american dream movie

 just before midday i went to see a movie in the MSP film festival, it was 'American dream'. it was a documentary about the strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota, in the 1980s. it was originally released in 1990, if i am not mistaken. every so often i said 'yep' in a muted voice, as what was being depicted was sad but true. i was annoyed with the grandstanding that a retired college professor was doing during the Q and A. i had a question answered in the lobby after this was done, by two members in blue jackets that said, 'press corps', who had covered the strike for the star tribune paper. one of them showed the book written about it and said it was available at amazon. this was the final day of the 12-day event. i didn't like the parking in the area, again. tried paying at a meter, street parking, it kept canceling my purchase. then i went to a ramp, and it was all QR codes. i found free street parking, blocks away. i missed some of the presenters but made it before the movie started. i went to Bobby and Steve's for a sandwich and milkshake after the movie. the blender wasn't working that well, only speed working was 'less thick'.  the attendant said a tech was called but arrival would be the next day. in the morning i did the laundry and had some coffee at a nearby caribou. 

no food order for suite

 i went to the Minnesota Twins baseball game in the afternoon, a free ticket offered by my employer. except i found out upon arrival that there was no food order for the suite. and the refrigerator, full of beer, was locked up. it was still the first inning, so i went to another level and found my lunch. i got a 'big dog' hot dog, chips, and a can of root beer. the twins led for most of the game, but Cincinnati chipped away in the late innings and the twins lost, 5-4. I'm not going to complain at all as i got in free. i knew no one in the suite. there was a bag of popcorn in the suite and i did eat some of it. after the game, i liked finding the framed commemorative baseball jersey in honor of the green day concert at this stadium from over a year ago. this was a show that i had attended. in the morning i went to the post office, except there were no orders to pick up. i was trading text messages with my niece and said i placed an order for her elder daughter's birthday through the amazon gift list. i wanted to get it done before any more time passed as it is less than a month away. i moved up going to get groceries at Aldi, going around midday. i liked how it still gave me enough time to take the light rail to the game. the last-minute change in the schedule meant that i did not attend the two meetup events i had signed up for. i knew full well that i would have neither the time, nor the energy, to attend those events after being at the game. i had the evening meal at home and watched a baseball game on fox. matchup was braves vs. Phillies and the braves won. 

dolly parton, special magazine

 we all know how i like those special magazines about famous people or historic events. i bought one this morning at Walgreen, about Dolly Parton. there were two available, at the same price. i chose the one published by rolling stone. it appears the other one, from people magazine, was just recycled articles and covers from over the years. i liked being able to compare before choosing, as i am aware that not all choices are the same, no matter what the product is. i saw an email in the morning that arrived after i had left for the day that was about a check from the newer Cincinnati file. i said what i could do, since it had already been approved, is to print it and send it to the shred bin. near my lunchtime i saw an instant message from the mailroom, asking me to pick up the empty mail tubs and the boxes of UPS envelopes that had just arrived. i said normally these were brought to the shop, but i was told that they were behind on things since some deliveries had arrived late. not a big deal, i am no stranger to using carts to get things moved. and if i don't have the mail tubs by the end of my lunch, i go there to pick them up anyway. there was a request to overnight a check to a different address in Canada. the one in the email was already on the check, though. but a different city in the province of Ontario than where the first check was sent. the boss called in the afternoon, offering me a ticket to the Minnesota Twins baseball game this weekend. i accepted. this would be just the second game that i have seen in the bank's suite. there was a dial-in meeting in the morning, i was barely paying attention to it. as i recall, it was mostly about AI. at one point the moderator spoke of 'hallucinogens'. in the evening i went to get groceries at the Hy-Vee in Eagan. the employee that asks about my weekend plans was my cashier, and i was impressed by the memory of hearing that one of the previous plans was a hockey game. i also got a can of jack and coke at the adjacent liquor store, before going to the grocery part. 

follies movie

 in the evening i went to a movie in Edina in a film festival, called 'follies'. it was a subtitled French-Canadian film. the director, who also stars in it, was scheduled to appear but was ill. a statement was read by a rep of the film festival. i like this satellite venue, as there is a free parking ramp next to the theater. easy in and easy out. i left fairly early as i wanted to be on time for the movie and get the evening meal handled near the venue. i picked up a sandwich from a holiday gas station, two blocks over. we were given ballots when entering the auditorium, where we tear to give our rating, range between one to five stars. i gave it a three. the movie had its moments, no doubt. but parts of it left a lot to be desired. it was about a married couple with two daughters deciding to have an open relationship. there were various 'acts' or chapters of the attempts made at this goal, to become happier. some worked better than others. but in the end, it didn't seem like the end result was realistic in terms of what one would have expected to happen. there was one scene inspired by the movie 'eyes wide shut'. i have seen it but not in a while. after the movie i walked around a little before getting back in my car and heading home. i stopped at a nearby Walgreen and picked up a few items. all happened to be ones that i haven't had before. this included a can of Celsius, mango lemonade flavor. along with a sponge bob-themed popsicle. i consumed both of those right away and was pleased with the choice. the third item was discounted easter candy, two pieces of Dunkin donuts eggs. i will have those soon enough. at work there was inquiry from a senior leader about a Fargo check. i recognized what business line it was from and copied the contacts for it. i also saw a weird error message on the inserter machine, it said 'motor stalled'. i re-booted it and was able to run some more checks through, then shut it off for lunch. i didn't get that error for the rest of the day. i called the remote help line to ask for advice about it. the tech responded on my laptop phone and said if it is up and running again, then we could wait to see how it performs in the near future. 

rare check overnighted

there was a request to overnight a rare check, actually 'return to business line', in this case Cincinnati. there is a 'companion' file that we see on the daily. this one in particular we don't see most days, and when we do it is just one. i checked and since New Year's Day this is just the third check i had printed for this business line. i was informed of this plan before seeing the check and i said it is best to email me as i can more easily send back the tracking number when it is available. this was the first day of the special project, a file that is normally just twenty checks a day recently said there would be a spike in volume, in the thousands. the business line is based in Jacksonville. the boss had previously said that when this happens, we will do two thousand checks a day. and we have to bill it to their cost center due to having to order enough check stock and envelopes to cover the volume. we saw these checks in the afternoon, and not all of them went out the same day. but i will send out as many as i can each day. sounds like the final volume expected will be just over half of what we were told at the outset. i know this has happened before as well. 

small business checks

 every so often, i get a special request from a colleague about certain checks. this one was to pull it from the PDF file, and i did. i was correct to do just that at first and then wait to hear more. sometimes it is just to send it to the shred bin, but not this time. it was to overnight it to San Diego. i recognized the business line, it does small business checks. it meant i didn't have to create a separate label for it as i am sending them checks on the daily most of the time. i prefer to lump together checks whenever possible, as it saves on overnight labels and envelopes. when i found this out i sent the tracking number and got a thank you. vacation replacement was not in, mention of being ill. it means that returned checks for our internal business line can stay in the shop a little longer. not a big deal as the volume is low. 

defunct check file?

 at work, the boss called me about four check files in particular. three of them i print regularly, but i had to say that the fourth is one that i haven't seen at all in my time with the bank. vacation replacement said it was a file once printed in our shop, but not even during his tenure. i am aware that the boss has more questions about check files since the main system that we print from will be going away later this year. there was also a late email saying the boss would be out of the office until the end of the week. in the morning i went to a copy store and printed an event ticket. this works out just fine because i don't need to log into my email and spend more to do so. in the evening i went to perform. i did stories about a Facebook photo from years ago still getting reactions, the supermom, the bank, an america-250 weekend, and going to the Julia Child exhibit.