formula one movie

 this afternoon i went to see a movie, 'formula one', or 'F1', in Edina at Southdale mall. it was an IMAX screening, so i had to pay a little more. this is now the second of the best picture nominees that i have seen in the past year. i liked how quite a bit of the scenes were on the racetrack as it is a car racing movie after all. plenty of talent in this movie, as it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, a name i have heard of before with some popular TV shows. and it helped that Brad Pitt was the star. then there was music being done by Hans Zimmer, who has been around for a while, also doing the music for 'rain man'. after the movie, i was pleased to find a Kowalski's grocery store in the same mall. i got some cheese, some beef jerky, and a bottle of A and W root beer. then i went home. in the morning i went to the post office, an amazon order was picked up. then i dropped off recycle near the capitol and went to see the ice sculptures at the St. Paul winter carnival. one of them i didn't recognize at first, but there was more than one sculpture telling its story. then i looked closer and noticed the playing cards in front and a young lady and said, 'that's Alice in wonderland'. after that i saw the cheshire cat and mad hatter in the back. i got some fries and hot cocoa from two different food trucks nearby, although there was too much seasoning on the fries. there were dancers onstage inside the landmark center, one of them was dancing to Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'. i saw some clowns inside a life-size snow globe and got a picture of it. at a table inside the same building, i saw a clown making buttons for kids. i already saw some smaller ones in a bag under the table, i asked for one and got it. i paid for just over an hour of parking, and it was long enough to see what i wanted to see. then it was on to Jersey Mike's for a sandwich as it was time for lunch. then i went home and rested a little while and went to Aldi for groceries before going to the movie. 

general strike number two

 i saw a posting in the skyway this morning saying there would be a general strike this afternoon, one week after the first one. it looked like there were fewer businesses deciding to close because of it. i saw a mailroom employee observing the crowd from the skyway level, and the dude left after a few minutes, saying he had work to do. i said, 'so do i'. this was near the end of my lunchtime, and it was around the time when the protest speeches began. i could see and hear more of it this time from the window in the office i use in the check shop. it was loud for about an hour and then that was it. i knew well enough to ignore it and get my work done. i made it to Walgreen in the morning as usual, after i had printed some check files and sent the scanned reject fax on to the shared box. since the first of the month is coming soon, i sent off the supply order. i liked seeing an email later in the day from the envelope company. it tells me the order was approved rather quickly, sometimes it waits for days if a senior leader is on vacation. in the evening i went to a meetup event at a micro-brewery, after watching 'big bang theory' reruns and having a meal. i spoke with a dude who had two dogs with him, both boxers. after being there for an hour, i had finished my beer and said i needed to go. i am used to getting groceries from Hy-Vee in Eagan, and i used a basket i had found while doing a morning walk this week. there was trash in it when found, so i dumped the trash in a barrel nearby and the basket was in the bathtub at home until i made my weekly trip there. not the first time i have returned a grocery basket that i had found. 

postcard reshuffle

 this week i picked up three postcards from a convenience store in the skyway, along with a bottle of Dunkin Donuts coffee. it led to me reshuffling my collection a little that i have in various photo albums. one was about winter fun in Minnesota, one was about the capital city of Saint Paul and pro hockey returning, and one said 'god bless America' with a bald eagle on it and mention of 9/11. i say it all the time and it is true, but sometimes i have to take some cards out in the name of 'stressing quality'. in this case, i moved some postcards bought in New Ulm into the album with the others from that town. and i decided to take out cards that were more about promoting events instead of depicting tourist sites that can be mailed. with some it was easy to boot them if it was events i didn't attend, or if i still had one promoting a certain site. it helps that postcards don't cost that much. and the promotional cards, those are free. also notable was taking the bus, and then the light rail, to work as i went out for a morning walk and a bus stop shelter said it was still subzero. not a big deal to me to give the car the day off. it led to me getting items out of a vending machine like before. at the bank in the breakroom, it was potato skins from TGI Fridays. while waiting at the airport for the transfer, it was double salami sticks. but in both cases this time, i paid cash. it saves me a little money as there is a fee to use a debit card. and much like before, it was nice to get two packs of salami sticks but i was expecting just one. at work i eliminated the backlog on the Fargo checks, there was a thousand left over from the previous day. i ran them through the machine in the morning first. late in the afternoon, a colleague from payroll showed up with tax forms. it is much lower volume this year, i was told just under three hundred, instead of thousands. it was due to automation. i said i would run them through the next morning but was told they just needed to go out by mid-February. 

