related or not?

 after worked i checked my Hotmail account as usual and there was a message from the ancestry site. it said we are related through her mother, then said not sure how we are related. an email and a phone number were given so we can exchange information. i responded to the message saying i recognized the phone number as an Iowa area code, but i had never heard of her mother's name. i looked through her pictures, and there were many of them. one of them said Winterset, except i have never lived in Winterset and know of no relatives who have either. while on the site i got a look at all of the clues that had piled up after creating a family tree. i wrote down some of them, i think they were from a cousin's tree. i still would like to find more about relatives who were immigrants. it was the first day back at work after four days off. i noticed a few things on arrival, such as the trash and recycle bins were in the hall and now have liners in them. and as expected, already had to say 'it was a day off for me' to someone. it was about a check that had been overnighted but should have been sent regular mail to the payee, it was from the bank's foundation. also had to let an internal customer know about an overnight request, how the fargo checks are being sent to me on a one-day delay. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy get a turtle, and we see sheldon's video about living on mars. it was followed by the one where penny calls sheldon, 'shel-bot' due to the virtual presence device. 

building condemned

 i had a day off for a dental appointment, and it was in the morning. after it i walked around in the skyway system much like when i worked in that area and saw a building had been condemned back in April. i had eaten at in their food court when working in downtown St. Paul, it is called the alliance bank building. i knew full well that more than half of the storefronts in the food court were vacant/empty as of my most recent appointment in November. now it is a question of what is next for the site, does it mean demolition? don't know. i got plenty of things done after the appointment. there was going to Eagan, first thing was ordering a ticket for the car show at the state fairgrounds next month. i like getting advance tickets and it meant going to the Napa auto parts store. then it was on to the credit union where i picked up the gift card i had won in a drawing. it was midday by then so the next stop was Mall of America as i wanted to have lunch at the A and W. actually there are two of those at the mall, but as usual i go to the one in the food court on the north end. i also found a store with some Charlie Brown items and bought two items, bamboo chopsticks and a magnet. and i got a scoop of ice cream at a place where i can get airline miles. then i went home and rested a little. next stop was the dealer to do an oil change on my car. i was home again in time to watch 'jeopardy'. i knew the final jeopardy answer, it was Dred Scott. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when some of the friends did an escape room, while Penny and Sheldon did the 'fall in love' experiment. it was followed by the one where Sheldon and Amy went on a date and Penny was the chaperone.  

good, bad, brainy

 in the afternoon i went on a long walk around the neighborhood, first time in a while. i saw a little free library along the way and claimed a book from it. this was a scholastic book, likely meant for kids, but when i saw it as a history book i knew it was worth having. the main title was 'superstars of history' and after this it said, 'the good, the bad, and the brainy'. i had heard of many of these historical figures that are profiled in the book, but not all. when Franklin Roosevelt was profiled, i had to look up the mention of an assassination attempt, where it said the mayor of Chicago was killed. not mentioned by name in the book, but my online search yielded that this was Cermak. i knew that Cermak is the name of a road in the suburbs of Chicago, and in the city as well, during my time living there. i made it back from the walk in time to watch 'jeopardy', and i knew the final jeopardy answer, it was Yellowstone park, about UNESCO sites. in the morning i got some event tickets ordered. this included two St. Paul Saints baseball games in June, as well as a riverboat cruise in that same month. after the tickets were ordered, i saw a survey in my email from the team about the game i had just attended the day before. when i completed it there was another email, an offer on discounted tickets for select games for the rest of the season. except it was just for Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday, and i don't go on weeknights that much. there was another meetup event to attend, at a micro-brewery in the evening, wandering leaf. i chatted with a couple from Sweden, after seeing the 'cool dude' from another event last fall. i liked talking music with him, both then and at this event. i was a little late in getting to a mic to perform at due to this event as i was enjoying it enough. i did stories about my weekend activities, the bank, and an annoying facebook posting. during my walks i found 1 dollar 22 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard's mom died. it was followed by when we meet amy, as sheldon is blackmailed by a hidden dirty sock. 

