everybody's all-american movie

i watched a DVD movies this morning, 'everybody's all-american', bought it from amazon and it arrived last month. i recognized dennis quaid, john goodman, and jessica lange in it. also frank deford, the novel writer, as he had a small role in it. i am familiar with deford as a sports journalist. it was kind of long, just over 2 hours, but i didn't mind. this was the fictional account of the life of a football player, and it was familiar in terms of what we understand they must deal with on a regular basis. trying to think of the most compelling part of the story, as it covers a wide time frame, from the 1950s through 1981. guess that would be how the story was more about what happened off the field than on it. it works well as a football movie.
   i did some more cleanup, sort of. i ran the paper shredder for the first time in a little while, filled 4 buckets. i also went on a walk in the late afternoon and found 15 cents. during the walk i got a text from my sister asking if i had seen pictures on facebook from my niece's graduation, and i had. i said i was willing to help out with school supplies as she is planning on studying photography, when asked if there was a 'wish list'. i know i can find memory cards at walgreen.

together, sia

I saw a target commercial recently and heard a catchy song in it, had to search it online. found out it was 'together' by sia. she is brilliant, and not her first target commercial as she also did one for Christmas of course. the video has plenty of bright colors in it, appears to be all of the colors of the rainbow. it shows various people dancing in it, in one scene all of the dancers are kids. the commercial it is in is called 'we can take it higher', honoring target team members graduating from high school. the song is also in a movie, called 'music'. I found the cast list on IMDB, and it includes kate Hudson as well as hector Elizondo. this explains why I see hector in the music video. the movie is slated for release in September, and sia is listed as a writer, as well as director. sia was known for doing really soulful, but also kind of sad, music. so it is nice to see her doing happier, more uplifting music such as this song, 'together'. one of the cards I have ordered from e-bay was of sia, from the 'garbage pail kids' collection, called 'can't see sia' as she is known for hiding her face.
   I wrote down a to-do' list on a post-it and got most of it done today. some things were not available due to the virus. it looks like jc penney stores are not open yet due to the virus. I have gift cards to use, and they just announced the locations that will be having liquidation sales. another was the bank, where the branch in neighborhood is open to the public by appointment only. so the coins have to pile up a little longer if I am unable to use the change counter. it would be nice to get a haircut as well, but when I got a look at one place no further updates. I think the governor is allowing hair salons to open in less than a week. this still leaves plenty of things I did get done, such as placing another amazon order. I used up all of the gift card money I had for a charlie brown DVD, the emmy nominated collection. I was confused at first how the order wouldn't go through, then guessed I was short due to the taxes. so I got out my debit card to pay for the remaining 46 cents. I also ordered my license plate renewal online for my car, and did an oil change in the afternoon. I walked to the post office and there were 3 orders to pick up, so it left just one of them outstanding. and of course there was also the visit to the grocery store, looks like they are back to normal operating hours so they are open a little later in the evening. I went there after watching the news, it was just starting to rain. after I ate in the evening I called my college roommate, the science major, who now lives in des moines. I liked how we covered various subjects, much of it was sports.

coneacopia of happiness

at midday I went to the dairy queen near the workplace to get ice cream. I brought 3 dollars worth of quarters, left over from doing laundry, and found out there was not a lot available for this amount. so I got a cone, and the wrapper said 'coneacopia of happiness'. I kind of forgot how ice cream cones tend to be cheaper at mcdonald's, but didn't feel like walking there when it was farther. also made it to walgreen on an earlier break, got the paper and laundry soap. they were out of dish soap, and there was not a lot of laundry soap to choose from. not a big deal, I still have enough dish soap for now and just wanted to buy ahead a little.
   at work I completed another online class at the end of the day, so there is one left. I was able to pick up where I left off from the previous day, was about halfway through it. had to make up 15 minutes as I was late, was trying a different route that was shorter and made 2 wrong turns. but now I am aware of what I need to pay attention for. I am now also signed up for a UPS class, it will be for one hour next week. still made some mistakes with the mail machine, which bothered me a little. I was put in the driver's seat more on downloading checks though, looking at the system more will help me feel more comfortable with doing the work. I spoke of how 2 friends from a former job are at the same bank, and the trainer helped me find them online. one of them is an assistant VP, often in meetings. no response to an instant message yet. my 'work spouse' was out of office for the day, so a text message was sent at lunchtime and saw the response when I got home after turning on my phone.
  I called my college roommate in the evening to say I had landed at the bank, first call in a little over a month. he didn't say much about his own life, basically just 'what are you going to do?' about getting divorced. he asked if another roommate had contacted me. I said I saw the facebook message and had responded to it. I did a walk in the evening after this call and picked up 4 cents. there is still a question of when I can use the change counter again. there is a bank branch in the same building as my job, but did not see a change counter there. looks like they had just opened up the lobby to the public. had to go into the branch at work to drop of some checks to be deposited, was told this is done once a week. the 2 'big bang theory' reruns were Raj dating Emily after Lucy contacted him, followed by Denise started at the comic book shop. 

final day of curfew?

