calamity jane movie

I watched another DVD on loan from the library today, 'calamity jane', starring doris day, from the 1950s. I didn't recognize the other actors in it, but there was somebody playing wild bill hickok in it. this is a musical, so it was about an actress coming to entertain people in deadwood, in Dakota territory. hard to know what else to say about it. this is decidedly not a bio-pic, so it did not get into the life story of the title character.
    I also went to the library to print some things, and take the four assessments an agency assigned from the previous day. I found out when I called to respond to a voicemail that I did well on all four. there is an appointment now scheduled for next week. and I was pleased to see the results from this week's exam, where I have been invited to an interview with them as well.
   this will also be a night of performing some karaoke. I did one song, 'ain't no rest for the wicked' by cage the elephant. while I was driving to the venue the public radio station said that ex-president bush (41) had died. it was not on the 10pm news, so it must have just been made public.

north pole express train

this evening I went to union depot in st. paul  as I had a ticket for the north pole express train. I wanted to do this last year but was told it was sold out. I liked knowing it was on a former metra train, as I saw those often when I lived in suburban Chicago. the ride was a fairly short one, as we did not leave the railroad yard. I saw the holiday gas station off in the distance, I knew this is the one on east 7th. I recognized one of the performers, she is a children's entertainer I have seen at a karaoke venue I once went to. there was also a magician, and a guitar player. even a face painter. I had to ask who was manning the shop that was selling candy canes, it was one thing we saw from the train. it looked like it was closed. I also saw an outhouse. it was nice to have cookies and cocoa inside the depot after the train ride was done. one thing I said is a reminder of my insurance background, understanding liability on a 'common carrier'. it explained why we stayed in the yard. plenty of kids on this train, but it wasn't full. so hard to understand why they claim it was 'sold out'.
   I went to another job fair this afternoon, in Shakopee. I saw somebody that recognized me there from previous job fairs. I was also on the phone with an agency, they were responding to applications I had filed this week after speaking with somebody at an earlier job fair. I was asked to complete some assessments, and it sounds like one of the jobs I applied for is the same place I worked at for a month. so it was hard to ignore that when he saw it on my resume, so I answered questions about my time there. I said I was fine with returning, but to a different department. and this was understood.
   I went to perform after being on the train, and of course it was karaoke. I sang 'ho hey' by the Lumineers. it was kind of crowded at the venue, and I was tired, so I was fine with doing just one song. I decided to step outside for a few minutes for some air, but it proved to be a mistake. I ended up getting annoyed with a man there who was trying to act smarter than he was, and liked hearing the sound of his own voice. sadly, this is still a problem for me at times: trying to reason with people that can't be reasoned with. but I have gotten better at just leaving the situation, so this is a rarer occurrence than it was.

math exam, taxes

in the early evening I went to the state capitol complex and completed a math exam. it was for a job I had applied for with the state, the revenue (or tax) department. it was delayed a few minutes due to the winter weather, expecting a few more people to show up, and they did. it was 20 questions, I ended up using most of the 1-hour time allotment. I finished shortly after the 5-minute announcement was made. I am confident that I will get an interview next week, based on questions asked before the exam began in terms of what is a passing grade. I brought my own calculator, it was a little-used gift from a non-profit that wanted donations from me. then I went home and ate, watched some reruns for a while, and ventured out again to perform. once again, somebody wanted to join me onstage and I said I wasn't comfortable with that. there was also a man that claimed to be homeless, having a beer, and was asking for help. I saw the spoken word performer outside the venue as I arrived.
    I went to another job fair in Burnsville just before midday, hard to say if it made a dent in my job searching. one agency advised me to apply to postings online and make a note of the phone numbers and contact names on the posting. I made some calls after I got home, but I was getting bored with having to make all of those calls- 6 offices for the same agency! and I turned in some change at the bank, it was just over 2 dollars. the lady in front of me had way more, and some of her coins were rejected, she said they were Canadian quarters.

blank menu screens

I had two appointments today, and between them I had to have lunch so I went to a Wendy's. actually I went to an arby's first, but the line seemed to be too long for my taste so I knew there was another option nearby. when I went to order, two of the three menu screens were blank. due to the limited information, it was harder to know what to order so I stated what I would normally get. so there was a 'way through'. although I didn't like how they asked me twice if it was for here or to go.
   the first appointment was a job interview. I drove there due to being double-booked, otherwise I would have taken public transport. it was a struggle to find parking, I passed on a few places as I planned on being there for an hour and didn't want to overpay. I actually met with two different people, one of them gave me a packet which I am told has benefits information in it. but it was disappointing to find out there would be a third interview before any offers would be extended. the most I can recall is having just two interviews before.
   the second appointment was with a job coach. and I couldn't hide my frustration with them. I keep telling them 'i don't celebrate moral victories' and this time I heard things repeated to me. I found it to be condescending, even said so. I want somebody that can help me get back to work, and they've done very little in this area. and in some cases, what I did with them-apply for jobs on indeed- I can do on my own, and I have. it appears that signing up for this program has been a mistake, and a complete waste of time, when I am stuck with 'incompetent fools'.
   I am thankful I have performing throughout this ordeal. I feel more at home there, since I am good at it and it is good to see my circle of friends there. this night was no different. at one point, the show runner tried to tell people to be more respectful since some were talking in the back. but this proved to be only marginally effective. I know well enough to try to plow through when this happens, as I know somebody still might be paying attention and like what I am doing.

