who's the guest of honor?

 the boss forwarded and email to us about a colleague being honored for forty years of service to the bank. one thing though, only the first name was given. then i had to ask, who's the guest of honor? found out it was someone i hadn't worked with. and i don't know that many people at the bank. another email said there would be cake and soft drinks in the afternoon. when i was caught up on work i had some. i had to go to another floor for it, something i try to avoid as often as i can. the lady spoke of being in Ireland for the recent Vikings game, and something about a scam involving lodging there. one of the check files i handled for the day was from the mortgage department, twenty-six checks, but about half were return to business line so this made it a little easier for me. there were also overnight requests from the fraud file, as well as a business line based in St. Louis. as usual, it was a bust day with the Fargo file, and three thousand checks were left over and can be run through the next morning. 

two pens and a bottlecap

 i went to perform in the evening at a venue i hadn't been at much in recent years, in northeast Minneapolis. there were couches that performers could sit on, and i found a few items in the cushions. it was two pens, and a Bud Light bottlecap. i consider them to be comedy souvenirs, although i do plan on using the two pens. this was the venue i saw a show at a month prior, as i knew brawler was in town. i led off the show, after the MC of course. i did plenty of bank stories, as well as the 'long strange trip it has been' to get into performing. after i had been onstage i went to the upper level to check the score of the football game, chiefs-jaguars. a 'pick six' by the jaguars happened during that brief time there, and the jaguars went on to win a close one. i had some of the fried cheese sticks that were made available for the comics. i didn't know that many of the performers there, but i am used to that by now. there is a constant wave of newer performers. at work the senior leader kept his word about wanting to do something related to the toner cartridges on the check printers. i was asked the printer names and IP addresses by instant message. it led to a ticket being opened to get them back on auto-ship so i don't have to order them each time i need one. i also did a re-calibration of the sensors on the inserter machine as the errors were piling up. i like how that simple solution is available, it meant getting out the note page where the code to enter as a 'supervisor' is found to get it done. 

booya, season opener

 i like going to booya events in the fall, where thick vegetable beef soup is served. this one was in a park in St. Paul. i went to Rosedale mall in Roseville first as i needed to do a return and exchange on shoes. the ones i had bought three weeks prior were hurting my feet. i tried on four pairs this time, and it meant back to shoes that have laces. i liked those slip-in kinds, but some of those in my size had the shoes tied together with the anti-theft device, which makes it harder to do a test walk in the store to see how they feel. i got another pair of socks as well. i got a small bowl of booya when i made it to the park, there wasn't much left by then. there was some live music being played, including a gin blossoms song, 'follow you down'. i later heard the same song in the evening on the jukebox at the bar where i was performing in an open mic. what are the odds? i did more bank stories, along with mention of being at the festival. in the morning i had breakfast at McDonald's, an Egg McMuffin sandwich. then it was back to the airport to return the rental car. another annual thing i have been doing on Oktoberfest weekend, started during the pandemic, was getting pictures at the photo booth in the mall. i did this after i made it to the JC Penney to get the shoes. 

