two technicians

 at work was a rare thing, two technicians at the same time. one for the copier the other for the check printer. the one for the copier arrived first, and there was not too much overlap. then a colleague arrived shortly after the second one left. he was upset to find out that i had to return a desktop computer after getting my laptop. in the evening i went on a walk and found 71 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and penny do basket weaving with sheldon and amy. it was followed by the one where bernadette and penny meet anu, raj's lady. we also see tam, sheldon's texas friend. i moved up some of my chores and errand running, the recycle was sent out tonight. also made it to speedway where i got some chocolate milk and the paper. i heard 'teach your children well' while there, reminding me of 'running with scissors'. during my time out and about i had the saints game on the radio. it was another 1-0 game but the saints won this time. 

sioux city sweep

 i went to the st. paul saints baseball game tonight and there was a giveaway item, a poster honoring the 2019 team that won the league title, the american association. the poster was called 'sioux city sweep' depicting the celebration of the win. i was given the poster by some saints employees doing the tennis ball toss, after saying what was likely the mystery number next to the uniform number retired tonight. george tsamis, longtime manager of the independent club version of the saints, had his number 22 retired and he threw out the first ball. i said the other number was likely wayne terwilliger, as there is a giveaway honoring him as well, a 'shirsey'- a shirt jersey- on friday. i was familiar with how 'twig' had played for the earlier version of the saints-one season in 1952 according to wikipedia- then later coached for the twins and 'independent' saints. he had just died, in february. the saints lost to louisville 1-0, the only run was scored in the 2nd. i recall seeing mention of retiring larry doby's number at one point, who played for the cleveland indians, at the time owned by bill veeck, father of saints boss mike veeck. but no mention was found on wikipedia of any retired numbers there so doby's number might have been 'un-retired' when the saints were upgraded to triple-A this season. no surprise how the game didn't start on time due to the ceremony, i have seen this happen at sporting events before. it included a raising of the championship banner. the sky looked ominous late in the game, as there was some lightning off in the distance beyond the outfield wall. but there was no weather delay, they got the game in although the stadium announcer did make mention of 'someone using flash photography'. it rained on my drive home from the game, moving through the area quickly. it was 2-dollar beer night, for northlake beer. the line was long for a while but i got one in the 7th inning, when the line was much shorter. i had just walked away with a bag of peanuts thrown from the press box during the 7th-inning stretch.  

during my walks i found 11 cents. i did not see any 'big bang theory' reruns due to attending the game. i was tired and briefly was at home before heading to the game. at work there was the meeting with my boss for the mid-year evaluation. the team huddle didn't happen. i made mention of waiting for parts on the copier, and having to move printing of UPS labels to the check printer. on the olympic front, the american baseball team beat south korea to reach the gold medal game, and will play japan. the men's basketball team will play france in the gold medal game. 

park msp slips

 while i was out on an evening walk i saw all of these 'park MSP' slips on the grass next to a bus stop. some were red, some blue. i picked up a red one to remind me of what i had seen. i would have snapped a photo of it but there was a man at the bus stop so i decided not to do that. during this walk i found 1 dollar 60 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard gets surgery to stop snoring. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy try to figure out what a wedding gift is. i called my dad in the evening to say i would be in the area soon. i spoke of seeing a car show recently and it prompted me to ask the family story about a car he had often spoke of. at work there was a team huddle, it had been moved back a day. i was asked about the maintenance kit. after calling the help desk again, and having them hang up on me again, i decided to copy my boss on the response to the technician. it led to finding out how the order was canceled and then another order was made. but it is ridiculous to be waiting nearly 3 weeks for it. the copier jammed again this morning, so no choice but to wait for the parts. i got duplicate checks from nearly 2 weeks ago voided and sent to the shredder in the morning, nice to have it crossed off my list. also got a look at envelopes set aside, as some were partially sealed and jamming the machine. i liked how i was able to go through them individually and most of them can still be used. it was hard to tell at first, but i just needed time to go through it. and i hate wasting supplies so i wanted to avoid sending things to the shred bin if at all possible. on the olympic front, the USA men's basketball team is playing australia in the semifinals. looks like the game just ended and the USA won, advancing to the gold medal game. 

