art a whirl

 i went to a meetup event in the afternoon, it was at art a whirl. i don't think i had been to this event before, in Minneapolis. i studied the logistics and decided to take the light rail and then a bus to get there. the meetup event was in the basement of the 'casket' building. i guess this was the name of a ghost business on the outside of the building. they called this place serving beer a 'speakeasy'. i got a can of beer there and walked around the art displays for sale in this building. i bought one item, a postcard-sized print. it had Paul Bunyan on it next to the grain belt beer sign. i went to one other venue, it meant crossing the railroad tracks to get to the Northrup King building. i liked seeing yet another repurposed building, as i knew this was the name of a seed corn company when i was growing up in Iowa. saw a pregnant mannequin there. and i paused when i heard a radio on, the song was 'gone away' by the offspring. for lunch there was food trucks nearby. i got a meat pie from a British-themed truck, then some ben and jerry's ice cream nearby. 

pagliacci opera

 went to an opera this evening in downtown St. Paul, 'Pagliacci'. i think this was my third opera, and first since seeing 'La Boheme'. i liked the 'show within a show'. but this is done because it was covering how art can imitate life. it resonated with me about the main character, the clown, spoke of needing to go onstage even if not feeling fully up to it as people are expecting a show. seating was good, in the back but the view was pretty decent as i was in the middle of the row and section. one intermission, i walked around for most of it. i played 'tears of a clown' by Smokey Robinson when i got home as i knew this opera was name-checked in the song. for lunchtime i went to burger king in Eagan. wanted the Star Wars-themed meal and got the garlic chicken fries, lower calorie than the whopper. then i got a double scoop at the Baskin Robbins down the road. gold medal ribbon and cookie monster were my choices. i made it to Aldi for groceries before the opera. in the afternoon i did watch some of the UFL football game, but st. louis lost to Houston in a close game. as usual, the observation i have is that most teams have plenty of chances to win, but turnovers doomed st. louis in this one. 

two cartridges arrived

 i was pleased that two toner cartridges were delivered. it was sent by two different couriers though, not sure why. but both are usable for check printing. the boss said the second one had his name on it, in the afternoon. i had hoped to pick it up when i sent the regular mail tubs to the mailroom, but a colleague said it was preferred to be picked up right away. something about how it would throw off their reporting if i didn't. the Cincinnati file sent me a FedEx label, first time since February and just the seventh overall. i saw that it was put in the box much earlier than those going UPS when the box is farther away, in another building but still able to get there via the skyway. a test check was printed for the Cincinnati file. it seemed to be a lot like those that i already print. it is nearly the same address, but a different business line name and mail code. in the evening i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries as usual. there was a UFL football game on, Orlando at Dallas, but i didn't watch much of it. notable how it was played on a military base, fort hood. i am picking up some more patriotic items. during the Hy-Vee visit it was firecracker Oreo cookies, as well as a coloring book, since it is the year for america-250. 

business cards misdirected

 i had to say i was not in the mailroom, or in that office, when i was sent an email about misdirected business cards. i did see that some colleagues in the mailroom were copied on the response, though. i think some of the confusion arises from my email signature says i am a mail clerk. but i prefer to say that i am a check printer on my income tax returns. the boss was in the shop and noticed some things stacked up near one wall. this was not just empty copy paper boxes, but also two laser jet toner cartridges. i had to say that we were sent those even though i had already told them that we can't use them for check printing. then i was advised to call in a ticket, in this case send an instant message to the help desk. a ticket was open and i am hopeful that we get the correct toner cartridge soon enough. not yet a sense of urgency, when a spare one is ready to go if needed, but hard to predict when i need to swap it out. machines still sometimes send some weird messages. before lunchtime, i noticed how the screen went blank on the inserter machine when i was running checks through. it kept running for a little bit, then stopped. but i am not too worried just yet when rebooting it seemed to correct it. i try not to call techs unless i can't figure it out on my own. 

email thread forwarded

 not too much was notable about work for the day. but i still sometimes get some weird scenarios, ones that i didn't think were possible. case in point. one colleague, from suburban Milwaukee if i am not mistaken, sent an image of a check that i had overnighted and wanted to know what it was for. i had sent checks to that office before, but to other people. i knew that file, the business line is based in Hopkins. the best thing to do in this case was to forward the email thread to show the tracking numbers. then this colleague has others to contact if there are any more questions to be answered. i find it odd that the colleague wasn't copied on the original thread. some mention of the names on the check might not be correct, but of course i just print checks, i don't approve them. 

on again, off again dial-in

 there was a dial-in meeting in the afternoon with the boss, it was with the office in Marshall. but it was on again, off again. the colleague in Marshall was hard to find, and the boss rescheduled for the next day, same time. but once our colleague was found, we did the dial-in. something about another meeting ran long as i recall. there was two payroll checks set aside, different recipient names on them. but i am used to just one person picking all of them up and that is fine with me. i was asked why a check to be overnighted from the Cincinnati file was not picked up yet. if it is like most others, it was due to arriving late in the day, after the listed pick-up time on the box. there was also an inquiry on an earlier overnighted check saying the business name of the recipient was not correct. i send it to wherever i am told to send it to, and that means going by the name on the check or whatever name is on the shipping label. especially if the label was forwarded to me. 

red letter date

 i went performing in the evening and i realized it was a red-letter date for me. some notable anniversaries were happening. things like graduation, then leaving my native state a few years later. other stories told were about the weekend in Iowa to visit family, singing at a karaoke bar, and the bank. at work, there was notable things as well. a pull and shred request on the fraud file arrived, but had to tell them it was late, unable to help them. there were tax checks to be set aside. the mailroom sent me a blue company envelope; another refund check was inside.