happier than ever, billie eilish

 this week i heard a song on my car radio when driving home from work and it blew me away. made a note of a lyric and looked it up when i got home. found out it was 'happier than ever' by billie eilish. i like the video on youtube more than the radio edit, for multiple reasons. noticed how the radio version seems to cut out most of the slow first half of the song, besides of course cutting out the swear words. it starts out with her sitting on the couch and on the phone. but we do see indications that things will change. there is water dripping on the floor and the lights flicker. then she opens the door and water rushes in, and she swims to the rooftop. i like the metaphor here. and i do like the second half more, because it is not only faster but also has more passion. and as we all know, i do like passion in music. and i notice how lady singers can bring the passion when the subject is relationships. she is wearing  a shirt that says 'i don't need to sell my soul'. the lyric i really like is 'don't waste the time i don't have'. as i have known way too many people who have wasted my time. 

at work it was a light day for overnight packages, just 8, fewer than christmas eve. i still stayed busy for most of the day though. in the evening i went on a walk and found 61 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends brought zac to the comic store and they won the costume contest on new year's eve. it was followed by the one where brent spiner, data from star trek, was a guest star,  at a wil wheaton party. i went to hy-vee in eagan in the evening as well, got a few pieces of christmas candy that was discounted- in addition to my typical grocery order. some different kinds than what i was seeing at walgreen. no egg nog, will have to see if aldi has any left when i go there. 

madden documentary

 there was a re-broadcast of the documentary about football great john madden tonight on fox. i watched some of it- after watching 'young sheldon' and the local news. i watched it in full on christmas day. of course it was re-aired in memory of madden, who had just passed on tuesday. at work i set aside 7 checks for a colleague then found out there should have been another one. i said some things are beyond my control. then i was added to an email thread about it. the boss said it went to another file and would print the next morning. facilities arrived to change the door code, and it was up to me to determine what the new code would be. took a few minutes to figure out one that worked, based on what the inner door allowed apparently. after work i went to the liquor store near work and got a can of modelo. so now there are 3 beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were in a sensory deprivation tank. sheldon loved it and amy hated it. this was followed by the one where amy was weepy, playing 'everybody hurts' on her harp after finding out she wasn't invited to go dress shopping with bernadette and penny. in the evening i went on a walk and found 52 cents. 

re-starting it worked

 at work the printer was printing each check with a blank page. when i met with my boss about my evaluation i was advised to contact a colleague. we hashed it out and found out re-starting would do the trick. he had dogs barking in the background, a corgi and chihuahua. i was re-using the blank pages and some of them had plenty of ink residue on them. in the evening i went on a walk and found 45 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy went on a tirade about 'impostor syndrome'. and howard didn't want a children's book about his time as an astronaut published. it was followed by the one with bernadette sounding like howard's mom at breakfast, saying 'he hasn't tried them yet' and the mom referring to raj as 'the brown boy', saying she was relieved he finally had a lady for a sleep-over. amy stayed at leonard's even after sheldon left, when sheldon went to a toy train presentation. for the evening meal i drank the can of alesmith with it, a san diego beer, so now there are 2 beers waiting. 

canceled bowl games

 i was planning on watching the holiday bowl on fox tonight, ucla vs. north carolina state. when the telecast was slated to begin i saw something else on, 'masked singer' if i am not mistaken, with something small at the bottom of the screen saying the bowl game had been canceled. articles i found online said it was due to the pandemic. four bowl games had been canceled earlier, and two are still slated to happen as they found replacement teams. iowa plays in the citrus bowl, hopefully that one will still happen. it would have served as a nice reminder of attending the 2006 edition of the holiday bowl, where cal-berkeley thumped texas a and m. i saw the zoo, sea world, and the bowl game's parade when i was in san diego. notable as well tonight was seeing an article how football great john madden has died. the documentary about him was something i had watched just days ago. at work my evaluation was moved back a day, to wednesday morning. not many overnight packages, just 9. fewer than christmas eve. in the evening i went on a walk and found 60 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends perform experiments on howard's kids when bernadette and penny were at a convention. amy saying 'want to bet against me?' was a line from it. it was followed by the one where sheldon ordered penny to get rid of a chair she claimed that someone else threw away. 'what's up buttercup' was a line from it. 

space jam magnet set

 the 'space jam' magnet set arrived at the bank in the morning. i wanted it sent there as i knew i couldn't send it to a PO box. there are 3 sheets of magnets. one has movie characters on it, one has cereal mascots, one is a basketball court. thankful i chose it as it still looks like the best option on prizes for buying general mills products that were promoting the movie. still finding the fruit flavored snacks in grocery stores, but i knew there was going to be a wait for the magnets. it was a low volume day on check printing, found the time to call about check stock and the delivery date has been moved up. but hard to tell if there is enough inventory to make it that long. i performed at the open mic in the evening, one performer invited a  heckler onstage. for my set i think the one with the most reaction was about my coat or my annual watching of christmas specials on DVD. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 12 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when wil wheaton had a celebrity dungeons and dragons game, including william shatner and kareem abdul jabbar. it was followed by the one where penny gets a hemorrhoid commercial. had to laugh at this one when amy said to penny i can't let you move back to nebraska, her social life lives and dies with penny. and leonard's mom tells leonard to 'buck up'. 

covid booster shot

 this afternoon i went to a walgreen and did the covid booster shot. it was a location i had been to before but it had been a while. it was in my former neighborhood, and when the printout of the consent form was presented to me i noticed it had my former address on it. i let them know i don't live there anymore and they said they are updating it. there was a bit of a wait to get it done and there was an apology for that but i said i didn't have much else planned for the day. or for a while in terms of any kind of events, no current event tickets. it has been in the news about events being called off due to covid, not just college football bowl games but also shows at the guthrie theater, so it is just as well i have nothing booked for a while. the band-aid is red and has the cursive 'w' on it, part of the walgreen logo. after the shot was done i got a look at the discounted christmas candy and got 11 pieces. i said all along i was going to do more than just the shot while there. then i drove home and watched part of a documentary about the 'miracle on ice' on ABC. i considered going out for a walk but i wanted to do some other things first, and i was tired. after the evening meal i watched 'the simpsons', a rerun about a traffic jam on evergreen terrace, then a rerun of 'one day at a time' and laid down for a while. before the shot i got some things done in the morning. after having cereal for breakfast i watched some DVD's, christmas-themed. this was 'rudolph', 'the grinch', and 'frosty', all of these were the animated classics. then i went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. shortly after having lunch it was on the road to the appointment. during my walks i found 37 cents. by late in the evening it had snowed. 

yankee from olympus

 i went on mutiple walks throughout the day. during the first one i went past a little free library and selected a thick book from it, 'yankee from olympus'. it is about oliver wendell holmes, the supreme court justice. it is hardcover and has a built-in bookmark, a ribbon. already flipped to the part about his military service during the civil war. and it is in there, where he says 'get down you fool' to president lincoln. during the fourth and final walk i saw police cars with their lights on, going to a nearby nightclub. 9 cars in all, some city police and some state troopers. all told from these walks i found 82 cents. it worked just fine staying in for much of the day. i checked the paper and was pleased to find some good programming on. in the early afternoon it was a documentary about football great john madden. i learned something from it, how he taught a class at berkeley about football after he was done coaching the raiders. and how it took a while to get elected to the hall of fame. it was on before a football game on fox, that i didn't watch. in the evening it was boxing matches on fox, same as last weekend. these were from newark, NJ, and apparently the first boxing card in the USA on christmas since 1969. I saw four this time, one of them had joey spencer in it. saw him fight at the minneapolis armory in 2018. his fight ended by knockout in the 5th round. three of the four shown ended early. the third was a split decision. one ended in the first round, spencer's was the first shown. the fourth was scheduled to go 10 rounds and was called midway through the 10th, a TKO. after i got back from the first walk of the day i put in a DVD, the one with two charlie brown christmas specials on it. i know the first one well, but the second, 'christmas time again' was like watching it again or the first time. such as seeing 'handel's messiah' in it, something i had just seen recently. there are some more holiday DVD's i can watch tomorrow. of course i liked watching some more of 'yule log' but i heard some songs more than once when i would watch it a little at a time. i had two turkey dinners today, as well as blueberry pie with strawberry ice cream. i drank beer with both, a millstream and a bauhaus, both craft brews. so now there are 3 beers waiting. 

hy-vee hot dog

 the office closed early due to the holiday. of course the check printing volume was lower. surprised to have a team huddle, scheduled at the last minute but we needed to have it related to the holiday. along with one about finding out i had check stock i couldn't use. i hadn't eaten my lunch that i brought so i went to a nearby hy-vee convenience store and got a hot dog. then i went to a target and got a box of holiday rice krispies. while there i also got some cheese, and some small bottles of milk and orange juice so i could stay in a little longer on sunday morning before going to the grocery store for my weekly order. it is my fifth box of holiday cereal this season, i am currently working on the first one, elf on the shelf. when i got home it was still earlier than typical for me and i didn't know what to do at first to fill in the time. so i slept for a while. when i woke up it was early evening by then, so i got going on the meal. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when santa told sheldon he couldn't bring back his grandpa, and he woke up to the nightmare. it was followed by the one where sheldon went to texas to help with his sister's baby delivery and the storyline was inspired by 'it's a wonderful life' about how their lives would have been like if they hadn't known sheldon. later on i went on a walk and found 57 cents. i heard from a friend who let me know about an event, i said i wasn't going because i wasn't invited. definitely not the first time, probably not the last time, where i hear about and event i wasn't invited to. not a big deal to me. i have the 'yule log' program on, an annual thing i like doing, plenty of good christmas music on. i re-scanned my TV so i could watch it, as it is on 5-2, channel 5 is the ABC affiliate. i got the NBC affiliate back, channel 11, for the first time in a while, in years.  