donation bin gone

 i noticed that a clothing donation bin near my home was gone when i was driving home from work. there had been plenty of items left outside of it, guess it was more trouble than it was worth to have it. this was at the edge of a gas station parking lot, close to the street. at work i had a technician look at the copier as it kept jamming like an accordion. i called mid-morning and they arrived near the end of the day. parts are needed but it is functional again. sounds like they will be back on friday or monday when the parts arrive. a big envelope order arrived, more than what was ordered for that business line. when i picked up a small envelope order i was asked if i was all right. i said i was just putting a box on a cart, sounded worse than it really was. in the evening i went on a walk and found 55 cents. so now i have reached the next save-up goal, 5 dollars, some beer money for the weekend. there is one beer waiting, a schell's, after having the paulaner as part of the evening meal last night. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends had a prom, and it had just as much drama as a real one. it was followed by the one where the fowlers, amy's parents, feud and the friends try to broker peace. sheldon holds two hot dogs as well. i found the time to watch these two reruns, at least parts of them, while national night out was happening nearby. once i found out what the first episode was, i got out there as i knew it would be ending within the hour. i had two hot dogs, two bags of chips, a cookie, and some lemonade. the chips were cheetos, and the other was lay's sour cream and onion. there were no plates, so it meant being more careful on bringing the hot dog over to a table to eat them. there was a puppet show for the kids, and after the show ended the kids went to the bounce castle. on the olympic front, the USA men's basketball team beat spain to reach the semifinals. the women's basketball team beat australia to reach the semifinals. and the USA baseball team beat the dominican republic to reach the semifinals. 

archival video recording

 i get emails from the minnesota fringe festival due to ushering in previous years in order to get free tickets. this year's festival starts this week, and i got a look at the show schedule. i did not watch any shows last year after it went virtual. it appears most shows this year are virtual. there were just two shows of interest to me, and i was able to find one of them on youtube, as an 'archival video recording', so i watched it tonight. it was 'music box', about a love triangle in st. louis in 1929. there was plenty of singing in it. the story is also about a young man who would hear stories from his grandfather, who would play a music box. the man is offered a job as a newspaper columnist, and this is where the love triangle happens. he falls for the love interest of his boss. like most fringe shows, it was a small cast. i think this will be it on fringe shows for me for the year. as a performer i am used to getting in free, either due to performing myself or knowing one of the performers. so it is hard for me to pay to get into a show for this reason. 

at work i postponed lunch a few more minutes as my boss called me wanting to know about the maintenance kit. it still hasn't arrived yet and when i called the help desk there was mention of a cell phone number of the technician and then i lost the call. i also completed another big check file, doing the second half in the morning. and i am caught up again on getting returned checks forwarded, but still don't have inter-office envelopes after asking for them late last week. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 18 cents. during this walk i saw a domestic dispute, but i decided to ignore it and keep walking, let them figure it out on their own. there was pushing and shoving, and name calling. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when billy bob thornton guest starred as a doctor to the stars, and has a big game room for the friends. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy were married. i like this one because penny said 'park it' to amy's mom after the mom said she wanted to take amy out of the situation when the ceremony was delayed. it was revealed that the delay was due to the couple doing science, penny found them. on the olympic front, the USA baseball team lost to japan, the USA men's basketball team is playing spain in the quarterfinals. 

