aim found at dollar tree

 i began the day in Ankeny, Iowa, at my hotel, the days inn. i like how there isn't much to do on the final day in town. there is have breakfast, check out of the hotel, and get on the road. it is nice having a continental breakfast at the hotel, one less meal to find each day. i have this in mind when i choose hotels to stay at. i am thankful i didn't hit the road right after breakfast, though. the CBS morning news had a segment about actor-comedian martin short. i mainly knew him as the third of the 'three amigos', not as well-known as the other two. when i made it back to the twin cities in the mid-afternoon, i dropped off some things at home. then i went to Robbinsdale and first stopped at the dollar tree. a previous visit for a meetup event led me to finding out there was aim toothpaste there, it can be hard to find. i bought a tube of it there. then i went to the McDonald's and had some ice cream. i also went to the Aldi near me for groceries. i decided to use the rental car as long as i could and then returned it just minutes before it was due, in the evening. notable from the drive home was the music, as usual. i like having it on when i am in the car. there was a movie song, 'Flashdance, what a feeling'. i liked the line 'take your passion, make it happen'. i often speak of passion, it was absent from my life for a while, then i found it in performing. others i heard were 'angel' by shaggy, and 'memories' by maroon 5. both of those still work for me. 

greenbelt park, clive

 in the afternoon was the graduation party i was invited to, at greenbelt park in Clive. it was my cousin's daughter that was the guest of honor, and the first time i had seen my cousin in eight years. i also saw my two siblings, and my dad, as well. the siblings arrived after i did. my brother spoke some of his line of work, at FedEx, and it sounded familiar since i overnight checks at the bank but with a different courier. the graduate was at Des Moines Christian, a small school i knew very little about, but plans to study biochemistry at drake university, also in Des Moines. in the mid-morning i started the drive from my hotel, after watching the local news, to the cracker barrel in Clive. i found the two items i was looking for, it was a patriotic snoopy towel, and an america-250 shirt. then i saw my niece at the dairy queen in Waukee. i did have some ice cream there near the end of the visit. it was the first time seeing the second daughter, who is not quite a year old just yet. the first daughter seemed to enjoy the three gifts i brought her. she fell and hurt her elbow, but i think she will be all right. my niece said i would be tagged in photos on Facebook from this visit. it was midday by then and i spoke of wanting to eat at a maid-rite sandwich shop, loose meat sandwiches, they don't have that in the twin cities. i found one at merle hay mall, although it was tough to see how half of the storefronts in the food court were empty. i know the mall has lost some anchor stores, the opening of Jordan Creek mall didn't help. but i know this one is doing better than two others in the area. Southridge is now a mall in name only, and valley west sank into bankruptcy and might get demolished. after my cousin's event, i did a quick tour of my hometown of newton. i got a pic of Emerson Hough school, then had a meat loaf meal at the Hy-Vee. in the evening i was back at my hotel for a little bit, and there was an interview with the president on one channel. then i had the urge to get moving again and went to sing at a karaoke bar near a mall. i sang 'the door' by teddy swims, it resonates with me as i know what it is like to say that i have had enough. and it sounds like my niece did too and based on what she said about her mom then i don't blame her at all for doing so. 

where is the c?

 i hit the road after work and my stop along the way was at a 'Maverik' gas station. but where is the c? i correctly guessed this used to be the 'Kum and Go' gas station and convenience store. this was just south of the state line as i was headed to see family for the weekend. no surprise how i made it to my destination late, just after midnight. after checking into the hotel, i realized that the refrigerator was rattling too much and was keeping me up so i unplugged it. i wanted to see that some loose ends were tied up before leaving town, and after i had picked up the rental car. this was why i didn't leave as early as i had hoped. i also needed to pack my bag and wrap the box that included the three gifts in it. at work there was two notable things. one was a dial-in meeting, it was a 'global' one for our department as some offices are in other nations. this was mid-morning, then i did my customary visit to Walgreen. i picked up three greeting cards while there, and it took a little longer than typical as i wanted to see that i got the right cards for all three recipients. the shared box mentioned an address change for one of our business lines, taking effect next month. it is based in San Diego. i said it looks like something that needs to be forwarded on, so i.t. and my boss were copied on the response. 

