somewhere only we know

 wrote down these words on a receipt when dining out a week ago. looked it up and i like hearing the song again, somewhere only we know'. online searching said it was by keane, and later covered by lily allen. in the afternoon i watched my favorite movie, 'good will hunting', on DVD. This evening i am watching 'new years rocking eve' on ABC as green day is one of the performers. they played 'american idiot' and 'holiday'. later on it was 'basket case' and 'welcome to paradise'. during my walk i found 84 cents.

john wick movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'john wick'. i used points to make it a free rental. i like suspense and thriller movies, it was why i chose this one. this movie does something that some others do, start off with the ending. it was not too surprising that john survives despite his injuries, as i was aware this wasn't the only movie in the franchise. it is now up to the fourth. but there is still what i call 'the thrill of the chase', finding out how we get there. at first it was hard to understand why we see keanu reeves, as john wick, getting beat up in his own home. but this was the set-up for the rest of the story. gangsters kill his dog and steal his car, then john decides to come out of retirement to kill these thugs. of course i like seeing his car was a classic ford mustang. i also liked seeing the 'mayhem guy' from the allstate commercials in it- as one of the gangsters. after the movie was done i went to the post office, there were no orders to pick up. then it was on to eagan to dump the movie, at cub foods. i had lunch at the nearby taco bell, third time i've had their five-dollar box deal since i saw the commercial with a green day song since thanksgiving. and i made it over to the walgreen, not much christmas candy left but i bought two pieces of reese's peanut butter. and i saw a greeting card in french in the card shop, so i picked this up as well. it will be fun to translate it. when i got back i picked up my new pair of glasses from pearle vision, then went home and laid down for a while. then i got groceries at aldi, and had the evening meal, the leftovers from taco bell. i stayed in for the evening as i saw the winter weather coming in when i went to aldi. i watched a charlie brown DVD, inspired by finding out i have one special, 'you're the greatest', on three different discs. i watched the one that has 'you're a good sport', about motocross, which has 'you're the greatest', about the decathlon, as the bonus episode. and i did some planning and found out one of the iowa vs. minnesota men's basketball games is on super bowl sunday. so my super bowl weekend is pretty much already booked now. one event ticket already ordered and another will be soon enough. i will listen to the game on the radio, before the super bowl begins. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 37 cents.

fortune cookie card

 i went to hy-vee in eagan tonight for groceries. i like getting a good look around and this includes looking at the greeting cards. there was one about fortune cookies and when not to add 'in bed' to them. this is a joke i learned back in college. just nine items were bought. at work the tech arrived but it meant ordering parts so i sent out as many checks as i could. it meant getting started on manually stuffing when i got back from lunch. all but the fargo files went out. i was annoyed when a colleague who always insists on being right tried to diagnose it based on what little i said over the phone. this was when talking about it in a meeting about some changes that will take effect in check printing starting next week. even my vacation replacement knew what was happening had nothing to do with envelope placement. i was sent an online version of the owner's manual but the tech arrived shortly after it was sent. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 cent. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard slept with a wealthy older woman to get money for the university. it was followed by the one where leonard makes a deal to get a venue for sheldon and amy's wedding.

scraping and knocking

 back at work after a day off, and the machine was running fine, until it wasn't. i was hearing scraping sounds, then knocking sounds. then it quit on me near the end of the day, nothing getting through. so i still have no choice but to place a service call even though the delivery date on the newer unit is next week as i want to get checks sent out before then. i knew i likely wouldn't hear from a tech as the call was placed late in the day. still fairly low volume on overnights, didn't see any i-pay files and no early morning file either. mid-morning was a dial-in meeting with my boss, about my performance evaluation. there might be another one later, about a pay raise as i recall. i picked up a can of ursa minor from the nearby liquor store in the evening so now there are four beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we meet tam, sheldon's friend from texas. and we meet anu, raj's lady friend. it was followed by the one where sheldon starts a long board game, then howard and bernadette go to the hospital and have their second child.

pearle vision, golden corral

 it was a day off for me. i had an eye appointment in the morning, at pearle vision in my neighborhood. my first in just over six years. then i went to a nearby book shop and bought two baseball reference books. it was midday by then so i went to the golden corral in maplewood, near the mall. i had this idea for a while, as i once worked at one back in high school. one reason why it took a while to get there is there are plenty of other eating places much closer than this one. plenty of food choices available there of course, as it is a buffet. and i made the most of it, having meatloaf, a little ham sandwich, fish, as well as some pizza. i had some soft-serve ice cream at the end of my visit. then it was on to the best buy to use a gift certificate. i had hoped to get a movie but all of them appeared to be blue-ray. so i did some more looking around and got some baseball cards. i found a scanner near the back of the store so i wasn't surprised at all when it was rung up near the front. i printed two more pics at walgreen after this. i wanted to do more but the machine had a limit on how many photos could be loaded and viewed. in the evening i watched the holiday bowl on Fox, USC beat louisville 42-28. i ordered a Charlie brown special on e-bay as well. i tried to bid on one but was outbid at the last minute. so i chose to get another one i didn't have yet, albeit a VHS tape. during my walks i found 2 dollars 8 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and raj fought in a bounce house at a birthday party, then sheldon and amy are seen going there later on. it was followed by the one where leonard tried to write a book and tries to figure out who the female character is based upon.

video researching

 when i returned to work after the three days off i spoke to a colleague by i.m. about how i stayed active on those days. it was after i was asked to send a fax on the upper floor since many are working from home this week. i spoke of the shows on DVD and VHS i had watched. some were charlie brown specials. then i spoke of how there are four that i don't have yet because they are hard to find, and not released on DVD. in the evening i did some researching on these videos. all four were released on VHS, so if i am fine with buying on that format then i will cross some more off that list. some are more expensive than others. surprised me a little how some have more listings available on e-bay than amazon, and cheaper there as well. i did order one CD from amazon, luke combs, as the cover of 'fast car' became the theme song for my st. louis visit this summer. at work there still was low volume on checks to print, not a lot of overnights. the i-pay file is still mostly regular mail, this is not typical. and the file from kansas city hasn't sent anything, this is another big source for overnights. not complaining about it. i did place a service call for the envelope stuffer after telling my vacation replacement how i was running them without sealing for a few days. and how the next day will be a day off for me, so someone else will be letting the tech in. when we have a delivery date of next week for the newer unit i hesitated to place the call, but i did so in the afternoon. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 70 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon went to texas to help with his sister having a baby. while the friends talk about what life would have been like without sheldon, inspired by 'it's a wonderful life'. it was followed by the one where raj meets a lady from his planetarium gig and then her husband, she was only separated. then he becomes friends with the husband.

VHS day

 recently i bought a VHS tape from e-bay, first time in a while. it was called 'grand slam', interviews with baseball players, hosted by dick schaap, released in 1988. figured if i was watching that one then i should make it worth my while and watch some others on the same day. due to the rainy weather for much of the day, i watched six in all. the others were st. louis cardinals centennial, bonjour les amis, rites of autumn, peanuts on parade, and classic commercials. i recall writing about the commercials tape in a writing class, critical writing. i used an older TV that i knew would be compatible with the VHS hook-ups, albeit a smaller screen, for this 'VHS day'. looking at what is in the box, 27 VHS tapes in all, it might inspire me to try to find the same movie on DVD so i can replace a few more of those tapes. i ate two turkey dinners and had english muffins with them, along with blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream. i drank the cans of schell's, and spiral, with these meals so now three beers are waiting. both cans said they were oktoberfest edition. despite the rain i still went out for a walk late in the day and found 25 cents. i tried to watch 'yule log' on channel 45, or 5-2, but it was different this year, only saw the fireplace and no music. at one point it said to tune into a radio station, 94.5, for the music but i didn't feel like doing that.

caffrey and ragstock, uptown

most notable about the day was going to uptown minneapolis to have lunch with a friend, yemen native. we had sandwiches at caffrey, close to up-down, a gaming place i had been to early in the year. then it was on to walk around the area and we ended up at ragstock, a place i was familiar with from going to college in iowa city. my pal was running late but i didn't mind too much, sat on a bench outside the sandwich place. i was hearing music from the next-door business, wrote down some lyrics and looked it up on my phone. it was lorde's 'white teeth teens'. really like the drumming in it. shocking? shouldn't be, i say this all the time about the music i like- how drumming makes the difference. i have the CD it is on, 'pure heroine', so i listened to it when i got home. back to the time in uptown of course. it is not too often that i get to do anything like this with comedy friends, seeing them away from the clubs that is. so it is no doubt a more substantial friend from the performing circuit than most. even was given a shirt that will go next to the others i have from comedy friends. and it was nice to talk about more than just performing. at ragstock he got an ugly sweater, i got two little buttons. i parked in uptown south of lake street, near a park next to what was either puke or spilled taco salad. when i got home i did laundry. and i watched two more christmas specials, the grinch and then charlie brown. late in the evening i went to church for christmas eve services. it will be memorable as the service was paused during an anthem by the choir as a member of the choir fainted, so the EMS was called. she was fine but she left to get checked at the hospital, and the service resumed. during my walks i found 11 cents.

