winter carnival play

 in the afternoon i went to the play at history theater in downtown St. Paul, it was about the St. Paul winter carnival. i didn't enjoy the play that much. it was a hodgepodge of history that didn't work. a big theme was covering how the architect of the highland park water tower also did ice castles at the carnival. i would have liked it more had they chosen just one theme, such as bio about this architect. gnomes gave out historical facts; one actress spoke in Dakota language. the only character i really liked was the louis hill character, son of the railroad baron James j. Hill, but sadly he was portrayed as a villain in this play. i have chosen just one play per season at this venue, but i think it will be a while before i attend one again. i also didn't enjoy the one i saw there in May. i hate wasted time, and money. i haven't been to all that much live theater in recent years, aside from the fringe festival. attending movies is a better game plan, those tend to be cheaper as well. in the morning i did another annual viewing of a Christmas show, it was 'Muppet Christmas Carol'. it was the third of the year, and there are five more on the list. after the play i went to target and picked up a few things. there were some cookies, a Dolly Parton book, captain crunch cereal, egg nog, and cheese. i tried to watch some of the football games as well. the bears-packers game was nearly over by the time i got home, bears lost a close one. also tried to watch the Sunday night game but fell asleep. when i woke up i found out the chiefs lost to the Texans. 

drag brunch, elf theme

 around midday i attended a drag brunch in downtown Minneapolis, theme was the movie 'elf'. it was the third for me this year. i had a seat at the bar and besides having a burger and fries, i had two beers, both Schell's. this was likely why i had to go to the bathroom twice during the show, and i saw performers up close when i did. the main thing taken from the theme was audio clips of the movie. some songs were of the season, some were not. the ending song was Taylor Swift's 'welcome to New York', but it fits because this was the setting for the movie. another notable was Lizzo's 'truth hurts', of course this song goes over well with a Minnesota crowd. a curious one was a Christmas version of 'girls just want to have fun', i hadn't heard that one before. one patron kept wanting to dance with the performers. i said to the lady next to me at the bar that she looks like a handful, the lady made a gesture saying she was crazy. a little later, near the end of the show, the crazy lady made it over by me and slapped me on the back. i said i didn't like that and she left me alone, which is what i wanted. usually, a Saturday morning is more leisurely for me, but i wanted to be on time for the event. there was just one thing to do before i made it over to the venue, it was getting to the post office. no orders to pick up but i did send out two Christmas cards, the first of the season. there wasn't much to do after the event. i got groceries at Aldi, then i got a sandwich at Jersey Mike's. and i did another annual viewing of a Christmas show, it was the 'Rudolph' movie with john goodman and Bob Newhart. 

reject fax, pumpkin pie

 i have to pick up the reject fax from another floor once a week and while there i saw some pumpkin pie on a table, so i got myself a slice of it and ate it while still on that floor. there is another check to deliver to that floor, but it must wait until Monday since that floor is mostly deserted late in the week. this manager said 'boo' when i said i hadn't done karaoke much lately, then i asked for some venue recommendations. in the afternoon i saw an instant message asking me to have a check 'returned to business line' but then i didn't hear which one. eventually i said 'i need to know soon' or otherwise it will go regular mail. i guessed it was a check i don't see too often, going to Cincinnati. i was able to out two and two together once i checked the employee directory and saw where this colleague is based. in the evening i did my weekly grocery order at the Hy-Vee in Eagan. it was another small order, seven items, eight if you count the can of Coors i bought from their liquor store. now there are four beers waiting. i picked up two more holiday cereals, elf on shelf and Rice Krispies. now i have four and this leaves one on my list, captain crunch. when i got home i watched another episode of 'Boston Blue', the spinoff of 'blue bloods'. i do like this show, and i am getting used to the main characters in it. 

