cut cereal box

 i made it to hy-vee in eagan tonight and noticed when i was doing self checkout how the cereal box i chose was cut. and the bag may have been as well. so once i was done i went to the display and swapped it out for a box that wasn't cut. this might have been why the display said 'price decline', for a dollar less than the one next to it. this was for halloween cap'n crunch. at work i got caught up on running checks through the machine, and i was asked to pull some from a file. one was for over a million, all were slated to go to the same PO box. these were returned to the business line, in kansas city. i bought a box of baseball cards at walgreen in the early afternoon, a day after i passed on a box that had no price on it. i knew the price on this one before it was scanned, and it might be older cards but i don't care because it is cheaper. already noticed there are a decent number for the montreal expos, who played their final game 18 years ago, then moved and became the washington nationals. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 3 dollars 58 cents. more than half was found in just one place, but i could tell these were dirty so i put those in a container when i got home and filled it up with soap and water and let it soak. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when brent spiner guest starred as a guest at wil wheaton's party. bernadette tells howard's mom how howard wants to go to space. it was followed by the one where leonard goes emo after it doesn't go well with lesley. although he gets the courage to date penny and then hits his head while under the dinner table. 

check request from inmate

 i see all kinds of mail of course when at the bank. first time i recall seeing a check request from an inmate, located in south dakota. i scanned it to customer service and later in the day i was asked to forward it to another department. so i sent the email there and the hard copy was sent by inter-office mail as well. reminds me of how i once interviewed for a job at a jail in iowa, and it would have been processing payments to accounts for inmates. during my weekly visit to walgreen i also stopped at a barber shop on the way back to the office to drop off some mail. looks like there was pictures of famous boxers from yester-year in the window. a man was outside sanding down a table, and his dog was there as well. the backlog of checks to run through went down even more, and a chance it will be eliminated the next day. for the evening meal i drank the bottle of grolsch with it, just acquired from a nearby liquor store this weekend, so there still are 3 beers waiting. i got some postcards into photo albums, one was from a recent e-bay order. others were from my visit to st. louis this summer. the season premiere of 'young sheldon' meant something to me in more ways than one. liked seeing them use an REM song, 'losing my religion', as i knew it fit the storyline. it was when his mom tried to return to church after getting fired. but she said 'i have had enough' after getting shunned during prayers. i grew up in a small town so i am aware of how small minded and judgmental people can be. so i knew it was accurate. later on i went on a walk and found 47 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both about sheldon and penny. there was when the two have dinner together, after sheldon is chased by a dog. almost like child custody as penny takes sheldon to disney-land. it was followed by when penny touches his fries and is told '3 strikes you are out'.

two boxes for recycle

 this morning there was two boxes for recycling that were put out in the branch. i made a copy of the UPS labels for both so i would have the tracking numbers. looks like both were picked up, as they said 'on the way' and in maple grove. i am aware of how anything going by ground will take longer. one of these was the maintenance kit that was swapped out the previous day, the other was a toner cartridge. the backlog of checks to run through went down a little. during a dial in meeting i was running checks so i wouldn't fall  behind. it meant putting stacks on the table or on a cart in order to save time and get to the next run. after the meeting was done i got them into the tubs. in the afternoon i was asked to intercept 2 checks, i let them know i found out just in time. in the evening i went on a walk and found 37 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard tried to watch the nebraska football game with penny. sheldon offered the chance to fly kites. it was followed by the one where leonard said to penny it is not a date, and sheldon was trying to shoo a bird away. i watched 'the conners', first time this season, after making a note of the time slot. i had missed it last week, not knowing it was moved up to be the lead-off show in prime time. elk grove village was mentioned as a place to see a drunk shakespeare play. 

signature needed to re-open

 the business line in kansas city contacted me and said an account was closed by mistake. i was asked about re-depositing the funds in the account. i was unsure if this was possible, so i advised them to contact my manager. i was told it was fine as long as the branch allowed it. the branch manager said a signature was needed from the account holder to re-open it. so i had to let them know the check would be returned to the business line. i didn't want to spend any more time than necessary on just one check when i of course print thousands of checks each day. this started during an upskilling session that had some helpful hints about applying for positions internally. i will have to print the transcript that was sent after the session ended. still a backlog in checks to run through the machine because there was a high volume from one of the fargo lines. in the evening i went on a walk and found 34 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny said 'take your sheldon back' when sheldon was helping penny with an app about shoes. it was followed by the one where howard hooks up with lesley during paintball, and penny shot the couch cushion. there was something on the news about the NFL game in tampa may have to be moved due to the hurricane. although my searching discovered that minnesota was one of three venues mentioned, along with new orleans and chicago. all three are available, four if you count miami. although the article said miami is being ruled out due to not wanting to use state resources when hurricane recovery would be more important. three college games have had their game time or venue changed already, and one of them isn't even in florida. 