kura revolving sushi bar

 this evening i went to mall of america and ate at the kura revolving sushi bar. i had eight little plates then said i am full. one was a tart and another was watermelon. i marveled at the technology on display. there was ordering which led to the plate being shot down the upper track. otherwise it was choosing something off of the lower belt. empty plates were counted when they were put down a slot to know my bill. i got two charlie brown souvenirs, the reason why i ate there. one was a pon with a button in it, like the ball which had a figurine in it that i got from the yen shop a few days earlier. the other was a thin plastic ornament. a young lady sitting next to me said ordering plates was a good idea as those are fresher. i also noticed some on the lower belt were empty. before i made it there i got a smashed penny from outside a toy store nearby, a giraffe on it. and i got a few small items at walgreen, including  some cough drops. after i was done at the mall i went to sing karaoke in another town. i did 'wake me up when september ends' by green day, and '9 to 5' by dolly parton. i got plenty done before the evening as well. watched two christmas shows, then a third after karaoke. there was christmas vacation, rudolph, and frosty. there are two more that i will be doing an annual viewing of. stopped at the post office, two orders picked up including the bowl game button. dropped off recycle at the capitol, and had lunch at jersey mike's. and i got groceries at aldi before i went to the mall. during my walks i found 89 cents.

all are rudolph?

 i did a walk during my lunch while at work. one thing i saw was a sign saying a business would be closed for the holidays. nothing unusual there, except it was a cartoon picture of santa and his reindeer- all three seemed to be red-nosed, so all are rudolph? as expected, it was a low volume day, especially on the overnights. i have done the last weekday before christmas before, and i know some business lines don't send anything that close to the holiday. so it meant i got out a little earlier than i typically do, and made it home in time to see a rerun of  'young sheldon', on the same channel where i watch 'big bang theory' since labor day. it was about sheldon getting in trouble with paige at a museum when they were there to attend a lecture. the 'big bang' reruns were when santa showed up to call sheldon a dork, in reference to one of his wishes as a kid, missing pop-pop. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy are testing their friends to see who gets roles in their wedding. i laughed a lot when amy called penny 'bestie!' and ran to hug her after penny said 'you're an idiot'. it was another week of the hy-vee visit being delayed due to watching another dolly parton movie on NBC, the third and final of the season. this was about buying the parents wedding rings. we see dolly appear as a mysterious woman to young dolly, likely a guardian angel. during my walks i found 50 cents.

christmas at graceland

 this evening there was two more specials to watch. there was christmas at graceland, then the second dolly parton movie of the season. the first one had some performers i liked seeing, starting off with lana del rey. another was alanis morissette, and i am familiar with kacey musgraves as well. i had seen alanis in concert  many years ago. there was some archival footage of elvis presley shown throughout this special. the dolly parton movie was 'magic mountain', and some of the dollywood park was shown in it. also nice seeing some performers i recognized in this one, including willie nelson as one of the wise men. billy ray cyrus was another of the three wise men, and she sings with billy's daughter, miley, as well. at work there were complaints about unsealed envelopes, so in the afternoon i set up the machine to run them through and don't even try sealing them. there was a delivery date given for the replacement machine, in just under two weeks. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 1 cent. i also picked up a bottle of modelo, and drank the can of warpigs with my meal, so there still are five beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny gets drunk with leonard's mom, a christmas episode. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy try to plan their wedding, then call off a courthouse wedding at the last minute. raj gets a job at the planetarium. my online searches yielded two things. found out there is a snoopy museum in the suburbs of tokyo, japan. it is a satellite of the one in california. the other is that the upcoming season of 'young sheldon' will be the seventh, and final, one.

ebisu, mall of america

 this was a day off for me, decided it would be 'mall of america day'. and it meant finding multiple charlie brown items. one of these was from ebisu, have to give credit to my college roommate for that one. this store is like a 100-yen shop in japan. in the back i saw some vending machines, one of them had charlie brown figurines. i put tokens in it and got a linus figure, my favorite character from that comic strip. i got a calendar from a nearby store, it only sold calendars. went to barnes and noble first but i didn't see any charlie brown calendars there. my first stop was a and w for lunch. found out the mall has two of these. good chance i will return to the mall sometime soon as there is a sushi place that has charlie brown characters in their ads. it is likely another souvenir to pick up. before i made it to the mall i went to the post office, but nothing to pick up there. then it was to cub foods in eagan, bought a st. paul winter carnival button. then it was the groceries on my list, including some that weren't such as some cheese as well as hostess holiday cupcakes. after the mall it was on to walgreen where i went through photos for the first time in a while. i went back a full year and found some to print as well as get copies on a disc in order to share on facebook. three were from a family gathering in april. did not know the final jeopardy answer, the nation of bhutan. in the evening i watched a special, christmas at the opry. later on i went on a walk and found 39 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny gave sheldon a napkin signed by leonard nimoy. it was followed by the one where the friends try to find bitcoin from seven years prior on a laptop that penny gave away to zac.

little caesars sunflower seeds

 sometimes there is expired food left in the breakroom at work. sometimes i claim it, but this week there wasn't anything appealing. it was mostly bags of sunflower seeds that were little caesars pizza flavored. i have had their pizza and i like it but seeds, not interested. it was a high volume of checks so i was fine with asking for help when my colleague dropped in, who stayed for most of the day tending to the envelope stuffing machine. this freed me up with seeing that the overnight labels were caught up, and of course seeing that checks were printed in a timely fashion. i made a list so i think i have enough things to keep me busy on my day off. two things completed this week were sending some more holiday cards to those who sent me one, along with entering a request for an amazon gift card as i got more points at work. for sending the box of check stock to another office, along with intercepting a big check. i noticed it was my first gift card order since march. now it means deciding how to use it. i have a list of movies on VHS and some of them likely have DVD versions that can replace it. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 39 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon tried to learn acting from penny and then penny called his mom as he went down a rabbit hole. it was followed by the one where the friends watch the tesla and edison documentary and then their their version is kripke stealing their idea to work for the military.

ten boxes on cart

 i picked up plenty of boxes from the branch just before midday. ten of them were left on a cart. these are for the customer service boss, and it looks like mostly computer equipment. five are small cube boxes, those are likely docking stations. the one not for this colleague was for somebody in my department, and i was told once opened that the cube box was a docking station. i heard 'oh dear' after stating by i.m. how many would be delivered the next day, now up to eighteen. in the evening i went to perform, it was a thinner lineup than most weeks. i did bank stories, the show runner liked the one about the notary. also did one about a TV commercial for the season for hot tubs. later on i went on a walk and found 85 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when we hear 'almost paradise' twice. when raj was daydreaming about a date, and then sheldon about working with bert but he was ashamed to admit he was working with bert so it ended.

deepwater horizon movie

this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'deepwater horizon'. i recognized mark wahlberg, kurt russell, and john malkovich in it. this was about the explosion and fire at the oil rig in 2010. as expected, much of the story was bout what happened after the explosion, trying to save as many people as possible and trying to control the spill. i also recognized trace adkins, who was listed as 'massive man' in the credits. this was a scene after he survivors reached a hotel, and he wanted to know if his son survived, eleven people did not. it walks up right into the joke about movies 'based on a true story', where better looking people are playing the actual people. this is known when we see footage from the investigation and family pictures. after the movie was done i went to have lunch at IKEA. I saw a friend there from performing, the one that brings the kermit doll, we hugged. watched some of the pro football games, but not a lot. in the evening i watched the willie nelson birthday special, from the hollywood bowl. plenty of star musicians in the lineup, thankful i saw it, on CBS. later on i went on a walk and found 38 cents. 

rudolph movie, goodman, newhart

 this morning i put in a DVD movie, a recent purchase from e-bay, 'rudolph the red nosed reindeer'. i bought it because i liked seeing who was in the voice cast, john goodman and bob newhart. goodman was santa and newhart was the polar bear. it is hard not to compare it to the 1964 version, which is a classic. it is not an exact retelling, i knew this right away as some parts of the story were changed. some characters were added and taken out. it was all right, i liked the performances by those two, but it is not as good as the earlier one. i made it to the post office, two orders were picked up. and i had legal documents to send by certified mail to oklahoma. while there i bought a snoopy card as there was an ornament attached to it. so it means i added two to my tree as one of the orders was also an ornament. then i made it home and had a pot pie for lunch. later on i went to aldi for groceries. in the evening i went to the saints stadium for the holiday lights festival event. notable about being there was going on the giant slide much like last year. and when i saw santa in his warming house i said i didn't have any wishes. i am thankful for my health and for having a good job. i know not all have these things. i noticed there was a zip line added his year, but that is not my thing. i got some apple cider and two cookies. i stayed until closing time, 90 minutes there in all. plenty of pics from there, including rudolph and frosty in lights, frosty near the big slide. along with gingerbread cookies in lights. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 26 cents.

dolly parton, coat movie

 i delayed going to hy-vee tonight for groceries as i wanted to see the dolly parton movie, 'coat of many colors', on NBC. it is the first of three specials with dolly this season. actually the movie was made in 2015, and it has ricky schroder as her dad and gerald mcraney as her grandpa. we see the kids helping on the tobacco farm and learning in a one room schoolhouse. the grandpa is a preacher and gave a sermon about how life can be tough, probably inspired by an infant death. since i like bio-pics i am thankful i saw it. just seven items were bought at hy-vee, as i bought a few at the holiday gas station before i even got to the grocery store. at work i was able to cut down on the backlog of checks to run through, as more than three thousand from fargo went out. asked for another pick-up from UPS after i checked tracking numbers and noticed some weren't picked up yet. during my walks i found 2 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and penny worked on an app about shoes. it was followed by the one where howard got  a vasectomy. while sheldon was upset that wil wheaton became professor proton, and then we see bob newhart guest star, who wanted to meet at a deli and have a pastrami sandwich. 

