the cool table?

 went to a fish fry after work. i needed to go to my phone to find the directions to get me there the rest of the way after making a wrong turn. i ended up in my old neighborhood, at the gas station where i would board the bus to get to work many years ago. but after that stop i had no problem getting there, guess it can be tricky on seeing some of the turns if i haven't been there in a while. i paid for the meal and then was told to find somebody in a green apron who would get me my meal after i was given a ticket. after i had been helped there was a dude that was getting in my face even though i said i had already been helped. later on he joined me at my table, although we didn't talk much while i was eating. he did say something about sitting at a table where the cool people are. before i got my meal i stopped at the girl scout cookie table and got a box of brownie-flavored cookies. i wanted some peanut butter flavored but there wasn't many left, of any flavor, period. it was my second box of the season. after the fish fry at the church i went to a speedway gas station on the way home and got some banana strawberry flavored milk. cashier said it was good, it was my first time having it. shortly after work and before i started my drive to the church i got a shamrock shake at the nearby mcdonald's. when it is the last day of the month that is likely the last one i am having for the season. just before i went to lunch my boss asked for check copies showing remittance advices as well as some that had letters included with the check. i sent eight that was fairly representative of what our checks look like. i was reading through the thread and it was hard to follow the need for it. at some point i would expect my boss to brief me as to if my duties will be changing at all. it was starting to snow when i was driving home so i decided to move it back a day on going to hy-vee. i did walk over to the liquor store near me and got a bottle of a ukraine beer, lvivske, so now four beers are waiting. during my walks i found 52 cents.

stool and dinner tray returns

 i was part of the lineup at a show after work. it was one i had done before, but this was for the first time in three years. i was the live blogger at a comedy hour that included not only comics but also musicians and a game show segment where the prize was a t-shirt. this show was fronted by the wisconsin couple. so i decided that the stool and dinner tray i was given for the previous show should make a return. opera singer was part of the house band, an allman brothers tribute band. and there was a poet. i liked being able to talk with performers before the show in the green room, where i was eating pizza from domino's and drinking a and w root beer. there was cookies as well. in some ways it helped me with what to write about in the postings during the show. the poet spoke of being an instructor in classes at the loft literary center in minneapolis, a place where i am a member and have taken classes. i said the proof how it had been a while since i had done this show was some of the changes in my life. a new phone, new job, and new car. i didn't have much in terms of actual stage time but i didn't mind as i take my writing seriously and we all have roles to fill. show runner said it is like a photo memory book, i liked hearing this. early on the show runner asked for a review about her set and i said i had written about the joke she did about her mom in therapy. before the show i liked matching wits with the big dog. at the end of the night i signed the wall, and left with more than what i showed up with. i got the remaining pizza, it was consolidated into one box. and i said i wanted the two comedy CDs that were at the merch table, one of them had been produced since the most recent show of three years ago. i am told i will get the discs at cost and it will be taken out of the pay i will get through paypal. works for me. plenty of music will be a reminder of the show. during it one song playing was the 'monk' tv show theme, 'it's a jungle out there'. when driving home while it was raining i heard 'for whom the bell tolls' by metallica, and 'if it makes you happy' by sheryl crow. after i got home i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 83 cents. at work the most notable thing was the team huddle in the morning.

different copy store

 when driving home after work i stopped at a different copy store. i wanted to get the forms printed from a show i am in soon. not a big deal, as i was in and out in a few minutes. and the store was near the main road i use as well, i like knowing that pizza will be furnished so i don't have to find the evening meal before i get there. a release form was also included, because it is being filmed. i plan on bringing out two items given to me from when i did the show before, a TV tray and a stool. i had found a use for the latter in my home, i put the christmas tree on it. at work it looks like the team huddle was moved back to the next day, in the morning, it had been slated for this afternoon. this morning the tech arrived for the check printer, and it is running again as the spare maintenance or fuser kit was installed. later on i saw an I.M. about apparently the replacement kit being ordered, confirming where to send it to. so thankfully the printer wasn't down for long, just under one day. this was a tech i hadn't seen before, who said he had worked at a hospital at fort sill, oklahoma. in the evening i watched two episodes of 'the conners' instead of the news. both were reruns. one was about jackie and dan preserving memories, and mention of a mechanical bull. the other was about taking care of the mean grandma. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 53 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj and howard tried to pick up goth chicks, and one of them said 'not that anyone cares'. it was followed by the one where the ladies go to las vegas, and penny works while the other two get drunk. the dudes try to work but get sidetracked and just watch movies. i drank the can of michelob with the evening meal so now three beers are waiting,

pharmacy discount card

 i was looking for my health spending account card and found it. while doing this search i found two pharmacy discount cards that i haven't used. one was only for walmart and the other was available for use at various places. so i put them in the same envelope. also notable about the day, after work, was seeing the forms related to a show i am doing this week. i will try to find a place to print them soon. at work the newer check printer stopped near the end of the fargo file, message board said it needed the maintenance kit replaced. i don't recall any warning at all on it being low. so i called in a ticket an was proactive about notifying someone locally how the ticket was out there. i did get an online call late in the day about a technician arriving the next day. there is a spare kit onsite so hopefully swapping it out will be good enough. one of the overnights was sending a disc from the IRS to the east metro to our tax department. i am told that there will be more discs arriving within the week. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when lewis black was a guest star as a cricket expert. it was followed by the one where penny meets red-haired emily and the two ladies don't like each other.