chocolate covered popcorn

 there has been some chocolate covered popcorn in the breakroom, left over from last week's potluck. i have had some but i can tell it is getting stale from sitting out, although it has been inside a container. near the end of the workday i let i.t. know that i didn't see an i-pay file. found out there may not have been any checks in that file, which is unusual. i had hoped to be caught up on running checks through the machine but it was not to be. the fargo files arrived late and i had time to send out one but not the other. i sent out the smaller one of course. in the evening i performed at an open-mic. i liked  how one of the guitar players did 'walking in memphis'. the one with the most reaction was likely about the covid booster. there was a performer that didn't know who was a storyteller, about masturbation, and i had to leave because it was just too much. it has gotten colder, so it was harder for me to get up and go to the venue as i was a little too comfortable under a blanket in my home. later on i went on a walk and found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon tried to drive himself crazy to be more productive, and eventually amy threw him out. it was followed by the one where raj and howard fix sheldon up on a date and he meets amy. they blackmail him with a dirty sock. i like this one because howard said 'good god what have we done?' when the two appear to be a good match.

french dispatch movie

 this afternoon i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'french dispatch'. i recognized bill murray, frances mcdormand, owen wilson, henry winkler, and ed norton in it. i was thinking i had seen something like this before, and i was right. this is a wes anderson movie, who had also directed 'budapest hotel'. wikipedia did say he is known for eccentric movies. this was about the final edition of a magazine, murray is the boss, but has a small role. it is mainly three stories. first is a prison artist, then a young man's manifesto, finally a cook for a police officer. actually the last story is the obit, but the fourth story is fairly short. there is a lot going on and sometimes i had to rewind it because i was afraid of having missed something. i liked it, even though it is considered to be a comedy i didn't laugh much but i still understood the jokes that were being told, as it is social commentary. 

 in the morning i went to walgreen and did a covid booster vaccine, at a closer location than the one i went to 9 months ago. i asked if the suckers were for the kids, but i was told i still could have one. i bought a few things while there, two pieces of reese's peanut butter from the seasonal section, and a single roll of toilet paper. then i went home, had lunch, and got the movie. i could have at walgreen but didn't bring the discount code with me so it meant going to my customary location, the holiday gas station. after the movie was done it was time to do laundry. i got this one just before the evening arrived, which is what i wanted. after watching 'the simpsons'  i called my college roommate in farmington, first time in 3 months. later on i went on a walk and found 58 cents. 

hockeyland movie

 this afternoon i went to see the movie 'hockeyland' in woodbury. it is a documentary mainly about two hockey teams in northern minnesota. one is hermantown, the other eveleth. the former has been doing well in the state tournament lately, the latter is the home of the hockey hall of fame and the movie covers how their school would be merging with the one in the nearby iron range town of virginia. i liked seeing images of the xcel center, which is to be expected as the state tournament is held there. but i liked how there was plenty of footage from places i hadn't been to, such as the small arenas in the northern part of the state, as well as the college arena in duluth. looks like it was mostly filmed in early 2020, based on calendars in the background. i had been to the hall of fame, a side trip from duluth. i like how a documentary shows many intimate parts of life, and this one is no different. not just at home, but also at school or while driving. there is even footage from the mr. hockey announcement, won by one of the hermantown players. and i like what i can learn from staying for the closing credits, finding out some of the funding was from the state of iowa, cultural affairs dept., i worked in records management there many years ago and it was put under this agency. 

as usual it was a day of errand running. there was one e-bay order to pick up from the post office. i also dropped off recycle at the capitol and got copies at the copy store, a  vaccine appointment as well as a ticket for an event, the latter will be in 2 weeks. and i stopped at a target and got some cheese curds, as well as a cereal bowl. i wanted a 'novelty' bowl, and it was hard to find one at first but i am pleased with the one i chose. it is hard plastic, so harder to break. and it is a halloween theme with jack o lanterns on it. so it makes me think of the band smashing pumpkins, as well as going to oktoberfest in new ulm annually. and i did lunch at home before going to the movie. after the movie i did some more organizing on online articles i had printed, getting many of them ready to be filed away. and it means there is a smaller stack to look through. in the early evening i went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. later on in went on a walk and found 2 dollars 84 cents. 

erie canal, the weavers

 i was nearing the end of my drive home from work and the new prague radio station did it again. they played a song i hadn't heard before and i liked it. took a little searching as all i heard was 'pete seeger'. found out it was 'erie canal' by the weavers, a band he was in. a folk song that sounds like what the show runner would do at the open-mic i frequent. it is about getting to buffalo. at work i cut own on the backlog, down to one day, sent out 5 tubs of checks. and i liked popping some bubble wrap, the last of what was left over from parts arriving on wednesday. i made one stop after work, back to a CVS pharmacy to get a box of dunkin donuts cereal. after i claimed one there was two left, good chance no one had bought any since my last visit just over 3 weeks ago. in the evening i went to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly order. except two things of interest to me weren't there, a cheaper little tub of ice cream and the paper. so i went to a holiday gas station for those two items. memorable was the cashier being chatty, wanting to make comments about the purchases. later on i went on a walk and found 2 dollars 30 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy got back together, after sheldon figured out the song in his head was by the beach boys. it was followed by the one where sheldon leaves with raj's date because raj was boring, and drunk. 