wedding ring found

 no, not mine. but there was an email at work from a senior leader saying a wedding ring, or actually a band, was found in a bathroom. in the morning i went to another floor and picked up the ACH reject fax, after the team lead asked me to do so. normally i do this only on a Friday, but i knew there was a chance this week that i would have to do it on other days as well. then the same team lead in the afternoon said 'uh-oh'. had to ask what happened, and it was something about the weekend weather report if i am not mistaken. i said i can get to work as long as the trains and buses are running. then there was a mention of 'being vigilant'. checks were picked up by two different visitors. one was a colleague in payroll, the other was the two from the previous day. then i got replacements for those two later in the day and sent a message asking if everything was in order. normally i wouldn't ask at all, but with what had happened, i saw it as 'due diligence'. and i was told it was fine this time; the checks were for the correct amounts. one colleague from the Cincinnati file, although i think she is based in Colorado, was asking a lot about one check in particular. it was one where i printed the label this morning because it arrived late Tuesday, just after i had left for the day. i said UPS picks up from the box onsite just once a day, and how it would likely be picked up near the end of the day. i was asked to call about it, but i responded to the instant message once all envelopes for the day were in the box. and it was picked up a few minutes later. there was some mention of how the client needed it to make payroll, but it is all about when i get the check. in the morning there was coffee and donuts to promote the organization known as 'toast masters'. actually, it was donut holes, but i still liked having all of it. i read the flyer and it sounds like there is a fee to attend, so i will pass on it. when i am already a stage performer, with plenty of public speaking experience, i am not sure what else i could be taught. even if there is reimbursement available, it is still a hard sell to me. 

redacted card numbers

 at work, there was plenty of test checks to print related to the Fargo file. at first i was trying to figure out why the scan wasn't going through. then i knew i had to investigate. it won't scan anything if credit card numbers are showing, so i got out a marker and those were 'redacted'. then it was no big deal on the scans going through and then forward them to I.T. and to the boss. late in the day, i sent a check to another floor, it was to the manager that likes to sing karaoke. it was a 'drop and leave' as i had plenty to do, and she was in a dial-in meeting in a conference room as well. there were two notables for the day from the newer Cincinnati file. i advised one colleague that had sent me a UPS label that i also wanted the shared box copied, in case i am out of the office. and on the same check it was for, yet another colleague contacted me later in the day and asked me to pull those two checks, do not send them out. i was told it was because the checks were the wrong amount. when i get replacements, those two won't be going far, staying in the same metro area. 

off-duty police security

at work there was a request for pay-stubs for off-duty police security. i am thankful i don't get these kinds of requests too often as it was tedious to find them, about a dozen stubs in all. the lady who places the supply orders for me sent the request. there was an email from the boss that invited team members to work from home for the rest of the week, for multiple reasons. not just the weather, but also 'the news of the world'. naturally i am not eligible, but i don't mind. an executive announced there was a contribution made to a foundation due to the recent immigration agent activity, saying it would help impacted small businesses. in the evening, i went to perform. i did stories about the bank, sauce packets, seeing a movie, and attending a hockey game.  

deadmans wire movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'Deadman's wire' in Eden Prairie. it had been promoted a lot on Facebook, and i had previously seen some films directed by Gus Van Sant. it was about a hostage situation in Indianapolis in 1977. i had not been familiar with this story before seeing the movie. the epilogue to this movie said there were no real winners in the end with this ordeal. i liked seeing Al Pacino in it, but al had a small role. after the movie i had a blizzard treat at dairy queen. then i went to the 'miniso' store and bought three Charlie Brown items, including a small jigsaw puzzle. next stop was the Barnes and Noble, which served two purposes with one purchase. i had recently received an email saying my stamps would expire soon if i didn't make another purchase, it had been nearly a year. and there was a book i had heard about at the convention in Chicago that i wanted. it was available there, the one called 'bear with me' about famous bears, with smokey bear on the cover. after that i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan and bought four items. normally i go there on a Friday but it was subzero that day. there were football playoff games on TV but i didn't watch any of the first one, patriots beat the broncos. i watched a little of the second one, seahawks beat the rams, but not a lot. now the super bowl matchup is set. in the morning i did laundry and had some coffee and a breakfast sandwich at caribou coffee.