needing a notary

 near the end of the workday i finally found the time to get a notary done on a form related to estate planning for a parent. it was the first time i could recall needing a notary for anything. i liked how it was free for me as i am a bank employee. now it is a matter of getting it sent to oklahoma. i had the branch manager do it as that is who i know best there, that is who lets me know when couriers arrive with the supply orders. i was a little behind on work as the i.t. man said to hold off on running the fargo files through the machine, per he business line. i noticed the legal name changed on those checks. so there are more than three thousand waiting to go through and i trust i get the green light to send them the next day. i liked how there was not much left over from my day off, mainly just tax checks to send to the lockbox. there was a dial-in meeting spearheaded by a senior leader in the morning but as usual it was hard to follow what parts were relevant to me. there was mention of how many offices were added due to the acquisition and there are some tax issues i guess we still might be dealing with in the new year about it. in the evening i drank the can of sierra nevada with my meal so now five beers are waiting. looks like the news wasn't on fox-plus so i went over to ABC. there was a country music show on, hosted by amy grant and trisha yearwood. then an anniversary show about the disney company, but i laid down and fell asleep and missed the end of it. found out disney has cruise ships. later on i went on a walk and found 54 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when howard and amy worked together and it led to sheldon doing chores for bernadette, a takeoff of  'tom sawyer'.

walk the line, soundtrack

 it was another day off for me and i did my best to stay active. i made a list and five of the six items were completed. one of these stops was cheapo, a resale shop for cd's and dvd's. i picked up two discs there, one of these was the soundtrack to the movie 'walk the line'. it brought back memories of seeing the movie at theaters and i have the movie on dvd as well. most of the songs do appear to be ones made famous by johnny cash and june carter cash, the subjects of the bio-pic. but some were not. one of these was 'that's all right', i recognized it as an elvis presley song. another disc bought was by smashing pumpkins, 'monuments  to an elegy'. first stop was the post office, one e-bay order picked up, a dvd. after the discs i went to target and bought two boxes of cereal of the holiday season. lunchtime was at taco bell in eagan, and when i got home i made an eye appointment for another day off. watched 'jeopardy' in the late afternoon, wasn't familiar with the final clue but it was oscar winners based on literary figures and broadway plays. the two answers were oliver, and gigi. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 12 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard was at raj's telescope room and it gets weird between them. it was followed by the one where penny bonds with leonard's mom, then amy and leonard talk to each other about it. and sheldon bonds with howard, but the model rocket doesn't go far after takeoff.

brazil movie, jonathan pryce

 in the evening i went to a movie at the trylon cinema in minneapolis, 'brazil'. jonathan pryce was the lead actor, and even though it was a british movie i recognized some american actors in it. there was robert deniro and katherine helmond. this was billed as a biting satire and some laughed way more than i did but i understood the absurdities being depicted in it. i had read the book '1984' in college and it reminded me of that book. this is part of a 'film noir' series and i will likely go see another one at this venue next month. i had popcorn while there. usually i don't have it at the movies but it helped that this is a nonprofit cinema and a small cup was just three dollars. after the movie i made it to a target just before closing time and picked up some cheese and a bottle of tea. at work my vacation replacement dropped in late in the day but this made it harder to get my work done, as usual, as i am used to getting it done by myself. looks like i got points for sending the box of check stock to marshall, as it means at some point ordering another amazon gift card with it. and there was an email thread about the locked door leading to the UPS box, looks like it is handled now. many of the names on the thread i didn't recognize. learned how the outer door, when working properly, only locks overnight for 12 hours, and then a key card is needed. and for the other 12 the general public can drop off parcels and the courier can get in to pick them up. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 2 dollars 51 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when the ladies had a slumber party and the dudes went to an 'indiana jones' screening where sheldon stole the movie and was getting chased by the other moviegoers.

check stock box shipped

 in the morning a colleague helped with getting the box of check stock ready for the marshall office and then dropped off at a UPS facility. there still were questions even after giving them the tracking number and i said 'dropped off' meant UPS has 'taken ownership' of it. there was another tax check to send to los angeles as well. i dropped off all of the overnight envelopes at a customer enter, or hub, at the end of the workday. later on i went to perform and was on near the end of the night. i did more bank stories as well as going to the discotheque. saw the mad hatter there for the first time in a while, who did interviews while the hat covered his head and neck. later on i went on a walk and found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon gave his spot to howard and wanted it back. it was followed by the one where the friends went to feynman's grave and leonard sent a drunk email to the h.r. rep, mrs. davis. 

hotel transylvania movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'hotel transylvania'. i recognized many of the voice actors in it, such as adam sandler and selena gomez, along with some others from SNL besides sandler. pretty good movie, there aren't many in the animated genre that i like. nice seeing some newer ideas on familiar characters such as dracula and frankenstein. and it was funny how even the 'do not disturb' signs at the hotel were movie characters. after it was done i went to the holiday gas station and dumped the movie. it was the early afternoon by then and there was still some hash browns so i got two, along with some cheese. the two salted nut roll bars will be eaten later. i did watch most of one pro football game, starting in the mid-afternoon, bills-chiefs, chiefs lost a close one 20-17. i placed another e-bay order in the evening, for a polka CD, inspired by my visits to new ulm. wanted one that had three well known beer songs on it, and this narrowed the field down to one. aside from going to the gas station, i mostly stayed in for the day, and i didn't mind. during my walks i found 6 cents.

trumbo movie

 this morning i put in a DVD movie, a recent purchase from amazon, 'trumbo'. i bought it because i knew john goodman was in it, albeit in a small role. also because it was about the HUAC black-listing, or the mc carthy witch hunt era. the movie portrayed trumbo as somebody who constantly worked as a writer, even in the bathtub, but was often overbearing, even to his own family and friends. i liked how it covered some more of this era than i had been familiar with in the history books i had read. mccarthy was only briefly shown and mentioned in it, there was plenty of story to tell before and after that. naturally the name dropping of famous people that were  part of the saga, such as kirk douglas, and john wayne, made it more of a notable story to tell. after it was done it was time to get going on errand running. first stop was the post office, got there just before closing, but no orders to pick up. then on to the capitol to drop off recycle. then on to jersey mike's for a sandwich. when i got home i turned on the army-navy football game. i watched some of it starting with the second quarter, then laid down for a while and watched some of the fourth quarter. army won 17-11, taking an intentional safety on the final play to preserve the win. then i had some pizza for the evening meal, and went to aldi for groceries. after this was done i went to walgreen and picked up a redbox movie for the next morning. decided it was a good idea that i did nothing else for the night as it had snowed and it probably started off as freezing rain. during my walks i found 1 dollar 50 cents.

discotheque night

 went to the french alliance in the evening for an event where one can dance to music from the 1960s to the present. so i would consider this to be a 'discotheque night'. while there i wrote down some songs i recognized. one was a french version of a blondie song, 'sunday girl'. as well as the french version of a  nancy sinatra song, 'these boots are made for walking'. even a song i knew was in the movie 'european vacation'. i bought a stella artois beer as it was cheaper than the wine and i got more ounces as well. at first i was in the back next to a table and a lady asked me to watch her scarf that she left there as she wanted to dance, but said i didn't know her. i was there to have a good time, not watch stuff for others. another patron left her phone next to the scarf. eventually i moved way from that table. doing this event sure was just what the doctor ordered after a challenging day at work, to say the least. i had multiple conference calls, and i prefer days when there are no meetings at all to attend. it was about a special sending of tax checks to california. and my boss had some about test checks, it meant  more being overnighted to toronto. there was even somebody from the marshall office who wouldn't leave me alone about boxes of check stock. i found one box, probably had been in the shop for years. i said it will have to wait until monday to have it sent, as it was late in the day. i did a 'schedule a pick-up' with UPS since the locked door to the box still isn't fixed yet. and there was more complaints about checks not arriving. so i found an alternate place to drop off in the evening and will not use the box onsite again until it is resolved. i made it to the big customer center just minutes after closing time, but was told what was in the box outside hadn't been picked up yet. then i went home and ate, before going to the event. when i got home again i looked at binders to see about getting this week's poem into a sheet protector. it meant re-arranging some of my writings a little, but i found just enough space. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon and amy got engaged and then amy hugs ramona, thanking her for her part in it.

patriotic cactus

 i went to hy-vee in eagan tonight for groceries, moved up one day. i noticed near the frozen aisle how there was a patriotic cactus, decorated with bulbs like it was a christmas tree. it made me think about the charlie brown comic strip as 'desert snoopy', who i later found out was actually named 'spike', decorated a cactus. ten items were bought. at work it was a long day as there was server issues, made it harder to print checks when files would print with a blank page. i tried calling i.t. but was disconnected during the re-boot of the system, so they weren't much help. looks like a ticket was opened and closed, so i can still refer to it and have them re-open it. there was also getting a UPS label ready for a manager who needed to send a box to phoenix to a new employee. thankful that not too much was left over for me after a day off. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 51 cents. i drank the can of fulton with the evening meal so now six beers are waiting. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when ramona kissed sheldon and it led to sheldon proposing to amy.