cards in wallet lineup

 the recent purchase of a st. paul saints gift card holder led to me changing the lineup of cards in my wallet. i decided i needed the hy-vee card in there more than the library card as i am using the former way more than the latter. so now the hy-vee gift card holder has the jc penney gift card in it and the st. paul saints holder has my credit union card in it. and i decided that it was time to get this year's membership card from the loft literary center in there, where i have taken writing classes, along with one from my employer with phone numbers of my boss and colleagues. previously those numbers were on a card from a repair shop, but i no longer wish to take cars to that shop. hopefully it will be a while before having to change the lineup again. at work i ran plenty of checks through the machine although there is still a backlog, but at least all of the checks from tuesday are out the door. still haven't caught a break on volume with the fargo checks, makes it harder to get caught up. one business line asked for proof of download of a file from this month, the day after labor day if i am not mistaken, so i sent them to i.t. as i didn't know how to fulfill their request. it was a highly irregular one. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 9 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when some of the friends were spying on amy's date. while sheldon got help to take out an ad to find a lady, but he rejected her because she was late. it was followed by the one where we meet 'the whore of omaha', penny's friend, and howard is interested in her for a while. in prime time i ended up watching two episodes of 'young sheldon', both reruns, instead of the local news. for the evening meal i drank the can of bud light with it so now there are 3 beers waiting. this finishes up the beer that i brought back from spending labor day weekend in iowa. 

hot dogs, granola bars

 those were the two items i brought home from the potluck. i brought granola bars and thankful that some were eaten. i got an I.M. about left-over hot dogs in the afternoon so i claimed two of them. i had these two for dinner, with buns, when i got home. there was more activity than usual in the shop in the afternoon, as there was 4 people in it. my boss and a colleague showed up, at the same time the tech did. boss was asking about a check in a fraud file, we ran the check number and found out the shop never got it. i had a check set aside from it being inter-officed to us, and this was one related to finding the water-mark. colleague was there to set me up on logging in remotely, although with what i do, using the machines i use, not sure why. it sounded convoluted to have to take home the docking station as well to get logged in, so i didn't take home the laptop tonight. potluck was scheduled for one hour, but when i arrived to leave the bars in  training room next to the breakroom i was told there was a team building activity. but i didn't hear what, and we were still waiting for it to start so i went back to the shop to get more work done. about 30 minutes later i emerge again and my boss said it was fine to pause things such as check printing for a little while. i had chili, ice cream, and some other things, and was one of the people asked to draw a name for who won some company-branded items, such as a stress ball. the check backlog became larger but now the tech has done parts installation so hopefully it will go down again soon. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 cent. the 'big bang theory' reruns where when sheldon was interviewed by the son of leonard nimoy, proven he wasn't over amy yet. it was followed by the one where sheldon asks penny what a tie on the doorknob means, when leonard is getting busy with lesley. 

tech trifecta? almost

 i was stuck in traffic this morning and there was some missed calls when i got in. found out one tech was waiting for me, it was for the copier. didn't take long to take care of the line down the middle on copies. the tech for the envelope stuffer arrived just before 10am, and my boss wanted to ask what was going on so i had to pass the headphones. call was short, and not long after this i was called by a tech about a check printer, except the maintenance kit hasn't arrived yet. so almost a tech trifecta on the machines. the solution on the envelope stuffer was to have more parts ordered as the sealing just isn't consistent enough. and for now the machine is set up not to seal them. i let them know across town about it. so we are back to having a backlog on the fargo checks. in the evening i watched 'monarch' on Fox but it was interrupted for storm warnings, twice. except those were for wisconsin. later on i went on a walk and found 60 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we meet 'uncle harvey', the name given to the helium used for the experiment sheldon and leonard are doing. mike rapaport plays the helium dealer. it was followed by the one where sheldon insults his boss and gets fired. then his mom shows up to help him get his job back. i like this one because it is where she says 'shower shirt shoes, let's shove off'. 

copier already registered

 in the afternoon i finally decided to do something about the copier. there was two things. one was needing to order another toner cartridge, the other was a service call about the line down the middle of the copies. it meant looking at an email a colleague had sent me last month. there was a link to use and it spoke of registering it. when i tried to do so i find out it was already registered. the cartridge will likely arrive within the week and i am waiting to hear back about the service call, but it did ask for the best times to call. it was disappointing that i had to call again about the envelope stuffer, but in the morning i noticed it wasn't sealing that well. so not a lot of checks went out. i let my boss know when i was called about a check that arrived, guess this was somebody who had called a senior leader on a remediation check. in the evening i performed at an open-mic. i did two 'p' stories from the bank, printout and potluck, which got laughs before i got to the punchlines. i liked hearing the songs performed by others. there was 'wagon wheel', by the wild dude who was on right after me. and then there was 'ring of fire' and 'country roads' when he did a duet. fourth was 'creep' by radiohead, the show runner did this one as a duet this time but not with the aforementioned guitarist. it was with the buck owens fan. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon took a fencing lesson from kripke. it was followed by the one where leonard goes on a date with penny but bangs his head on a table, after going emo due to lesley feeling nothing after a kiss.