dude goes west movie

i watched another DVD movie on loan from the library this afternoon, 'dude goes west', starring eddie albert. of course he is best known for his role on the TV show 'green acres'. this movie is a western from 1948. was it making fun of westerns? possibly. it sure had many of the same things in the storyline. but also some jokes with the character names used, such as eddie's character name being close to 'Daniel boone'. and the love interest was named 'crockett', of course boone and crockett were well-known names in the history books about exploring the wild west, along with kit carson. and at one point the story arrives in carson city, Nevada. the main character is a gunsmith, but appears to be a tenderfoot even though he isn't. there was an actor named james gleason in it, not to be confused with Jackie gleason. it was all right.
   I performed tonight, near the end of the show, and I held the mic-stand up during my set. you do what you have with what you've got. also did a phone interview this morning, as well as some follow-ups with jobs I have already interviewed for last week.

andy warhol baseball art

I watched some of the pro football games today, and after a while I decided to look at my collection of books, especially the baseball books. some of them cover baseball art, and I noticed there was two artworks by andy Warhol. one was of pete rose- a baseball card- and the other was tom seaver. I am familiar with how he liked doing pop art of the famous people of his time, especially during the 1960s. although it reminds me of when I got laughs while at an art museum in Minneapolis. I still don't see why anyone considers his campbell's soup cans to be art. but I think by that time of his career, anything he produced would be considered art. and I think both of these baseball artworks were in the 1980s, near the end of his life. I hadn't looked at most of those books in a while. but it is one way to stay interested in the sport during the off-season. the two games I watched were seahawks-panthers and steelers-broncos. both were wild games.
   I didn't go anywhere today, no need to go anywhere. in the evening I watched 'the simpsons', it was about krusty the clown trying to be a circus clown. after watching some 'big bang theory' reruns I decided to turn off the TV and get some other things done, such as apply for more jobs on indeed. of course there was also doing the dishes. I also went through my organizer and looked at notes about jobs I have upcoming interviews for, or have already had the interviews. so it means making some calls soon to follow up with some of these companies.

expired chimichanga

i went to aldi for my weekly grocery order this evening and was going to get two chimichangas, one chicken and one steak, but before I reached the check-out lane I noticed how one of them was expired, back in may. so I put it back. this meant looking for one at cub foods after I was done singing karaoke, along with a few other things such as egg nog.
   this of course is an errand running day. I went to check my post office box and three orders were there, a postcard and two trading cards. then it was on to the library, to return two DVD movies and get two more, as well as print some things. one item printed was a message from the local alumni chapter stating when the annual outing at a twins baseball game will be, in july. I also placed some more e-bay orders while there. I went to a target and bought two charlie brown items from their dollar section near the front of the store, as well as some lunchables, which served as a late lunch. when I got home I got out a DVD I own, and did my annual viewing of it, 'planes trains and automobiles'. since it is about getting home for thanksgiving, this is the weekend to see it. I said that 1980s movies now look dated due to the defunct airlines in it. I said there were three in this movie, but noticed there are four that are either shown or mentioned. this would be eastern, trans world, America west, and US Air. the fourth one I didn't notice as easily as the others, but it is in an early scene at O'Hare. I still enjoy this movie, but I notice one thing that I hadn't for a while. it shouldn't take all that long to get from st. louis to Chicago.
   after getting back from aldi, I spent some time this evening looking for something and finding it- an order form. then it was seeing about how many sheet protectors I could free up, and it was three. two of them have already been re-deployed. much like before, it is either doubling up on them or deciding to stress quality. then I went out again after the 10pm news, and did karaoke. I did one song, 'here I go again' by whitesnake. I heard it on my car radio while getting there, and it sounded like a good one, especially mention of 'walking alone'. but now I am considering changing my normal venue for this night of the week, to a closer one. proximity is a good factor, especially when I rarely see people I know. and tonight, I got annoyed with somebody rather quickly, answering a question I didn't even ask. I even said so. I pride myself in figuring things out on my own.