cars movie

there were some errands to run as usual, and the first stop of the day was the post office. three orders were picked up, and one of them was a DVD, the first 'cars' movie. have to give credit to a meetup friend, the retired postal worker, for me ordering that one. it was due to talk of classic cars during our in-person visit a week ago. pretty good movie all around, not just the voice cast but also the story. Paul Newman as the Hudson Hornet giving sage advice was what made it for me. good soundtrack for the movie as well, it answered one question for me. i have heard a cover of Tom Cochrane's 'life is a highway' and i think what i had been hearing every so often on my car radio was from this movie. but i am aware of how movie songs can sell well due to the exposure that not all songs get. also, some songs by brad paisley. not the first time where the first movie i see in a franchise wasn't the original, as we all know i had bought a DVD copy of 'cars 2' months ago. i think i had done that with 'terminator' as well. i put in the movie after the baseball game on Fox was done, mariners beat the twins in extra innings. after the post office, i went to drop off recycle near the capitol. then it was to the copy store, where i printed five event tickets. my next stop was going to be a movie theater, but i told myself i should watch this disc first. the movie i wanted to see at theaters had just been released, so my plans to see it can be moved back a week as i didn't have much booked just yet for next weekend. it will probably still be there. then i went to Eagan and had lunch at the popeye's chicken. when i got home i laid down for a little while, then went to get groceries at Aldi just before the baseball game began. during my walks i found 4 cents. 

before and after groceries

 in the evening i stopped at the same speedway gas station before and after getting groceries at the Hy-Vee in Eagan. first it was for gas, then it was going inside for the paper. i got some strawberry milk, string cheese, and peanut butter crackers as well. i still want the paper once a week even if i can't find it at the grocery store. the cashier asked what my weekend plans were, not the first time i had been asked. i said i would be attending a play, as that was the only thing i had booked at the time. i watched some of the united football league game on Fox after i got home, St. Louis at Washington. i laid down early in the fourth quarter, found out St. Louis went on to win. next weekend the playoffs begin, but it looks like the attendance for this league still isn't good for most teams. at work the backlog went down quite a bit, but it meant sending out four mail tubs at the end of the day instead of just three. now the backlog is down to just under a thousand, so it was more than cut in half. i submitted the supply order for the month, but late in the day instead of my customary early in the day. in the morning i got a 'recognized' email from one of the attendees of the speed networking event from the previous day, sure did surprise me. i tried to get the overnight envelopes into the box but i couldn't get the door open. when i was leaving for the day i saw the courier and said what the problem was, as expected it was a box rammed in there. i gave him all of the envelopes as there was a clear plastic mail tub available. total for the day was just over thirty envelopes. during my walks i found 1 dollar 53 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Sheldon and Leonard went to Skywalker ranch, while the friends back home played ping-pong. it was followed by the one where Sheldon and raj tried to share an office and it ended with an explosion, while Howard and Bernadette resume their relationship. 

speed networking

 in the afternoon at work i went to a speed networking event on the main floor. as i recall, 'picture day' was also there. i knew i had to leave at the end of the time allotment, which was one hour. but it llooked like it continued even after that. i was not alone on leaving at that time, though. it did feel a little like the speed dating i had done before. i found out there is someone who prints checks like i do, at an office in another town. surprised that anyone from out of town was at this networking event. i said i wanted to meet more people as i am still kind of isolated in this office even after the move less than a year ago. it left me a little behind on my work but i had signed up for this event weeks ago and figured i could stay a little later to get caught up on the overnight labels. at the end of the day there was still a backlog on the Fargo checks. more than two thousand were left over as it was a high-volume day. the inserter machine kept throwing an error as well, and close to lunchtime i said i needed to switch over to over duties. still hard to follow when this error doesn't happen in the afternoon. all that a tech said is that it is 'hot product', even though it still had been sitting for a little while after printing. vacation replacement arrived late in the day, and i handed off a returned check from months ago that had arrived in a 'blue company envelope'. i drank the can of bell two-heart with the evening meal and got a bottle of heineken from the nearby liquor store so there still are four beers waiting. during my walks i found 76 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon and amy ended the relationship and then sheldon got cats. his mom was called in and he resumes dating amy. 

related or not?

 after worked i checked my Hotmail account as usual and there was a message from the ancestry site. it said we are related through her mother, then said not sure how we are related. an email and a phone number were given so we can exchange information. i responded to the message saying i recognized the phone number as an Iowa area code, but i had never heard of her mother's name. i looked through her pictures, and there were many of them. one of them said Winterset, except i have never lived in Winterset and know of no relatives who have either. while on the site i got a look at all of the clues that had piled up after creating a family tree. i wrote down some of them, i think they were from a cousin's tree. i still would like to find more about relatives who were immigrants. it was the first day back at work after four days off. i noticed a few things on arrival, such as the trash and recycle bins were in the hall and now have liners in them. and as expected, already had to say 'it was a day off for me' to someone. it was about a check that had been overnighted but should have been sent regular mail to the payee, it was from the bank's foundation. also had to let an internal customer know about an overnight request, how the fargo checks are being sent to me on a one-day delay. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy get a turtle, and we see sheldon's video about living on mars. it was followed by the one where penny calls sheldon, 'shel-bot' due to the virtual presence device. 

