furniture order

 i knew it was time to replace some of my furniture so i did an online search recently and decided to go to slumberland, in Eagan. i am familiar with the area that the store is located as i had been to the goodwill store next to it. i got a good look around and laid down on some beds and found one i liked. i placed the order and asked for delivery as well as hauling away the existing one. when i was done i went over to the goodwill and bought four DVDs. when i got home i found out i already had one of them, the baseball story called 'bang the drum slowly'. but it's quite likely that i don't have the other three. i watched one of them later in the day, a documentary about Mt. Rushmore and other tourist attractions in the state. i fell asleep in my easy chair near the end of it, but i knew i was tired. then i had the urge to get moving again, and this meant going to the Mall of America. i found two more Charlie Brown items at the 'Japan store', Ebisu. it was some popcorn as well as some mouthwash. i got a scoop of ice cream at the cookie place as well but still don't have the airline miles from the other visit, earlier this month. i watched some of the united football league game on ABC, Louisville won big on the road against Dallas. a small crowd at this one, and according to the attendance figures i am finding online this is all too common. twenty games played so far, halfway through the regular season, and more than half of them have had crowds below ten thousand. the future of this league? forecast is still 'cloudy', even after an off-season where three of their eight teams were 'relocated'. 

lorne michaels documentary

 in the afternoon i went to see the documentary about Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of 'Saturday night live', at the mall in Eden Prairie. the official title is 'Lorne'. i know full well that docs usually don't have a wide appeal so i said, 'i need to see it now'. only one screening per day at this and other theaters in the area, and i was just one of three attendees, so i made the right choice. i liked it more than the Jason Reitman-directed 'Saturday Night', which was about the first episode of the variety show back in 1975. it helps that the doc covers a much wider timeframe. i liked seeing familiar clips such as 'Wayne's World', and Lorne produced it when this became a movie. also liked seeing how David Spade was part of this doc. i guess it did make sense that Mr. Michaels tried other ventures after that first five-year stint, but i wasn't too familiar with those shows as they didn't last long. i knew that Lorne became SNL producer again after a five-year absence. knowing about his gigs before SNL such as being a writer on 'laugh-in' was a nice discovery. when i was leaving the theater i did hear from the IMAX auditorium a song from the Michael Jackson biopic, but i currently have no plans to see it. i am more of a fan of his sister, Janet, and i found out that Janet wanted nothing to do with the movie. i actually used two loyalty programs while at the mall, and one of those was the movie theater chain, AMC. the other was the Barnes and Noble book shop, and i found a Charlie Brown book in their discount section. and i found a Charlie Brown seat cushion, and stickers, at the Mini-so store before that. when i got home i watched some of the baseball game on fox, cubs-dodgers. then i went to get groceries at Aldi as i wanted to get there before closing time. i missed the big inning when the dodgers went ahead, and they won by a wide margin in this one. there was an interview with Rick Monday, honoring the 50th anniversary of his saving a flag during a game. in the morning i went to the post office and picked up two boxes. one was the amazon orders, a birthday gift for my niece in Iowa. the other was a gift sent by a friend in st. louis. for lunch i had a sandwich at Jersey Mike's. i liked how i found more to do besides just the DMV trip to renew my license plates. i got it done early, arriving shortly after the place had opened for the day. there was light rain but i didn't have to wait outside for long as the line moved along quick enough. i also got a snack and juice at the nearby holiday gas station when i was done. i wanted something light as i already had cereal for breakfast before i hit the road. 

string cheese after copies

 i went to the copy store to print an event ticket in the morning. i was more willing to order event tickets again after waiting a week due to issues with my Hotmail account. for whatever reason, i couldn't get in when trying to log in on my laptop. it meant logging in on my phone, which i don't like near as much since it is a much smaller screen and i am more likely to get kicked off, multiple times. then it was on to Walgreen. i bought string cheese there for the first time in a while as the refrigerated aisle doors are unlocked again. i also got cookies, and a drink. two checks for payroll printed and different employee names on them. i was told it was fine to have them lumped together and these will be held for pick-up on Monday. i got recognized by a colleague, just for sending check copies. it isn't my most favorite duty in my job description, but i still like any recognition for the work that i do. the boss mentioned a toner cartridge was delivered late in the day, except the mailroom didn't have one. i said i can't use it if it is a laser jet, as we use a different kind for check printing. in the evening i first went to a meetup event at a micro-brewery. i chatted the most with a dude who spoke of being a janitor at the mall of America. i spoke of the stores and exhibits and food outlets i go to the most at that mall. then it was off to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries, where i spoke to an employee that my only weekend plans were 'a boring trip to the DMV', sorry to disappoint. 

