reverse engineer it

i did see some movement on the ticket with the printer stopping and starting over. i saw some instant messages from a tech. eventually it was said he'd try to 'reverse engineer' it. i had to say that most of the checks i print each day are in this system, some are PDF but not a lot. if i needed to be out of it for the tech to get it handled, then it would have to be after-hours. none of my business if it meant the tech is working on it when i have a day off such as the upcoming bank holiday. a toner cartridge arrived for the primary check printer, proving it is still on auto-ship. thankful i don't have to call for that one. i sent plenty of check samples to the boss in a folder that others can use, twenty-five in all. it covers even the checks that i don't have to print much. in some cases, i had to go back a month or two to find one due to 'lack of frequency'. i spoke of promotions for the local baseball team, the twins, to the manager that likes karaoke. there are two in particular that interest me, special theme tickets to order, but those games are not until august. i like a theme ticket, don't have to be first in line that get that kind of giveaway. there was an email request to reroute a check from a Cincinnati file to someone in the same town as me. of course, it meant that it was an overnight request. and there was a dial-in meeting about nearly two hundred tax checks going to a lawyer office in Chicago. i don't get those kinds of files too often, where i have to put it in a box. once completed, i sent it to the mailroom as i knew it wouldn't fit in the UPS drop box. it didn't say 'picked up' right away though. after i got home i checked the tracking number and it finally did, more than an hour after i had left the office for the day. we had to have I.T. on the call to change one thing on the checks, which was rake off an email that is normally listed. the customer service number was left on, though. then once it was re-printed, i let all know so I.T. could switch it back. in the evening i did the customary visit to the Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. but before that i stopped at a nearby Dunkin donuts, inspired by the recent super bowl commercial. i got coffee with the donut, and since it was less than an hour before close, i was given three donuts but ordered just one.  

how to find special handling

 there was a quick dial-in meeting with the boss. it was to show how to find special handling in some of the files that i print. i said i do not go through each check in a high-volume file such as the Fargo files. i go by if it is marked as 'overnight' and even more rare, when i am sent an email asking me to pull a check. in these two files and some others, i change the tab to 'comment zip code' and all of those go to the top. makes no difference if it is inter-office, foreign, or overnight. some of those with comments i leave alone, because some don't fall into any of those three categories. later on, i was asked to pull a check from the larger Fargo file and shred it, do not send it out. the maintenance kit arrived for the primary check printer, i was called by the tech on the laptop phone about when to expect the tech on the main floor. i said it was already swapped out, just needed a spare. the rollers were still swapped out by the tech, and the kit i swapped out was hauled away. tech wasn't there for long, didn't need to be. i also had to call for help with the inserter machine. it was stuck on a 'hot product error' on both hoppers, couldn't get much moved through. i was still a day behind on the Fargo files, so i still had some checks that i needed to get out the door. after more than twenty minutes on the call, we got it figured out. one button i don't use much was used, run one check through but do not seal it, and this was enough to clear the error. then it was humming along again. 

incident opened, two calls

i found another case of why i call it the 'not much help desk'. i called in another ticket, this time it was for the printer stopping and starting over. then just as i was about to get the ticket or 'incident' number, the help desk hung up on me and i had to call again and start all over again. who knows when i might see any action on it such as if a tech has to show up. the toner cartridge for the small printer arrived, in the morning. the techs who ordered it wanted to close the case once it was ordered, i said 'on the way' doesn't mean as much to me as 'delivered'. once i was notified that it was signed for in the mailroom on the same floor as me, i went to pick it up. doesn't take long to handle it, just slide one out and slide the other in. when i arrived for work i noticed our tax specialist had sent an instant message overnight, at a time when some are watching the late local news. the question was if there were any tax checks, i said there weren't. still odd to me when i hear from this dude at times. 

duplicated checks, two files

 we are still getting the problem of the check printer stopping and starting over on high-volume days for two Fargo files. it happened with both, but i caught it with the smaller one earlier. the larger one started over about midway through and it meant about two thousand duplicated checks were printed. i have to take good notes when this happens, seeing that the duplicated ones are set aside and do not go out. then of course, seeing where it stopped over and knowing where i need to hit re-print. it meant more than four thousand checks did not go out same day. i am used to some days where there is a backlog, but usually it is not this much. but i am a big believer in seeing that it is done right, even if it takes more time. the boss had sent us a schedule by email. in the next week or so there are days off, as well as days when working remote in California. there was a request from the boss for check samples, i think due to the expected change of signature to be implemented soon. i am aware that not all checks that i print have a customer service number attached to it, though. some do have a letter under the check; others just have itemization. 