sierra trading post commercial

 i have been seeing a commercial for sierra trading post fairly often. notable is david spade as the narrator saying 'beat it steve' at the end. i had to look up this company as i hadn't heard of them before. wikipedia said they are owned by the same company as tj maxx and marshalls, also being in the off-price market, but for outdoor recreation and fitness gear instead of clothing. my weekly grocery visit to hy-vee in eagan was moved up as they are closing early on friday. i stopped at their liquor store and got a light beer version of grain belt, so now 5 beers are waiting. i went to cub foods before it to get some things as well. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 98 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both christmas episodes. it was when leonard's mom visits and gets drunk with penny. it was followed by the one where sheldon gets a leonard nimoy napkin from penny. at work i sent two handwritten envelopes to the branch manager when asked by email if anything arrived, as they were expecting a cashiers check. usually i just take out the mail for my department but not a big deal to search for these. especially when i know the mail isn't sorted every day.  

unreliable mill

 i called the supplier of check stock and was asked if we could wait 3 weeks for a shipment, i said probably not. something about an unreliable mill supplying them. explains being shorted this month, getting 26 boxes, order was 40. went on a walk this evening and found 1 dollar 24 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy wouldn't let sheldon have zac's baby. it was followed by the one where raj and leonard switch rooms due to priya.  

crooked envelopes

another service call was done, was told the problem was the envelopes were going in crooked. machine was run on high speed so the checks that needed to go out still did. but there is still over 3 thousand waiting to be run through. it was nice to take a call related to return to business line in st. louis. 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon went to the 'zone zone' to report howard's neighbor. it was followed by the one where howard's mom was in the hospital. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 32 cents. 

kronos hacked

 i get back from a week off and found out kronos was hacked, so it meant using a less advanced version of timekeeping. and a call from my boss to submit timesheets. one of two meetings, the other was about a big check file coming soon. a tech looked at the envelope stuffer as it wasn't sealing. in the evening i went on  a walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon meets the 2 fermilab people, and it was followed by the one where bernadette spies on priya. the open-mic had a thin lineup, flautist is in france. i think the one story of mine getting the most reaction was the one about the soap boutique. 

handel's messiah

 in the late afternoon i went to a performance of 'handel's messiah'. it was at a lutheran church in south minneapolis, st. john's. the building's interior reminded me a little of a church i attended for a little while as a kid, the 'un-united' presbyterian church. my family eventually defected to the other presby church across the street due to the squabbling, hence why i called it that name. i had a free ticket to attend, but it looked like there wasn't many seats left in the lower level when i arrived. only half of the pews were available, the other half-alternating pews- were taped off in the name of social distancing, a reminder of the times we live in. i asked about seating on the upper level, and was told it was available. i might have been too tired to have a full appreciation of the music being played, i don't know. but i know full well i liked it more when the audience stood up and helped sing the 'hallelujah chorus'. i have long said i liked the hymns more than the scriptures at church, because i like being an active participant. i was told it would be a shortened version, and it was about 90 minutes. i got a few pictures at the end of the show. then i went home and had the evening meal, the second half of the can of chicken bologna from family dollar. i don't see myself buying it again as it was too salty. i got a little farther on going through newspapers, and had to check why there wasn't a friday paper from late august 2016. as expected, that was during my visit to new york city, i checked my entries. 'the simpsons' was about fat tony being a godfather for maggie. later on i went on a walk and found 34 cents. 

recycling center

 i drove over to a recycling center this morning and dropped off some newsprint there. i mostly saw cardboard boxes in the big donation bins. now that i have found it i will likely use it more often. i liked how it was self-service and it didn't take long. then i went to the post office and checked my box, nothing there. i saw a long line and said i kind of expected it, since it is the saturday before christmas. i got farther along on the newsprint but it might take a while. in the evening i went on a walk and found 55 cents. i watched some boxing on fox in the early evening, it was broadcast from the minneapolis armory. i saw some boxing there in 2018. there was three matches, first one was a unanimous decision and the others ended in the fourth round. surprised that one of them lasted as long as it did since there was four knockdowns, three of which were in the first round. two more christmas cards arrived, one of them from my friends in st. louis. not a big deal staying in for most of the day as i get more done this way. having breaks was still necessary, not just watching some boxing but also going to aldi to get groceries. 

newsprint reduction

 this was the day when i finally got to the last thing on my list from the week off, 'reduce magazine and newsprint volume'. i stayed in for most of the day, except in the evening when i went to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly grocery order. i also picked up a beer from their liquor store, a can of paulaner. it  essentially replaced the one i drank the previous day, so now there are four beers waiting. i tried to get the newsprint in date order so i was more likely to get the oldest ones moved out. i found an article about the wisconsin couple and it was moved to the cabinet where comedy souvenirs are kept. it was from may 2011 and i let the comic know on facebook about it. most of what i still need to go through is from 2016 or later. i badly wanted to get rid of anything from 2013 or earlier, as-good or bad-it was a reminder of being in a relationship that i am no longer in. i have two more days to work on it before i head back to the office so i want to clear as much as possible. i had to research the recycle guides that are mailed to all residents to see where i can send the newsprint to. already have a box full, ready to go on saturday, must get there before they close at 12noon. i know full well what game plan works for a cleanup plan like this one. it means doing movie watching won't happen, but i still will go to a performance of 'the messiah' on sunday afternoon because i already have a ticket for it. during my walks i found 1 dollar 80 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when zac asks leonard to be a sperm donor. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy go with penny and bernadette to a dance club, the couple kisses after they get home, then amy threw up. she has a smoking monkey in her home. 

frustrated passport photos

 i figured it was going to be a rather simple thing to go get passport photos at walgreen, and i was wrong. i get them done, along with some photos pulled off of my own camera, and headed home to have lunch. i read through the instructions for the renewal application and it says glasses are not allowed in the photo. so i had to go back and do them again. it took something like three attempts to get an acceptable photo when i made the return visit. i was already frustrated from having to return, and even more frustrated by the failures on the return visit. i said i was trying to be cooperative and follow instructions by the employee doing the photo, but it was still coming out wrong. so i said i just needed to go home before i found anything else that was going to frustrate me. so it made sense when i got home that i laid down and slept for a while. i really hope this is the end of this frustration cycle, as i was frustrated last night as well. it meant seeing only one 'big bang theory' rerun, where sheldon and amy test a rumor in their circle of friends. howard proposes to bernadette as well. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 19 cents. i also sent a letter to the editor to the paper in my hometown, a follow up to last year's where i said i would get the covid vaccine when it was available. 

charlie brown swatch

 in the afternoon i went to mall of america and got a charlie brown swatch. it is the baseball-themed one, official name is 'first base'. the box and bag it came in also has charlie brown characters on it. i got the homer simpson donut-flavored candy bar at another store, and a mocha shake at wahlburgers. in the morning i sent plastic bags to cooper's grocery and got a charlie brown popcorn tin there. next stop was dropping off recycle near the capitol. on to the copy store to print out an event ticket. then to spire credit union in roseville for a st. paul winter carnival button. finally to jc penney for using up the gift card that just arrived about a week ago. i made it home and had lunch there, and i was off again, this time to a church to pick up a ticket for seeing 'the messiah' this weekend. then i made it to the mall of america. so i saw two malls today. at the first one a salesgirl tried to give me a free sample, and invited me to sit down, at what appeared to be a soap boutique. i figured whatever they were selling wasn't for me, told them i wasn't buying anything. as i was leaving i asked what prices these products were, as expected it was more than i was willing to pay. and i gave back the free sample. during my walks i found 2 dollars 1 cent. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy had a funeral for their theory, and it was a crossover with 'young sheldon' where his VHS tape was taped over by his dad's football game. it was followed by the one where priya was sarcastic to leonard because he cared a lot about sheldon's stolen things in an apparent video game. it was also the one where the ladies get together and amy cues bernadette about what to call priya. i went to an event in the evening but i was denied entry due to forgetting to bring my covid card with me. so i had to go home and get it, and missed close to half of the show. it was frustrating and i pounded the steering wheel of my car on the way home. 

failure museum, mall of america

 this afternoon i saw the 'failure museum' exhibit at the mall of america. some things profiled there i had heard of, such as the edsel ford car, and some i hadn't. there was even a display about ex-president donald trump. i learned something while there, which is typical when i visit museums. i had heard of ayds diet pills and recalled how nobody would buy them when the name sounded too much like AIDS, the disease. i found out the product had been around for a while. the souvenirs i bought were postcards, a book of 8 as well as 5 singles. i got a mini blizzard treat from the dairy queen as well. in the morning i went through the potato chip bags in the bottom drawer of the fridge and wrote down how many of each kind from the past few months before sending them to the trash. now it is easier to see the beer cans there. in the evening i went through pens, testing them, and threw out what didn't work. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy found out their theory was disproven in an old russian book. it was followed by the one where sheldon couldn't figure out howard's card trick. before the mall i told off a condescending copy store employee. 