cheese knives

 it was a day off for me, and one thing i did was go to a member event in the evening at a writer organization. i noticed that there was cheese but it meant slicing it yourself. i like doing these events as one can show off your own material. i did another poem i had just written. i was told after it was done by the event coordinator how i was the inspiration behind releasing the open-mic lineup in advance. it was emailed to us. i was on near the end, seventeen were signed up and i was fourteen. one left early, but two more were added. the final one wrote about visiting places that were familiar to me. this was musee mechanique in san francisco, and aragon ballroom in chicago. then i went over to the nearby gas station and got a little godfather's pizza and took the light rail home. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 79 cents. i went to the liquor store and got a can of sierra nevada, and earlier in the week got a can of spiral, so now seven beers are waiting. i got a few things done on my day off, went to the post office and dropped off a card going to a TV station, their annual card exchange. one order was picked up. then it was on to a walgreen where i dumped a bottle of unwanted, expired pills in a bin. i recall seeing it when i was there for a covid shot. and i printed some pictures that were pulled from facebook and put onto a zip drive, nine in all. and i spent time cooking lunch for a change, a box of macaroni and cheese that i had picked up a while back. i cut up a can of spam to put in it.

google maps, woodbury

 when i was out for a walk tonight i saw a printed page in a parking lot. it was from google maps and was for woodbury. i have been to that town before. i sent it to the closest trash barrel. during this walk i found 1 dollar 39 cents. also this evening i got a text message saying that legal documents for me to sign would be arriving soon. since i work at a bank i may be able to have the notary done at work. there was more test checks to print, but i guess none of them were satisfactory. with the iowa hawkeyes in the citrus bowl on new years day i am getting a look at where i can order this year's bowl game button. i know i have ordered from an e-bay seller before. one site said those orders will not ship until monday the 11th. still trying to figure out how to fill in the time for this week's day off. there are fewer things on my to-do list this time. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon got cats after he parted ways with amy after an argument. it was followed by the one where we learned that bernadette still had a ventriloquist doll.

big bag of zip ties

 some items from the supply order have already arrived. this included a big bag of zip ties. so it means not having to order them for a while. i was getting used to seeing small bags, when i started it was a big bag so it has reverted back to the big ones. got an i.m. from somebody on third floor who got the box so i picked it up from them. as i recall this was who gave me a spoon for lunch on the first day. the check stock arrived, but half of it was backordered, so just 18 boxes arrived. vacation replacement showed up near the end of the day, just before the second i-pay file. figured out the issue on the monitors, one of them was not hooked up. it was a low volume day, just under two thousand checks. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon used a virtual presence device. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy did a 'fun with flags' retrospective and the only caller was bert, to brag about having a lady friend. 

dream scenario movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'dream scenario' in eagan. i recognized nicolas cage in it. it was weird, but i was expecting it to be based on what i had read in advance. it was about the perils that go with being famous, especially in the world of 'cancel culture' that we live in. a poster said it was a comedy, but i wasn't laughing that much as it was more 'sad but true'. i had lunch at the burger king near the theater before the movie. my first stop of the day was the german institute in st. paul, but i wasn't there for long. i had hoped to have lunch there but the lines were too long. so i bought a cookie near the front door and then i left. these appeared to be hansel and gretel themed, based on the paper dolls on them. i chose the hansel version. i watched some pro football at home, and went to perform. i spoke of the movie at the end of the set, as well as encounters with weirdos including hearing about social media arguments. i watched some more football after the mic, chiefs-packers, chiefs lost a close one. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 56 cents.

cirque du soleil, northrop aud.

 in the late afternoon i went to the u of m campus to see the cirque du soleil show at northrop aud. i had been there before, but it had been a while. first visit was likely for the robin williams comedy show in 2008. also saw a concert, snow patrol, there. i had seen this troupe before, in 2009, in downtown st. paul near the postal buildings along the river. plenty of music in it, christmas songs that i recognized, good outfits on the performers, acrobatics was good as well. show started nearly 10 minutes late, i arrived to my seat at 4pm when it was scheduled to start. and some people arrived even after i did. when it began i eventually said it made sense, starting off with clowning, the proverbial 'send in the clowns' at a circus to keep people interested. a family of three, including a young boy about age ten, was next to me, talking in french. i am thankful i chose this show over the looney lutherans, an offshoot of the church basement ladies. i had seen the ladies many times before and i hadn't seen cirque near as often. i parked in a ramp on the west bank and walked on the bridge across the river to the event. i like using that bridge. i got some errands done before attending the show. there was going to aldi for groceries, moved that one up. then on to the post office, two orders picked up. then it was midday and i went to the popeye's chicken in eagan and printed event tickets at the nearby fedex office. after the show i went to bobby and steve's and got a godfather's pizza, upper level was blocked off so i didn't eat there. i stopped at a bar on the way back to my car and went to the bathroom. after i got home i watched a football game on TV, big ten championship, iowa was playing michigan. i managed to last until the end of the first half, iowa was trailing 10-0, but i was tired. i laid down and fell asleep, did not see the second half, found out iowa lost 26-0. later on i went on a walk and found 98 cents. saw a man trying to get into a coffee shop but they were closed for the night.

flag and seal comments

first of the month was the final day for comments on the new flag and seal for minnesota. the news reminded me of this. so i went online and looked at the candidates, six of each. i chose those that had blue and green in them, and the year of statehood. and i said the flag should still have the state name on it. there wasn't much left over for me upon my return from a day off, just sending out checks to the lockbox for the tax specialist. in the evening i went to the hy-vee in eagan and eleven items were bought. there was signs in the complex that spoke of an event where one could meet santa and his reindeer, but it had been earlier in the day. i still got a picture of it. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 45 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny was chaperone on sheldon and amy's date. it was followed by the one where sheldon got sick and went to a cowboy bar, then amy played 'soft kitty' on an auto-harp.

concert list found

 there were plenty of stops made on my day off, but also notable was finding a partial, handwritten list of concerts attended that i had sent a friend a while back. so i decided to get out the ticket stubs and wrote out another list. during my walks i found 76 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when zac thought the friends were going to blow up the moon. then we meet amy, when raj and howard blackmail sheldon into the date. it was followed by the one where raj and penny act like twins after raj moves in, leaving leonard out of their fun. i drank the can of pryes with the evening meal so now five beers are waiting. 

  i stayed busy for much of the day. early on i went to print an event ticket at a fedex office. then it was on to target where i got a box of christmas- themed capn crunch, along with a stick of irish butter. now it will be easier to use up a box of mac and cheese, but i still want to get some spam to put in it. i don't cook that much. next was a muffin and a mint mocha from caribou. then midday had arrived, and i went to eagan. i had lunch at the taco bell, inspired by the commercial with a green day song in it. i got the five-dollar box. i ate the cinnamon twists and the burrito there, then took the rest home. i had the crunchy taco and chalupa for the evening meal. and i went to the kohl's where i got the snoopy book near the checkout, which benefits their official charity. and i got another tree ornament, a metal snowman. i passed on the snoopy christmas stocking, then decided to search for something similar on e-bay. i found one there that i liked for half as much and had more characters on it, including linus, and peppermint patty. and i got caught up on shredding junk mail. i did it  three times throughout the day, filling up six bags. i hadn't done it in a while, some of the things in there were from may. i made a list and the only stop i didn't make was walgreen, but i have another day off next week. i liked watching jeopardy as well, the final clue was history and i got it correct, the warren commission.

three lunchtime visitors

 there are some days when there are no visitors to the shop, this was not one of them. there were three around my lunchtime. my vacation replacement showed up to be briefed on anything related to my day off, and decided to break down some empty boxes on the shelf. then my boss showed up, asking about the check stock order for the month. we really did order 40 boxes, he grumbled about the price going up. i showed the packing list we were given. then the maintenance man returned to work on the inner door and get the rubber door stop replaced. there was mention of being over budget, but i didn't mark it as an emergency because it wasn't. and when my boss says to create a ticket for a repair, i do it. so needless to say, i ended up having lunch late. good thing i decided to have it in the back room of the shop as i was able to let the maintenance man in. the branch employee was not familiar with what or where the shop was, i said this is it. that is who let me know that maintenance had arrived. just one thing of note was left over, a check that will be picked up when that colleague is in the office. in the evening i ordered a ticket for the holiday lights event at the saints stadium for next month. i found out a discount code was expiring soon, so it was time to get it ordered. i got a an of warpigs from the liquor store near work so now there are six beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard told the story of moving in to the building to penny, while he had a dispute with sheldon. it was followed by the one where raj moves in with leonard and penny, then howard and bernadette. sheldon and amy get a life sized batman statue.

signing for checks

 most of what was waiting for a week was finally moved out or picked up by midday. this included meeting two colleagues in the branch area and asking one of them to sign for a check as i didn't know them as well as someone who works in the building. i picked up what had just been delivered at that time, as i do check for deliveries twice a day. there was a fist bump with the dude who brings the mail from energy park. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon had a visitor that penny called 'dr. slut bunny'. it was followed by the one where raj works for stuart after sheldon becomes his money manager.

showroom construction

 i went to to perform tonight and first thing i noticed was the construction inside the showroom so it meant the candy brought by the show runner was moved over to the piano. one dude there insisted on telling me about his social media arguments even though i said we've had this discussion before. in my set i spoke of how i spent my thanksgiving as well as grilling hot dogs at a meetup walk. at work i got caught up on running checks through the machine as it was lower volume on the two largest files. there was a very late request to intercept four checks from a file. i was still able to find them as i had just run them through the machine. during my walks i found 26 cents, the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon had dinner with penny after giving up most of his hot dogs to a fierce dog. it was followed by the one where amy found out about the gossip on her sex life with sheldon. meanwhile, raj said he was finally going to live without his dad's money.