family size pilaf

 around midday i went to the armenian festival at a church in st. paul. i made it with about an hour left in the event. the bake sale on the upper level was already finished, but there still was food on the lower level. i got a pork kebab and rice pilaf, found out it was family size. it meant buying tickets, i have been to events before that require this. i got a good look around, looks like a few changes have been made. some rooms have names now, as the upper level is called yerevan and the lower level is called ararat. i picked up some brochures, one was about armenian wine. i was for sale there but i got bottled water instead. when i got home i watched some of the st. paul saints baseball game on TV, saints won, beat louisville 3-1. i tried to attend a movie but there was a construction detour so i found a place to turn around. i am hopeful that i still can watch this movie a week later. in the morning i got some pages in the binders, and it meant taking some out. some were event tickets. i decided to 'stress quality' so it meant each event was represented by only one page, except for the governor's mansion tour in 2015. i didn't need menus from some events, and if a free movie ticket i could include notes saying how i won it. some of what was added was from saints games, the ticket and the roster card. and sports i keep in a different binder than the other events. i laid down for a little while in the afternoon, and in the evening i watched a rerun of  'the simpsons'. then it was over to sunday night football, bears-packers. i watched the first half, bears trailed 24-7, then went online and got things done like schedule a covid booster vaccine at a walgreen. when i turned it on again it was near the end, not much had changed, it was 27-10. later on i went on a walk and found 50 cents. 

yearbook, blanket giveaways

 i attended the st. paul saints baseball game tonight. it was my 7th, and likely final, of the season. there was two giveaway items, fan appreciation night. it was a yearbook, and a blanket. the latter was sponsored by the minnesota corn-growers, also the sponsors of the foul poles. my second, the other was a blue 'security blanket' like what linus has. not too many saints yearbooks either, i know i have one from 2004, my first year in the twin cities. there was rain in the forecast so i brought a rain jacket, but didn't need it. the game was scoreless for a while. saints went ahead 1-0 at the end of the 5th with 'little ball' and louisville tied it 1-1 in the next inning. both teams got a 2-run home run in the 7th, to make it 3-3. it stayed that score until the 9th, when a failed pickoff move at 1st led to the runner going to 3rd, nobody out. the sacrifice fly was enough to score the winning run, so the saints won 4-3. i bought one item from the souvenir shop, a rubber gift card holder with the saints logo on it. i have one for my loyalty card for hy-vee, it works well for finding it when i need to 'grab and go'. 

i actually was double-booked today. in the morning i went to a benefit walk at the soccer field, first time there. so i took plenty of pictures of the venue. there was plenty of snack foods for this event. i ended up with 10 wrappers. some were small granola bars, 'kind minis', some were keto snack mix, and some were jack links beef steak. i won a small green towel from one of the sponsors, playing bean bag toss. and there were advocacy comic books. the event was over around midday, and i needed to get to the next place anyway. this was the post office, where i picked up 2 amazon orders, charlie brown books. i had lunch, slim jim beef jerky and old el paso refried beans, then laid down for a while. when i got up it was time to get to aldi for the weekly grocery order. not long after that it was time to get to the saints stadium. late in  the evening i went on a walk and found 35 cents. 

longer grocery receipt

 tonight i went to hy-vee in eagan and noticed the receipt was longer than typical. i preferred the way it was grouped by category. but what can you do? i picked up another box of seasonal cereal, franken berry, part of the 'monster cereal' group that is available around halloween. also picked up a variety pack of granola bars, and this will be my contribution to the potluck at work next week. i am still holding serve on running checks through the machine. i was asked to hold off on sending some through as there was some mention of the 'remediation' checks being duplicated. i said i needed check numbers to find them. this was just before i went to lunch. i ended up pulling out more than half of the checks from one of the two fargo files today, and when i did i was told i was a 'lifesaver'. all in a day's work, not the first time i have heard it. an inter-office envelope arrived, for a manager, so it is now next to a box in the shop that will be picked up next week. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 13 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon interviews roommates. raj and howard are in a band and play 'thor and dr. jones'. it was followed by the one where sheldon and leonard help penny with a furniture delivery and then clean her place when she is asleep. i think this was the first one i saw in prime time when i woke up. i was watching the news and then fell asleep in my easy chair. 