robots squirting ketchup

 i like how one can see art most anywhere. this was true with a bowling alley i found next to the nook in st. paul. there was a mural depicting 2 robots squirting ketchup and mustard at each other. there was cans of beer, pabst blue ribbon, in it as well. i did a zoom meeting this morning where the moderator spoke of this bowling alley and i hadn't heard of it. so when i was out doing some errand running i found it. this was in the afternoon, after having the car worked on. i stopped at a walgreen and got some cheese, and a cookie tin with a charlie brown theme. i was also on a 'fact finding mission' about covid booster shots. i was advised to go online and scheduled there. the appointment is for just under 2 weeks from now. this was day one of my week off. i liked being occupied for most of the day, but the trick is to have the rest of the week be full of things to do. in the evening i went on a walk and found 45 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj showers with anu. it was followed by the one where sheldon tries to have his own party when his friends go to raj's because leonard is dating priya. but he claims the 'new' friends 'were having fun wrong'. one of the things they did was sing karaoke. i also performed at an open-mic in the evening. somebody found me after the show and spoke of my story about a public bathroom. 

joe bell movie

 i watched a DVD movie this morning, a redbox rental, 'joe bell'. i recognized mark wahlberg, connie britton, and gary sinise in it. i kept telling myself to 'look up the marky mark movie' as i had seen an image of it on the display next to the machine. it no doubt got a reaction out of me at times, as it was about a gay boy getting bullied. it wasn't revealed right away that the kid had taken his own life, it was depicted after the dad was well into his cross-country journey that included speaking engagements along the way. i heard some pings from my phone during the movie but figured it could wait, and checked after the movie was over. i didn't watch much of the pro football games, just from the first half of raiders-chiefs. i filed away some online articles i had printed, and went to family dollar. i got 3 more DVD movies there, including 'the fighter', a boxing movie. and a can of chicken bologna. it wasn't until early evening when i dumped the movie back at the gas station. later on i went on a walk and found 81 cents. i also listened to the lorde CD i picked up this weekend, so i could destroy the scratched copy. i am re-using the case it came in. since my first copy was 'ex-library' it arrived in a more durable case. i have to give credit to the perfume commercial i was seeing on TV, using her song 'team', reminding me to get a better copy. 

home fries movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from family dollar, 'home fries'. i recognized drew barrymore in it. i didn't know much about it before purchase, but this movie left a lot to be desired. it starts out with a man admitting to having an affair and dying of a heart attack. drew's character is pregnant and works at the burger place, hence the movie's title. one reason i didn't like it was the brother feud, one of them kept flicking the ears of the other while he was driving. along with the mom admitting who her favorite kid is. i liked drew in it, but not much else. i watched the movie after getting back from errand running. of course first it meant having to dig out my car after the snowstorm. just as i was putting the shovel in the back of my car somebody wanted to use it. i said i would help them only if i get to use it. so i shoveled around their car so they could get out. they said 'sorry', i asked what they were sorry for. i dropped off recycle near the capitol, then got a vegetable tray and a burrito at cub foods. then i picked up one package at the post office, a CD from amazon, lorde's 'pure heroine'. it is replacing another copy that was scratched. i decided to be more careful when ordering, i only order 'good' and not ones listed as 'acceptable'. by the time i got home it was time for lunch, so i put in the burrito and ate it before starting the movie. after the movie was done i watched some of the army-navy football game. i also did some planning for having the upcoming week off, shuffling through papers in my letter sorter. then it was time to get my weekly grocery order at aldi. after that i was out again, this time to a holiday potluck as a meetup friend's place. hence why i bought the vegetable tray early in the day. he told me about an open-mic at a place i hadn't heard of. i like reading some from his coffee table books about beer, and both listed anchor brewing and the maytag heir as its boss. and there was mention of 2 kinds of budweiser, had only of the st. louis version. later on a documentary about musician frank zappa was put in. i liked the bite size chicken brought from chick-fil-a. there was even a 'husker du' board game, i had only heard of the band. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 27 cents. i found out the dude went to hill-murray, before the merger. 

gas station security guard

 on the way home after work i stopped at a holiday gas station, i got the paper and a chicken stick. also saw a security guard there, which is not typical. i hadn't stopped there much before, at least the inside part. usually i just get gas and then resume the commute to work. but i knew i still wanted the paper despite a winter storm warning in effect so it made sense to get it there when it was on my normal path. the cashier told somebody in front of me in line not to be too choosy as they expected to get busy, i think they wanted lottery tickets. i made it home to watch one 'big bang theory' rerun, where howard said 'i choose you' to bernadette and then was grounded by his mom. amy consoles penny, her 'bestie', when she meets priya, who is dating leonard. not a big deal to stay in tonight, as i didn't have anywhere to go. as usual, the news was telling us how bad it was out there with the winter weather. there was mention of I-35 near faribault being closed for a while due to pileup when a semi was blocking the road. i stayed until i was caught up with the overnight packages. there was 11 near the end of the day on business lines i hadn't seen before or rarely saw before. i got an instant message saying they wanted them overnighted and the tracking numbers, four of which were going to canada. the requestor said 'you are a doll' but of course it remains to be seen if it leads to any other recognition of going 'above and beyond'. when i was leaving work i already saw a snowplow working on the parking lot, as most cars had left by then. i still have some things to do this weekend, and i understand the storm warning expires early saturday morning so it should be no problem getting it all done. 

funko figurines

 i am surprised that i am still finding items related to the movie 'space jam'. when i was at walgreen for an afternoon snack i found a funko figurine, it was of bugs bunny. it says there are 12 kinds, although bugs is pictured twice. i have seen these before, as i have one related to 'big bang theory'. at work i noticed the chimes on the check shop doorbell were different, now it is the national anthem instead of sounding like a grandfather clock. found this out when a check was picked up this morning. more boxes arrived, these were larger than before, and the names i recognized were sent to their cubes. the ones not recognized were sent to the delivery table, and i let h.r. know about it. later on in the day i noticed the volume at this table went down, more than half of them were claimed. my weekly visit to hy-vee in eagan was moved up one day as i heard the weather report, a winter storm warning will be in effect on friday. i got a can of bauhaus while there and drank a can of modelo with the evening meal so there are still 4 beers waiting. when i spoke of this at the liquor store the cashier said they had been busy for this reason. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 37 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon's friend from texas, tam, was in town, 'he knows what he did'. penny and bernadette meet anu and they talk about raj. it was followed by the one where leonard meets a rich widow at a fundraiser event and does the 'walk of shame'. 'young sheldon' was about missy, as well as sheldon, having a case of 'the yips' in different ways. one while pitching and the other while taking exams. 

idle chatter

 there was a virtual meeting in the early afternoon, forgot to look at the schedule and it was the same time i normally take lunch so i still ate lunch during that time and ended up just listening. i think it was about returning to the office, of course i am already there. i said it was 'idle chatter' because i didn't know any of the people on the call and it seemed to be about a lot of social things, such as if a coffee shop was still open and who was bringing in food to the office. i recall what a maintenance employee had said when i was fine with a former employer cutting back on potlucks, how are not paid to be social. it was hard to tell how many of these people would be at the same office, judging by the names as well as the businesses being mentioned. my boss's boss sent an email about a check to be overnighted to st. louis, it was for over $6 million, so i sent the tracking number when it was available. otherwise i don't think anyone rang the doorbell all day. in the evening i watched 'the conners', it was a rerun, louise shopping for a wedding dress. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when stuart brought denise to howard and bernadette's and a song kept playing by sade if i am not mistaken. raj meets anu. it was followed by the one where sheldon asks penny for acting lessons because he isn't good as a lecturer, and students review it by saying 'kill me now'. during my walks i found 30 cents.  

'de' and 'of'

 i had three checks going to the same address in phoenix, memorable because the street was 'joan of arc'. although the system didn't recognize it so i searched online and found out it was 'joan de arc'. i know it is the same meaning, although 'de' fits the literal french of this name. i saw multiple emails from customer service about it, wanting check copies, which is not typical. i said there would be just one tracking number for it. also notable was seeing a 'zero' or 'un-printable' check on another file. i didn't hold up the entire file over it, i just avoided printing that one check and let the business line know about it. more boxes came in, sounded like it was 'return to office' equipment, except none were for my boss. there was 6 small boxes where i recognized the names and moved them to cubes based on the names on the phones. somebody recognized other names and took ownership of distribution on the others. i sent one to the branch manager and was told it was forwarded to our office as a nearby branch had been closed for a while. in the evening i reminded myself to check when some 'live' versions of episodes of 'facts of life' and 'different strokes' would be on, it was when i was watching the news. i made it over to ABC while 'strokes' was on, saw most of that episode. kevin hart was playing arnold. i had seen some of these before, so i know i can go to the network's website to see the full episodes. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy went on a scavenger hunt when they were trying to figure out what a wedding gift was. it was followed by the one where the friends took two cars to big sur for a conference and bernadette met an ex there, a tall man. during my walks i found 35 cents. 