two tickets opened

 i don't enjoy having to contact the 'help desk' to open tickets at work, but it was time. i needed things for the machines that i use. there was the small printer, used for overnight labels, needing a toner cartridge. since not much is sent through it, thankful we don't need to order it much, first time since June. the other was a maintenance kit for the primary check printer. i have to treat it the same as toner, where we always want a spare one onsite. it actually didn't take as long as expected, based on past experiences, about twenty minutes. still a case of when it all arrives, but with the smaller printer i know i can print the labels on one of the check printers. when vacation replacement arrived to drop off some mail to go out at the end of the day, i spoke of it. in the evening i went to perform. i did stories about the bank, going to an art museum, a movie on super bowl Sunday, and a posting i saw on Facebook. 

a private life movie

 around midday i went to see a movie, 'a private life', in Edina, at the 50th and France theater. after i parked in the ramp next to the theater, i walked over to the holiday gas station, two blocks away, and picked up a sandwich and ate it before going into the movie. this was a French movie starring Jodie Foster. i know she is fluent in that language. as usual, i was able to follow along with the subtitles fairly well. it was a reminder of how it is loosely translated instead of literally translated. i saw this with the subtitles saying 'fine' when it was actually 'very good' or 'sorry' when it was 'excuse me'. i haven't seen that many movies starring Jodie, i know i saw 'silence of the lambs' but that was in the VHS era. it was a good story, and it was brilliant to have the talking heads song 'psycho killer' in this movie, for two reasons. Jodie was playing a psychiatrist, and some of the lyrics are French and of course Jodie trying to investigate the death of one of her patients, believing she was murdered. i do like me a good thriller, and it did follow what i am used to with thrillers. this includes someone searching for evidence, even though it was 'bending or breaking the law' to do so. one line i really liked was when her son answers the door and said 'you have the wrong floor, ma'am. my mother never apologizes'. sad but true for many, believe me i know. i didn't go home right away after the movie. i stopped in Eagan and picked up two more boxes of Chex cereal with Charlie Brown characters on the box. some stores are running low for that one, but not cub foods. i also got some cheese. then it was home. i was there hours before the super bowl began, and i researched what i did on previous super bowl Sundays for a Facebook posting. good game all around, liked seeing green day as the opening act. then lady gaga made an appearance in the halftime show. seahawks beat the patriots, 29-13. when following the flow of the game, no surprise really. Seattle's defense helped out a lot, with the turnover margin and points off turnovers. Seattle had a more experienced QB as well. the team with the best defense usually wins. four of the commercials were standouts. there was a Dunkin Donuts ad inspired by 'good will hunting'. there was lady gaga in a Pokémon ad. there was two PSAs with songs i was familiar with. one was Enya's 'only time'- about cancer screening- and the Phil Collins song 'against all odds' or 'take a look at me now' where toilets were singing it. 

an affair to remember movie

 in the evening i watched a movie on DVD, a recent purchase from amazon, 'an affair to remember'. i had seen it mentioned every so often, as a romance story with Cary Grant. it was even the inspiration for an episode of 'family ties' although i did not know at that time, i was too young. this was a 'double feature' and there is another disc in the case that i will want to watch soon. i liked the story for quite a while, it starts on a boat in Europe headed to America and Cary Grant's character is getting married soon. but then he meets someone on the boat. i liked it all the way up to when he's waiting to meet the lady at the empire state building, but the story wasn't much fun after that. i stayed active for much of the day. in the morning i went to the post office, one order was picked up. it was a book ordered after i had seen it on display at the historian convention in Chicago last month. then i went to a Walgreen and picked up some small items. by then it was time for lunch, and i went to Hardee's in the midway section of St. Paul. pleased that they had curly fries, had some with the mushroom and Swiss burger. i saw some Charlie Brown statues nearby, three in all. two of them i think i had seen before, but not the third. this was from the final series, snoopy on his doghouse. i got pictures of all three. i parked nearby and picked up some loose change on the sidewalk on the way there. one coin, a quarter, was frozen to the pavement so i used a key to free it. then i briefly went home and was gone again. this time it was to the Minneapolis art institute. i had heard a radio ad for the 'Great Gatsby' exhibit and i knew it was closing soon, next month. i had nothing booked for the day, so i said 'if not now, when?' i liked seeing much of the art on display, some of it by Wanda Gag, who i had heard of from visits to New Ulm. i bought some souvenirs at the end of my visit, including two stickers. one had snoopy on it, the other was Minnesota icons including Mary Tyler Moore. then there were five postcards. i saw a text message on my phone before entering the exhibit, offering discounted tickets to a speed dating event in the evening, but i didn't go. why? been there, done that. when i got home i had the evening meal, then went to get groceries at Aldi, then watched the movie.