yoplait peach yogurt

this morning at work there was a breakfast for us new employees. one of the things I had there was Yoplait peach yogurt. it had been a while since I had eaten yogurt. I also had a jelly donut from dunkin. then there was the department staff meeting a little later on. I ended up staying late because a call ran long. it was from somebody who was representing their deceased parents. this wasn't a case of it going 5 minutes over, it was more like 30 minutes. so it means putting in a request on my time card to have it entered as 'comp time'. as this is one option, the other being overtime. eventually I was advised to conference in a colleague that was helping me with it. when this happens I saw it as being 'above my pay grade'. after work I saw a letter from the test scoring company, an annual mailing. it said I would be offered work next season, but even though I liked the work I am hopeful I won't need it. I am on a direct-hire position now. although I will admit I liked having the option of it being available for a second season when there were no other offers.
   in the evening I stopped at the library on the way to the karaoke bar and printed some things, some orders I had made. then I did two songs. 'china grove' by the doobie brothers, and 'when smokey sings' by abc. during the second song I saw somebody arguing with the karaoke jockey, but I knew I had to ignore it so I liked being 'above the craziness'. it teaches me the importance of priorities. I can control what is happening onstage when I am there. the first song was chosen as I wanted one that made me think of  Iowa, my native state. the song was in 'field of dreams' and I am going to my native state this weekend.

return and exchange on shoes

after work I went back to jc penney and made a return and exchange on the shoes I bought on Saturday. I tried wearing them at work for two days and they were too tight, and it was hurting my feet to wear them. so I knew I had no choice. I tried on multiple pairs before I settled on the replacement. it meant paying a little more, but comfort is more important than price. the new choice has no laces, which I will enjoy, not having to re-tie them all the time. I did it before I went to perform, and spoke of it in my set. the show was just getting started when I arrived. we were done kind of early, I think the weather held down attendance.
   at work I started much earlier in the day on taking calls, and there were some weird ones. such as asking for the language line and the caller hanging up really early so I had to tell the interpreter and that was the end of the call. another was a colleague losing a call and I was on the line for a while, in part due to the caller thinking it was intentional. I said 'i think I got your call' and was told the last thing to say was 'the check is on the way'. when I offered options on lodging a complaint, which were probably not in line with what the caller wanted, the caller hung up. I did what I could.

double piece of cornbread

i went to perform tonight and when I got my drink order in the chef said there was cornbread, and I was pleased to get a double piece. but I ate only one there, and decided to take the other one home. since it was wrapped in aluminum foil it was no problem preserving it. some of what I said was in response to what the show runner was saying, and I said 'we covered it last week'. one performer I hadn't seen in a while, and found out goes by initials. it might have been the first time for him at this venue. he once asked me a question then I found out he wanted help on writing something on a laptop, so once I found out I said I couldn't help him since I wouldn't get credit for what was written. I prefer that people be honest with me. I liked how the chef gave me a line for the show runner, when I was called to the stage while I was getting my order in. no doubt it was more quickly than I was expecting.
   at work I did take calls on my own, but only starting just before midday. I wanted to get caught up on administrative things, so I looked up some things and made a list of questions to ask my boss. except my boss was on the way to a meeting, so it will have to wait. this was likely the last day of having an hour-long lunch. but I know there are adjustments that must be made at times, and I know better than to be picky as I like being back at work and having a productive routine. this was the final day listed on the pages for our days of training.

an actor prepares movie

i watched a DVD on loan from the library, 'an actor prepares'. I recognized only one actor in it, Jeremy irons. it was about an actor going across the country to get to a wedding, while traveling with his estranged son. I like road movies, so when I heard about it I said it has to go on my list. at one point I said 'this made sense' where he gave somebody the slip, and I should have expected it. as a baseball fan of course I liked how one scene was at a minor-league baseball game. another one was with the green giant statue. but I also saw in the closing credits how it was filmed on location in Georgia. I noticed a house in one scene had a plate up saying it was on the national register of historic places, so more things for me to look up. I have been to plenty of car shows, so I liked seeing a classic sports car in this movie, a Plymouth barracuda. of course when it is a road movie there has to be some hazards along the way to make it more interesting, wondering if they will make it on time.
    I got plenty done today on a day off, for veterans day. I did plenty of online surveys, it was delayed due to technical problems from the previous day. and I got the movie back to the library, then went to lunch at Kentucky fried chicken. after this I got a haircut and went to pick up some items at the family dollar. I liked how the wait at sport clips was much shorter than expected. in the evening I went to perform, and when I arrived I found out there was a student reporter from the local university, so I did an audio interview and she was there to record our performances as well.

