star trek show, mounds theater

 in the afternoon i went to see the 'star trek'- inspired show in St. Paul at the Mounds theater. it was called 'it's an honorable life' as it was largely inspired by the movie 'it's a wonderful life'. i think i knew one of the cast members in it, but not that well. i definitely knew one of the patrons, that i saw at intermission when i went to get some popcorn. i had seen how the retired postal worker pressed 'interested' on this show on Facebook and i liked the premise. this show also referenced two classic animated specials- 'Charlie Brown Christmas' and 'the grinch'. it was likely making fun of both, but i didn't mind that much. i am aware of the old saying how 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery'. i haven't seen 'star trek' much but i feel like that not much was lost on me because of this. although i have said that i don't get every joke on 'big bang theory' because of it. one weapon used in this play reminded me of a 'big bang' episode where penny kicks a nerd in the groin. i knew full well that i wasn't going to confuse this show with something at, say, the Guthrie, Ordway, or Orpheum. it still could have been more professional though. it started more than ten minutes late, for one thing. all lines were subtitled, not just the Klingon but also the English. this is where i knew that sometimes the actors got their lines wrong. despite this, it was still better than some shows i had seen this year. i like intelligent humor and there was plenty of it. i didn't do much after getting home from the show. i watched some pro football, steelers-lions was on. steelers won a close one, plenty of points scored in the fourth quarter. i tuned in to the Rob Reiner documentary in prime time on CBS. it was a reminder of some of the Reiner-directed movies i had seen- 'stand by me', 'princess bride', 'harry met sally', and 'few good men'. also liked seeing clips from his role on 'all in the family'. 

christmas music at northrop

 the main thing on the docket for the day was a program at the university of Minnesota, inside Northrop auditorium. it was Christmas music, some of it classical and some of it modern. i was familiar with some of it but not all. two selections were from the Charlie Brown Christmas special, another was from the movie 'home alone'. audience members were invited onto the stage during the final number, and i went up there as i am a performer and think of it as valuable stage time. most of the music was on an organ, but the organist did have some guest musicians. sometimes there was a drummer, and there was also a singer for a boys' choir. the program last for a little over an hour, i would have preferred the organist stick to the music. there was a lot of talking between numbers and the dude was trying too hard to be funny. there were some chores and errand running that i got done before i got on to the light rail over to the university. there was a stop at the post office, two orders picked up. and i went to cub foods to pick up dinners for Christmas. i would have done it the night before, but it was cold and decided that one visit to a grocery store last night was enough. and i got a sandwich at Jersey Mike's for lunch. after the event, i had the evening meal and went to Aldi for groceries. there was a pro football game on, bears-packers from Chicago. i was stunned that the bears found a way to win in overtime, after trailing by ten points just before the two-minute warning. 

paying for overnights

 and yet another weird question from instant messaging at work. this one was about who pays for the fees to overnight checks. i said it likely went back to the cost center for the department i am in since i am the one that creates the labels. this is from a business line where i am emailed a list of checks to overnight each day, and about a year ago the business line was offshored to Poland. a toner cartridge arrived, but it was laser jet and i am unable to use it for check printing. i see an 800 number on the box and will call when i have the time to do so. the backlog on the Fargo checks went down, aided by fewer ones being printed for the day. i sent out four regular mail tubs and there is under four thousand remaining. there was an email that said 'respond with a one' sent by the bank, so i did. later on, i saw how it was sent to my phone as well, as a text message. something about the emergency response team and updating my personal information when needed. in the evening i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for my weekly grocery order. i found two Charlie Brown items in the candy section, one was little candy canes, and the other was suckers. i also found a 'Christmas Vacation' themed candy bar in the same section. i am a big believer in 'get while the getting is good' as who knows what will remain if i wait a week as it would be after Christmas by then. i watched 'Boston Blue' when i got back and said, 'what are you doing?' when a young cop tried to take matters into his own hands, wanting revenge for who had killed his dad. 