building condemned

 i had a day off for a dental appointment, and it was in the morning. after it i walked around in the skyway system much like when i worked in that area and saw a building had been condemned back in April. i had eaten at in their food court when working in downtown St. Paul, it is called the alliance bank building. i knew full well that more than half of the storefronts in the food court were vacant/empty as of my most recent appointment in November. now it is a question of what is next for the site, does it mean demolition? don't know. i got plenty of things done after the appointment. there was going to Eagan, first thing was ordering a ticket for the car show at the state fairgrounds next month. i like getting advance tickets and it meant going to the Napa auto parts store. then it was on to the credit union where i picked up the gift card i had won in a drawing. it was midday by then so the next stop was Mall of America as i wanted to have lunch at the A and W. actually there are two of those at the mall, but as usual i go to the one in the food court on the north end. i also found a store with some Charlie Brown items and bought two items, bamboo chopsticks and a magnet. and i got a scoop of ice cream at a place where i can get airline miles. then i went home and rested a little. next stop was the dealer to do an oil change on my car. i was home again in time to watch 'jeopardy'. i knew the final jeopardy answer, it was Dred Scott. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when some of the friends did an escape room, while Penny and Sheldon did the 'fall in love' experiment. it was followed by the one where Sheldon and Amy went on a date and Penny was the chaperone.  

good, bad, brainy

 in the afternoon i went on a long walk around the neighborhood, first time in a while. i saw a little free library along the way and claimed a book from it. this was a scholastic book, likely meant for kids, but when i saw it as a history book i knew it was worth having. the main title was 'superstars of history' and after this it said, 'the good, the bad, and the brainy'. i had heard of many of these historical figures that are profiled in the book, but not all. when Franklin Roosevelt was profiled, i had to look up the mention of an assassination attempt, where it said the mayor of Chicago was killed. not mentioned by name in the book, but my online search yielded that this was Cermak. i knew that Cermak is the name of a road in the suburbs of Chicago, and in the city as well, during my time living there. i made it back from the walk in time to watch 'jeopardy', and i knew the final jeopardy answer, it was Yellowstone park, about UNESCO sites. in the morning i got some event tickets ordered. this included two St. Paul Saints baseball games in June, as well as a riverboat cruise in that same month. after the tickets were ordered, i saw a survey in my email from the team about the game i had just attended the day before. when i completed it there was another email, an offer on discounted tickets for select games for the rest of the season. except it was just for Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday, and i don't go on weeknights that much. there was another meetup event to attend, at a micro-brewery in the evening, wandering leaf. i chatted with a couple from Sweden, after seeing the 'cool dude' from another event last fall. i liked talking music with him, both then and at this event. i was a little late in getting to a mic to perform at due to this event as i was enjoying it enough. i did stories about my weekend activities, the bank, and an annoying facebook posting. during my walks i found 1 dollar 22 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard's mom died. it was followed by when we meet amy, as sheldon is blackmailed by a hidden dirty sock. 

fire and rain, james taylor

 this was a day of more than one activity, and music was a part of it. when i was leaving the St. Paul Saints baseball stadium after the fireworks show had ended, i heard the song 'fire and rain' by James Taylor. i said this was a good choice as a 'walking out song'. when i got home i looked it up, and found out one of the inspirations for the song was the suicide of the performer's friend. but i am aware of how performers and artists can create something beautiful when inspired by something awful. other inspirations mentioned were Taylor's drug addictions and dealing with fame. two other songs of note for the day were heard at the Saints stadium as well. there was 'titanium' by David Guetta and Sia, during the game. and there was 'rock in the USA' by John Mellencamp, during the fireworks. i am used to hearing a medley of songs that mention the USA or America during the fireworks shows for Memorial Day or the 4th of July. the game had just started when i arrived at the stadium, i walked around for much of it but before the 7th inning stretch i sat down in the general admission section. the Saints lost to Norfolk, 10-4, my third game attended this season. the Saints briefly took the lead, 4-1, on a grand slam. i am used to seeing the long ball fairly often in these Triple-A games as the players have to be good to make it this far. State Farm Insurance had a tent, much like last September, but i already had a bobblehead with my photo on it so i didn't need another one. i ate two hot dogs at the stadium, one was during the game. the other was from a food truck after the game had ended, waiting for the fireworks to begin. it was from 'dine-1-1', a converted ambulance, i had ordered food from them before. around midday i went to a meetup picnic in a park, the first of six for the summer season. i am probably not attending all six though, more likely just three. i had a hot dog there as well, so my total for the day was three. there were some that i enjoyed chatting with there, but some that i found to be annoying. memorable was a man who had the same name as a college in Iowa. i didn't stay long after i was done eating, played a little ladder golf and that was it. i wanted to rest a little before i went to the stadium. during my walks i found 60 cents.