taking off movie

 in the early evening i went to a movie at the Trylon cinema, it was 'taking off'. i liked how i recognized some of the actors in it. this included Bentley from 'the Jeffersons' and Mrs. Roper from 'threes company'. even a young Kathy Bates was in it. but credited as 'bobo bates'. it served as a reminder of what my dad once said when i was watching a movie with him and knew the actor by the voice before seeing a face. usually, the one thing that doesn't change is a person's voice. the voices of those two actors that i knew from sitcoms were still familiar to me. a big part of the storyline was the parents of runaway teenagers sampling youth culture, as a 'support group'. this led to a 'strip poker' scene. this was my 17th visit to this non-profit cinema for the calendar year. when i picked up my ticket i was told there is a patron who visits more often than i do, apparently one who is there every weekend. i had some popcorn and a can of 7-up, using up some quarters, five dollars in all. after being home for a little while after the movie, i ordered another ticket so i will be back at this cinema next month. it was the only thing on the docket for the day, and it was just as well due to the snowstorm. sounds like there was a winter storm warning in effect, 'travel not advised' is what i kept hearing on the radio, but getting around in town wasn't too big of a deal. on the open road, that probably would have been a different story, as i could see some blowing snow on the pavement. in the early afternoon i did venture out a little, needed gas so i went to a speedway gas station. then i dropped off some recycle near the capitol. i tried to watch the Sunday night football game when i got back from the movie, bears-49ers, but i fell asleep. the bears lost. i also did the dishes. 

world junior hockey

 the two main events of the day were attending a game in the world juniors hockey tournament, and the fan-zone related to it. in the morning i went to the post office, two orders picked up. and i sent off six Christmas cards to friends and family. then i went to the copy store and scanned a register tape for the Charlie Brown tin promotion. i also printed some event tickets. it was midday by then and i headed to Maplewood and had lunch at the golden corral. i changed my seat after noticing it was next to a walkway being used by plenty of patrons and i didn't enjoy that. i found a table that was farther away from this 'thoroughfare'. i had two plates of food there, three if you one slice of pizza, which was the only thing on the third plate. also had some meatloaf, rice, macaroni. best to master the possibilities when at a buffet. and i capped it with some soft-serve ice cream and some pudding. i left when i knew i would feel full if i ate any more. then it was on to rice park in downtown St. Paul where i attended the 'fan zone'. it was nice getting some free souvenirs there, including a beer cozy from Xcel Energy and a soft puck from Tria. the latter was after playing 'whack a mole'. i also got a look around at a related exhibit at the nearby convention center. i bought a small hockey stick there which had the flags of all ten competing nations on it. after a little over two hours, i headed home and then went to get groceries at Aldi. then it was on to the u. of Minnesota for the game. it was the Czech Republic (or Czechia) defeating Denmark, 7-2. Czechs never trailed in this one, up 2-1 at the end of the first period and 5-2 at the end of the second. i got a hot dog and a coke there. my seat was near the boards so i saw some close-ups of the action. there was a dude near me who was using a camera, later noticed a Czech flag patch on his coat. during one intermission i bought another souvenir, it was a three pack of stickers. some things i saw in person reminded me of what i had seen on TV of the Olympic games. there was a flag raising and national anthem playing for the Czechs. during the game there was an announcement of the score of the game being plated across town, team USA had defeated Switzerland. i haven't ruled out attending another game in this tournament, but it would have to include team USA as i would 'have a horse in that race'. i saw the attendance figures for the first eight games of the tournament. the Americans played in front of big crowds for both of their games, but the others, not so much. the arena wasn't even half-full for the game i attended, just over three thousand on hand. 

three gift cards used

 since dad had sent me another Hy-Vee gift card, i decided it was time to use some of those i already had. i used up three cards, but only a partial amount was on two of them that i had used back in June. in the end it paid for most of my order. i got a dollar out of my wallet to pay the balance as that was under a dollar. in the morning i went to Walgreen for my weekly visit. and i did a walk at the end of my lunchtime to see what else was open. plenty of places still closed for the holiday near my workplace. this included the caribou, and the chipotle. although it barely matters to me when i don't go to either all that much. the cookie place is closed until after New Year's Day. i spoke of it to vacation replacement, saying i hadn't been there as apparently, they only sell cookies there and no drinks. a fairly slow day at work, not too surprised about that. i did have to say in one email how it looks like UPS picked up early on Christmas eve, when a colleague wanted to know why there was no activity on their tracking number. in the evening i noticed the new show called 'Boston blue' wasn't on. i went online and found out it will be back in February. i didn't see any egg nog ay Hy-Vee but i did have some this season. i was mostly getting the little bottles from Anderson Erickson, about 12 ounces, instead of a quart carton as i wanted to save some calories. 

starbucks was open?