6 boxes makes 25

 there are plenty of boxes of computer equipment that has been arriving lately for my boss. through the end of friday it was 19, and six more arrived earlier today. he arrived in the afternoon, when i was at lunch, and went through the 25 boxes and said there was even more on the way. lunch was also when a bog envelope order arrived. usually i am there to let the delivery man in. i finally got an answer about what to do with a check for over a million that was to be overnighted, it was to send it regular mail to the p.o. box on the check so i had just enough time to get it out at the end of the day. in the evening i went on a walk and found 22 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were on their honeymoon and sheldon threw away some hot dogs. and back home amy's dad was trying to hide from her mom. it was followed by the one where sheldon ends up helping penny on an app about shoes as he was being annoying and was kicked off leonard's team. for the evening meal i drank a corona with it so now there are 4 beers waiting. 

nadine in dateland movie

this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from family dollar, 'nadine in dateland'. i recognized janeane garofalo and john ross bowie in it. the movie is about somebody who runs a dating service but is herself unlucky in love. although we end up seeing some of the reasons why, as she is clumsy on dates. i bought this movie because i like janeane's comedy. i am trying to think of how i feel about this movie. the main character's friend, a trust fund baby, is a lesbian and this does lead to some of the sub-plots such as running into the friend's ex in a grocery store where they hide behind a display of little debbie snack cakes. a young boy, a computer nerd, is later revealed to be still in high school and that he lied about his age to get the job at the dating service. then there is the spying on the target of the main character's affection, in order to save her business- as her mom's ulimatum was to woo him. needing some help in order to do well in dating, that part made sense. but the deceit involved doesn't, as one can get found out. also notable was the john ross bowie character having his parents as part of the dates. i think this is why the movie can be considered a 'farce' because that is ridiculous. so i am ambivalent about this movie, as the premise was good but the end result left a lot to be desired. 

i still had some things to do, most notable was getting the laundry done. as usual i get it started and don't spend all of my time 'babysitting' it, as i want to watch some of the pro football games on TV. so it meant going back when i knew it was time to move things to the dryer, and when the dryer was done. i showered at halftime of the vikings-lions game, and got started on laundry at the end of the 3rd quarter, lions went on to win a close one. i had it all done by the evening. after '60 minutes' there was a program on CBS about the lighting of the national christmas tree, hosted my ll cool j and president biden spoke at it. some songs were performed as well. during my walks i found 1 dollar 71 cents. 

stillwater movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'stillwater'. i recognized matt damon in it. this was a free movie for me as i had 15 rentals in my points account. it is about an american student convicted of murdering her roommate in france. after watching it i realized this did remind me of hearing about amanda knox, and i did find some articles online where knox herself is critical of the movie although this is a fictionalized story. i like how the french part of the story is in marseille, a reminder of how there is more to the nation than just paris. the movie gets its name from the city in oklahoma, where damon's character is an unemployed oil driller. he goes to france to visit his daughter, and hires a private investigator to help free her. and he tries to do some detective work on his own, and a local actress becomes his translator. i liked the part of the story where he becomes a part of the translator's life, as she has a young daughter. he even takes the little girl with him to a soccer match, although the closing credits seem to say the soccer field they filmed at was actually in paris. the movie reminds viewers of how some things can be similar to american life- people liking sports, seeing the city's slums, and the 'code of silence'- where some don't want to be seen as a snitch so they won't talk. it is long, over 2 hours. but it held my attention for most of the time. in the background of one scene i noticed a fridge magnet saying 'i am charlie'- in reference to the murders at the place where charlie hebdo was published. 

once the movie was done i knew i needed to go out and get things done. i stopped at the post office, only one item to pick up, the charlie brown shirt from cane's chicken. i had to check my amazon account and found out the CD ordered just over a week ago is still on the way. one would think it would arrive quick when the seller is in the same metro area, but i guess not. then it was to the gas station where i dumped the movie, and on to the dealer to do an oil change. they claimed i needed work done on the brakes, i had heard this before, and i was given an estimate. but i prefer to have the shop that did the brakes earlier look at it as well. as i went to leave i wanted to use the bathroom but the door was locked but i knew the area well so i went to use one at a nearby cub foods. since it is a grocery store i bought some cheese, and another box of 'space jam' fruit snacks. surprised that i am still seeing them at stores when i saw the movie at theaters 4 months ago. then i went to maplewood mall and bought 2 CDs there at the barnes and noble. one was greatest hits by fallout boy, the other was lauren daigle. of course the latter was inspired by her song 'you say' becoming the 'theme song' of my chicago visit more than 2 years ago, my most recent visit. then i went home and went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. by then it was evening, time to watch the big ten football championship, the iowa hawkeyes were playing michigan. iowa trailed 14-3 at the half and was blown out. during my walks i found 2 dollars 8 cents. for the evening meal i had pizza, but not the kind i normally have as they were out. i had to use the conventional oven to heat it up and i prefer the microwaveable kind. 

insurance offers

 the only item in the mail was from my credit union, it was an offer for car insurance. i already have this kind of insurance, and like the company i have, so it went into my shred box. i've had these kind of offers before, but it is usually for accidental death and dismemberment insurance. in the evening i made it to hy-vee for my weekly grocery order. later on i went on a walk and found 41 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard was included as part of raj's lecture at the planetarium. bob newhart also was a guest star in a dream sequence after sheldon and amy had a fight related to amy being taken off her own research at the university. it was followed by the one where amy kept saying 'hoo' when she was around penny's friend zach as she was aroused. at work there was 19 boxes of what looked like computer equipment for my boss, and when i emailed it sounds like he will be in monday afternoon to go through them. there was some surprise as to how quickly they had arrived. i also let the branch know how their slot in the mailroom hadn't been checked for a few days, was told it was due to the manager being out for all of this week. 

amazon vans

 while driving to work this morning i was stopped at a light and saw 3 amazon delivery vans in front of me. i don't see this kind of scene too often so i got a picture of it. i have one order from them on the way and will likely place another once the current one is picked up. i also saw a sign in a parking lot that said 'no more sanctions on ethiopia and eritrea'. at work i found out there was more i had to do with my UPS account. it was no longer sending the notifications on each label created to customer service. so i tested it by having it email me as well, and i got 6 of those, so i guess that is back on now. at the end of the day i had somebody ring the bell and it was a branch employee. i said usually nobody asks about the mail tubs. it didn't make sense to me how an employee who picks up mail doesn't have access. once i had finished closing overnight envelopes i found this employee and was told whoever it was had left access in a car that had broke down. i said i wanted to have answers ready in case my boss asks about it. in the evening i went on a walk and found 54 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy went dress shopping. penny and bernadette said they didn't like the one she chose, but sheldon liked it. it was followed by the one where penny was trying to fool her dad into thinking she got back together with leonard. for the evening meal i drank a modelo and now there are 5 beers waiting. 

king of what?

 i went to see an old friend tonight, the d.c. native, who was in town headlining at the comedy club. when i was greeted upon arrival i was called the king. i should have said 'king of what?' but said 'that is elvis presley'. some others were there as well such as sub teacher, the sidekick, and chalm-skinn. i drank a bottle of grain belt while i was catching up with all, and hearing stories being told. one was about staying with arizona chicago. even though i did not get stage time tonight it was still worth it to go there, as it became a fact-finding mission. i heard about stage time at another venue, and how to get a guest set at this one. sounds like a few things had changed since the pandemic began. later on i went on a walk and found 95 cents. also said to myself  'the haves and have-nots' when i saw a man sleeping outside of a coffee shop. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and leonard went to texas to visit sheldon's brother to convince him to attend the wedding, they went to a tire shop. it was followed by the one where the friends go to a screening of 'indiana jones' and amy invites herself to a slumber party. at work i was asked how much stock is in a box of check by my boss's boss by instant messaging. it was around the time when i getting ready to send the monthly supply order, where check stock is a big part of it. i got locked out of the overnight label system and when i got back in i lost all of the 'favorites' or internal customers, so eventually i will want to re-add those. when i called our customer service line i was told i was 'inactive' even though i use it every day. my best guess was that something in the system expired due to it being my service anniversary, 18 months. 

returning inquiry letter

 i finally got an inquiry letter ready to send to the test scoring company i once worked for. i asked to be taken off their mailing list as i am doing fine with work at the bank. but it still means something to see the letter as i got work from them when others wouldn't hire me. at work there was back-to-back, or very close to that, meetings this morning. the second was the garden-variety team huddle, the first was done by my boss's boss related to return to office. there was mention of a 3 percent across-the-board pay raise if i am not mistaken. there was also an email from a business line where they wanted to cancel a check printing due to the incorrect check numbers on them. i said i hadn't printed it yet, and sent them to I.T. saying they would delete it so they could re-submit. easier to do when it hadn't been imported yet. in the evening i went on a walk and found 47 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy got married. i liked it because penny said 'park it' to amy's mom, then said sheldon and amy were lunatics for holding up the wedding due to science inspiration. pretty good having mark hamill as guest star, the officiant. it was followed by the one where howard can't get a security clearance due to FBI interviews with his friends, and sheldon tries to give him his spot. i am thankful i got some things done tonight, although i was laying down and told myself i needed to get up because it wouldn't take long to take out the trash or do the test scoring letter. all about being motivated i guess. 

mills fleet farm battery

 i went to my car this morning and it wouldn't start. figured it was due to the battery, as i was hearing the clicking sound. i popped the hood and saw it was from mills fleet farm. i had owned the car for over 5 years and understood this is the typical life span for a battery and called the repair shop, who gave me a number for the towing company. it was the battery, and now there is one from NAPA in the car. i briefly took it back because there was some rattling, was told it was likely due to the towing hookup and there was a simple solution for it. my vacation replacement was called in when i let my boss know about it. i said i still wanted to make it in when the car was ready and arrived just before 12noon, so i did a half-day. the main thing was getting the tickets for the refund checks submitted, and i did so just before i went to lunch. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 13 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when stuart hired denise at the comic book store, and penny helped raj discover a comet. it was followed by the one where raj's sister priya is in town on layover and leonard is interested in her. i also performed in the evening, the show runner brought me up with what sounded like a little kid or mickey mouse voice. the story with the most reaction likely was the one about a bathroom at work or changing lightbulbs. great seeing the performer who advised me to stay in front of the mic stand instead of aimless pacing around the stage. i have done so ever since and it works well for me. 

