a chorus line

 in the afternoon i went to see a play, it was 'a chorus line'. first time at this venue in a while, park square in downtown St. Paul. thankful i saw this play, which is marking 50 years, and the venue is as well. based on what i knew about the play before seeing it, i understood why it became a hit. sometimes we want plays that make us happy, but sometimes we want what is real. and the latter is true here, as it is about trying to get hired for a play. some of the stories told during the auditions, the lion's share of the play, were priceless. there was no intermission, but i managed just fine. it helped that i had no drink order before the play. there was a post-show discussion with this performance but i didn't stay for it. i got some popcorn from the nearby Candyland and ate it while walking around downtown. in the morning i watched a movie, a recent DVD purchase from amazon, 'rock and roll high school'. the movie was mentioned in an interview with green day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, whose band is having a movie release later this year. the movie was ridiculous at times, but the music in it was pretty good. this included the Ramones song i know best, 'blitzkrieg bop'; as it was in the first 'vacation' movie. Clint Howard's role, the wheeler dealer, stood out to me. i watched part of the UFL football playoff game when i got home, Louisville went on to beat st. louis. in the evening i went to a meetup event, at dual citizen brewing in St. Paul. saw a familiar face there, the dude from Austin, Texas. still hopeful to see the credit union employee at another event, but it sounds like it might be a while. sent a text while there and this is what i was told. 

german exhibit, art institute

 in the afternoon i went to the German exhibit at the Minneapolis art institute. i knew it had been there since March and it closes next month, so it was time to go see it. as usual, some things worked better than others for me. three paintings in particular i really liked. one had plenty of color in it, and depicted cars, it was about city life. one near it was about passengers getting on a train. a third was mocking pillars of society. with the third one it was a reminder of how it was a good idea to read the descriptions next to the paintings. i ended up looking at them more closely due to what i read there. i am also thankful i reviewed pictures before leaving. it led to me re-taking some. and it led to me finding a room near the entrance that i had skipped the first time around, didn't know it was there. i bought some postcards in the souvenir shop, and a sticker that showed Woodstock from the Charlie Brown cartoons saying ''do not disturb'. for lunch i went to have a sandwich at Jersey Mike's. while there i heard 'she drives me crazy' by fine young cannibals. it made me feel old as i recall when it was a hit, the same year when my family got cable TV so i saw MTV more often. after the exhibit, driving home i heard 'sign of the times' by prince. still my favorite prince song due to the social commentary in it. this was the big prince weekend, a block party in downtown Minneapolis, no surprise to hear some of his songs on a local radio station. in the evening i went to another movie in Columbia Heights, it was 'everyone is lying to you for money'. it was a documentary about cryptocurrency. in the morning i picked up one order from the post office, a DVD i would like to watch soon. 

test check file split

 there were some big files of test checks at work. at first i printed all of them and was ready to send them to the boss and to someone in i.t. but after sending the first scan, 53 checks in all, i was told to wait until i heard more. i split the file into thirds. later on, there was another file to print but i was told to send just ten in all, five each from the two Fargo files. fine with me. i saw a senior leader in the morning when i was on another floor to pick up the reject fax. this time it was just six pages, and none were duplicated. i spoke of a dial-in meeting about the checks from the Marshall office, it was in the afternoon. a file from a week ago was finally approved so i sent it out. no surprise how it was approved only when the business line had another one to send. this was related to aviation. a check file from st. louis was late. in the evening i went to the Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. i picked up another america-250 item, a second coloring book but this one some founding fathers were in it and national parks. the earlier one, from Crayola, was about the states. 