smashing pumpkins, disney world

i liked how i didn't have much to do for the day. i watched a holiday program on ABC in the evening as smashing pumpkins was in the lineup. it was from disney world. the pumpkins performed 'silver bells'. liked seeing the 2-hour show close with a cover of  'holiday road'. i didn't recognize many of the performers but mariah carey was part of the lineup, doing her famous christmas song. there was a DJ who was showing what the theme park has to offer, including the star wars section. two performances were from other venues. one was from the disney park in paris and another was from an american idol winner's native hawaii. sounds like the pumpkins may be part of another disney show on christmas morning. during the first thirty minutes i was largely watching 'the simpsons', homer as the leader of crossing guards. i watched some of the pro football games but not a lot. i had other things to do. i got more of my set lists onto a souvenir page, and sewed a button back on a coat. i placed an order at amazon, first time in four months, for a DVD. i did a walk in the late afternoon and in the late evening. during my walks i found 98 cents.

campfire hotdogs

 i did a meetup walk this evening, at a park in bloomington. it looked familiar while driving in, going past a ski jump, and i had done a walk there before, also a moonlight edition, over a year ago. it will be memorable for the campfire at the end, where we were grilling hot dogs. at first i saw others doing so, then asked if i needed to grill my own. it was hard to see when it is dark, and was told the dogs were in a crate near the benches, hebrew national. i hadn't grilled anything over a campfire in a while, so i tried one at first. we were using metal roasters, which looked like a big fork with two prongs on it. when i saw smoke rising from the hot dog, i pulled it away and looked at it with my flashlight and it was blackened enough on both sides for me. so i was given a bun and paper towel, put ketchup and mustard on it, and it tasted fine to me. and then i grilled another one. somebody played 'southern cross' by CS and N on a guitar as well. memorable from the walk itself was getting up to the top of the skiing hill where snow was being made, although it was starting to snow when i arrived for the walk. there were two signs up saying hiking was prohibited near there, but we kept going anyway. i got a picture of the second sign. i spoke with two people there besides the event coordinator. one had a saints baseball hat on, and said his wife was there, who had been hit by a car. the other spoke of working at a theater that will have a burlesque show early in the new year and had been struck by lightning apparently. i saw it as personal growth on grilling my own hot dogs- it just meant asking about it and was better than trying to find food somewhere else. all a matter of do it right or not at all, as i saw that the dog was pushed on the roaster far enough so it didn't fall in the fire. i left just as they were grilling marshmallows for smores. i had eaten some m and m cookies from the picnic table, as well as some potato chips. i also brought a 2-pack of reese's peanut butter, football shaped, so i had eaten plenty by then anyway. 

  i got plenty done before going on the hike. i picked up two orders from the post office, then took recycle to the capitol. by then it was time for a sandwich at jersey mike's. when i got home i went to aldi for groceries. then i watched more from the prep bowl, stewartville was already leading over annandale 21-7 by then late in the 3rd and went on to win 43-13. i decided this was the best game plan- watching it from my easy chair- as i likely would have missed the hike if i had laid down. after the hike i got a can of pryes from the liquor store so now five beers are waiting. during my walks i found 1 dollar 3 cents. 

prep bowl, no reruns

 after getting off work i was ready to watch reruns but the prep bowl was on, from the vikings stadium. i watched some of the 4-a final, hutchinson beat rocori 14-6. i had seen this event in person four years go if i am not mistaken. then after i was done with online activity i went to hy-vee in eagan. twelve items were bought, used a gift card that dad sent nearly a year ago. first box of cereal bought in weeks, it was rudolph for the christmas season. still have four boxes left from halloween. at work it was busy for a while, especially in the morning. the california factor led to a big volume on an early check file. but things evened out as one business line did not send any checks so there was less overnight labels to do. and nothing to pick up from the mailroom at the end of the day. found the dolly parton halftime performance from turkey day on youtube. it was just over seven minutes and included a cover of queen from her recently released 'rockstar' album. so it wasn't much different from halftime show performers at the super bowl- tried and true songs, and musicians. read how dolly has three movies on TV this season. found the schedule for it, and the willie nelson birthday concert as well, for mid-december. while at hy-vee i found a 1-cent euro coin and it was added in an album next to others. i have six kinds now and according to wikipedia there are eight. i don't have the 5-cent and 2-euro yet, lucked out on finding them all so far at coin counters in the return chute. during my walks i found 68 cents.

lonely dog

 when i was taking a walk in the afternoon i passed by some houses with dogs as usual. what surprised me a little was one house where the dog didn't greet me with barking. at the end of the fence it put up its front legs like it wanted to be petted. i just said 'bye' and kept walking. so it must have been a lonely dog, it was a big dog, possibly a golden labrador. it was a pretty good day off for me for the thanksgiving holiday. before the football games began i put in a DVD, it was the annual viewing of the movie 'planes trains and automobiles'. seen it many times before, not sure if i noticed anything from this viewing. there is plenty of music throughout, and i still think the most impactful songs were the instrumental ones. a rock version of  'red river valley' and one called 'power to believe'. i still think of it as showing four now-defunct airlines, representative of what has happened in the industry since deregulation. the four either shown or mentioned were swallowed up or liquidated. of the three games, the first one was the one i watched the most of, packers-lions, a packers win. i did the midday meal, the first of two turkey dinners in the microwave oven, during this game. i drank the cans of surly and indeed with these meals so now four beers are waiting. after it was done i went on the longest walk of the day. second game was cowboys over the commanders. i put in another DVD, the annual viewing of the charlie brown thanksgiving special. then i watched the 'big bang theory' reruns, no surprise how both were about turkey day. it was when bernadette's dad bonded with sheldon and they talked football, while leonard helped penny get an annulment on a las vegas marriage to zac. it was followed by the one where elon musk was a guest star in a soup kitchen, while sheldon and amy go to the aquarium as friends. this was why i didn't see much of the second game. third game was a 49ers win over the seahawks, saw some of it but took another walk during it. during my walks i found 1 dollar 57 cents. i picked up a postcard  at a bus stop that was promoting an event at a venue next month that interests me. 

the minus sign

 i chose a different day off, it will still be next week. i needed help to figure out how to change it in the system though, when it looked like it wouldn't let me change it. so my boss called me and i did a screen share, ended up clicking on the minus sign to remove it. then i was able to choose a different day. so the goal was accomplished, deciding when to use the last of the vacation days before turkey day. branch manager saw them pick up from the UPS box before i got envelopes there and let me know about it. i am hopeful that they end up picking up a little later on in the day. i checked a tracking number from the previous day where it was picked up same-day and i was home by then. the overnight volume was half as much as the previous day, as one business line did not send anything and they account for a big part of the volume on the labels i create. it still was busy for much of the day, and i liked picking up the toner cartridge from the branch before midday for the copier. then i could print the labels from there and not the check printer. late in the day there was a check marked as courier pick-up, but not for the tax specialist. i emailed this colleague and the request was to pick it up on tuesday, so more items are waiting in the shop and will likely get moved out on that day. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 39 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon accepted an award and gave a speech while drunk. it was followed by the one where sheldon got a prototype emotion detector machine.

pick another day off

 after conferring with my vacation replacement in the morning i entered vacation day requests, four of the five were accepted, with one i need to pick another day off due to proper coverage. not a big deal, but i was busy throughout the day so it had to wait. there was plenty of overnight labels to create, a total of fifty for the day. this was the only colleague in the office, and customer service is also working from home for the week so plenty of mail and boxes will wait in the shop a little longer. in the evening i got a look at my monthly bank statement, it had been unopened for a few days. as usual having receipts for most purchases takes the guesswork out of the spending. i got some english muffins at aldi, and a can of surly hell at the liquor store, so now six beers are waiting. i have been trading text messages with yemen native for a few days, starting off with saying i got another covid vaccine. i did speak of performing as how it wasn't the only place where i cut spending, how during covid i understood it was an expensive hobby. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the dudes were fighting over a ring from the 'lord of the rings' movie and sheldon had a nightmare of looking like gollum. it was followed by the one where leonard and penny have a fight, then penny and amy go to the spa together and sheldon helps his friends with drawing up an agreement.

annual upgrades here

 there are days when i get no mail at all, this was not one of those. there was five items, four of them junk. one of them said there was annual upgrades available if i switch to their cell phone company. except i am not switching, happy where i am. same is true with where i have my checking account, same place as my employer. i haven't shredded junk mail in a while, so it has piled up in a shoebox. at work there was mention of the option of working from home for the entire week due to the holiday, except of course this is not available to me. this was even mentioned in the email from my boss. in the evening i went to perform, on near the end of the night, getting used to it. university accountant was there. i spoke of how i spent my day off, and the postal employee. later on i went on a walk and found 4 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when stan lee was a guest star. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy spend christmas in texas visiting sheldon's mom, and he puts undies on his head.

robin hood movie, eve hewson

this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental. 'robin hood'. this was the one from 2018, with eve hewson as marian. it is not too often that i get two redbox movies in the same weekend, but when i researched this one and saw how it was not listed on the redbox site i knew i needed to see it right away. i had found it at cub foods in eagan when doing an alpha search of movies there. i've seen robin hood movies before, including the ones with kevin costner as well as russell crowe as robin. along with the animated disney version. and this one wasn't as good as the others. plenty of action in it, and this one had more about fighting the crusades. the sheriff of nottingham wasn't the only villain in this one, so was a church cardinal. once it was done i went to do laundry. i watched some of the pro football games on TV but i mostly had other things to do. saw the ending of the later game, a vikings loss to the broncos. when i dumped the movie at the gas station i also picked up two hash browns and an oreo ice cream treat on a stick. when i got home i laid down for a while, then had the evening meal. i did the dishes and then went on a walk, and found 1 dollar 83 cents. heard two country songs from a nearby car, 'amarillo by morning' by george strait, and 'always on my mind' by willie nelson during the walk. 

