gatorade and cornbread

i made it to the performance venue tonight, which is hosting a show that was migrated from a venue that has closed. I checked in with the show runner and confirmed that the place doesn't sell beer. so I had to get something else. I got a bottle of Gatorade and some cornbread, and it cost less than beer did at the other venue. the show runner liked my story about me analyzing a dream, I think it was the voice inflection that helped. it was just a block away from the other venue, so I ended up parking at the same place as before. naturally I also told the story about what place I went to last week, since I am used to the same crowd and they are likely used to seeing me. I stopped at an ATM on my way there, and it looks like the check engine light is off now after going on while I was running errands on Monday. hopefully it will stay that way. the mechanic said it may just be bad gas. I liked listening to somebody in the waiting room while there, an older woman, a widow, who said she is an uber driver.
   it went fine on the first day back at test scoring. It was a day of training, and I qualified on the first try. I recognized a few familiar faces from last year, and some recognized me as well. I said I had hoped I wouldn't be back, but two temp jobs didn't pan out. I liked the test scoring work I did though. what I didn't like was how it was short term and no benefits. but I am hopeful to miss fewer days than before, last season it was three and a half. two were for family funerals, one for traveling that was planned before I got the job, and the half was for a job fair at a basketball arena. I would like to think I won't need it for the first two reasons this time, as it was hard to forget how I missed out on attendance bonuses for those weeks. for one paper I said I scored it lower because they used 'maybe' four times, and I was reminded of how a writing teacher said to me to 'say it like you mean it'. I noticed how I was likely given the same ID badge as before, guess they just kept it in a box along with others who had worked there before. since it was wet I didn't go outside much during breaks.

gift card finished

i finished up a Hy-Vee gift card around midday, when I bought a frozen entrée there. dad had sent me this card, as a way of encouraging me to visit this store more. I had made two previous visits to use some of the value from it. I liked how someone said I could go ahead of them in the check-out line since I had just one item. I did this after I went to the agency and turned in my badge and key. I couldn't get ahold of the contact at first, then decided to call a different office as all I was getting was voicemail. it surprised me a little how I already have another gig lined up. I called the test scoring company, the same one I worked for last year, and told them I am available. and I go to work for them Tuesday morning. it is a different project compared to what I was offered a while back, no surprise there. but I know it is hard to look for work when I am there, so I did my best to apply for longer-term jobs as well. one was an agency that called me first. I was told that the training classes will come around again, so no big deal if I want to complete the test scoring project first. I also went to the library to print some things, and some of them were items that had to wait because I arrived just before closing time this weekend. I even talked with somebody from an insurance company as their office happened to be in the same building as the agency I was visiting. I performed at the comedy club tonight, as usual it is nice to get some stage time there. also nice to see bathtub comic and opera singer after the show.

hamline baseball vs. st. thomas

I went to the saints stadium this afternoon for a college baseball game. hamline was playing st. Thomas, in a doubleheader. hamline lost 11-5 in the first game. I left after this game ended, as it was windy and I had other things I wanted to do. according to what I found online, hamline won the second game, 6-3. I saw a box score that spoke of the attendance, not sure how they counted it up. but the first game said 114 and the second said 154. it was free admission. hamline led 1-0 at the end of the first inning of the game I saw, but did not score again until the 7th. I am used to games being shortened to 7 innings when it is a doubleheader for college or minor league games. I saw what looked like will be the saints baseball museum, it is on the concourse near the left field corner. I am aware of how there will be giveaway promotions related to it this season, four in all. the one with a pennant interests me the most. I did not get any food or drink at the game, there was just one concession stand open and I ate before I departed for the stadium.
   after the game I walked around downtown st. paul for a little while. I found the venue that one of my regular open-mics has migrated to. it is just one block over from the previous one. what was confusing was when another performer gave me the name of the place and it was the wrong name. in addition, when I went to look for it that time I was looking for a bar. and this isn't a bar, it is a restaurant. I guess the other one was as well, but the menu I found online made no mention of beer being available. so I may have to drink something else. I have said this before, how sometimes one must go with what is available. I also spent some time getting things into binders as I just got some more sheet protectors this week. sometimes it means stressing quality, explaining what I have done before where some things get doubled up to save space. I also worked on my stamp collection for the first time in a while. I watched 'the simpsons', it was about lisa being in Canada for a little while. it was funny to me how the school she attended there was named for singer alanis morissette. then I fell asleep for a while after that, which tends to happen while tired and laying down in my easy chair. when I woke up the late news was on, so I knew I had to get up and get things done like the dishes and recycle. I wanted to get caught up on as much as possible, such as answering surveys, so I can spend plenty of time with job searching on Monday.