unexplained printings arriving

 this morning at work i was seeing some resumes being printed on the check shop printer, 4 times. since i saw the name on it i emailed whose name was on it. this was somebody on another floor. i let them know it would be easier to have them print on their own floor. and how the printers are listed by floor number. not the first time an unexplained printout arrived. hopefully this will diminish it. i also decided to practice 'due diligence' with an inter-office envelope. i was emailed about checks not arriving, so i figured i should prove where i am sending them by scanning the envelope showing the name and mail code. i let them know there was two people with this name in the employee directory. while driving home i heard a country song on the radio, found out it was called 'girl on billboard' by del reeves. when i brought up checks to a colleague i asked about a sign-up sheet for next week's potluck. she was unaware of an email thread i was on. still trying to figure out what i am bringing for it. at home in the evening i decided to go through snack food wrappers and bags, doing a count of what i have eaten for a number of months. likely for most of the year as some were christmas and easter candy wrappers. the chip bags were about half of it, i wrote them down and put them in the trash. easier to do after i took out the trash, the can was overflowing. and i moved a box of potatoes i saw after getting off work to the front door of a food bank. i took one out and ate it raw. later on i went on a walk and found 80 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends went to mexico in a van and it caught fire. it was followed by episode one, where we meet the five main cast members. for the evening meal i drank a can of bud light with it so now there are 4 beers waiting.

annual booya list

 there are many events i like doing annually, and i reminded myself how it is fall and there are booya events. so i checked the st. paul paper and the annual booya list was published. i am trying to justify the ones i go to so i looked at the mileage first. and there are two that interest me, on the same weekend. one of them i have been to before. i noticed how one listing said the booya sold out fast the previous year, in less than one hour, but this isn't either of the ones that interest me. taking a drive on a major road might yield some more food event ideas as signs are often posted around town. at work there was a quick meeting when i returned from lunch. i liked how it was moved up so i still had plenty of time to 'close out the day'. it was about check stock and i said all of these three invoices are shipments that had arrived. it led to emailing the fargo people to find out where we are on the special project that has caused a spike in check volume. the envelope shipment arrived mid-morning, i was getting ready to call someone about it. a manager spoke of how she hated playing violin while in school, and preferred playing a different position than catcher when playing softball. in the evening i went on a walk and found 67 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon did the 'broken up edition' of fun with flags. and we meet mandy, who was the subject of leonard and penny having a fight. it was followed by part 2 of the final episode. 

overlapping shadows

 when i was out for a walk tonight i noticed some shadows from cars seemed to be darker than others. then i realized these were parts of the shadows that were overlapping. this was also a rare time where i saw somebody, and was asked how it was going. i said it was going, and didn't stop while i said it. during this walk i found 73 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy decided she and sheldon were broken up. leonard has a fight with penny and said he didn't expect to be spending his wedding night with sheldon. it was followed by the first part of the final episode. at work there was a courier just before lunch that called me. i met them at the service entry, they were delivering check stock, but just 5 boxes. still haven't seen envelopes yet for this month and getting kind of low volume. the fargo files spiked again, just over half were sent out same-day. a box arrived for a senior leader and when i got a response to the I.M. i was told it was their laptop. it will be kept in the shop until it is picked up next week. i sent some mail over to a neighboring building in the morning. it was tax-related based on who sent it, as one was from the IRS and the other the state's version. had to wait until they were in the office, had called the previous day and was told when they'd be in. while driving to work in he morning i liked hearing a song on the radio, heard it just before reaching my destination. it was 'fading like a flower' by roxette. i didn't know his one as well as some others by this band. like many other people, the one i know best is in the movie 'pretty woman'. just before midday i was checking for deliveries and somebody was working on the phone by the employee entrance and the UPS drop box. for a few days it had been ripped out, and the blue sign saying 'employee entrance' was moved to the door. the news said a broadway theater was named for james earl jones. 

i've been here before, sara groves

 i was flipping through radio stations this morning and i really liked what i was hearing on one i am not normally on. the song was 'i've been here before', by sara groves. research yielded that she was a high school teacher in this metro area, in rosemount, MN, before becoming a singer. this is a christian song, from the 2015 album called 'floodplain'. the lyrics covered things i am familiar with, such as staring at a blank page, wrapped up in a blanket, and shaking in my anger. so after work i found the song on youtube so i could listen to it again. t work i got caught up on sending checks through the envelope stuffer. it helped that it was a lower volume day. it was a challenge in the afternoon doing the overnight labels as the internet connection was spotty. but i was able to get all of them done by the end of the day. i was asked about how i handle investigation letters. just before lunch was a call from UPS about a check going to the philippines. it was the typical 'return it if it needs to be returned'. in the evening i went on a walk and found 51 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy said 'bye sheldon', a season finale. it was followed by the one where leonard's mom visits, but she just wants to do research, and leonard confronts her. i did an open-mic in the evening. the most notable story was finding free food at work. with the music performed at this show i liked the m.c. singing radiohead's 'creep', and a guitar player did conway twitty's 'it's only make believe'. show runner said the guitarist could be more enthusiastic, i laughed loudly. 