transfusion movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'transfusion'. at first it was not entirely obvious that i was an australian movie, because it starts off with scenes from a war. but then i notice the cars having the steering wheel on the right side of the car, unlike the left in america, along with seeing australian flags on the wall and on the military uniforms. then there was mention of various cities that the soldier lived in after leaving the army, a special forces unit. i chose it because it is a thriller, and it was since the former soldier does jobs in the underworld to protect his teenage son. also since he didn't do well in legit jobs such as sales rep for a beer company. plenty of action in it, and it was a compelling story. i have seen way worse movies than this one. the main thing for me was at times when i was lost on the dialogue either due to the accents or the terms being different than in american english. before midday i went to get groceries at aldi, then dumped the movie at the gas station before going to the post office. i made it there to pick up one order just before closing time, and i saw the loopy postal employee for the first time in a while. he asked what i was picking up and then it led to some jokes. then i had a sandwich at arby's and went to walgreen for a covid shot, number five. when i got back i laid down for  a while, then had the evening meal. once i was done i went to get another redbox movie. then it was on to the karaoke venue, where i did two songs. i did not see my co-worker this time. i sang 'don't dream it's over' by crowded house, and 'jump' by van halen. the bartender sang as well, and i had to wait to get a beer, a hamm's, until she was done singing. during one song there were highlights of the iowa hawks game, a win vs. illinois. and another TV had a football show with dave wannstedt, former bears head coach, pro football weekly if i am not mistaken. later on i went on a walk and found 70 cents.

pretzel bites

 i went to a meetup event in the evening, at clutch brewing in st. paul. it was my fifth brewery event this year, and second at this place, in the former schmidt complex. a comment before the event took place said it was closing soon, and i found an article that said it would close at the end of the year. so it meant i was part of their long goodbye. i got one beer and then met somebody 'far from the madding crowd' and we walked around the building. eventually we found a pizza place, but i didn't want a whole pizza. but they did have pretzel bites, so i ordered some of those. the dude works for the same bank as me. while eating the pretzel bites i met another dude there and we spoke for a little while after the first dude decided to go to the upper level and get another beer. since i think of it as my grocery shopping night i told myself that one was enough. after a little over an hour there i went on to hy-vee in eagan. eight items were bought, and i bought four at the nearby cub foods. the latter will be my thanksgiving dinner. i picked up a redbox movie at the cub as well. at work i heard from my boss for the first time in a while just before midday, who has been on vacation. later on there was a request to print some more test checks, guess the ones sent to toronto failed again. near the end of the day i picked up four boxes for the customer service boss from the branch. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 58 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and raj went to switzerland, sheldon and penny were sick. it was followed by the one where howard and bernadette have their first baby, and it interfered with amy's birthday celebration.

shared boxes

 there usually are some emails i have to respond to when i return where i say 'it was a day off for me'. with one of them there was a request to overnight a check. i let them know that a different shared box would have been enough to let the department know about it and still get it overnighted. basically, the wrong shared box was copied on the thread. customer service was the one copied, operations needed to be copied. my vacation replacement said that i.t. would call me about the copier, but did not. when i got a snack at walgreen during my lunch i noticed the cashier had a half-eaten barbecue sandwich on the counter. i drank the can of fulton oktoberfest with the evening meal so now five beers are waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon was stuck and ended up in a ball pit. it was followed by the one where christopher lloyd was a guest star as a tenant found by sheldon after there was a dispute about shared belongings. leonard decided to wear the apartment's flag.

back at cajun grill

 i had the day off for a dental appointment. i ended up having lunch in downtown st. paul, in the food court i often ate in when working downtown. i chose the cajun grill. i noticed this court still has plenty of  empty store-fronts, at least half. then it was on to the appointment. somebody tried to step into the elevator just before i left, to ask me how to get somewhere. i said i can't help you, i wanted to be on time. in the morning i had plenty of little things to do on my list, and got to all six of them. things like get toothpaste, go to the post office, ask about a vaccine, add to my bus pass. along with get a haircut and get to a coffee shop. after the appointment i went to rice park, where there was a big christmas tree. a man asked for pictures on a camera phone, and i was pleased to do so as it was with two of the charlie brown and snoopy bronze statues. i pointed out where the other six were in a nearby park. i also looked around inside the landmark center, and it was a good place to go to the bathroom. when i got home i went to the liquor store near me and got a can of schell's oktoberfest, so now there are six beers waiting. i watched 'jeopardy' and was pleased that i got the final jeopardy clue correct, about the jefferson memorial. none of the contestants did. i got two things scheduled as well, a vaccine for this weekend and ordering an event ticket for more than two weeks from now. during my walks i found 86 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon decides to move to montana after the apartment was broken into. it was followed by the one where sheldon is jealous of bert for his award and keeps hurting himself.

throwing out a toilet

 when i was taking a walk during lunch i saw a crew cleaning out a restaurant that has been closed for a few months. one of the things being thrown out was a toilet. i would like to think some of the scrap will be recycled. this wasn't the only time where i was outside during my work hours. i also decided to get a box moved. it was next to the UPS box for a week but wasn't being picked up because it was meant for the postal service. so i took it across the road and dropped it off at the post office. i wanted to get caught up as much as possible before my day off. in the afternoon there was a request to re-send a check by overnight delivery but i said it had already been returned, the recipient had moved according to the return label. we need a better address. i made it official, de-activating my account with a survey site. reason given was 'other'. but it was requiring a driver license of course. i had confirmed that miles from another survey site were going to my frequent flyer account, this was all i needed. it even meant taking their page out of a sheet protector in a binder. the section on memberships went from six to four. i kept e-bay, and amazon, as well as meetup. two of these were celebrating an anniversary, the middle one was my first review on their site. the fourth was answering surveys with enterprise rentacar, and a reminder of when i was an award winner. i also took out the redbox page, it was just about getting a free movie for my birthday. i of course still rent from redbox from time to time. late in he evening i went on walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and penny argued about psychics. it was followed by the one where sheldon tries to seduce amy as a 'rat pack pee wee herman'. liked it because amy said 'that was close'.

dual monitors, secure print

 a colleague arrived and was able to handle some issues i was dealing with in the past week. i now have dual monitors again, for a few days one of them said 'no signal'. that one was swapped out and the colleague said it stank like cheese. the other issue was printing from the copier. found out the work-around for it was switching to secure print. it means using my key card and then pressing the release button for all of the waiting prints. and it means doing overnight labels is easier than it was. i was playing from behind for much of the day. i felt good about what was left over but then i realized i still needed to close all of the overnight envelopes, and it takes longer when i am using stick-on pouches. so it looks like most of them were likely dumped in the box after the courier did the daily pick-up. the envelope delivery for the month arrived mid-morning, nice how that is out of the way as we were running low. in the evening i went to perform, the last one on as i was on the upper level of the venue talking to a musician and saw his song book. it brought back some memories of songs i had done on karaoke nights. some of those in the book i hadn't heard of before. the wild guitar player did two bob dylan songs, 'don't think twice' and  'wagon wheel'. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon tried to teach physics to penny. howard was jealous that bernadette was interested in leonard's work. it was followed by the one where we see 'fun with flags' about merged nations and cities. the friends speak in other languages, the dudes in klingon, when trying to figure out if somebody is lying, one of those issues was penny moving leonard's collectibles into storage.

switching survey sites

 i hate having to change up things but sometimes i have no choice. i was with a survey site for years, choosing airline miles as the reward. i go to redeem points tonight and they were asking me to re-verify myself, by taking a selfie and scan a driver license picture. i sent an email to the site and said nobody else asks me to do this. then i found another site where the miles go directly to my frequent flyer account, don't have to wait a month to redeem. there was mention of bonus miles from completing the first survey. once i confirm those miles are going to my southwest airlines account i think i will dump the other site. the last thing on my to-do list for the weekend was crossed off in the morning, watching some DVDs that were recent purchases. one was from a liquidation sale, about innovators in america's postwar era. the other was 'all in the family' episodes, including a retrospective hosted by henry fonda. in the afternoon i went to kohl's in eagan and returned shoes from a week ago that were hurting my feet. i got another pair that was wider width and a half-size larger, along with a charlie brown book, sticker by number. i went on a long walk around the neighborhood as well. during my walks i found 1 dollar 40 cents. after the walk i got some english muffins at aldi so i could finish the peanut butter and jelly i bought a week earlier. 'the simpsons' was about petey the parrot. i watched some of 'yellowstone' as well, before and after it.