replacements movie, keanu reeves

i watched a DVD movie on loan from the library this afternoon, 'the replacements', starring Keanu reeves and gene hackman. it of course already looks dated, since I saw an ad in the background for Pontiac cars at the stadium. they stopped making that brand of car 10 years ago. apparently this movie is from 2000. I do recall the 1987 NFL strike where there were replacement players, so I understand what inspired this movie. I called this movie a 'farce' because there were some ridiculous and unlikely things in it. such as one player having stickum on his hands, I think this substance was outlawed a long time ago. much like other sports movies, I recognized what can be called 'stock characters' as most every team has one. I also thought of my dad, who once said 'you're not supposed to like that character' when I have watched movies before. I liked gene hackman in it, an everyman, he played the coach. and Keanu reeves played the quarterback. I like reading the closing credits and it said this movie was filmed at the Baltimore ravens stadium. there was plenty of music throughout, and I liked that. some songs I knew, some I didn't. in the end, I liked seeing it. also good to have pat summerall and john madden as themselves.
    I picked up e-bay orders at the post office this morning, four items. then I placed two more orders,  both postcards. I made it to the library just minutes before closing time, enough time to get copies of my updated resume printed. I went after I watched the movie to make the trip more worthwhile. I also got the updated resume uploaded to a few sites, such as indeed, monster, and two banks. I also applied for some jobs with a bank. I turned in change after I went to the post office, it was over four dollars. after the library, it was on to the grocery store. I slept for a while in the evening after watching the news. I watched part of two movies, 'lords of flatbush' and 'terms of endearment' on the channel known as 'movies!'. eventually it was time to go out again, to the karaoke bar. I sang 'bittersweet symphony' by the verve. the KJ had a red sticker on saying 'i ate', it looked like those 'i voted' stickers but larger.

apple for the road

I find it easiest at work to pick up an apple on the way out, so it becomes an 'apple for the road'. today was no different, except it proved to be the last day. I closed 32 cases despite having a one on one with my boss and an IT. issue that led to me being down for an hour. in the evening I let my phone charge up and when I got home from picking up some things at a Walgreen there was a voicemail that was hard to understand. there was also an email, and I called once I saw it. I know full well why I got cut- as I wasn't fast enough. it was hard to keep up, much like when I got cut in November, also through an agency. I had hope to get more time to improve my speed, but it was not to be. so now I am looking for work again, the fourth time in two years. wonder if that means test scoring is still available. I got a call from an agency about it this week, because I forgot to shut off my phone. now it means finding out on Monday if the agency is able to place me somewhere else. but I wouldn't count on it. I accepted offers from agencies as those were the only offers.
   I also called best buy geek squad about a suspicious email, and was advised to let them remove some things so it would run better. I had to call a second time since my battery was running low. once I saw this I figured it was time to get up and go out anyway. and of course after watching the late local news, it meant going to sing some karaoke. I did 'dirty deeds' by AC/DC. I slapped hands with a few people after I was done, guess they really liked hearing it.

ravioli with a spoon

at lunch I tried eating ravioli with a spoon. it wasn't working as well as I had hoped. so I finally wised up and decided to get a fork. and that made it way easier. but the spoon was still helpful when I was ready to scrape up all of the tomato sauce. I was fine with getting a can of ravioli at the family dollar as the spaghetti, and macaroni beef, was not available. at least the store brand, which is cheaper. kind of like what we see at work, where the generic is usually cheaper than the name brand. I know others have said this before, as I recall it was a line in the 'movie ghostbusters'. it was uttered by that nerdy accountant played by rick moranis. I did really well at work, as I closed 43 cases. but it helps to have a day where there are no meetings to attend and nobody sending me i.m.'s either. so I would like to think that I will make it as my numbers are getting better.
   this evening I went to sing karaoke. I did two songs. it was 'break my stride' by matt wilder, and 'until I fall away' by gin blossoms. I think I have done both before, but it has been a while. I think I did the former during one of my des moines visits. I saw that one couple I have written about before, the dude is a truck driver. they went outside to smoke and asked me to watch their drinks so I moved to their table to do that more effectively. they got back just before I did my second song. the lady called me 'superstar' just before I went to sing the second song, they missed the first one. they were outside for about two songs.

soccer bar

I performed in the back room of a bar tonight, more of a crowd than the previous week. the local soccer game was on TV out in the main bar area. and after the show ended there was a big crowd as the soccer game had ended, a scoreless tie. so it meant having to wade through the crowd a little to get out. the main show runner was out of town, but the fill-in MC did fine. he is from the same town in northern Minnesota as a former coworker, the one that worked at a museum there. but he didn't know him. magic man was the show closer.
     at work I closed 30 cases, fewer than the day before. but I am also learning to get any of the non-production time entered in the system right away so it doesn't count against my daily numbers. and I had multiple chats by i.m., as well as a team huddle. some of the chats were about merged cases. I liked how the team huddle didn't last long, less than 15 minutes. I liked how a former job didn't have that many meetings. I do my best work when I spend most of my time on my normal duties as I am better able to get into a rhythm. but one never knows what cases will arrive from one day to the next. there was also a case to re-open from over a week ago. we all know how I hate the 'bounce backs' even more. I saw to it that a team lead signed off on how I was to handle it as I don't want to see that case again.