fire and rain, james taylor

 this was a day of more than one activity, and music was a part of it. when i was leaving the St. Paul Saints baseball stadium after the fireworks show had ended, i heard the song 'fire and rain' by James Taylor. i said this was a good choice as a 'walking out song'. when i got home i looked it up, and found out one of the inspirations for the song was the suicide of the performer's friend. but i am aware of how performers and artists can create something beautiful when inspired by something awful. other inspirations mentioned were Taylor's drug addictions and dealing with fame. two other songs of note for the day were heard at the Saints stadium as well. there was 'titanium' by David Guetta and Sia, during the game. and there was 'rock in the USA' by John Mellencamp, during the fireworks. i am used to hearing a medley of songs that mention the USA or America during the fireworks shows for Memorial Day or the 4th of July. the game had just started when i arrived at the stadium, i walked around for much of it but before the 7th inning stretch i sat down in the general admission section. the Saints lost to Norfolk, 10-4, my third game attended this season. the Saints briefly took the lead, 4-1, on a grand slam. i am used to seeing the long ball fairly often in these Triple-A games as the players have to be good to make it this far. State Farm Insurance had a tent, much like last September, but i already had a bobblehead with my photo on it so i didn't need another one. i ate two hot dogs at the stadium, one was during the game. the other was from a food truck after the game had ended, waiting for the fireworks to begin. it was from 'dine-1-1', a converted ambulance, i had ordered food from them before. around midday i went to a meetup picnic in a park, the first of six for the summer season. i am probably not attending all six though, more likely just three. i had a hot dog there as well, so my total for the day was three. there were some that i enjoyed chatting with there, but some that i found to be annoying. memorable was a man who had the same name as a college in Iowa. i didn't stay long after i was done eating, played a little ladder golf and that was it. i wanted to rest a little before i went to the stadium. during my walks i found 60 cents. 

tronk, a journey home

 i went to a play in northeast Minneapolis in the afternoon, it was called 'Tronk, a journey home'. this was in the former grain belt complex, same building where i have the fringe festival training. the play was one floor above it. saw the invite on Facebook, sent by the meetup friend, the retired postal worker. this friend made it but arrived after the show began, but i figured he'd still be there when named before the show as a benefactor. the trunk, a big part of the story, was made possible by his donation. at first it was hard to understand the premise, but then i said it reminded me of the Marx brothers and the three stooges. most of the dialogue was gibberish, and before the show began i said i recognized one of the props as a clown horn. i printed a page in advance and wrote the driving directions on it. the show was described here as three bumbling adventurers are on a journey to find a new home, but the magical trunk they use to travel breaks down. after the show i got a look at my friend's car, it had a collector plate on it, a 1955 Dodge. also heard a story about buying another classic car, a Hudson. i spoke of two meetup events i am booked to attend this weekend, hopefully i will see him at one of them. i didn't go straight home after the show. i went to Roseville and had a dairy queen blizzard at the mall, then looked for a trench coat at some stores there and near it. nothing bought yet though. i didn't do much once i got home. i had the evening meal, some spaghetti, and went to get groceries at the Aldi. i watched the baseball game on fox, guardians beat the tigers. i got some things done in the morning as well. i went to the post office, two orders picked up. then i went to the French alliance and saw an art show in the gallery. no kidding on how it was called 'petits souvenirs', little memories in french. these artworks were small, thirty-two of them. i only got pictures of two of them, of the eiffel tower and arc de triomphe. then i went to have a sandwich at jersey mike's. durign my walks i found 1 dollar 28 cents. 

wolves in 5 shirt?

 i went to get groceries at the Hy-Vee in Eagan tonight and saw some t-wolves basketball shirts for sale near the front door. these said, 'wolves in five'. didn't buy one. also saw a sign next to it saying the supermarket chain is a sponsor of the team. no surprise how it is Memorial Day weekend that some patriotic balloons were on display. except one of them said '4th of July'. i got my typical needs there, including a box of twinkies for the meetup picnic i am doing this weekend. at work i stayed late as expected, wanting to see that things were caught up before my four days off, including one for an appointment. it meant some things were put in the shred bin and a list of recipients of tracking numbers for some overnighted checks was put on the wall. i was disgusted with the 'Eva app'. i spent an hour on it during my first attempt at getting a toner cartridge ordered for the small printer, to no avail. i was told to get the business line to order it, and they couldn't. i tried again and the ticket was opened right away and looks like the order has been placed. except the order still might be going to the former location. in spite of it all, i am thankful ti didn't leave me that far behind on doing the overnight labels as there was twenty of those for the day. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we hear embarrassing stories about all three ladies, including the story Amy wrote that was inspired by 'little house on the prairie'. it was followed by the one where we hear the story why the elevator is broken. 

chase the can

 no, not 'kick the can'. i ended up chasing a can across the street at the end of the workday as i went to wait for the light rail. guess it was being pushed along by the wind. i caught up with it after i had crossed and it went into the trash bin. notable about the day was doing the survey about my role. i wanted to stay caught up with my normal duties and i got around to it at the end of the day. there wasn't much time left to complete it, end of the week was the deadline. i had plenty of numbers at my disposal from spreadsheets and such so i wanted to have some of those numbers present. there weren't many things i could select when looking at the duties represented. i mostly print checks so that one was there, along with 'researching exceptions'- i consider that to be the 'pull and shred' as well as check copy requests. i wrote as much as i was allowed to in the space provided about what i do. i even said that i know i do a lot for the bank and take pride in what i do. there was a spike in the overnight volume, just over fifty. somehow i got them all in the box by the given pick-up time though. i drank the can of goose island with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. during my walks i found 1 cent. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when Sheldon had a houseguest, 'dr. slut-bunny'.