french alliance sketches

 i had plenty of things on a to-do list and i liked how i got to most of them. one of these was seeing some sketches at the french alliance. not the first time i had went to this place in minneapolis for art in their gallery, as this summer i went there for a photography exhibit. notables to me included mention of a trail named for writer robert louis stevenson, as well as a national park in texas on the rio grande river. there was even mention of a planned community called richelieu, named for the catholic cardinal. i went there after i had a sandwich at jersey mike's. after i was done looking at the art i went to bobby and steve's and picked up a small godfather's pizza for the next day. there was some displays inside that were of the hamm's beer bear. i moved up going to get groceries at aldi to the morning, then went to the capitol and dropped off recycle. after getting back with pizza i laid down for a little while, then went to a church dinner in mendota heights. i was on their email list from attending their fish fries during lent. there was rice, kebabs, pita bread, garlic, and salad. then i went back for apple crisp, which looked like a muffin inside paper, and i presented a separate ticket for it. i spent some more time at home, then went out again, this time to sing karaoke in little canada. the customer service manager was there with her guy friend, and i sang two songs. there was 'joey' by concrete blonde, and 'good ole boys like me' by don williams. the couple sang 'SOB' by the night sweats, as well as 'pride and joy' by SRV. they bought both beers i drank, we all had grain belt in bottles. i had some popcorn as well. during my second song the 10pm news had just started and there was mention of a shooting, on the TV near the bar area, farther back than the monitor where the lyrics were. hard to ignore, but i kept singing. as the saying goes, 'if it bleeds it leads'. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 36 cents. i went to the liquor store in the morning and got a can of fulton lonely blonde, and this week drank the can of natural ice with an evening meal, so there still are five beers waiting.

show your mouth a good time

 when i was at lunch i noticed a box in the trash and it said 'show your mouth a good time'. it was from a company called 'devour', guess it was chicken with mac and cheese. it was a memorable slogan so i got a picture of it. at work i sent two overnight packages to foreign countries, to canada and australia. i had emails to let me know about both so i sent the tracking numbers when available. i spoke with the courier that delivers the mail tubs from energy park around midday, who also likes karaoke. in the evening i went to the hy-vee in eagan and got groceries, another small order, eight items. i liked seeing some christmas displays there, one was of rudolph. but even more were charlie brown and snoopy. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 48 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when kripke sabotaged sheldon's interview on public radio. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy have dinner guests. i like what sheldon said about bad words, it was sad but true. there are still plenty of other ways to hurt people without using them. 

afternoon server issues

 i was already a little behind on getting overnight labels done and then there was server issues in the afternoon, it affected not just the UPS site but also the check printing. at one point there was weird characters on the checks instead of the MICR line. it went away eventually but it meant i stayed late to get the overnight packages caught up. i sent just over half of them to the box just before the expected pick-up time, all i had ready at the time. with the check printing it meant re-selecting the server, which was annoying as i had server issues less than a month ago. but you do what you can. the delivery of check stock was just before midday. i was in the breakroom when it arrived but confirmed with the branch manager how the courier was sent to the service entry so i went there with carts. hopefully the envelopes arrive soon as well, as we are getting low on them. i put two checks in the overnight pile and then looked more closely and noticed these were meant to be inter-officed. i let the business line know i did pull them and these will get sent the next day. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon and amy decided to share a toothbrush holder. howard and bernadette found out raj and stuart were using their hot tub. 

here comes the merry

 when i was out for a walk i saw a sign from the nearby coffee shop, a starbucks. how it got across the road, i don't know. but it said 'here comes the merry', and it was advertising the holiday drinks and snacks available. one of those was a sugarplum cheese danish. reminds me of the christmas story where there is mention of sugarplums dancing in their heads, 'the night before' as i recall. i have a loyalty account with caribou, wondering what they might have for the season. during the walk i found 1 dollar, mostly in quarters. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both when we see arguing. first it was sheldon being scared off by it. leonard and penny argue about penny's friend visiting, then it was raj's parents with raj, then howard and his mom. it led to sheldon getting a comic book and robot. i will admit that i laughed at the arguing, even though arguing usually isn't funny to me. it was followed by the one where amy moves in with sheldon, a pipe burst at her building. then sheldon and amy argue, leading to them being turned on. i laughed when penny said 'damn!' when the two were matching wits, including mention of null bona fides. at work there was a conference call that didn't involve my boss, who was on vacation. a colleague called me about an email he was copied on, the customer service boss had questions about getting equipment back from a former employee. it led to us figuring out that what was already sent was enough, a box for the laptop, as something found online said company-owned monitors do not have to be returned.

white castle in vending machine

 it was election day, and my voting precinct is inside a high-rise apartment building. i noticed, much like on a previous visit, how there are vending machines in the voting area. nothing unusual there, except it is more than just candy bars and potato chips. one of them sold milk as well as sandwiches. this included not just deli express sandwiches but also the famous white castle burgers. i didn't buy any but i still checked the price, three dollars. another thing that caught my eye was a big cookie, it was one seventy-five. since it is an odd numbered year there wasn't much on the ballot, city council, school board, and a tax referendum. i liked how it didn't take long to vote. i made it there in the final hour the polls were open, as i waited until i got off work, ate, and watched 'big bang theory' reruns. it was when leonard tried to learn football to impress penny, then after watching half of the game he decided to fly kites with his friends. it was followed by the one where raj calls his dad as bernadette isn't excited about being a mom. i laughed as one could tell the dad was taking a swipe at raj. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 78 cents. after i got back from voting, i went to the aldi and got some cheese. i tried to get some at the gas station close to where i had parked but that section was empty. it was around the corner from the precinct, harder to find the polling place due to the construction. at work i got placed in a conference call with the boss and the i.t. man about printing test checks, i later emailed them copies of the six checks. i was doing overnight labels and didn't let on how i was about to go to lunch. thankful the call didn't last long as i still could go to lunch in a timely fashion. looks like i am getting my wish, how after five months i will go back to sending the supply orders to somebody i know that will place them right away. this is effective next month. i said all along how i didn't care who does it, all i care is that it gets done. 

it was on the belt

 there was a late request to intercept a check, i didn't want to do it that bad but then i did admit it was likely on the conveyor belt as i had just run it through the machine. i found it but of course i could only go by the payee name when it is in the envelope until i decide to open it. likely a good idea why i run this file a little later when doing the afternoon files. there were more emails about checks not arriving by UPS, i said they either picked up too soon on friday or did not pick up at all as i had them in the box by the end of the day. with one of them i said somebody needed to approve the file, so oshkosh had two files of checks lumped together. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we meet bernadette, as howard asked to be fixed up by leonard. it was also when sheldon faces wil wheaton in a tournament at the comic book store. it was followed by the one where the friends have a meeting with the air force at their lab and sheldon hates having to say nothing for a while.

little free libaries

 from time to time, i see little free libraries. when i take a long walk around the neighborhood, i see one near a co-op grocery store. this serves as the turn-around point in my walk to head back home. sometimes i claim something and sometimes i don't. on this walk i claimed two books. there was 'me' by brenda ueland, and the other was 'french perspectives'. i looked up brenda ueland and found out she was famous for two books, this one and 'if you want to write'. i liked how the walk filled in the time well in the afternoon, as i was gone for well over an hour. during my walks i found 1 dollar 47 cents. i went to the liquor store and bought a can of heineken so now there are five beers waiting. in the morning i did my annual viewing of one of my charlie brown specials on DVD, 'great pumpkin', the halloween special. 'it's magic' was on the disc as well. it still gets some laughs out of me. in the evening i went to perform at an open-mic, cool to see cul-de-sac there. i did more bank stories, going to hy-vee, redbox, and target. somebody recognized me from a long-ago venue after the show. i enjoyed talking with him more than the bartender outside the venue, who reminded me of how some who claim to be comedy experts are really just fans.

barbie movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'barbie'. i recall how i at first passed on it, thinking it is just a movie about a doll. but a friend from meetup groups spoke well of it, so i said i would wait for it to arrive at redbox. liked it more than i thought i would, aided by plenty of social commentary. although it was the supporting characters more than the 'lead barbie' that made the movie for me. this would include the weird barbie, and the mom that works at mattel. she saves barbie from the executives. when this car chase began it reminded me of  'terminator 2' where arnold said 'come with me if you want to live'. and it was brilliant to have ken join barbie in the real world, which he likes more than barbie world. i noticed things in the background such as the 'rocky' movie posters. even the mattel CEO was funny, played by will ferrell, who is good a playing goofballs. the song selections in it helped as well. loved how 'closer to fine' by the indigo girls was included, a nice reminder of hearing it when i was driving the u-haul during my move to minnesota. i later saw that band at the minnesota zoo in apple valley. also hard to beat nicki minaj doing the barbie song. and then there was 'girls just want to have fun'. i had read many years ago how that song was actually written by a man, robert hazard. but it took on a different meaning when cyndi lauper sang it. 

when the movie was done it was time to get started on errand running. i picked up one order at the post office, and paid for 6 months on my box. then it was on to eagan where i parked in a central location and went to four nearby places in a shopping complex. first was taco bell for lunch, the ads during the world series spurred me going there for locos tacos. while there i heard concrete blonde's 'joey'. not the first time i had heard it, but worth staying until it was done. it's a song that sticks with you, with lines such as 'all is forgiven' and 'i'm not angry anymore'. next was the fed-ex office, printed two event reminders. then to kohl's as i needed some shoes. i went there instead of walmart after finding out it was next to wally world. while there i also got a barbie ornament for my little tree. finally was the walgreen where i got a little halloween candy, along with a special magazine about life hacks. then it was home. in the evening i had some pizza, then went to aldi for groceries. i saw those crustless pbj sandwiches again but still passed on them since they are not to be microwaved. so i eventually had the urge to go to a target and get english muffins, jif to go, and french jelly. i am big on single serving items, but i had the craving so it meant make them myself. later on i went on a walk and found 60 cents.