laundromat vandalism

 i passed by a laundromat tonight during my walk and saw a posting in the window saying somebody was wanted for vandalism. it was hard to see who it was based on the given pictures. one wonders why somebody would do such a thing. during this walk i found 1 dollar 22 cents. this was after watching the premiere of a TV show called 'monarch' on Fox, after NFL football. it was a compelling story about a country music family in texas. i had seen some redbox movies that trace adkins is in. the leadoff game on Fox was 49ers-bears. as a bears fan i was pleased that they were on but i am aware it was likely due to no competition from the vikings-packers game, which was the next game of the day. one could tell it was really wet in chicago, bears trailed at halftime but went on to win 19-10. i watched some of the second game but not a lot, as i laid down for a while but i know the vikings won. in the morning i did the tedious task of going through souvenirs from performing and getting them onto pages, it was a month's worth from a mic i regularly perform at. also went through ticket stubs from st. paul saints games. it looked a little light for some seasons, but then i checked the binder and noticed some years i had both stubs as well as full page tickets. after i was laid off in 2017, no longer working near the newer stadium, it is almost entirely full page tickets because i am buying them online. i also decided to move some transit tickets from various travels into the binder that has pocket schedules and business cards. it was a nice reminder of various travels over the years. with one i had to look up the area code to find out where it was from, it was northern new jersey so likely a new york trip. later on i knew i had plenty in the shred box so i decided to run the paper shredder, appears to be the first time in over a month. i filled a bag and a half. 

dominion movie

 in the late afternoon i saw the movie 'dominion' at the trylon micro-cinema in south minneapolis. it was just the second time seeing a movie there, the other being a marx brothers movie, 'animal crackers'. this documentary was nothing like the marx brothers. i decided to pay attention to the warnings, and watched some of it on youtube. i noticed that even though it was free admission to this screening, i was one of just ten there. the small crowd is proof of how this movie is not for the faint of heart. name recognition on the narrators, and seeing many documentaries before, helped with deciding to see it. because i had heard of joaquin phoenix, rooney mara, and sia. the last of the three was likely part of it due to the movie mostly being filmed in australia. it profiles various animals in it, and of course the meat of some animals is popular to eat in some countries but not all. sia was narrator for the segments about dogs, as well as seals and dolphins. of course the theme was to expose what the movie makers see as animal cruelty that goes beyond just these animals as meat- also as clothing, and entertainment. so it does depict horse racing, dog racing, rodeos, the zoo, and the circus. it is probably a good thing that i saw this movie as an adult and not as a kid. 

there was other things i did throughout the day. in the morning i got some things ordered, such as two charlie brown books on amazon. along with a st. paul saints game ticket, and signing up for a benefit walk. then it was time to get to the post office, nothing to pick up from the box. next stop was to the copy store, to print 5 things. this was the show announcement of the show i performed at this week, the game ticket, the walk registration, the reservation for the movie i saw, and a festival announcement. three of the five are next weekend. after doing lunch at home, i went to get groceries at aldi. moved it up in order to get to the movie. i did lay down for a little while after being at the grocery store. after the movie i caught some of the twins game vs. cleveland on the radio, knowing it would be the baseball game on fox when i got home. twins lost 6-4,  comeback fell short. all 4 of their runs were scored in the 9th. later on i went on a walk and found 19 cents.

life explores national parks

 it had been on my list for a while. and i finally bought a copy of a special magazine when i was at the hy-vee in eagan tonight, 'life explores america's national parks'. i have read through it some already. and as usual i learned something. it says the gateway arch in st. louis is now a national park, as of 2018. before that it was classified as a national monument. also liked seeing theodore roosevelt national park in north dakota profiled. as well as a photo showing roosevelt with john muir at yosemite. there is mention of how rockefeller bought an estate at acadia in maine. thankful i got it as i know it says the display date is for just 2 more weeks. so it might eventually be moved out in favor of something else. as the saying goes, 'get while the getting is good'. at work i continued to hold serve on the fargo check backlog but sent out 5 tubs  at the end of the day. and there was a lower volume of checks to print so now there are fewer left over for monday. i had sent a box to the delivery table but was asked to move it to a colleague's cube, after letting them know by I.M. and there was a file of 'zero checks' but i was sent a printable file by the end of the day. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 22 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the moms of sheldon and leonard meet. they argue about christ, as well as freud. it was followed by the one where the opponents of sheldon and amy for the nobel are exposed as frauds. 

sirius xm free trial

 there is not much in the postal mail, only thing today was an offer of a free trial for sirius xm satellite radio. it seems to be due to the car i just bought this summer. amazed at all of the channels listed, an entire page. it listed every major sport, and various genres of music. there are some music acts that have their own channel, such as the beatles, pearl jam, garth brooks, and willie nelson, howard stern has wo channels, and for comedy i see kevin hart has his own channel. probably will not accept the offer though. i recall what i said to my college roommate over the weekend, how had to i cut back on magazines and memberships. not just saving money, but also couldn't justify having what i wasn't using. at work i held serve on the fargo files, hard to get completely caught up when we are being sent remediation checks. at midday, the check stock delivery arrived. didn't enjoy knowing they just unloaded the pallet from the truck and left. it meant leaving the pallet, once emptied, between the two dumpsters. guess there are worse times for them to arrive, such as the afternoon. i still had time to get caught up fairly well on overnight labels, and was able to leave a little earlier compared to the previous two days. in the evening i went on a walk and found 94 cents. for the evening me, i drank a can of bud light with it so now there are 5 beers waiting, the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard gave a commencement speech virtually. it was followed by the one where raj was misunderstood at a planetarium lecture, making a reference to loch ness. i kept it there after it was done and did not go over to 'young sheldon' as the lead story on the news was the passing of queen elizabeth. as a history major i figured i should definitely watch the full news hour on a day like this. 