third tech visit

 this morning we had the third tech visit of the week. hopefully it is the final one for a while. much like the previous two, it was in the morning. much like the most recent one, it was to swap out belts. this time the boss was in the shop and had questions, as expected. i did say to the boss how i reported it early but we couldn't find much at first. the backlog went down after spiking a little, now it is one thousand four hundred. this is no doubt more manageable. there was a weird message in the shared box. i saw a tracking number for checks i had overnighted two weeks ago. the question was if the checks were cut and sent out, and the tracking number said it was already delivered. it seemed to be the main research that i could do and asked what else could be done. i said i had done my part. when vacation replacement heard about it, the response was that some people have no common sense. i had the craft brew from Decorah with my evening meal, then got another can of beer at the liquor store. this time it was a Hamm's, and now there still are four beers waiting. i often pay attention to music where i am, and in the store a rap song was playing. i found it was called 'snap yo fingers', by lil jon. the most memorable lyric was 'you can do it all by yourself'. 

this time a rachel

 we had another department luncheon; this time it was for the boss's birthday. we went to the same place as last month, it was D-Brian's. i decided to get a different sandwich though, a Rachel instead of a Reuben. i found out the main difference was the meat in it. a Reuben has corned beef, and a Rachel has turkey. it still tasted good, so it works for me. there was a town hall dial-in meeting just before it. i was called by my boss, asking if i was attending the luncheon. i said i was waiting for the elevator, one of three waiting. good thing i got on the first one when the door opened, even though it was going up and i needed to go down, to the main floor. it did not stop on my floor on the way down, so it paid off to take the scenic route. it must be a busy time of day for the elevators due to lunch. i wouldn't know as i am usually staying on the same floor and having lunch in the breakroom, a can of soup. only one who skipped it was vacation replacement. in the morning i went to another floor as the team lead said there was donuts brought in from Krispy Kreme, and i got one. the checks for the tax specialist were late. i was busy with various things and did not see the request to send the checks to the Brooklyns due to working from home. i saw it right before i left for the luncheon. there was a small volume of returned checks to forward on, and the mailroom sent me a 'blue company envelope'. the boss wanted check copies or four different business lines, although some of them we hardly ever print for. these were found on three different tabs in the system i print from. 

special project update

 at work i had to ask about the special project, doing refund checks for the Jacksonville file. this was the first day since it started where the volume was under two thousand for the day. we were told that it was due to some checks rejecting. and the remaining volume is just over four thousand, so it should all be done at the end of the week. due to the high volume from it and the Fargo file, not all checks were sent out same day. the total left over was three thousand five hundred. i do my best to see that any carryover is done first the next day, though. in accounting i know this was called 'first in, first out'. the boss said the business line still hasn't sent us their cost center for the supply order to cover the volume. the machine stalled again and i let the tech know and there will be another tech visit the next morning. 

client freaking out

 at work i hear all kinds of things. one thing in particular was from an instant message, saying 'the client is freaking out'. it was about an overnighted check that i got into the UPS box but still wasn't picked up yet. i didn't like how it was related to something i have no control over. same is true with when i get a check to print. it is not my fault if the business line claims it was sent to me late, which makes it sound like it can't be late when i get it. i say it all the time, how it is up to UPS to pick up and deliver once i get it in the box. a payroll check was picked up. the mailroom sent me refund checks from Fargo. a tech arrived for the inserter machine, in the morning, but nothing was found. the unit still stalled around midday, but so far turning it off and turning it back on after a few minutes has allowed us to run more checks through. in the evening i went to perform. i did stories about the milkshake blender, seeing a documentary, a last-minute ticket offer, and the bank.