i can only imagine (2)

 in the afternoon i went to see a movie, 'i can only imagine' (2), at the theater in St. Paul, highland park. i think i was the only attendee at this screening. good story, i recognized two of the actors in it, Trace Adkins and Dennis Quaid. i didn't like the opening act at first, because he liked to prank people. a big part of the story was the teenage son of the frontman being on the tour bus and then performing in the tour. i am used to a movie 'based on a true story' having 'some scenes and characters are invented for dramatic effect'. in fact, this one had a disclaimer in the credits saying, 'this is not a documentary'. i liked hearing the story behind the hymn 'it is well with my soul', how the 1871 Chicago fire was a part of it. while there, i heard a song i knew and like, crowded house's 'don't dream it's over'. it was part of the closing credits for the other movie currently showing at this theater, 'goat'. is that enough for me to go see it? i don't know. i know it is about basketball, though. in the morning i picked up an amazon order from the PO box. and there was another parcel, but i opened it and nothing was in what looked like a rolled-up piece of carpet or insulation. it looked like it was from the seller of the e-bay order that i had picked up a week earlier. then i went to Jersey Mike's for lunch. while paying for my sandwich, i made a donation to Special Olympics. it was a dollar and my cookie was free. i did say i am already signed up for a volunteer shift at this summer's event. in the evening there is a meetup event to attend at a micro-brewery. 

what is a commonwealth

 near the end of the day, there was a request from the tax specialist to have same-day courier pick-up on those tax checks. except those checks are not available until the afternoon, and the courier didn't have enough time to get it done. the one deemed most important is for 'the commonwealth of Kentucky'. it reminded me of how i had meant to look this up before, why some states refer to themselves as a 'commonwealth'. there are just four. i googled it and no surprise, it was related to British law, referring to the 'common good'. something about how all of them have that word in their constitution. in the morning there was a check from the travel and expense file to the manager that likes karaoke. she was in a meeting at the time, so in a conference room on a 'dial-in'. she kept saying 'thank you'. i said i did notice in the email thread there was mention of it being a replacement check. near the end of the day, i asked for a tracking number on a check i had overnighted. nothing unusual there, except another department or shared box had asked for the same one just three days prior. i even showed them the proof of the 'duplication of efforts'. it was sent to San Diego. the change of signature happened on the checks, but when i put some into our ruler i noticed one of them was off, the signature was too big. the boss wanted a list of goals sent in the morning, it didn't take long. it was the last day, and the boss was doing just a half day. i was asked to find an ACH statement as well, a copy of a transaction from over two years ago. the request was from payroll. in the evening i went to a fish fry, it was the Lebanese church in Mendota heights. i like their fish fry, plenty of rice with the fish. then i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. an employee that has been my cashier before greeted me upon arrival and asked me about my weekend plans. this is someone that i hadn't seen in a while, a few months. 

johnnies bar, river falls, wi

 in the evening i went to perform at a bar called johnnies in river falls, nearby but in Wisconsin. i was invited to do a guest set by the headliner, Yemen native. i did not know the other two performers that well, but might have seen one of them before. i cared a lot about being on time so i did my best to get started earlier on doing the UPS overnight labels. no surprise, this helped out a lot. it didn't take all that long to get there once i got onto i-94. the set was close to the one that i had done earlier in the week, except i also spoke of what i found on the light rail. before i made it to the venue, i stopped at a nearby gas station for the evening meal. it was a circle k, and i knew it was basically a holiday station, which is what i am familiar with. i had some chicken sticks and a hash brown. then i parked in a big public parking lot where i saw a historic bell on display. i got a look at the marker that told its story. i also got a good look around at the venue itself. there were some stained-glass windows, and a mural as well. near the end of the night, the bar owner wanted a photo of all four of us performers next to the mural. even the bathrooms were decorated, above the fixtures were baseball cards behind glass. since it was in Wisconsin, all of them were Brewers players. the 'green room' looked like a storage room to me, but it served the purpose well. i found a table and chairs so we could sit down. dart boards were there, and the dart boards were moved back out to the bar area after the show was over. i enjoyed chatting with some of the patrons, and the bar owner, after the show. i saw a few tickets in the trash and claimed them as souvenirs. i like having souvenirs of the shows i have performed in. at work i went to the branch in the same building, skyway level, and ordered checks. i liked knowing that it is free for me as i am an employee. the ticket on the check printer was closed, again. the boss asked about the signature on the checks i print, but we found out the change in signature didn't take. vacation replacement asked me to pick up some mail from the mailroom, but when i went there i was told there was no mail to pick up. the answer was that it was something to be discussed in person. 