touching home movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from family dollar, 'touching home'. ed harris and robert forster were in it. i chose this one because it had a baseball player on the disc and figured this was going to have the sport in the movie, and it did. this was the story of two brothers that were trying to make it as baseball players. their dad is an alcoholic and lives in his truck. i actually cheered when the dad gets punched after it was discovered that he stole their money-that was intended for a trip to arizona for tryouts at spring training-so he could gamble and drink more. i understand there is a book about their experience of getting the movie made, after the dad died in prison. i like how they actually show them cooking the food, same thing i said about the movie 'winter's bone', the breakthrough role for jenny lawrence. there are scenes showing one of them in camp with the colorado rockies, early on in the movie. one was a catcher and the other a pitcher. one actor in it, playing one of their friends, looked familiar, my guess is he was also in the movie '8-mile'. 

i liked how there wasn't much to do today, but i still got out and went to cane's chicken in eagan for lunch. because they are still using charlie brown characters in their advertising. they continue to be drive-through only, and i've just had to accept it. i didn't watch much of the pro football games, but i know the vikings lost to the 49ers. 'the simpsons' was about homer's mom and homer seeking help from a therapist from his phone about it. i did look through my magazine and book collection, looks like i already have a special magazine about clint eastwood, from 2012, i know there is another edition in stores now. it was in the back of my mind that i had it as i recall mention to someone what was written about 'spaghetti westerns' in it as clint did some of those. during my walks i found 84 cents. 

old henry movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'old henry'. trace adkins was in it, in a small role. notable about this western was that there were no women in it, and the closing credits listed just 8 actors in the cast. it was about a widowed farmer who takes in an injured man who had a satchel full of money. i agreed with the main character's teenage son when he wanted to be taught how to use a weapon, but the dad wouldn't teach him. the setting was in oklahoma in the early 1900s, just before it achieved statehood. since it is a western, of course there was a body count. the injured man claims to have witnessed the killing of billy the kid by pat garrett. it was filmed in tennessee. 

after the movie was done it was time to get started on errand running. first stop was to my post office box, there was 2 items to pick up, including an eminem CD i ordered from amazon. then i dropped off recycle at the capitol, and made another visit to barnes and noble at har-mar in roseville. i got not only the companion book to the ken burns country music documentary, but also a thin book with stickers about the movie 'space jam'. i also stopped at the cub foods in the same complex and got a burrito for lunch, as well as some 'grinch' candies. then i dumped the movie at the gas station and made it home and had a late lunch. i had college football on for much of the day, and watched the ending of the minnesota/wisconsin game, gophers won so the iowa hawkeyes will play in the conference championship game. in the evening i made it to aldi for my weekly grocery order. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 9 cents. also notable about the day was seeing an inflated christmas-themed charlie brown display at cub foods, made shopping there more fun. of course i got pictures of it. 

cardinals season tickets

 it was a light day at work for overnight packages, only nine. it was aided by two business lines not sending any checks at all. notable among the overnighted checks was one going to the st. louis cardinals baseball team, related to season tickets. not the first time where i have seen a check involving a sports team. i had considered including a note saying i had attended two games in august but i did not, i figured i should treat it just like any other outgoing package. i did copy the label though, so i have the tracking number more readily available to check. one of those business lines that didn't send checks does account closures. when i inquired about it i got a response about other days they won't be closing accounts next month, so it does appear to be holiday-related. after leaving the office it occurred to me that a colleague was a no-show. i was told to expect someone on their last day near the end of the day turning in some computer equipment, but i never did. so i will just notify my boss when i return on monday about it. i gave my work schedule and didn't get any communication whatsoever on any changes, so no need to stay late as it would be the proverbial 'waiting for godot'. in the evening i went on a walk and found 83 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon went to meet a scientist that lives in the woods. amy got drunk early at her bachelorette party. it was followed by the one where amy wanted sheldon to meet her mom, and they did by webcam. after having the evening meal i went to the hy-vee in eagan for my weekly grocery order. first stop was to their liquor store where i got two cans of beer, alesmith and millstream, the latter is from iowa, the amanas. so now i have 6 beers waiting. just before i left work i checked the score and it sounds like iowa beat nebraska to finish their season strong. now it means waiting to hear what bowl game they are going to. 

take some, take all

well i found out it was possible to top what i had found while walking last night. i was walking past a laundromat and noticed some food on a table inside, the note said 'free, take some, take all'. so i claimed the 15 cans of tuna. the other things didn't appeal to me as much, such as a box of macaroni and cheese, or a bag of powdered milk. so i think i am good on cans of tuna for a while, something that is in my lunch every week. since it is thanksgiving i had two turkey dinners today, both were produced by con-agra. it was a hungry-man and a marie callender's. the former had more to it, and was higher calories as well. i had beer with both dinners, a leinenkugel and a schell, both oktoberfest, so now there are 4 beers waiting. and i had pumpkin pie with whipped topping for dessert for both dinners, although there is plenty of topping left over as it was just two pieces of pie. after having cereal for breakfast, halloween-themed kellogg frosted flakes, i put in a DVD movie. it was my annual viewing of 'planes trains and automobiles'. i've seen it many times before but i still enjoy it. then eventually the football games were on. the bears played the lions in the leadoff game, the bears won 16-14 on a last-second field goal. i liked seeing them use the 'charlie brown' theme song, officially known as 'linus and lucy', when profiling the personnel working the game. i knew i was tired during the second half, but i managed to make it until the end, aided by deciding to stand up. then i laid down and slept for nearly two hours. when i got up i decided to take my first walk of the day, it lasted nearly an hour. it was time for the evening meal by then. i watched some of the second game, raiders-cowboys, when i got back, raiders won in overtime on a field goal. this one was on CBS, and after the game ended they still had prime-time programming on, albeit delayed. 'young sheldon' was a rerun, when sheldon was asked to meet with a benefactor. then i did my second walk of the day, and all told i found 38 cents. i will likely get more beer when i go to the grocery store on friday. i also did some online surveys, but otherwise it was nice to have a day off and not having to do that much. 

box of crackers

 while doing the evening walk, i saw an unopened box of crackers at a bus stop. so i claimed it. near a dumpster i saw some thrown-out food and decided to claim the 6 cans of unopened tuna. it is sad to see so much go to waste. i have seen the public service ads saying 40 percent of food in america is wasted. i must be bringing down that total because i hardly ever waste food. expiration date on the crackers is may, so i have a while to finish those. during my walks i found 92 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when bill gates was a guest star. it was followed by the one where howard gets back together with bernadette, after he does the 'cyber nasty' with someone else. at work there was a visitor that asked if anything was different due to being right before the holiday. i said the pick-up time from the mailroom is still the same. there was a spike in the check volume on an early-morning file, well over a thousand, and there are days when it is under two hundred. most of them had a zip code starting with a 9 so that means plenty of these will be from california. i saw a gift card offer from meetup, but none of the available cards interested me. i don't have pets, for one thing. and the others were like a membership in a wine club, and yoga. my exercise is walking so yoga isn't what i do. 'the conners' was a rerun, it was before dan remarried. sounds like there is a new episode next week though. 

elmo on the back

 when i was driving to work in the morning i was behind what appeared to be a chipper-shredder truck. and on the back of the truck was an elmo doll. so of course it was nice to have something that made the commute less mundane. i got a picture of it when we were stopped at a light. i have some good pictures from driving, but i know full well to be careful about it. at work the box of canadian check stock arrived. i hadn't found the time to call about it the previous day. i was advised to do so by who had placed the order. also at the delivery table was two boxes of UPS envelopes. so i went back to the check shop and got out a cart for all three boxes. this was a rare one, where i don't think anyone rang the doorbell at all. usually there are some visitors, but not a big deal. i had to re-print nearly 500 checks after finding out most of one pack was shrink-wrapped upside down. i went through and confirmed the checks were identical-no more, no less. and the next day i will see about voiding the ones that will then be sent to the shredder. thankful i don't have to destroy checks that often. in the evening i went on a walk and found 64 cents. the 'big bang  theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were trying to get a wedding venue and it meant making a deal with kripke. it was followed by the one where sheldon's mom is called in after sheldon gets cats, as a way of trying to fill the void because the relationship with amy ended. 

no cue ball

 i went to perform tonight, and when i was leaving the venue i notice the pool table had a sign on it saying 'no cue ball'. guess that does make it harder to play the game. not sure what story got the most reaction, it might have been the 'couch gag' or the one about ads in a mall. at work the fluid bottles arrived for the envelope stuffer. i was expecting only one but there was two. they were dumped at the branch in the morning and i got out a cart and moved them to the check shop. i put out two envelopes of checks for the tax specialist at the lockbox and just after i went inside i saw a man wearing a vikings hat at the box so i guess they got picked up right away. there was a dial-in meeting at mid-morning, a quarterly one going over the numbers i think. i paid some attention to it but not a lot. as usual, i wanted to keep working, and at that time of day it meant some big check files were ready to print. near the end of the day i let a business line know a check wouldn't be going out as it still needed to be approved. it was 5 minutes later, but i still decided to let it wait until the next day. after i was done performing i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 23 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when bernadette had her second child, and sheldon decided to play a very long board game related to the second world war. it was followed by the one where sheldon decides to use a virtual presence device but still gets injured because he wants an autograph from a guest star, a founder of apple computers. i liked it because penny said 'you're not here!' 