postage on checks

 sometimes i get weird instant messages at work. case in point. i got one where i was asked about the postage on a check file from Jacksonville. i said i don't know what cost center it goes to but i do send them out and one of our 'anchor' mailrooms actually applies the postage. at first i said 'talk to my boss about it' as it sounded like it was above my pay grade. the dude seemed to be satisfied with i answers i had given and spoke of contacting accounting about the ones i was unable to answer. there was another food event sponsored by the building manager, in the afternoon. it was the annual holiday party, first one i had attended since my job was moved downtown. i spent something like ten minutes just waiting in line to get in, and i didn't stay for long after that. long enough to get food and drink and then it was back to work as i had too much to do. i got a wrap sandwich and a small pulled pork sandwich and a cupcake. the boss was in the shop for the first half of the day and said there was an appointment upon leaving. about thirty minutes later, there was a visitor that was inspecting the HVAC equipment. this visitor didn't stay long, about fifteen minutes. i sent out four regular mail tubs, but the backlog didn't go down that much. it is still at over seven thousand. i had a can of voodoo ranger with the evening meal and got a can of plank road icehouse at the nearby liquor store, so there still are four beers waiting. 

hot cocoa bar

 i was careful about what days off to take for this month, not wanting to be off on days when i had already signed up for events sponsored by the building manager. one of them was the 'hot cocoa bar', which was this afternoon. i liked getting a green mug from this event, even though i already have one with the bank's logo on it that i claimed over a year ago. for now, i guess i can keep the green mug in the shop, as the other mug was sent home well before the move downtown. i got some whipped topping and marshmallows with the cocoa, and there were plenty of other toppings available that seemed more appropriate for ice cream. there was a check copy that vacation replacement wanted scanned, and i sent it in the morning. there was another item on the printer before it, about twenty pages and it was called 'woodland stewardship plan'. not sure how that got printed there. the lady that places supply orders brought in treats, including homemade candy bars. it was a long day in terms of check printing though, as ten thousand checks were printed. less than half of these went out same day as i was getting the 'hot product error' on the Fargo checks. it meant more than eight thousand checks were left over at the end of the day. i will do my best to get the backlog down the next morning. in the evening i was double-booked on events. the first one was a meetup event at a micro-brewery in downtown St. Paul. i was there for about an hour and left when i knew my meter was expiring. then it was on to new hope where the retired postal worker was having a party. it was odd seeing a door dash-delivered Wendy's meal near the front door of the building. i looked at the receipt and the time stamp said it had been there for a full day. i got three pictures while there. one was an oversized Sam Adams Oktoberfest stein; one was the bathroom sign that said 'beware' and the other was the door to the unit saying '1958'. this was the theme for the music being played, either that or of course Christmas music. i did have some food at this potluck- some chili, cookies, crackers, and potato chips. when i was driving home from this event i liked one of the songs i heard on the car radio, it was 'waitress song' by first aid kit. i have the CD it is on but haven't listened to the disc lately. 

usa hockey puck, sticker

 it was a day off for me and i went to Mall of America. first stop was A and W for lunch, then for a scoop of ice cream at Great American Cookies as i wanted some airline miles. after this it was for merchandise. i went to a pop-up store related to the upcoming hockey tournament and bought two items. it was a USA hockey puck, and sticker. the puck says, 'who do you play for?' and there is a really small logo on it saying, 'miracle on ice, lake placid'. i also liked going to a photo booth where the theme was the movie 'inside out 2'. i chose 'anger' for the theme on my photo strip as Lewis Black voices Riley's anger. it wasn't the only place where i got an idea from visiting the mall the previous week. also made it to the shop that is just called 'toys' and bought two Charlie brown items. one was a 'snoopy in space' figurine in a little pouch and the other was some trading cards. the final stop was five below, where i got a snoopy keychain that said, 'feeling free', showing snoopy driving a car. the other was a coloring book; theme was the movie 'inside out 2'. i was pleased to get the coloring book for only a dollar. i made it home in time to watch 'jeopardy'. hard to say if i will be taking another day off this month, will have to ask the team lead what days would still be available as we have to think about coverage on all of our duties. 

back for a day

 returned from a three-day weekend and was back at work for a day. the account closure envelopes box was on my desk when i arrived and i saw an email saying the payroll envelopes were on the way. plenty of checks from the Cincinnati file and i made it to the end of the day with one that had no label. i scanned it and was surprised to see a label right away so it went into the box before i left. i don't want questions about the returned checks piling up so i have been doing as many as i can between days off instead of waiting a week to do them. it is all about finding the time to do so. first is using the letter opener, then attaching the yellow label, then getting them in the correct pile. finally, sending them inter-office if not part of our internal file. I've said it about some other things, how it doesn't take long once one gets started on it. i just don't see it as high priority- the most important thing is getting live checks out. in the evening i went to perform and the fancy comic was on after me, near the end of the night. i did stories about the nametags at meetup, what i saw after a day off, a Trylon movie, seeing the holiday lights, and a sign in the window of a business.