canada check tracking

 one thing i was asked to do was look up a tracking number, after the recipient claimed that it didn't arrive. this was going to Canada, as i recall suburban Toronto. i found out it was delivered. then i researched a little further, and this gave the address. almost the same, but not quite. guess it means it was delivered to a neighbor. not sure what this means for the requestor of the information, as all i do is give it out. unable to stop payments or do a replacement check. this was also a day of three meetings. i like how most days there are no meetings. one was a team huddle; it was a dial-in as the boss is still in California. i did state how it worked to cut the Fargo file in half. then there was a town hall, was told it was mandatory but i barely paid attention to it as i wanted to stay ahead on my normal duties. around midday i was a little paranoid about the third and final one as all it said in the title was 'touch base'. then i found out it was the annual pay rate meeting with the boss. it didn't last the full allotment of 30 minutes but i didn't mind. looks like i am getting a small raise, but i did admit that i don't look at the pay stubs that much. i did go into the workday site to look at one and then at least i know where to look to confirm that it will take effect soon. it was under the 'earnings' tab that i can look for it. i know it is just my take-home pay that i see on the bank statement. 

file cut into thirds

 i tried one thing on a Fargo file that was suggested at the recent dial-in, it was to cut the file in half. the file was over four thousand checks, and actually i decided to cut it into thirds. this worked just fine, as no duplicated checks printed. i let i.t. know about it and was asked if i had let the entire team know. i said the ticket was closed and the best place to leave the notes would be on the ticket. for this reason, this colleague re-opened the ticket for me and i added these notes to it. the two Vermont checks from last week were picked up. since i didn't know too well who it was i asked their name and said i like getting the right checks to the right people. she did say Vermont checks and i was sent an I.M. in advance so i knew to be expecting someone to arrive fairly soon. vacation replacement sent an inter-office envelope to the shop near the end of the day. this was after i had started the inserter machine to get the rest of the checks ready to go into tubs and then to the mailroom. i watched the state of the union address in the evening. the American men's hockey team, the recent Olympic gold medal winners, were one of the honored guests that showed up. there were some awards presented as well, as i recall a purple heart and two congressional medals of honor. good or bad, when i saw this happen i kept thinking of the movie 'Forrest Gump' in terms of what lt. dan said when hearing how Forrest got one. not a new thing for this president, at an earlier state of the union a medal of freedom was presented. at this one there was mention of plans to award the medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to the goalie on the Olympic hockey team. 

it was after kickoff

 i notified someone in i.t. about a high-volume Fargo check file, usually it is low volume early in the week. i was asked if it was after kickoff, and it was. i had already printed some of the file by then. this must have made it harder to monitor what is happening in 'real time' in terms of why the printer has been stopping and then starting over. the same issue happened, about three quarters of the way through a file of about three thousand checks. thankful i caught it early and this minimized the number of duplicated checks that had printed. vacation replacement asked me for a contact for a business line based in Kansas City. it was one that i don't have to communicate with much as their file usually arrives just once a week. in the evening i went to perform. i did stories about a meetup event, girl scout cookies, the annual meeting, the bank, ramen noodles, and fish fries. 

9-volt battery

 this morning i bought a 9-volt battery from the corner store, along with a roll of toilet paper. the smoke alarm was keeping me up overnight as the battery was weak. when i got back from this shopping trip i turned on the TV as the gold medal game in the Olympic hockey tournament was happening, the men's division. the American team beat Canada 2-1 in overtime. team USA scored the first goal in the first period, Canada tied it in the second, and no goals in the third. the winning goal was early in overtime. it was annoying when the announcers said 'Canada was taking over the game' when they never led. this was said after the tying goal. with a low scoring game, one must give credit to the goalies for stopping shots. this was the final day of the winter Olympic games from Italy. once again, much like two years ago, i didn't watch all that much. if it was on at the bar on a night when i was performing, then i might watch some of it there. this was the only day when i watched it at home. since i was up early to watch the game, i was tired and i fell asleep for about two hours just before midday. then i had the urge to go out and about. i went to Eagan and had lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken. then i printed two pages at the copy store and went to the Barnes and Noble. i found the special magazine i was looking for, the 'year in review' by time magazine. i got another stamp on my loyalty account there. i watched a 'best of' show that NBC had in the afternoon, much of it profiled American athletes. then it was time to attend a meetup event, my first for this month. it was officially held at a 'spirits place', as that is where i got my nametag from the event coordinator. but i prefer beer and went to the nearby micro-brewery. while there i got a box of girl scout cookies. i like peanut butter, and there are two kinds in this category, i got the one in the orange box. i had pizza at home for the evening meal. i didn't do much in the evening, besides the dishes.