she went over there

 i went to shop for groceries at hy-vee in eagan tonight. at one point i saw a little girl run right by me in the produce section. i heard her name being called. then what was likely the mom and sister were trying to figure out where she was. so i was able to see and pointed her out and the mom said thank you. then i went on my way to the next section. at work there was a service call on the envelope stuffer, nothing was getting through. tech arrived just as a last minute meeting about test checks to canada had started. had to explain why i didn't join it right away to my boss, although much of it was other people arguing it out. it led to me sending another overnight package to canada at the end of the day. most of the checks went out despite the machine being down for a while, aided by a lower volume. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and raj work together after raj said he was in fear of getting deported. it was a rare one when music is played, it was 'eye of the tiger' in their scenes together at the university. it was followed by the one where penny's family shows up for leonard and penny renewing their vows.

it's a coffee shop

 at work i was noticing a new building across the road. it was an oil company but was demolished, was hard to tell what was going up on the same site. a sign went up this week and it will be a coffee shop. i figured it would be either that or a food outlet. there were a few check copy requests late in the day, and still a long email thread about test checks going to canada. hard to follow what part pertains to me. i sent a test check to the thread, two versions. one on the canada stock and on the regular stock. i got some discounted halloween candy at walgreen at lunchtime. it was three pieces of reese's peanut butter. i drank the can of plank road icehouse with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 34 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and raj tried to pick up goth chicks. i liked the one named sarah, as she kept saying 'not that anyone cares' because she was dour. it was followed by the one where we meet leonard's dad, played by judd hirsch. then he bickers with leonard's mom. it was leading up to leonard and penny deciding to renew their vows.

ken griffey commercials

 game five of the world series was tonight, rangers beat the d-backs 5-0 to take the series 4-1. it was a  scoreless tie at the end of the 6h inning. there was plenty of commercials starring ken griffey jr. some were for insurance, some were for hotels. there was two that were shown fairly often. one was where he is seen from a window and asks for cotton candy, then it ends with blowing a bubble after asking for bubble gum. the other has an umpire as a neighbor, where at one point the umpire kicks leaves that ken is raking. with the series done, guess i will go back to my routine of watching the news on Fox-9 plus in the early evening. at work there was the quarterly town hall meeting, i like how these are dial ins as i can still get some work done. one email requested check copies, when doing an 'alpha search' i was unable to find them and said i needed check numbers. later on i found out those checks weren't issued yet. the 'big bang theory' reruns started off with another halloween episode i hadn't seen that often before, or at all. howard was told to stop talking about being in space, then we see edwin 'buzz' aldrin guest star, giving out candy to kids, doing the same thing, still wanting to talk about it. penny visits leonard's lab and the couple has sex, more than once. it was followed by the one where leonard's mom visits and penny keeps trying to make a connection with her. then the mom spoke of being disappointed that she got no wedding invite.

witch hat

 a work, some were in costume. the customer service supervisor had a witch hat. goodies were there as well, noticed when i was bringing up mail. i had some brownies from a glass pan, and a pumpkin spice cupcake. there was a visitor to the shop, a sales rep from the envelope stuffer company. it was in relation  to getting a replacement machine soon. three boxes of overnight envelopes arrived, picked up from the branch. there was two safety drills at work despite the weather, as it had snowed. we stayed inside for the fire drill and went to another floor for the shelter in place drill. the branch manager spearheaded it. staying in tonight to watch the world series, game four, rangers lead 2-1 after a 3-1 win last night. tonight was a wild one, rangers had two 5-run innings to go ahead 10-0 and went on to beat the d-backs 11-7. rangers now lead the series 3-1. later on i went on a walk and found 48 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both halloween episodes i hadn't seen too often before. one was about pranks between the friends, sheldon trying to get even with raj by scaring him with a snake. then he scares leonard at the end. leonard meets alice at the comic book store but is too honest about technically still dating priya. it was followed by the one where sheldon gets out of seeing the 'halloween' movie when amy intervenes. howard is in costume as sheldon and then it is countered with sheldon and amy in costume as howard and bernadette.

incorrect sit-balling

 i was waiting to perform tonight and somebody tried to spit-ball sports facts, trying to sound as smart as me. i spoke of players switching teams near the end of their careers, but the dude got it wrong. roger staubach only played for the cowboys. i got out my phone and proved that. it was a thin lineup, i went on fairly early and did more bank stories. along with one about going to the grocery store. some wore costumes, i brought out the scream costume again. at work there was a visitor in the morning. i was fine with the fuser being the spare one for now as the current part still works. all i care about is getting checks printed and swap out parts only when i need to. after work i went to the liquor store near work and got a can of modelo so now there are five beers waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends went to a costume party at penny's and her ex shows up. it was followed by the one where leonard returns a day early from the north sea expedition to be with penny and sheldon caught him in the act, thinking penny was cheating on leonard. 

pork schnitzel dinner

 at midday i had a pork schnitzel dinner at the czech and slovak hall in st. paul. i had bought a discounted ticket a month earlier. i chatted with others at the table and when their plates arrived i had to speak up. they were given a yellow ticket and i was not, so i went back to registration and got a yellow ticket to give to the server. there was potato salad with garnish as well. for dessert we had apple strudel. after this was done i went to the nearby cooper's grocery store and picked up five items. his included another box of the charlie brown cereal made by kellogg for the season, called 'great pumpkin'. in the morning i renewed my membership with the american historical association, one of just two memberships i have now. in the late afternoon i went on a long walk around the neighborhood. i got pictures of some cool jack o lanterns. i had some pizza for the evening meal and watched 'the Simpsons', which had a documentary theme. then i went to a meetup event, at black stack brewing in st. paul. it is in the same building as can can wonderland. i chatted with somebody who had moved from austin, texas, and later on we joined another group that included somebody who was on his laptop for most of the time and not part of the meetup event. when i got home i did the dishes. during my walks i found 38 cents. 

twin cities horror festival

 in the afternoon i went to see a show at the twin cities horror festival. i had been to the venue before, in northeast minneapolis, in a former westinghouse building. when i arrived i found somebody i knew, and said he was why i was attending due to his appearance on TV to promote it. this was the duck. the show i saw was about the st. paul caves in the 1920s. there was a warning about the risk of splatter if sitting in the front row. this was an intimate room to say the least, as the front row was close enough to the performers that we were told to keep our feet and legs in so nobody tripped on them. there was four cast members, and three of them were women playing men. i knew it was done when one of them switched on a lantern, then the curtain calls and bowing happened. it was fairly short, kind of like fringe festival, just under an hour. of course there was a little errand running to do in the morning. i went to the post office, one order picked up. and i sent the recycle to the capitol. it was midday by then and the next stop was for groceries at aldi, then a sandwich at jersey mike's. then i rested a little at home and went out again, this time to the show. when i got back i laid down for a little while, then had the evening meal and watched the world series. it was game two. it was close for a while, d-backs were leading the rangers 2-1 at the end of the 6th, then went on to win 9-1 to even the series. later on i went on a walk and found 38 cents.

buick invicta, chevy nova

 it was a banner day for seeing cool cars. when i took a walk at the end of my lunch i saw one at the shop near the bank, it was a buick invicta. so i got a picture of it. this was a convertible, wikipedia said it was made just 5 model years. on the way home i saw another car on an auto transport for a while, only confirmed what it was when passing it, this was a boxy chevy nova sedan. i recall going to see a des moines buccaneers hockey game while in high school with some classmates in a 1979 nova. another notable thing i saw during the lunchtime walk was a flyer taped to a pole for a chewbacca roaring contest. it had already happened a week earlier, but it was still funny to me so i got a picture of it too. things got better at work as the part needed for the envelope stuffer arrived, i picked it up when i put out three toner cartridges for recycle. i swapped out the part and it is sealing well again. i called the tech to report the results. it was a good day to clear my plate at the end of the week, not just the cartridges but also returned checks were forwarded by inter-office mail. when i was putting out tax checks at the lockbox i saw a trash truck lifting the dumpster, that was cool. i don't get to see that too often, so it was worth it to stay out there an extra minute or two. in the evening i went to get groceries at the hy-vee in eagan, moved up a little as i knew the world series, game one, would be on. the reception on AM radio wasn't good, i knew the rangers took an early lead and then the d-backs went ahead 3-2 in the 3rd just as i was getting home. then i watched the rest on TV, on Fox. i managed to last through the rest of the game but i was tired, didn't want to miss anything. the long ball helped the rangers late in the game, a 2-run shot in the 9th to tie and a solo shot in the 11th, to win 6-5. later on i went on a walk and found 88 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when lewis black guest starred to settle a comic book bet about what kind of cricket. it was followed by the one where the friends go to a wine tasting and raj brings claire but it dind't end well.

box for ex-colleague

 when a colleague brought down refund checks to be overnighted i was also given a box to send to somebody who had just quit. it is going to Wisconsin. eventually i heard from the manager of that department who asked that it be sent UPS as well. it is rare that i send a box, but i got it done. i dropped it off at a retail location on my way home. mid-morning there was a visitor about the check printer, just as i was going to create a ticket for it since it was for a different issue. i added notes to the existing ticket, which was easier than creating a new one. another fuser, part of the maintenance kit, has been ordered. i called for service on the envelope stuffer due to the sealing issues and i got calls about it. the second stated that parts will be ordered, likely not showing up due to the cost to the company. guess i can swap out the parts myself once delivered. i drank the bottle of bell's October-fest with the evening meal so now there are four beers waiting. later on i went on a walk and found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when the friends had a 'hate howard room' and secrets were spilled such as about the roommate agreement. stuart shows up in costume and was riding a bicycle.