hot potato check

 in the morning i am asked about the UPS drop-box. i said i don't know how often the drivers pick up from it, i usually just send overnight packages to it at the end of the day. there was an i-pay check that the customer service manager called a 'hot potato' and i knew the first i-pay wasn't ready until midday. the first overnight label i did for the day was this one, and i dumped it in the box before i went to lunch. but it remains to be seen as to if it will arrive any earlier just because i got it in there earlier. i checked the tracking number at the end of the workday and it looks like it hadn't been picked up yet. this was a 'return to business line' check, going to topeka. otherwise it was a fairly uneventful day. another overnight was set aside because i am unable to overnight to a PO box. i performed at the open-mic in the evening, and started off with a call back to the guitar player before me doing an ice cream song. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends got back from the north pole, then sheldon decided to run away back to his mom in texas. it was followed by the one where howard was invited to throw out the first ball at an angels baseball game.

a good person movie

 i went to see the movie 'a good person' in the mid-afternoon at the lagoon in uptown minneapolis. i recognized morgan freeman and molly shannon in it. this movie is about a girl who has an opioid addiction after a car wreck. she is a piano player, so the music in it is good. some scenes are hard to watch, but this can be expected when oxycontin is awful. a football teammate died from an oxy overdose. plenty of the story was about complicated relationships with parents, which i found to be relatable. after the movie i went to the nearby mcdonald's to get a shamrock shake. while there, and i wasn't there for long, a man asked, repeatedly, to get a ride to another town, and i turned him down. i don't give rides to total strangers. at the outset i was only planning on seeing the movie, but it became a little busier for me than that. i log on to facebook and see an invite for a birthday party. it was from big dog for one of his kids, which i hadn't met yet. there was a green screen, and i let the kids have their turn at it, but once the stage was empty i went up there. i had a can of modelo, and there was pizza from pizza luce as well. i was there for a little over an hour, then i went to the movie. while walking back to my car, one block over, i saw the d.c. native, who said he was in town to do a show. i traded some texts with my niece, will try to figure out what to get her kid for next month's birthday party. during my walks i found 26 cents.

ritual killer movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'ritual killer'. i recognized morgan freeman in it. and i liked seeing cole hauser in it, who was also in 'good will hunting'. the movie starts in italy, and it was hard to follow the connection with the story taking place in america as well, in mississippi. it is about an african tribesman who engages in human sacrifice. morgan freeman is a college instructor, and helps the cop played by hauser. there is some back story about hauser's character, apparently losing his daughter to drowning and his wife due to suicide from the sorrow of his daughter's passing. i do like thrillers, but one that involves human sacrifice is harder to enjoy. i did like one scene where freeman's character is in a class and challenges a student to find a tribe with customs that he would be appalled by. it was in response to the student saying he could google just about anything. 

  after the movie was done it was time to get started on errand running. i made it to the post office just before closing to pick up two e-bay orders, then i dumped the movie at the gas station, and sent recycle to the capitol. i picked up lunch near the post office as well. then it was on to print event tickets at the copy store. i liked how i could do three stops in the same strip mall, as i got a haircut at great clips and after that i got coffee at the caribou. the stylist referred to people who checked in online but hadn't arrived yet as 'knuckleheads', it was why the wait for me was minimal upon arrival, and why i went to caribou after and not before. not much else to do after the strip mall. later on i went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. during my walks i found 1 dollar, mostly in quarters. and i looked at my refrigerator magnet collection and took down nine of them as i am stressing quality. i might decide to put up some i had stored away in a box since some space has been freed up.

cash rewards tote

 there were three medium sized boxes on the table in the branch area at work, and the branch manager said she wasn't expecting anything. it was labeled 'cash rewards tote'. my guess is a free gift for signing up for the program. when the manager opened the boxes she said there was nothing on the tote saying it was for cash rewards. odd. just had to see it for myself, usually i am not in the branch area for long, just to get deliveries. a colleague for another department asked if i had done the pay-stubs from the previous day, it was still morning. i said i would do them next. when i sent the i.m. saying they were done i said i do the manual things first as it is harder to think of what i want to get done when the machine is on as it is loud. i ordered another amazon gift card with points i received this week. after work i drove straight over to a fish fry, just a few miles from where i live. i had been there before to this church. the buttered rice and the green beans with tomato sauce were good. i drank water out of a coffee cup there, not a big deal as i do this all the time at work. i watched some of the college basketball tournament, after getting back from hy-vee. none of the number one seeds remain. watched some of the texas win over xavier, no surprise who won as texas had a double digit lead at the half. went to the liquor store and got a can of natural ice, so now four beers are waiting. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 6 cents. 