I saw no mention of extending the curfew beyond tonight. I was out walking in the evening and this time I saw no national guard personnel just before 10pm, unlike the previous night. I found 2 cents on the walk. the 2 reruns of 'big bang theory' were about Sheldon visiting his mom in texas, with howard as company. it was followed by Sheldon visiting a reclusive scientist, with all of his 3 friends.
  at work I finished with 3 more online courses, so now just 2 are left. I actually 'abandoned' one because I was getting too busy. a repairman arrived to handle one of the check printers, I did my best to pay attention about what to do with it. I want to avoid as many machine breakdowns as possible. I felt bad about the mail machine stopping a few times, but the trainer said it was envelope placement, needing to have all of them at an angle. so I think the most important thing is trying to learn from any mistakes I am making.
   I sent a few messages through facebook. one was from a coworker from my time in suburban Chicago. I let her know about finding where I wrote down that she had her baby, the kid is now a teenager. another was to a college roommate that still lives in iowa city, who I guessed was expressing concern about the recent riots in the twin cities. there was also one I sent to brawler to tell him the working from home for a month on test scoring went well. last one was right before I started it. brawler seemed delighted to hear I am fine and landed the gig at the bank. I said I was still trying to find the shortest commute possible, at this point it appears to be the lone remaining concern.

spider-man pog

there was a jam in a copier and it meant moving it away from the wall. I noticed something was there. when I got out the broom to move it out, I noticed it was a spider-man pog. the trainer said a colleague had brought in her kid to the office and it was likely from this event. it also meant me being called in to help shine a light from a cellphone in, but too hard to reach. so service has been called. it was near the end of the day, most of the check printing had already happened by then. I was working on the online classes as we were waiting for work to come in. there are 13 classes and I have completed 8 of them. while in the break room at lunchtime I was told I was the last hire before a hiring freeze. so I feel lucky, for a change.
    I did a walk in the evening and it ended just before curfew. I noticed national guard personnel getting ready in a nearby strip mall. during the walk I picked up 6 cents. I tried watching 'big bang theory' reruns but both were in spanish, so I switched over to the news.

    

lockers and shower stall

I was heading out from work and noticed in the bathroom how there was lockers and a shower stall. I mentioned it to a colleague but he didn't know why it was there. I was sent with some UPS envelopes to be put in the pick-up bin. actually the trainers changed. a pregnant lady had been training me but she touched her stomach more than once, she was in pain. she left in the early afternoon, and said she is due in october. the second trainer likes gaming, and was doing pokemon go. the I-9 form was done this morning, I checked my email and the receipt code was there so I presented it to my boss. then it was a copy of the passport and that was it. still probably need to register for health insurance, but one email said if I didn't I would be enrolled in a 'default' plan, whatever that will be. I said it was hard to just watch so I did get involved a little. I did things to do such as clear a jam from the machine, and when the envelopes were done I moved them from the belt to the mail bin. I am told it is harder to train me early in the week, at least in terms of me participating, when it is a higher volume. sounds like some duties are 'inherited' from other departments because some are working from home. not sure when they will be returning to the office. I did a walk during lunchtime, around the block to get a better idea of what is out there.
   when I was going home I drove past a walgreen listed as damaged by the riots, one I have been in. there was some plywood up in place of the windows, and graffiti as well, but it appeared to be open for business. I didn't need anything so I didn't go inside. I was tired so after I ate I laid down and fell asleep for a while. I got out and took a short walk around the area, and found 18 cents, all pennies. the bus stop said the curfew was extended, starting at 10pm. the news seems to be returning to some sense of normalcy, as there was weather reporting. but in some ways it was necessary due to the thunderstorms in the area. 'big bang theory' reruns were sheldon not wanting a table, and the one where bill gates was a guest star.

spun computer around

for the virtual open-mic tonight, I spun my computer around so I was in a room with more light. last week the MC said it looked like 'blair witch project'. the one about laundry went well.
   first day at work in the check shop. found out the breakroom had no spoons or cups, so I will being some to use. not a big deal.
   I had done a facebook posting over the weekend saying I was fine, in reference to the riots in the Twin Cities. I have added to it some, today it was about seeing some of the damage out there. when driving home from work I saw the burned-out holiday gas station at 46 and hiawatha in south minneapolis. I have been inside of it before. it was sobering to see the list of damaged businesses in both of the Twin Cities. I have been in some of them besides the gas station, especially some of the listed walgreen locations. there were more in St. Paul than expected, hadn't heard much in the news about that. most of the coverage has been about minneapolis.