photo with the grinch

 i went to the skyway level close to midday and got some popcorn, as i like to do once a month. there were two dudes that wanted to sit with me, i was fine with that. i said i hadn't been to their floor of the building yet. it was the first time i had really chatted with anyone at this popcorn event. then i got a look at the pop-up stores nearby and got a photo with the grinch. it was put in a red and green striped frame. there was some merchandise available as well, but only the photo appealed to me. this serves as a good way of marking the time working for the bank, especially at this location as it has been nearly a year since i moved there. i let vacation replacement know about it, who spoke of the 'grinch' movie with Jim Carrey. i said i did speak of it while there, saying i didn't like how Cindy Lou kept bothering the grinch. i still like the original animated special the most. late in the day there was a check to send to another floor, i got it to the manager that likes karaoke. couldn't find her at the cubicle near the rat statue, so i was a good guesser and tried a conference room. she was doing a dial-in meeting there and said, 'thank you' and then i left. in the evening i bought items at two different vending machines. it was subzero weather in the morning so i left my car at home, and it meant doing a transfer at the airport. while waiting for the bus to get home i went to a machine there and got double salami sticks, by 'trail's best'. this was one of two meat items there and it was the cheaper of the two, it was three dollars. once i got home i eventually went out for a walk and got some chili cheese corn chips from a machine at a laundromat. when i got off the bus in the evening i saw a box at the bus stop, there was TV dinners inside. i claimed two of them as well as two cookies. i heated up one of those dinners for my evening meal. good thing i claimed some when i did as when i went out for the aforementioned walk later on, the box was gone. but being near a bus stop, it can easily get picked up by anyone and go anywhere. there were nine dinners remaining in the box, i would like to think that all of them will be eaten. 

big checks, penny difference

 i overnighted a nine-figure check recently to a district court in California, and the business line said it was too big; the recipient couldn't cash it. i knew i could expect to see the replacement sometime soon. as expected, it meant cutting it in half and sending two checks instead of one. in this case, one check was for a penny more than the other. i pointed out one thing to the business line, when those checks were approved and on the dashboard. we can't have identical check numbers. a third check was created and i knew that one of them had to be set aside and i was told it was fine to put it in the shredder. also notable about the workday was hearing about a check from last week where i sent it regular mail. nothing unusual there, except it was from the Cincinnati file. i sent it that way as i waited a day and got no response when asking for an overnight label. i told them that i can't afford to hold onto checks for long. usually i wait one day and then it goes out. this is what i do for an overnight request, but a PO box is on the check. i ask for a physical address. i was told the recipient hadn't received it yet and even re-sent the original message that proves i had asked for the label. i saw the address on the check, it was headed to Phoenix. but i also noticed the postal abbreviation wasn't for Arizona, but Arkansas. not sure what the postal service does when the zip code doesn't match the postal abbreviation, but i said the odds were higher that it would be 'returned to sender'. i haven't seen it back yet though. 

tech cleaned machine

 first day back at work after the day off, and i had my work cut out for me. i had seen a text from vacation replacement, so i knew to expect a tech to be servicing the envelope stuffing machine. i saw the tech in the lobby when i arrived, and then we got to it on being signed in. this is the Iowa native, and we usually talk some about that. but it was mainly about the work. i said i didn't watch the Hawkeye football game last week as i had to work that day. it didn't take long on the machine; we ran three hundred checks through to test it. i was told it mainly needed a cleaning, and i pointed out some of the things i had been dealing with. my boss was in the shop at times for the day but was disappointed that the tech wasn't there for long. i said i know my boss and knows he likes having answers so i do my best to have them. there were plenty of checks left over from the previous day, but i got them all run through the machine and out the door. there was still a backlog at the end of the day though, more than three thousand from the Fargo file. i did point out one thing to vacation replacement about what was left over from my day off. i said if i don't have an overnight label for one of their checks, i send an email with a check copy to the shared box given on the check. most of the time i really need one as most of the time there is no address given on the check. 

cycling museum

 i had the day off for a dental appointment, and it was in downtown St. Paul. dental office is in the same building that i once worked in. for lunch i went to the skyway grill, and when i got home i was pleased to find out that i was getting airline miles from the visit. i ordered a Reuben sandwich and tater tots. i did look around a little after the appointment, which was in the early afternoon. one thing i found in the skyway was a cycling museum. it said it wasn't open yet, but it would be soon. i saw some bicycles through the glass and got a picture of the sign. i also ended up near the hockey arena, where i saw a mannequin on the roof of a hotel with a hockey jersey on, of course it was a Minnesota Wild jersey. i made it home and then went to print an event ticket at a copy store that i had ordered in the morning. i made it home in time to watch jeopardy, where the final jeopardy clue was the St. Lawrence seaway. i made the time off count, as i got some chores and errand running done in the morning. there was going to the post office and getting a sheet of stamps. when i said president carter it wasn't recognized by the clerk, then i said jimmy carter. i also went to a Walgreen and picked up two items, one of them being a Charlie Brown card with a thanksgiving theme. good time to get it as it is just past that holiday and likely would be taken down soon.