I didn't pack for the weekend in iowa city. I know myself well enough that when I pack in a rush there is usually one thing that end up forgetting to pack that I would like to have, and it is always a question of how well I can do without it. I spent my time writing in my hotel room, so it was no big deal doing without the travel guide.
    I did get stage time tonight, doing karaoke. I sang 'these are days' by 10,000 maniacs, a reminder of being at college. I just had to wait for the Vikings game to end, and they beat the giants 24-10. I looked through the binder, it took a while. looks like there are some more that I can sing with passion at a later time, I made a note of those six songs by writing them down.
 

saudi arabia snack food

I went on a walk this morning after having breakfast and doing dishes. as usual, I found plenty of trash along the way. one of those items was an empty bag of snack food from Saudi arabia with what looked like Disney's mickey mouse on the front. couldn't read all of it since some of it was in Arabic but it did say 'cheese flavour' on the front. I know this is British-English to have this kind of spelling. another thing I picked up was a karaoke CD from Thailand. both items were put in my trash bag and thrown into a bin at a super-America. as usual I found some coins as well. at one place I found three quarters, which is not typical.
    at midday I went to a booya soup serving. I didn't have a drink with it as they were out of bottled water and only had diet root beer left. didn't want to drink coffee or beer with it. I saw the police band perform and had some popcorn, then I went to a Walgreen to get more sheet protectors and got a drink there instead. then later on it was time to go to the performance venue. much of my set was about the weekend in iowa city. and I found more change while walking around after the show. in the evening I watched the 'simpsons' episode, I liked mention of a Canadian penny when ned flanders was counting pennies. also mention of snoopy on his doghouse, by homer.
 

quadrangle hall, u. of iowa

I started the day in muscatine, iowa, at my hotel. then I had continental breakfast and got on the road to iowa city for the football game. after the game I went to look at quadrangle residence hall, a building I lived in for 3 of the 4 semesters of my time living in the dorms. It was already a demolition site, but I still got some pictures of it, on the 'legal side' of the fence. I lived in slater, across the street, for one semester, then moved to quadrangle. I recalled an underground tunnel connecting it to rienow, and there being a public cafeteria in it as well. somebody once said I should work there, after hearing I was a dishwasher at the student union. but the student union wasn't that far away, and what is so wrong with walking or biking for some exercise? I also recall this dorm building being one of the 'transition scenes' for the TV show 'coach' in the 1990s. there was a banner up saying it is the 'future site of the pharmacy college'.
   at the football game, iowa lost to northwestern 38-31, after iowa led 21-17 at the half. though iowa trailed for most of the first half. northwestern was moving the ball better, picking up third downs more often, while Iowa's QB often got sacked on third down. it rained some during the game, but light rain, definitely not a downpour. I got on the hawkeye express, a train, back to my car about an hour after the final gun. I got started a little earlier, compared to last year, on my drive back to the twin cities, about two hours after the game ended. although there was some heavy traffic at first, getting onto I-380, then for a few miles after that. so I waited a little while until I started putting in CDs to listen to. before leaving town I did redeem two cans and a bottle, at a Hy-Vee grocery store, then got some fuel for the car as well as a candy bar and a can of dr. pepper for me. after this I made just two more stops, my typical ones at a casey's gas station in cedar falls, and then clear lake. I liked getting a slice of pizza at both, as well as some Coca-Cola to drink.
   as usual, I liked how it didn't take long to unpack when I got home. I travel light, so most of what I bring can fit in a duffel bag. then dirty clothes go in the basket, and souvenirs in one plastic bag. and a trash bag was quickly emptied as well, cans and bottles in the sink to be washed and the rest in the trash. there was some coins as well, 30 cents, that went in the change bank, half of which was pennies. it was nice that I made fewer stops compared to the drive down to iowa city. I also noticed how I tend to be a recluse while home, but on the road as well. not complaining though, it is what I prefer! I found it easier to get some writing done about my traveling while alone in my hotel room.
   I liked how I was up early this morning. I set the alarm on my phone for 8am, and I woke up 2 minutes before it went off. then it was time to have continental breakfast, I had some cereal as well as a 'make your own waffle'. then I was on the road at 9am, allowing for the drive time, about 40 miles, from Muscatine to iowa city. tried parking at hancher auditorium, but the traffic wasn't moving after I exited I-80 at Dubuque street. so I did a U-turn and continued on to the Coralville mall exit so I could take the train to the game. it meant I was in my seat before the game started at 11am, in fact I arrived just before the national anthem. I am fine with these early starts, as I can get home earlier as well. I made it back to my home in the twin cities at 10:30 pm, and my plan was to make it back before midnight so I liked being early. then I didn't need another night in a hotel room, already had two this weekend.