 i decided to take a walk and see if any place was open on Christmas day. looks like Starbucks was open, but the nearby caribou was not. i did not go in though, already had some coffee the previous day of course. i think Starbucks is open on thanksgiving as well. it was a low-key celebration, and that was fine with me. aside from taking a walk, i stayed in for most of the day and i gave the car the day off. i finished what was on my list, in terms of DVDs to watch. there was 'Charlie Brown Christmas' and on the same disc was a bonus episode, 'it's Christmastime again'. due to watching the 'making of' documentary i searched on YouTube and i did find the clip of how Linus ended up next to a Coca-Cola sign as that was the sponsor of this special. the other one i watched was the movie 'Christmas Vacation'. this was the last of the nine discs i watched all or part of during this holiday season. i had two turkey dinners, much like i did for thanksgiving. i had pumpkin pie as i found it as a half-pie this time. and i got pictures of what it all looked like, including the cans of beer next to the meals. i drank a can of icehouse, and a can of Coors, so now three beers are waiting. didn't watch much TV though when i was switching out a disc from the player i noticed on CBS how the local station had picked up the Vikings-Lions game, which was actually being broadcast on Netflix. i got a few items ordered online late in the evening. 

sweet rolls and eggs

 there were three stops i made at retailers for the day. the final one was at target, since some stores had already closed for the day by then. i wanted bread with the Christmas dinner, previously i was fine with English muffins. i knew that target has those king's Hawaiian rolls, and i found a dozen there. i also bought some hard-boiled eggs, a two-pack. then when i got home i watched the rest of 'it's a wonderful life' on NBC. i liked the line said when George met his guardian angel- 'go haunt someone else'. once that program was done i went to the Christmas eve service at a nearby church. i still like the feel of melted candle wax on my fingers, since we use candles for singing 'silent night'. not much of a crowd there, including the choir it was about forty. i got the day started earlier than typical, wanting to make another visit to Fridley in hopes of getting those special Charlie Brown and snoopy donuts. an employee said, 'we don't have them' even though the video board said, 'we have them' and i said this when i let the Krispy Kreme donut people know on their Facebook posting about those donuts. who knows if it will lead to anything, but i did say it was false advertising. i also said i likely wasn't going there again anytime soon when gas stations and grocery stores also sell donuts, and those other stores are way closer for me. this time i left without buying anything and still needed breakfast so i went to the nearby McDonald's. i like their egg McMuffin sandwich with hash browns. then i drove over to the park and ride and got on the light rail to work. i got some coffee from caribou in the morning. at work i liked getting caught up on running checks through the machine. i had more than four thousand left over and those were done first. no surprise how it was a low volume day after that. there was a late file for the Oshkosh team that got approved, i had enough time to print it and get it in the UPS box. i was told they had figured out the issues with the repeated check numbers. it was nice hearing some Christmas music while waiting for the light rail in the evening, it was 'Rudolph' played by bells. before going out to target i was trying to find something to watch when 'yule log' was on instead of 'big bang theory' reruns. on the 'movies!' channel i found 'Susannah of the Mounties' with Shirley Temple, but i didn't watch much of it, eventually finding the news on another channel. 

krispy kreme visit

 in the evening i went to the Krispy Kreme donut shop in Fridley, the only one in the state according to their website. i had hoped to get the Charlie Brown and snoopy donuts that were part of a Facebook ad, seen over the weekend, but it was not to be. i said i needed to have something, considering the driving distance there. i got a pink donut with sprinkles, as it reminded me of 'the Simpsons', as well as a strawberry chiller. sounds like the donuts i wanted had sold out by the afternoon so my game plan is to try early in the day, but the promotion will be done soon. at work i sent another check to a different floor late in the day, it was for the manager that likes to do karaoke. when i wasn't sure who would be in the office on Christmas eve, i figured i needed to get it moved same-day. i got the first thing that was close to the 'crisis before the holiday' that I've joked about before. it was a dude from southern California, according to the business line based in Kansas City, who wanted his check. i had it because it was returned, i said get me an address that UPS will deliver to. first one was Beverly Hills, second was west Hollywood, hard to ignore this demographic of the recipient. we rarely get returned UPS checks. i saw that it was in the box fairly early to increase the odds that it would be picked up same-day. the Oshkosh file finally was approved; three days' worth of checks went out in one day. i noticed some checks had repeated check numbers, so i added a note saying so to the envelope. 

venchi candies

 i went to perform in the evening and as usual the show runner brought candies. one of them was by Venchi, not familiar with that one. i had a piece that said it was tiramisu, it tasted fine. this was up front where i was offered one. i also had some on a counter in the back, including Reese's peanut butter, which i am much more familiar with. i did stories about my day off, the bank, the Wendy's meal, the organist, and the 'star trek' show. there is still not a lot of performers at this 'variety mic' and not sure why. i just want stage time so it's not too big of a deal to me. actually, i was double-booked for events this evening, as i went to a meetup event first. no food truck so it was a good thing i had some pizza from a speedway gas station before i made it there. then i got a sandwich from a holiday gas station after it, on the way to performing. this event was at a micro-brewery that is in the lineup fairly often. i did chat with a few people, only one i knew from previous events. it was the dude that once lived in Austin. at work, the tax specialist kept asking about Canadian checks and then sent an email where my boss was copied. i found out it was two checks that printed on my day off, so vacation replacement was copied by me. i usually have to say 'it was my day off' to someone, just a question of who and for what for. sounds like those were sent regular mail to the recipients instead of going courier pick-up to the tax specialist. the boss said do not re-print them for this reason.