motherless brooklyn movie

saw the movie 'motherless brooklyn' in inver grove heights this afternoon. I chose this theater based on the schedule I wanted to keep. because I wanted to see a football game on TV first, bears-lions. the movie is long, over 2 hours, but it kept my attention so I didn't mind. this has a good cast all around, besides ed Norton I also recognized bruce willis and alec baldwin in it. it took a while before I heard the movie's title but they do cover the origin of it, and I am used to hearing their 'explanation'.  I was next to somebody who laughed when they saw the Tourette syndrome tics by ed Norton, but I didn't see them as funny at all. I liked how a jazz club, in Harlem, figures into the storyline, because of course I am a performer and I liked mention of what a performer thinks about performing. how it is often more of a curse than a blessing. the jazz club is the easiest way to get music into the movie, and most movies have some. looks like Wynton marsalis was a performer there, I stay for the closing credits. as a baseball fan I liked mention of the sport in it, though it is just a backdrop, about trying to keep the dodgers in Brooklyn, a way of giving the time period for the movie. my dad would likely have known the cars well in it, since it has a setting in the 1950s. I know one car early in it was a dodge, since it was in big letters on the trunk.
   I watched the bear-lions game, starting at midday, although I fell asleep during the middle. the bears won 20-13, and there was mention of how back this series goes, to when the lions were the spartans, in Portsmouth, ohio. after I got back from the movie, I caught the ending of 'the simpsons', something about a 'lumber jill'. then I saw some 'big bang theory' reruns, including the one with the 'quiz bowl'.  I also did some shredding of junk mail, and I was able to eliminate the pile this time. other times I didn't want to do too much at once as the shredder will shut down if overheating. it helps to run it more often, such as every two weeks instead of once a month.

spare pair of shoelaces

I knew it was time to get a pair of dress shoes to replace the one I have. I was pleased how there was a spare pair of laces in the ones I bought. I wanted to stretch my money, so I went to the clearance section to look at what was available. I ended up paying just over five dollars because I had some gift cards to use. I do like a good deal. I went to the jc penney in Roseville to find what I wanted. it was a day of errand running, of course this starts with going to pick up the orders at my po box. then it was on to the bank, where they had some goodies, and 'penny checks' on a board near it. I think it was a garden-variety 'customer appreciation day'. after getting the shoes, I had hoped to see a financial advisor at a credit union, but they had just closed for the day. so I went to the library and printed some things. it was time for lunch by then so I stopped at a speedway gas station and had a chili cheese hot dog. I saw no boats so it meant using napkins instead to carry it out. I wanted to get home and watch the iowa-wisconsin football game on TV. I fell asleep and missed some of it, but I saw the start and end of it. iowa lost 24-22.
   in the evening I did some online surveys, and fell asleep again while watching the late local news. once I woke up I wanted to get to the bar right away to sing karaoke. I did 'the story' by brandi carlile. while I was waiting I watched a show about the Minnesota Vikings, the local football team. I recognized who was on it, as it was a fellow comic, Worthington native. there were some problems with the technology, the karaoke computer needed to be re-booted multiple times. so it was in doubt as to if I was going to sing, but I was aided by some people leaving early. near the end of the night, the karaoke jockey doesn't wait long for somebody to get to the stage and sing before they move on to the next person. since they want as many singers as possible.
   this was also by typical day of getting groceries. it was the first time this season to get some egg nog, and I will likely get some once a week through the end of the season. I tend to see it in stores through new year's day. I chose a half gallon as that is all I could find, normally I get a quart. I saw 'almond milk' but I didn't want to take a chance on it, being reminded of when I tried soy milk egg nog and didn't like it at all.

the big peach

I noticed the star tribune sports section was a throwback 'peach color' as the gopher football team has been doing well for the first time since the 1960s. I recall the sunday edition of the des moines register being called 'the big peach' for this reason. but it was just the first page with this color.
   at work it was the second day of rotations, I took 4 calls near the end of the day but I didn't like who was shadowing me. they called i.t. over and I don't think anything was wrong with my computer. and I had to keep putting callers on hold because they were too pushy. I could have figured it out on my own. we have Monday off and are due back on Tuesday. I am still waiting to hear what our schedule is for that day, as there was no email yet about the rotations. I met with my boss before lunch and she was interested in how I do karaoke. I am more willing to talk about this than doing stand-up. although I get some of the same kind of questions. the calls I was getting seemed to be more representative of what I will get, plenty of questions about the property tax refund forms. one of them just wanted to know if there still was time to file it, and I said yes because the deadline is in august if next year, giving people an extra year. so I didn't even ask them for any information to look at their account.
   in the evening I watched 'la bamba' on DVD. it still works for me on lessons about performing. I had considered watching 'good will hunting', which i say is my favorite movie, but I have strong feelings for 'la bamba' as well since it is a musician biography. after the late news I did some karaoke, one song. it was 'invisible touch' by genesis. much like most selections, I was inspired to choose it by hearing it on the radio recently.