marketers arrived

 there were marketers at the office, who bought us subway sandwiches. i had turkey. two of them were in the shop in the afternoon, as they wanted to see my functions as well. i did not have the envelope stuffer running as it is harder to talk to people and be heard when it is on. i held serve on the backlog of fargo checks, still one day behind. hopefully there is a day soon where the volume is low as that would make it easier to get caught up. i had to re-route my commute in the morning as there was a crash on the road i normally use. so i ended up going past a movie theater and got a picture of the sign that says it will be re-opening at the end of the month. now it means finding out what is showing there. a return check raised some eyebrows, as the name and address on it said 'blah blah blah'. probably a test check. so i sent it back to the business line, in fargo. my boss called about a check for over a half million, i wondered if it was to be overnighted. the business line preferred this, so it was. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 45 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when howard sold his scooter to bert. and amy has a drink with HR as she was afraid of letting people down related to the nobel.

ranch style beans

 there was plenty of food for the taking on the table on the breakroom this morning. i claimed 9 items and took home 7 of them. one was a little bucket of ranch style beans from con-agra. at the end of the workday i heated it up and ate it, along with a stick of slim-jim. i took home 4 sticks of slim-jim, another bucket of beans, as well as a pack of cookies and chocolate fudge topping. as usual i only claimed what i knew i was going to eat, so i passed on the salad dressing and the pizza-flavored sunflower seeds. even though i had  a quick dinner at the office, i still picked up a bottle of tea and some peanut butter cookies at hy-vee before heading to the micro-brewery as i was performing in a show called 'punchline punchout'. i knew both of the show runners, one of them being opera singer. my word was 'clean' and i found some good new material from it. this included mention of maytag, as well as the hat rack that is a family heirloom. even though the crowd voted for the other contestant, i still had some people find me and say they liked my set. so it was still worth it, because any stage time is valuable. another contestant, assigned a different word, i knew as a show runner from a mic i did pre-covid. i didn't stay long after the show ended as i wanted to get started on my after-work routine. work went fine, since the envelope stuffer is humming along now. i have cut down on the backlog on the fargo checks, it was 2 days and now it is 1. still cut it close on getting the overnight packages in the drop-box though, because i was trying to stay caught up on other things. 

boarded up burger king

 it was labor day, and i was fine with not doing much today. i did take a long walk in the afternoon. i went past a burger king that closed more than 4 years go. i had eaten there before. it is now boarded up. it is tough to see empty buildings anywhere, let alone those that are boarded up. but what can you do? i have to write it off as 'economic darwinism'. during my walks i found 1 dollar 1 cent. i finished up the remaining chores and errand running. this meant doing dishes in the morning, along with taking recycle to the capitol around midday. during that same drive i went to a target and got three items. a tube of aim toothpaste, a bottle of vitamin water, and a pack of sliced cheese. i needed this day to recuperate after being out of state this weekend. enjoyed the time there, but it is still a 4-hour drive to central iowa. still watched some 'big bang theory' reruns in the early evening. it was when sheldon and leonard went to skywalker ranch. and it was followed by the one where penny gets an offer from a rival company when she goes to a conference with bernadette. also liked writing about family heirlooms, inspired by swapping stories with my college roommate.  

it's your churn

 i began the day in johnston, iowa, at my hotel, the americ-inn, just north of the interstate. as usual i like how there is not much on the agenda on the final day in town. i had their continental breakfast, a make your own waffle. then it was check out of the hotel, and get on the road. i still got some gas before leaving town, so i could go a litte longer before the next fill-up. it was at the price chopper, having a liquidation sale. the sign on the door said they are closing for good in about 2 weeks. first stop on the drive was the casey's in clear lake. i got one slice of pizza. the front page of the des moines paper had an article about the 40-year anniversary of the missing paper boy, john gosch. the other stop i made was close to home, the hy-vee in eagan. it was busier than a friday night, when i normally go each week. there was samples of ice cream, i got a tub of one of the 'it's your churn' flavors. a lighter order than usual, just 5 items bought, but all about what i need for the week. i got back home at 3pm, and i went to get groceries at the aldi as well. then it was time to get the rental car back to the airport, an SUV, a ford escape. i filled up the tank at the nearby speedway, then i went to the airport. when i got home again it was time to leave again, for the st. paul saints baseball game. saw cul-de-sac just after parking my car so we spoke for a few minutes. saints were leading 2-0 in the 2nd when i arrived, but lost to omaha 4-2. i liked some cards of art that i picked up at the game. one was an old map of the city, another was of baseball umpires waiting for the result of a replay review. there was food trucks after the game, i had fries from a BBQ place. and there was fireworks because it is labor day weekend. and there was the music. there was a catchy cover of 'paint it black' by the rolling stones on the video board. other notables were 'i'm a survivor' by destiny's child, and 'girls just want to have fun' by cyndi lauper. of course the other notable thing about the day was having to unpack my bag. dirty clothes went into the basket. the change in my bag totaled 1 dollar 28 cents. some was from finding a place in iowa to return cans and bottles. i had been holding onto them for a while, kept in a bag in the trunk of my car. and i claimed 3 cans of beer from the fridge in my hotel room, bud light, so now there are 6 beers waiting.