new ulm poster

 this was my annual visit to New Ulm for Oktoberfest. during the downtown part of the event i got some souvenirs, including a poster. it says, 'city of charm and tradition' and the Hermann the German monument is in the background. in the foreground we see a gnome with an apple. i will want to get a frame for it real soon. my first stop when i made it to town was to get lunch, at taco john's. then i went to the family dollar, as i saw two men holding up signs advertising a liquidation sale there. i bought three items, an ice cream treat, dish soap, and a box of toaster pastries. i used up some of the quarters at this sale. i parked near the baseball field on German street and saw a park with a sign that spoke of their sister city in Germany. i got some popcorn at the wagon next to the county's museum and went inside the museum as well. i looked at my postcard collection before i departed in the morning and knew what i already had, and for this reason bought just two. i bought a magnet depicting the museum as well, it is in the former post office, and the building is German-inspired architecture. music was everywhere, as expected. a cover band was in the middle of town, and notable from their set was a Miley Cyrus song, 'party in the USA'. i made it to the glockenspiel show, then got some ice cream and a bottle of soda pop. i found the brick i had bought in German park a few years back and rode the gravity rail swing. and i drank a bottle of Schell's beer at Turner Hall, where a server noticed i was wearing a shirt from the Turner festival from two years prior. then it was on to sleepy eye to see the Linus statue. i liked hearing an Alice in Chains song, 'would', on the drive there. during my short time in town i saw a train pass through where i was parked, at the Hardee's, across the street from the library. it surprised me that i was able to catch up with the train and pass it before i made it back to New Ulm, and i was going the speed limit. it was a fairly long freight train, Canadian pacific, with three locomotives. two were in front and one in the back. the evening events were happening by then, and it meant getting to the hotel at the edge of town. i got the evening meal there, the German plate. it was potato salad, bratwurst, and sauerkraut. i had to get the beer, a grain belt, at the bar. there was a break between music acts, but eventually we saw another cover band. the set began with an Eddie Rabbitt song, 'driving my life away', and this seemed appropriate to me. because i had the drive back home in front of me at the end of the night. also notable was more country music, including songs by the Charlie Daniels band, and Merle Haggard. i made one stop during the drive home, at the Holiday gas station in Jordan, where a truck nearly hit me on the way inside. i got some fig newtons and a pumpkin spice cappuccino, and then it was back on the road. there was a grab bag of programs i found on the radio during the drive. there was an episode of the 'green hornet', and a profile about a Vietnam war POW from Iowa. i still like being able to find faraway AM radio stations at night, the latter program was on a St. Louis station. i found some college football as well, and eventually found a baseball playoff game, tigers-mariners. it was in extra innings, and on when i made my only stop. i didn't want to waste any time in the morning after picking up the rental car. i went to the post office to pick up orders, three in all. then after i dropped those off at home i was on my way to the festival. 

tour guide for senior leader

 at work a senior leader finally showed up to get a look at the check shop. it was the first time since we had moved it downtown nearly a year ago. i didn't mind being a tour guide at all. there was some mention of being on the same floor because of having to pick up something from the mailroom. i said i didn't have too many complaints about my work at this point, the main one would be how hard it can be to get toner cartridges for the check printers when i need one. i was advised to email this senior leader about it, so i will see if anything can be done. it was nice getting caught up on running checks through the machine, as i am usually able to do by the end of the week. good thing i went to the Walgreen fairly early in the morning for a snack as a courier did show up a little later with the big envelope order. in the evening i went to the Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries, and i was able to get another big box of trash bags. at Walgreen these are locked up, but not at Hy-Vee. i prefer not having to wait for someone to unlock a case. i got a picture of the small pumpkins decorated for Halloween. no plans to buy any of them but the drawings on them with markers were good. 

trumpet player sighting

 when i was taking the first of two buses home from work i boarded and decided to sit near the door next to someone who looked familiar. it was a trumpet player i recall from some open mic shows i had performed at pre-covid. the dude called me a celebrity when i was getting off near the hockey arena, i had to laugh about that as i don't see myself as one. at work the boss was in the shop, it was unexpected as it is usually just once a week. some mention of too noisy on his floor due to construction workers. it led to me re-opening the case on the newer printer, although it led to an annoyance on my part. there was no warning that the printer would be re-booted remotely, and it was in the middle of printing one of the Fargo files. it was a total of nearly two thousand checks in the file and i had to re-print most of them. when it was re-booted remotely earlier in the week, i didn't care as much as no files were printing at the time. the boss wanted the case re-opened due to overflow pages, and we don't get that many of those. i drank a can of miller with the evening meal and now there are four beers waiting. when i was taking a cart back to a nearby store i noticed there was something still in it, an unopened pack of trident gum, it was bubble gum flavor. i claimed it. on Facebook there was plenty of postings about the 75th anniversary of the first Charlie Brown comic strip, and no surprise how i hit 'like' on most of those that i saw. i even spoke of getting a shirt and jersey this season at baseball games that had this theme. 

another a.i. meeting

 we had another A.I. meeting, but this time it was in person and on another floor. the boss didn't like that i was a few minutes late but i had to take two elevators to get there, and there is always something to do in the shop. i was still trying to get the Fargo checks from the previous day run through. still not convinced how it will help me do my job, when most of the time when i communicate with others it is to send tracking numbers. or to say i can print the file when it is approved. when i made it back to the shop the tax specialist was waiting to pick up a check. in the morning i made another trip for coffee, this time it was to the caribou. there was an email about various promotions for the week, and i liked knowing it was a double point day. the baseball playoffs have started, the wild card round. still a question of when i will see a game on TV as the early round games are often only on cable. the news did speak of police officers using A.I. but it is still a reminder of needing to be careful with it. i know this from seeing an 'overview' when i google things as not all of it is accurate or sometimes things are left out.