7 days cake bar

 i ended up at the nearby family dollar to get lunch because it was really windy and i didn't want to go that far to find it. i found a hormel chicken meal there and i picked up a dessert as well. it was a 'cake bar', mixed berry flavored, by 7 days. hadn't heard of the company before, but i do see some offbeat brands depending on the stores i shop in. the wrapper said it is a product of romania and was distributed by a company out of east rutherford, new jersey. it tasted fine. i also got some DVD movies, 3 in all, and will have to find the time to watch all of them. while looking through the discs there were 3 others of interest and will probably not try to buy them until the three just bought have been watched. i did my annual viewing of some charlie brown specials just before i ventured out, the halloween and thanksgiving editions. when those two were done i noticed the vikings/packers game had just started, the vikings went on to win on a last-second field goal. next game on was cowboys/chiefs, plenty of field goals and the chiefs went on to win that one. i spent some time re-copying notes onto a larger page so i could read things better, every so often this is necessary. i had pizza for the evening meal, and 'the simpsons' was about smithers meeting somebody after homer fixed them up. burns took a while to finish a puzzle. then i went to read some more from the two books i bought this weekend, mostly from the history book with 115 different tales in it, 2 pages per story. one of them was about entertainer jack benny. then i called my dad as it was time to do so, it had been more than a month and thanksgiving is soon. during my walks i found 1 dollar 27 cents. 

protege movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'the protege'. i recognized sam jackson, michael keaton, and robert patrick in it. it was a thriller about assassins, one being rescued as a child in vietnam. i liked seeing what businesses were used to cover up the assassin activity, they were a rare-book shop and a dry cleaner. it was filmed in multiple nations, the closing credits listed romania, bulgaria, vietnam, as well as great britain. the story showed that not everything was what one sees on the surface, as there are some faked deaths later revealed. once the movie was done i needed to get started on errand running. first stop was the post office, but there was nothing of note to pick up. the orders placed with e-bay and amazon haven't arrived yet. then it was on to the barnes and noble book shop in roseville. i picked up two books there, one of them was 'anatomy of an actor' about george clooney. i saw it last week and said i wanted it because one of the movies profiled was 'up in the air'. the other book was 'shocking secrets of american history', and there are plenty of stories in it. i saw how it was next to another history book of interest, about theodore roosevelt on trial for libel in 1915. now that i have those two there is one left to get, the companion book to the ken burns documentary about country music. i was in harmar mall and there is a cub foods in that complex, so i got a burrito for a late lunch then headed home. i dumped the movie at the gas station before i made it home. i had college football on today but didn't watch it closely, after a while i fell asleep. i made it to aldi for my weekly grocery order in the early evening, then had some pizza once i got back. later on in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents. it bothered me for a while that i didn't write down a song i recently heard when out and about, but i seemed to recall the sentiment well enough to look it up online, it appears to have been 'anything but down' by sheryl crow. 

half pies

 i was looking for a half pie at cub foods tonight and was pleased to find one! it was pumpkin as well,  just the kind i had hoped to find. also got some whipped topping while there, in a bowl. i prefer this kind over what is in a can. i still made it to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly grocery order, after i was done at cub. and i got a can of beer at hy-vee's liquor store, a paulaner, my first visit there in a while. so now there are 6 beers waiting. during my walks i found 81 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy appeared on the professor proton show, after getting permission from sheldon. it was followed by the one where howard ended up at the hospital with the 'robot arm'. at work i got a compliment about the shirt i was wearing, and i told yemen native about it when i got home as he helped me choose it in preparation for a date. when i was in the branch this morning checking for deliveries i was asked how i was doing by one of the employees over there. it caught me off-guard as i wasn't used to anyone doing this when i make a brief appearance. even said so, but i said things were going fine. another little box arrived, addressed to me but when i opened it i found out it wasn't for me. so i emailed the recipient and was told to send it to their desk. once i resealed it and wrote 'forward' on it, i did just that. 

blue lightbulb

 when i got home from work this evening i noticed right away how the kitchen light didn't work. eventually i decided to replace it with the blue lightbulb that was in a little-used desk lamp. i think i got this blue bulb as a giveaway at a twins baseball game, it was billed as a way to support the police. i know it will get used more often now. i also went to the family dollar near me and got two more bulbs, they were GE soft white. i once worked for GE so of course they have name recognition. at work there was an email near the end of the day that recognized me for overnighting a check to omaha. it had been returned to the office i am in, i had sent it inter-office mail and not sure why it was returned. i say it is a case of just showing up and doing my job.i completed two of the three things on my list to do. i made a supply order for overnight envelopes, and called for an oil change appointment. it is a little over two weeks out as they still don't have early evening weeknight appointments. call center rep said it was due to covid, i am tired of hearing that excuse as it can be a cop-out. but i also know i have to go with what is available and i am unwilling to take a day off just for an oil change. in the evening i went on a walk and found 33 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj met a lady from his planetarium gig, and became friends with her husband. it was followed by the one where sheldon meets amy. i like this one because howard said 'good god what have we done?' because he and raj blackmailed sheldon into meeting her, after signing him up for internet dating. i drank a coors light with the evening meal and now there are 5 beers waiting. i also watched 'young sheldon', a weird one about his engineering instructor ripping up his assignments when he turned them in. 

checked the book box

 i told myself i needed to check the book box, one of them anyway, to confirm what i might already have in terms of what books of interest to me that i recently saw at barnes and noble. there were five, and it appears i already have two of them. the self-help book and the baseball book. so getting just three does make it easier to justify getting a charlie brown swatch as well. the self-help book i have as a paperback and the one in the store is hard-cover. the baseball book is probably from a different year, has a slightly different title, but still looks a lot like what is in the store. if i do get it i will want to inspect it closely first. so at this time it is not on the priority list, all in the name of 'stressing quality'. i hated the feeling of getting something i already had, it has happened before with each of the three categories if media i think-books, CDs, DVDs. even if it is not too often, i try harder to wait on buying anything for this reason. also because i know that cutting spending makes it easier to pay down credit card debt, and i like how much the balance has shrunk since the pandemic began. at work there was a team huddle, then a little later was the one on one with my boss. i was rushing to get an agenda sent for the one on one, after being out on monday and wanting to get caught up on my normal duties on tuesday. in the evening i went on a walk and found 70 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and raj had a rock band gig with bert at a bar mitzvah. it was followed by the one where sheldon and leonard have a fight, then leonard tells penny the story of why the elevator is broken. i also watched 'the conners' and it is yet another reason why i don't like the darlene character, trying to dictate her daughter's life. a therapist was called in to settle the dispute, and it ends with darlene telling harris to move out. i mainly watch it for john goodman anyway. 

fig newtons, goodies table

 i saw more goodies on a table at work on another floor. this time there was some fig newtons, so i claimed one and ate it right away. also nice to see little bags of doritos, and crackers. i claimed some of those but will be saving them for later. and there still was some packets of apple cider and cocoa, had one at lunchtime. there wasn't too much left over from a colleague filling in for me on monday, most notable was a check to be overnighted but need a physical address. i think this is one where i just send it regular mail and don't bother holding onto it in hopes of getting an alternate address. i still need to send a 'one on one' agenda to my boss, as that meeting will be wednesday. i would have done it today but i wanted to stay caught up on normal duties. not easy to do when i saw some inter-office envelopes to handle. they were in a tub in the mailroom and didn't want to wait for someone else to sort it. actually there was more than typical, as i recall it was seven. the number of overnight labels to do was a little higher than typical as well. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 16 cents. so i have enough to get a beer from the liquor store next to hy-vee when i go for my next weekly grocery order. after work i got 2 cans of beer at the liquor store near work, a modelo and a corona, so now there are 6 beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy were testing their friends based on who should get roles at their wedding. i laughed a lot at the end as amy said 'bestie!' and hugged penny after penny called her an idiot. i think it's because i would have done what amy did. it was followed by the one where a visitor stays with sheldon, and penny calls her 'dr. slut-bunny'. 

disciplined browsing

 i had the day off for a dental appointment in the early afternoon. once it was done i decided to look around at mall of america. i was pleased how i was able to be disciplined while browsing. i was at the mall for nearly 2 hours on a fact-finding mission and didn't buy anything. this was the third barnes and noble book shop i looked at. so now i have more ideas for books in their discount, or 'annex' section. also saw a charlie brown jigsaw puzzle there. next month when i have a week off i am more likely to spend money at the mall. this would include the mirror maze, as well as the limited-engagement 'failure museum'. i found out there is a swatch store at this mall, and there is two price points, the smaller one is $85 so i still might get a charlie brown swatch. even saw an expensive 'simpsons' donut-flavored candy bar at a store i found in the directory since hallmark has closed. before the appointment it was nice to do some more online surveys, and for breakfast i finished up the pancake mix by making some waffles. i went to perform in the evening, and another performer saw me at the bar just after i got my beer and was telling me about something he found online 'simpsons'-related. somebody who made a flanders hot chocolate. he ordered a pizza and it arrived when he went to the showroom but eventually he came back to the bar. i think the story that got the most reaction was the one about a technically vulgar song i had heard on the radio. during my walks i found 1 dollar 62 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns where when raj and howard were fighting at a birthday party and ended up in the bounce castle. at the end, sheldon and amy did as well. it was followed by the one where sheldon had dinner with penny after she and leonard broke up. and penny takes sheldon to disneyland. 