space jam movie, lebron james

 this afternoon i went to see the movie 'space jam' in eagan. i had a free code to use from watching 'big bang theory' reruns. not many were in the theater, i was the only one when the previews began and then two others showed up. it was nice seeing them cover iconic movie characters in it, named or otherwise. i had seen the original one at the saints stadium in 2017. it was campy at times, making fun of itself with things like the mention of sports stars doing movies usually doesn't go well. besides the original, there aren't many others to compare it with, i can only think of 'roger rabbit'. i kind of expected the good guys to win, although it is still fun to see 'the thrill of the chase' and how they counter the moves of the villain. not normally the kind of movie i go see, as i don't see that many animated movies, but it still was a fun 2 hours for me. i made a note of the posters for upcoming movies inside the theater, including 'james bond', 'ghostbusters', and the bio-pic about musician aretha franklin. as i was leaving i saw a tub of popcorn partially spilled on the pavement, i ended up claiming what was still in the tub as i like eating popcorn. it is tough to see food go to waste. 

for much of the morning and afternoon before departing for the movie, i was doing research online. it led to me making some more travel reservations. i also listened to the twins-cardinals baseball game on the radio, cardinals won to take the series 2-1. yadier molina is a beast, as in this game he moved past albert pujols into fourth place on the all-time list for base hits as a cardinal. of course this was aided by pujols leaving for another team. there's something to be said for longevity. i also called my college roommate after having the evening meal, and found out he will be out of town when i will be visiting des moines later this month. bummer. but i said there is still an invite to come see a vikings game. during my walks for the day i found 1 dollar 12 cents. 

out of death movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'out of death'. i recognized bruce willis in it. it is the story of someone who witnesses a corrupt cop shooting a drug dealer, and bruce's character helps the witness. the opening scene is replicated later on. it is told as a series of chapters, 5 in all. i like seeing bruce willis in it, but much of the story is far-fetched. as always, thankful i don't pay that much when it is a redbox rental, under two dollars. the setting of the movie is georgia, although in the closing credits there is a 'state seal' for puerto rico. 

this was an active day. first stop this morning was canadian days in little canada, for the pancake breakfast. the ragtime band played plenty of familiar standards, including 'wonderful world' by louis armstrong, a song also played the band that appeared the night before. no bagpipe band this year, guess the border with canada is still closed due to the pandemic. the replacement was a 'demo' by the sheriff department, of their police dog. not that great, although i noticed how the dog was well-trained as it wasn't fazed at all by another dog that was going crazy. then i left and went to the post office, two items-both postcards- to pick up from my box. then i went home and watched the movie. by then it was time for lunch, and i got a ham and cheese sandwich and ice cream on a stick from the holiday gas station after i dumped the movie. after lunch i made it back to canadian days, to see the car show and the 'raptor center'. some cars were starting to leave when i arrived for the car show, even though there was an hour left in it. but i was in no way disappointed by how many cars were still there. even saw an REO car, i knew the band got its name from this car. but i don't think i had seen this kind of car before. then it was on to the bird show, on a stage in the back of the park. it was advertised as 'see a bald eagle', and there was one, but there was also a falcon and an owl. i kept saying 'WORTH IT!' as i was leaving this event as it is rare to hear about a bird sanctuary. it is administered by the university of minnesota. when i got home it was time to get groceries at aldi, and part of my order was some olympic-themed oreo cookies. 

in the evening i went to the st. paul saints baseball game. saints lost to indianapolis 6-5, but still fun to get out to the stadium. saints are still wacky, having llamas as part of their 'anything on a leash' theme for the night. there was also the 'only in MN' sculpture from 'explore MN' just beyond the outfield wall. i had seen it before as part of the jesse james festival in northfield. during my walks for the day i found 1 dollar 46 cents, so i have reached the next save-up goal of a can of beer. the most recent save-up goal was actually re-deployed to what i had as the evening meal on friday, as i wanted some 'walking around money' at the festival. with all of those food vendors there i figured there would be something of interest to me, and i was correct. on the olympic front, it appears that the USA baseball team beat south korea, so they have won both of their preliminary games. the USA men's basketball team beat the czech republic in their final preliminary game, so they finished 2-1 in this round and have advanced to the quarterfinals. their next opponent is still to be determined.