felix and oscars, merle hay mall

 in the evening i went to eat at felix and oscar's next to merle hay mall, with my college roommate. saw it all the time when my family would get school clothes at the mall, but i think it was my first time inside this place. i knew them as having an ad in the iowa cubs baseball program, it spoke of their 'pizza in the pan'. we had sandwiches, i had the italian grinder. plenty of TVs in the place, the news was on and there was plenty of political campaign ads. some were for senator charles grassley, my friend said he is 88, had already served 42 years, and probably wouldn't live out the 6-year term if elected again. traded text messages with my friend after the iowa hawks football game ended, a close one, 7-3 over south dakota state. caught some of it on the radio. after we ate we went back to his place, which is close to the mall. there was still plenty of college football on. i liked how he showed me things from his travels to japan. has been there 3 times- as an english teacher, in the navy, and then for his science work. one was a list of scotch whiskey at a place he frequented, and a book with some art that reminded me of a graphic novel- the one where charlie brown and the peanuts gang goes to japan. also pictures from catholic school, and the story of being willed a chair i was sitting in by his grandfather. since i had already paid for my hotel room, i left his place after one of the games ended. ohio state beat notre dame. 

just before midday i got to see my niece and her baby at the dairy queen in waukee. she brought her dog as well, a pomeranian. i presented a gift card from target, and a picture frame i wasn't using. it was nice to catch up on things, and i saw that i got a picture near the end of the visit. hard to tell at this point, as to when the next  family event would be, it might be a wedding or  graduation. her siblings couldn't make it but i would have been fine with seeing them. we talked outside the store, and when she left i went inside and got a pumpkin pie blizzard. it was lunchtime by then, so i went across the road to the taco john's. also notable about the day was trading texts with a classmate, but visiting the classmate was  a no-go. there is some mention of this classmate coming to visit me in the twin cities at some point. it was one reason why i didn't visit my hometown of newton this time, even though it is close to des moines. i usually just do a quick tour anyway, about an hour, sometimes just driving past some familiar places. 

montana shirt

 a patron in front of me tonight had a montana shirt on, might be the young lady's school. i was at the airport picking up the rental car for the road trip to iowa for the weekend. i didn't get started as early as i had hoped on the drive, because i wanted to see that other things were done first, such a paying a bill. and i still had to pack a bag, but that doesn't take long. i still watched some 'big bang theory' reruns before departing to get the car. it was when the friends had the last meal made by howard's mom. and it was followed by the one with the celebrity d and d game with wiliam shatner and kareem abdul-jabbar. things got better at work, because the parts arrived and so did the tech. once he arrived i said we need to check the branch, and the box was there. i sent 5 tubs of mail out at the end of the day, there still is a backlog but i hope to eliminate it when i get back on tuesday. 

  i liked how the drive to iowa, once i got started, was largely uneventful as usual. as expected, the farther into the drive, the thinner the car traffic was. because i was farther away from the twin cities and later at night as well. i liked how i needed just one stop along the way, near the state line. pretty much halfway into the drive by then. i made it to the hotel in the des moines area around 12:30 at night. i did a little writing about my drive in my hotel room, while drinking a beer and eating some peanuts, but when the pen ran out i was done. there wasn't much left to write about by then, and i wanted to get some rest as i planned on seeing some family and friends while in town. listened to plenty of music during the drive, one song in particular spoke well about performing, so i could relate to it. this was 'took a pill' by mike posner. 

tools picked up

 technician called just before midday and asked if there was tools left behind in the shop. i said there was an oily rag and two screwdrivers. so about 30 minutes later he showed up and i brought them up. this seemed to be the highlight of the day as the machine was sealing well, until it didn't. still waiting for parts, and there is still a backlog. i got the overnight packages sent up just in time to be picked up, and saw the driver this time. my boss called in the morning to confirm the type of expansion tray needed for a check printer. first time doing an oil change for the car across the street. and it was fine to leave it there until i left for the day. in the evening i did some errand running. i printed some things, including a saints baseball ticket, and stopped to get a greeting card at walgreen. i was called about stage time, but didn't see the voicemail right away. during my walks i found 1 dollar 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon applied to live on mars. it was followed by the one where raj and anu does a weightless in space simulation with bernadette. i drank the can of warpigs with the evening meal so now 3 beers are waiting.