life of oharu movie

 in the evening i went to a movie at the Trylon, it was 'life of Oharu'. it was a subtitled Japanese film from 1952, but the setting was more than two centuries prior. it was a sad story about a lady that was a courtesan and prostitute. it fit the theme of the series, as it is part of 'bleak week'. it led me to look up what 'courtesan' means, found out it meant a whore with a richer, higher-end clientele. i sat in the front row next to a dude that i recognized from some previous screenings, who once wore a cub foods sweater. at work, sometimes i still have to take care of a few things that should have been handled on my day off. vacation replacement said a PDF file wasn't printed, not sure why. i know i start off with a note page each day so the chances of me missing one isn't likely. this was discovered when an internal customer was asking for a tracking number on a check to be overnighted. there was two in an eight-check file, and the other six were to be sent regular mail. when i am doing a count of PDF checks for the day, this is considered to be 'carryover'. i completed an online class in the morning that is due at the end of the month, it was the only one on the list for this quarter. a check for payroll was picked up. the boss had more questions about the Marshall file, i said it was hard to do anything same day on the second one as it arrives late. when i am aware of the deadline on getting the regular mail tubs to the mailroom, it just isn't possible. this is leading to a dial in meeting being set up soon. when on break in the afternoon, i went to the convenience store on the main floor of the building. i got a drink and an ice cream sandwich. while there i heard a song, 'back to friends' by Sombr. hard to put a finger on why i like it, but i do. i know many songs are inspired by love, and this one is, sort of. 

courier calls

 there was some confusion about the courier that was delivering the check stock, and it meant multiple calls about it. some were on my laptop phone, and some were on my personal cell phone. but we got it squared away, my boss claims to have found the courier in the hall. most months until recently, the courier made it to the floor without much fanfare. there was some confusion about PDF check files. one was marked as ad-hoc, but it wasn't for the tax specialist. vacation replacement said it was all about the time stamp. the times were close, but the newer file is a little bit later. the second i-pay file was late, but it was low volume so i still had enough time to send all of it out same day. the Fargo business line asked about test checks, i said i handle those when I.T. tells me there are checks to print. i spoke of the karaoke outing to the manager that likes karaoke but didn't get an answer to my question on if she has sung there. 

special olympics assignment

 i am signed up as a volunteer for special Olympics this month. for a while i had seen some reminders about an assignment to be completed before i do the volunteer shift. i figured this being a day off, for a dental appointment, was the best time to take care of it. this was a lot like the online classes i do at the bank, go through a few screens and then i am done. this was done in the morning, and the appointment was in the afternoon. i ate in downtown St. Paul, close to the dental office. it was a place found in the skyway. i had been there before and went there again as i found out i get airline miles on each visit. i ordered a Cuban sandwich and it tasted good to me. i liked how the appointment was pretty much routine. i said i was trying harder to have better dental visits and this meant way less candy especially around the four 'candy holidays' but i still have some Reese's peanut butter. i gave my car the day off and took the bus there. i noticed one storefront had a sign up about what was coming soon. it was a pharmacy until about a year ago, now it looks like it will be an Islamic deli and grocery store. i watched a DVD in the morning, it was 'European vacation', first time i had seen this movie in a while. probably noticed a few things that i hadn't before. 

back after six years

 i wanted stage time, so i went to a karaoke bar tonight. i needed to get out and celebrate my service anniversary at the bank, six years. i went back to a venue for the first time since the pandemic began. i sang two songs there, it was 'here i go again' by Whitesnake, and 'losing my religion' by REM. the jockey still recognized me, and some of the things still looked familiar. with a mic that i like going to being in transition i knew i had to look at all options to continue with stage time to stay sharp. and i recall why i first started doing karaoke on a regular basis- it was easier to find stage time there than at a comedy mic on the weekends. i was familiar with how it helped my comedy sets as the karaoke stories were priceless. at work, the Marshall office asked if i was getting the UPS labels. we just started doing their checks. a check for payroll was picked up in the morning. the tax specialist had questions about a Canadian check sent his way, and then i realized it wasn't for him and i was fine with it being sent back to me. i figured it was 'ad-hoc' and it was a file that i hadn't seen before, since there were two Canadian files just before midday.