laptop issue resolved

 in the evening i went to the best buy in Eagan and the laptop issue was resolved. i wasn't thrilled about having to wait for a geek squad agent, though. a man kept talking to the employee at the desk and it took a few minutes before i even heard i could sit at a nearby table for an agent. i am demonstrative and said 'that', in terms of the issue i was dealing with. i was told the remote agent had made it too restrictive as most websites use java scripts. i tested it while still in the store, and it worked just fine. i did one quick survey for airline miles, as i know some surveys bounce me early but i still get a small number of miles for my time. i also went to Jersey Mike's for a sandwich before that, as i go there every two weeks but decided to move up my visit by two days. odd how the sandwich maker said i made it in once a week, except i don't make it in that often. there was a check to send to another floor, to the manager that likes karaoke, i did so just after midday. she had just stepped away so a nearby employee accepted on her behalf. there was a weird popup in the morning, saying i needed a restart, shortly after i had logged on for the day. it was popcorn day, i enjoy this event as usual. after this was done i found my way to a branch where i contributed to the memorial fund. i figured this was the best time to do so as i had already stepped away for the popcorn and the branch was close by. the boss spoke of another Cincinnati check file to create. why, i don't know. there are already twenty such files and we've printed checks for just half of them. a payroll check was picked up. i sent 28 overnights to the box, one of them was from the Cincinnati file. there was an instant message saying it needed to go out same day. i said i had already printed the check and just needed to release the label from the secure printer. 

airline surveys blocked

 in the evening i knew something was wrong as i was unable to do the online surveys for airline miles. i tried to handle it on my own, to no avail as it was still blocked. i called the geek squad again but this time the agent said they couldn't handle it and set up an appointment for me to go to a best buy store in person. not thrilled about that but i had no choice. at work the main thing was asking about when the check stock would arrive. the big envelope order for the month arrived two days ago so it was time to ask about the other big order i place each month. lately the colleague who officially places the order for me has to follow up with the supplier and send the purchase order. as i recall, when my boss asked about it, the supplier said it was an i.t. issue on their end as to why it wasn't going through. 

upgrade kicked in

 the boss saw me press the button requesting the laptop upgrade happen near the end of the workday when the popup arrived early in the day. i saw that i was caught up on overnights a little early and decided to stay at the office until i saw the upgrade kick in. it didn't right at 5pm, unless you count one black screen with a few characters on it. then a few minutes later, i saw a message box in the middle of the screen and knew it had fully kicked in. it did some upgrades right away. i was satisfied when i saw it begin and didn't need to stay much longer after that, especially when it was slated to last four hours. i needed a password reset from i.t. before a dial-in meeting, as i was requested to print a check during it. only one though, it reminded me of some Saturday mornings at the previous office where this is all i needed to print. there was mention of a memorial fund for colleagues who were murdered last week. it said, 'please contribute if so moved'. i likely will but prefer to wait until i am caught up with work before leaving the shop if at all possible. when i was paying on my PayPal account in the evening, i must have clicked on the wrong one and then got popups. i called the geek squad and got it corrected but it took a little while on the phone. 

third man movie

 in the evening i went to see a movie at the Trylon, it was 'third man'. it was part of the 'rubble noir' series. i had heard of Joseph Cotten, but don't think i had seen any of his roles previously. i was no doubt familiar with Orson Welles. i kept thinking of a game show, if i am not mistaken, asking contestants if they would want the refrigerator of Richard Simmons or Orson Welles. since of course the latter got fatter later in life. the setting of the movie is Vienna, with occupied zones, just a few years after World War Two ended. Welles plays the character presumed dead, and Cotten plays his friend, who just arrived and is investigating it. Cotten's character is a writer, and some recognize him for his craft. it was pretty good, kept me guessing until the end. the scenes in the sewers and on the Ferris Wheel stood out to me. when i got home i ordered a ticket for another movie at this venue, as part of the 'bleak week' series a month from now. at work i was asked for the shared box by the Fargo file personnel. it was related to tracking for overnighted checks. i said i only send tracking numbers if requested. there were just four returned checks found for our internal business line when going through the returned check file. i pressed 'remind me tomorrow' when a popup arrived about a four-hour laptop upgrade. customer service asked me about a voided UPS label, wanting to know why a check didn't ship. i said i needed to create another one as the address needed to be changed, then shared the alternate tracking number. an odd request as i figured that customer service would have already had it as i set it up to have all tracking numbers going there.