gateway movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'the gateway'. i recognized bruce dern in it. odd that the first scene bruce is in we see him but he has no lines. but he does have lines in all of the scenes he is in after it. the story was about a social worker trying to help a woman that works at a casino, she has a young daughter. the setting was apparently st. louis, based on some of the things in the background, but it was filmed in norfolk, virginia, according to the closing credits. a dead giveaway would be when there were scenes outside of an elementary school and the school's name is 'tidewater'. this was a crime thriller, due to the woman's estranged husband getting out of prison and resuming his criminal activity. there was a body count, as there was drugs involved. i cheered when the main character punched an obnoxious colleague at the office, but of course it meant that he got fired. i liked seeing his car in it, a classic chevy monte carlo. the movie held my attention throughout. 

just after midday i went to a restaurant in roseville and saw a friend who was in town, it was brawler. it was nice to see chalm-skinn there as well. two others showed up, but i didn't know them, sounds like they were co-workers from this restaurant. the food was good, cooked right in front of us. i had the house tea. then i went to the nearby barnes and noble book shop at har mar mall and looked around at not only the books but also the CDs and calendars. i got pictures of the things that interested me, and it led to finding out if i could find any of them for less on amazon. i ordered one of them on amazon tonight, an eminem CD. i still might go back to this location eventually and get some of the other items on my list in person. in the evening i watched the conclusion of a 2-part episode of 'the simpsons' which involved a shooting at a donut shop. it was a weird episode, to say the least. a review found online said it was a parody of shows found on netflix, and a big inspiration was 'fargo'. later on i went on a walk and found 48 cents. i woke up kind of early this morning and listened to the maroon 5 CD that i had just picked up this weekend, before putting in the movie. 

hook up to stem

 i went to pick up a DVD movie tonight and a lady asked me to help her with getting air into a tire. i said you hook it up to the stem. after that she said it wasn't working but i saw the tire go up. this was a day where i liked not having too much to do. i made a small deposit at the credit union, a dollar coin and the vending machine refund check. i went to a nearby book shop, and hallmark shop, to research what they had for charlie brown calendars. both had them but i prefer a larger wall calendar and it looked like only hallmark had it. of course 'selection varies by store' so a different barnes and noble might have what i am looking for. i went to the post office and paid the 6-month fee for my box. there was 3 items to pick up, including the amazon order, the maroon 5 CD 'jordi'. i bought ahead a little for sandwiches at the speedway gas station, getting two. one was for lunchtime today, the other for monday. the iowa-minnesota football game started in the mid-afternoon, i listened to it on the radio. iowa won 27-22, after trailing at halftime, 13-10. iowa did enough of the right things to win, that is the most important thing. the defense held when it needed to. during my walks i found 1 dollar 40 cents. i made it to aldi for my weekly grocery order in the early evening. it was nice hearing from the button, who sent a facebook private message saying she had seen ads for a snoopy swatch on the trains in new york city.  

soiree karaoke

after work i went to a karaoke event at a british-themed distillery. next door was a microbrewery that had tacos as well. it was time to eat so i got tacos and brought them to the karaoke site. first time i had done karaoke in over a year, since the pandemic hit. of course this meant there was no watching of 'big bang theory' reruns tonight. i heard some songs i knew, including 'la bamba' as well as a french version of 'those were the days my friend'. although i knew the translation was 'flower times'. the final song i heard was 'moon river'. i had been there for 2 hours by then and it was about time to leave and figured it was a good one to leave on. i did perform one song, wanted to do the french version of 'angel of the morning' but the jockey couldn't find a karaoke version of it on youtube. in french it is called 'au revoir et an demain' so i chose one called 'au revoir' by meghan oak since i did see a karaoke version of it. before i got home i made a stop at a holiday gas station  to get the paper, as well as a sandwich, because the tacos i had didn't seem to be enough. later on i went on a walk and found 31 cents. as i was leaving work i saw some boxes on another floor, so i got out a cart and moved them to the check shop. i knew that they were envelopes, the two largest were anyway. the third, a small one, was a toner cartridge for a copier. i stayed a little later than i normally do but i wanted things caught up as i am out of the office on monday for a dental appointment. my boss was in for a short time mid-morning, bringing two laptops down to the check shop for safe-keeping. two check files that had been arriving late fairly often recently were a little earlier, so i liked being able to get them out same-day. 

smartphone adventure begins

 i had the day off as veterans day is a bank holiday, so early in the day i went to a cell phone shop and found out what phone plans and devices they had. it was near an aldi grocery store i had shopped at before a closer one to me opened. i got a simple plan because i don't use streaming, cable TV, or sam's club. in the evening i let my college roommate who had helped me the night before know i had chosen  new provider. in the afternoon i let another roommate know what i had chosen when i was called. it was when i was doing the second of two calls to pay bills. usually i press the wrong button and lose the call i wanted to switch to, but not this time. i got the bill paid after hearing from this friend, first time we had spoken in over a month i think. my plan sounds like it will be slightly cheaper than the one i had. and i spent some of the afternoon going through text messages to glean the phone numbers i want to move to the new phone. it surprised me a little how there were about 30 numbers from family and friends. i also made it to a walgreen in the late afternoon for a snack, and in the evening to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly order. i am attending an event friday evening so i figured it was good to move up this errand one day. later on in the evening i went on a walk and found 38 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends tried to find bitcoin from 7 years earlier. it was followed by the one where sheldon gets drunk when accepting an award. i had a bottle of coors light with the evening meal so now there are 4 beers waiting. 

ramping up research

 when i got off work i saw an email saying my phone would stop working next week. so i decided it was time to ramp up research with cell phone providers. it led to me contacting my college roommate as i was hung up on all of the phones having california prop-65 cancer warnings. the response i got was that all phones will have this warning, nothing to worry about. it was sent in a text message as i was asked to call later, only seeing it after i finished the voicemail. i am satisfied with what i found online and will try to go to a place in the morning as it will be a bank holiday. i am hopeful to get it all done in person and have the new device before the other one is shut off. at work there were two check files sent late, again. so running them through the machine will wait until the next business day. the checks to be overnighted went out, although i went by amount and payee names as the check numbers weren't matching on the email request. in the morning i brought down envelopes for payroll, two full boxes and a partial one. 'the conners' wasn't on as a country music awards show was on, so i could more easily find the time to do the phone research. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 52 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj was a spy for bernadette as he was dating her co-worker. the friends also acted out their version of edison and tesla as kripke double-crossed them in a military project. it was followed by the one where they act out 'lord of the rings' by fighting over a ring. i laughed a lot during it even though i had seen it before. it was no doubt a farce in more ways than one. 

changes at general electric

 i once worked for general electric, but it was in a finance business that was spun off many years ago. my former employer made the news due to changes in its structure, deciding to split into 3 companies. the article i found said the aviation unit will keep the GE name, but the energy and healthcare units will be shed. i wonder if i will get any mail about it as i did at one point related to an offer to buy out my pension account. i turned down the offer, figuring it meant i would get it all now and nothing later. i still have a 401-k managed by GE, and i recall seeing something about a 'reverse stock split' although not that much of my account is invested in company stock. the number of shares has went up over the years, i think due to any dividends earned being used to purchase more shares. i know full well it will be a while before i will be retiring, but it is still a good idea to stay in the loop about things. it was my first day back at work after taking a vacation day. some things were left behind by my colleague, including a check to be overnighted to canada. sounded like he was getting error messages trying to create the label, i was able to get it done though. i noticed one check file had some duplicated check numbers, a small file, and this led to them re-issuing those checks. so it means i will have to void some checks and send them to the shredder. our tax specialist asked where some checks were, i said i only print what has been approved. found out the approver no longer works for the company, so another approver was found and those checks were ready to print near the end of the day. in the evening i went on a walk and found 28 cents. after work i went to the nearby liquor store and got a bottle of coors light, so now there are 5 beers waiting. i got one bag of chips out of the vending machine at work, i wanted two but it jammed. i called it in and it sounds like a refund check will be emailed to me. the 'big bang theory' reruns included two scenes where the song 'almost paradise' was used, one of them being after sheldon was ashamed of working with bert. it was followed by the one where stan lee was a guest star, and sheldon went to jail for contempt of court. 

resurrection cemetery, mendota heights

 i had a day off from work, so i decided to get over to resurrection cemetery in mendota heights. i knew how some famous people are buried there, including sports team owner bob short, and railroad baron james j. hill. i am thankful i went to the office to get a map, as this made it easier to find what i was looking for. at first i tried walking there from the office but this didn't work well, i made a wrong turn. so i got in my car after studying the map better. those two graves were close, in the same section. i also saw one for a pohlad, but it wasn't carl pohlad, the minnesota twins owner. it was harold, and an obit for carl mentioned a brother named harold. bob short passed in 1982, but it appears his wife is still alive, as there was no death date listed. this had been on my list for a while in terms of things to do, i had printed a page back in march about it from the 'find a grave' site. i did a little cleanup around my home as well, getting books from a sale this fall put away in a box so i could throw away the torn brown paper bag it was in. and i got some photo booth strips into a photo album, two from this year. another was from an early 2009 visit to tampa, florida, for the outback bowl, when the iowa hawkeyes were playing in it. some postcards from travels were put away in albums as well, actually the same amount was swapped out, all in the name of 'stressing quality'. two taken out were greeting cards saying 'sorry', not sure why i had kept them for as long as i did. i did my best to make it a productive day, including more research about cell phone providers although i haven't signed with a new one yet. i did an online chat with one provider and i gleaned some valuable information from it. during my walks i found 78 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and bernadette's kid said her first word, also when bob newhart appeared because sheldon didn't want wil wheaton to become professor proton. it was followed by the one where leonard wouldn't take sheldon to switzerland, raj went instead as penny and sheldon were both sick. there was no open-mic to attend tonight, the facebook invite was canceled less than an hour after it was sent. some mention of an attendee last week later tested positive for covid. i decided to stay in and turned on the radio to the monday night football game, bears-steelers, the bears lost. 

no time to die movie

 this afternoon i went to see a movie, 'no time to die', the latest james bond film. it had been on my list for a few weeks and it finally worked in my schedule to see it. guess it helped that the bears are playing on monday night, after two straight weeks on being on local TV, which is unusual when they must compete with the packers and vikings for the time slots. the movie was long, more than two hours, but i guess i didn't notice it as it held my attention throughout. notable was the opening scene was kind of long, because it took longer than expected to get to the showing of the title and the theme song. i understand this is the final bond film starring dan craig. the first one i saw at theaters was 'goldeneye', so i am most familiar with pierce brosnan as well as craig in the lead role. i have watched the others on video, except for the two starring tim dalton, and the earlier 'casino royale' from the 1960s. not sure how i feel about this one, as the ending left me stunned. many of the things that bond fans expect are in it, such as the martini. and the car chases. the closing credits do say 'james bond will return'. 

this wasn't the only movie i watched today, as i put in a DVD copy of 'wayne's world'. seemed like a good time to watch it when i had just seen a tribute show to the band queen this week. one thing i noticed that i hadn't before was some of the music in it. not all of it was heavy metal. there were two songs written by chris cornell in it, one performed by soundgarden and the other by temple of the dog. i am aware of how grunge was becoming popular around this time. before this i got some more items into the comedy souvenir binder, i was nearly a month behind on doing so. once the DVD was done i had lunch, and went to target where i was disappointed to find out the maroon 5 CD i wanted wasn't there. so i got the lady gaga and tony bennett disc instead, 'love for sale', and the maroon 5 CD was ordered on amazon. later on i went on a walk and found 75 cents. i am also deciding to put a winter-themed charlie brown bowl into regular use after the hard fiber storage bowls i was using for cereal both cracked. i found it at a fedex office a few years back and hadn't used it much yet, not sure why. because it had a handle and didn't look like a soup or cereal bowl? well i try to buy things only if i plan on using them. 

god committee movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'god committee'. i recognized kelsey grammer, julia stiles, janeane garofalo, and dan hedaya in it. the movie was about a committee deciding who was getting a heart transplant. in an early scene i correctly predicted that somebody was going to die, and they did, this became the heart donor. it seemed that everybody had a dark secret about their life. it was hard to follow at times when the story kept shifting between 2014, when the heart transplant happened, and to the present time 7 years later, when kelsey's character was in the private sector. actually it first said december of this year, and that hasn't arrived yet. as a history major i liked mention of robber barons, specifically henry ford and andrew carnegie, although it was in reference to dirty money. in terms of one of the factors on who got the heart was one of the three candidates happened to be the son of a rich man. it held my attention throughout, and as usual i paid attention to the closing credits. it also listed kelsey grammer as an executive producer, and said the movie was based on a play. and i liked knowing there was a sia song in it, 'lullaby'. after the movie was done i had to get started on errand running. this meant going to the post office, and there was 4 e-bay orders to pick up. then i dumped the movie at the gas station and got a sandwich there as it was lunchtime. also got some halloween candy, reese's peanut butter, out of the discount bin. i watched some of the college football games of the day, but not a lot. one of them was the army-air force game, from the rangers baseball stadium in texas. i laid down for a while and then it was evening so i went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 45 cents. i also decided to re-copy some notes in order to toss another page into the box of paper to be shredded. 

christmas merchandise, already?

 in the past week i noticed how some stores have put up christmas merchandise already. seems kind of early since i have plenty of halloween candy i haven't eaten yet. target had christmas-themed cereal, and so did hy-vee in eagan. the latter i visited tonight. i got an ornament there, as i found yet another 'space jam' item. another ornament of interest to me is the grinch, as i don't think i have one of those yet. i know full well i have plenty of charlie brown ornaments, as well as one of rudolph. in addition, for the 5pm surprise a radio station played 'jingle bell rock' when i was getting started on the drive home from work. as for work, not much out of the ordinary. a supply order arrived, some envelopes. doorbell rang and then the agent brought them in. the spare maintenance kit arrived, but much like before it was hard to find at first. found out it was dumped at the branch, and the branch manager brought it over before i had the chance to check there. i am told this happens when the regular UPS driver is absent. a colleague advised me to change my out of office reply to have people contact the shared box, not a big deal, a simple solution. of course this is my last act before leaving, to have the reply set up. later on in the evening i went on a walk and found 2 dollars 16 cents. this included a dollar coin, one doesn't see them too often. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and amy were working together and it led to some jealousy on the part of raj, as well as sheldon. then it became a parody of 'tom sawyer' because bernadette conned sheldon into doing chores. it was followed by the one where sheldon ends up in a ball pit because he is stuck on a science idea. he also tries menial jobs and eventually figures it out. i laughed a lot during this one, including when one hears the ring tone from leonard's phone, the voice of the joker from 'batman'. 

queen family sing-along

 this evening i watched 'queen family sing-along' on ABC. a big deal i watched it as normally it is 'young sheldon'- or the news- for me in this time slot. it ran for an hour, and i liked seeing some performers i had heard of doing queen songs. this included alessia cara, and fallout boy. the former did 'killer queen', the latter did 'under pressure'. my most vivid memories of the band's songs begin after the passing of frontman freddie mercury, with 'bohemian rhapsody' being in the movie 'wayne's world'. the song was in the lineup tonight, but i know full well it wasn't the full version. a year later, i saw the brian may band open for guns-n-roses at a concert in iowa city. of course there was seeing the bio-pic, also called 'bohemian rhapsody', 3 years ago. sang 'another one bites the dust' at a karaoke bar to get a free ticket to an advance screening of the movie. it was great to hear all of the songs that were in the show, but the MC left a lot to be desired. playing a hotel concierge didn't do much for me. but it is the sum total, so i am thankful i watched the show. later on i went on a walk and found 68 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny talks of becoming friends with leonard's mom. then leonard and amy talk at each other about it, sounding jealous. it was followed by the one where leonard and sheldon's apartment is broken into, and we hear 'intruder alert' when a security system is installed. at work there was a technician that arrived in the morning and did the installation of the maintenance kit on the main check printer. around the same time there was another visitor, replacing batteries in the doorbell chimes. two check files were late, enough time to print them but not enough time to send them out. but they know the rules on submitting them. so it rolls over to the next day. after work i did 'steal a base, steal a taco' at taco bell. so it meant i had 4 tacos, and i ate 2 of them tonight. after stopping there i went to a walgreen to find more discounted halloween candy. as the saying goes, 'selection varies by store'. it is the third different walgreen i have visited since they went on sale. so i have plenty of goodies for a few weeks now. 

haiku writing contest

 i see plenty of emails each day in my hotmail account. today there was one from my school, the university of iowa, about a haiku writing contest. i have done their writing contests before, but not haikus. so now it is a matter of if i can think of anything to put into a haiku format. i am used to doing writings much longer than this. sounds like i have more than a week to figure it out if entering. at work i got caught up on running checks through from the previous day. and i finished the online classes due at the end of the month. i did two on tuesday and the third was done this morning. i like how they don't take long to do. i also called near the end of the day for a maintenance kit for the main check printer. there seemed to be a communication gap between me and the call center agent, had to tell them i am not in a branch. 'the conners' was about darlene's son mark meeting someone, they do movie night with ben and watch 'casablanca'. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 8 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the 'council of sheldons' was called as sheldon wanted to be more care-free and wear flip flops. it was followed by the one where sheldon wears hulk hands given by raj, a deal made because raj wanted to go to a mixer and meet women. i drank a bottle of coors light with the evening meal and now there are 4 beers waiting. 

study the ballot

 i did not watch any 'big bang theory' reruns tonight as it was election day and i wanted to study the ballot before reaching the precinct, a school. it is nice that sample ballots are available online, must enter your address of course. an odd numbered year so not as many offices on the ballot as an even numbered year, but mayor was up for election. there was ranked choice voting, i made 4 choices and we were permitted up to 6. some school board seats were also up for election. i was used to the precinct being one i could walk to, but i am aware that things change. i most commonly have voted in schools or churches, so being back at a school is no big deal, plenty of space available. had to ask for an 'i voted' sticker as there weren't any next to the machine where i fed my ballot in. i liked looking at the wall of fame near the entrance on the way out, famous people who attended the school. i knew about the baseball player, had to look up one who had a mic next to him in the picture. as expected, it was a musician. one sign said 'so happy to see you here today'. i ate before i went to the precinct, and it didn't take all that long to finish voting. then it was time to go home and watch the world series, game six. the braves beat the astros 7-0 to take the series 4-2. the scoring started with a 3-run home run. later on i went on a walk and found 47 cents. at work there was one check file that had a much higher volume than expected, so i emailed to confirm it was correct. usually the file is much lower than its 'companion' file, both from fargo. not all checks went out due to the high volume, but over three-quarters of it did. just under 2 thousand left over to run through the next day. early in the morning i went to an adjacent building to send some mail over there. first time i had done this in a while. if i see it in the tub at the end of the day, it seems needless to rely on someone else to try to get it there when i am so close by. after work i went to the nearby liquor store and got 2 bottles of coors light from the closeout cart, so now there are 5 beers waiting.