tales of terror from tokyo

 i watched some more shorts on youtube that i found, called 'tales of terror rom tokyo'. this was what a colleague spoke of. tonight it was 'motel' and 'getting closer'. the latter was about house sitting, with a dog. these were weird as well. the previous day it was 'visitor' and one about a slumber party where later on people are eating uncooked rice. of course i wanted ones in subtitled english, so this is what i entered as key words. so it might be hard to find more in this category, unless i watch the movie-length ones of over an hour. at work the backlog of checks to run through was eliminated, aided by having fewer to print today. late in the day i was sent some paystubs, but i can do them the next morning. hadn't seen those in a while. i watched some of the college basketball tournament but not a lot. i know kansas state beat michigan state, had listened to some of it on the radio when driving home. and u-conn beat arkansas rather handily, this was the game on TV when i got home. i drank the can of lagunitas with the evening meal so now there are three beers waiting. later on i went on a walk and found 48 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when stuart and penny went on a date and penny called him the wrong name. it was followed by the one where sheldon ends up in arizona, with no pants on, at the end of his time riding the rails.

sink is out of order

 when i went to the breakroom to heat up soup at lunchtime i noticed a big puddle of water near the microwave ovens. so i did something about it. since i worked as a janitor in college i couldn't ignore it. i sopped up as much as possible with the napkins i found and tried using a wet vac as well. then i notified a branch employee. by the end of the day i saw a sign saying the sink was out of order and the garbage disposal was uprooted and in the sink. also notable about the day was a colleague visiting the shop, saying there wasn't much work in his department. so he ended up tending to the envelope stuffer and got plenty of checks run through. so the backlog is just two stacks now, instead of six. i didn't mind having the company, and i was given a tip about things to watch on youtube. it was subtitled japanese horror movie shorts. late in the evening i watched jimmy kimmel, as molly shannon was being interviewed. she has a movie due out soon, called 'a good person'. so i will put it on my list. i found out as it was a promo during 'the conners'. i think both of those were reruns. one was about darlene delivering food and her counter offer for a better job being rejected. it was followed by the one where harris has a moocher and thief for a boyfriend. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 8 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and raj hire a hooker for howard in las vegas. it was followed by the one where there is a going away party for leonard, who is doing research in the north sea. raj has lucy meet amy, but he pushes lucy too hard.

ten hour tech visit

 the tech arrived during my first hour of the workday and was there for five more hours, but the envelope stuffer seems to be running fine now. so this was a total of ten over the past two days. i didn't want to fall too far behind on getting checks out so i still did a decent amount of manual stuffing. especially for those that should have went out on monday. since the correct size zip ties arrived this week, i said i was fine with sending the smaller ones to the customer service manager, and i did this morning. she said it was fine to pass them on as it is the same cost center. i did not do much on incoming mail but i can get his caught up the next morning. the tech used plenty of copy paper to test the machine and i did go through those envelopes used with it and decided to re-use them on real checks for as many as possible. some still went to the recycle bin. my boss emailed us and said he has gout and will work from home for this entire week. watching 'night court' is now part of my prime time routine, tonight's was about abby going to a restaurant to check on dan's date. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny went on a date with stuart and leonard said to howard 'take me to a bar to meet women'. it was followed by the one where all of the friends play d and d, where howard does celebrity impressions as dungeon master. except for raj, who goes on a date with lucy, who bails on him again.

inserter issues

 the parts arrived for the envelope stuffer, and the tech called shortly after i picked them up from the branch. actually a box and a small bag, but the tech claimed he only needed the box. tech was there for five hours and was unable to get it running properly, said it was inserter issues. i tried to get as many checks out as possible but of course i don't enjoy having to do manual stuffing of envelopes. zip ties arrived as well. i performed at the open-mic in the evening, and the bank stories still go over well. later on i went on  walk and found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when bob newhart first was a guest star as professor proton.

iowa magazine

 there were various things i wanted to get done and it was easier to do them because i had the TV off for most of the day. i decided to read the past year's editions of the iowa magazine, published by the university of iowa, before putting them away in a box with the others. it led to me writing a letter to the editor, sent by email, as it brought back memories of my time as a student at the university. there was an article about concerts, and i saw the guns-n-roses show at carver. there was also the 50th anniversaries of hancher auditorium, and the bijou theater. i saw 'les miserables' at the former and 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest' at the latter. the new home of the university's art collection reminded me of my rhetoric instructor deciding to do a class trip to see this art gallery, she had worked at galleries on the east coast. there is a grant wood painting in this collection, as wood was an instructor at the university at one point. i put away two 'rudolph the red nosed reindeer' items in the montgomery ward collection, a coloring book and an empty cereal box. and i got the second copy of my state tax return ready, the one i am submitting to the state. now it means getting it delivered soon. 'the simpsons' had a bowling theme, bringing back the frenchman that taught bowling to marge. during my walks i found 81 cents.

skyway walk, meetup

 this morning i didn't do a redbox movie, i did a meetup walk in the skyway in downtown st. paul. it started at union depot and the turnaround point was the xcel center. we saw fans already arriving for the hockey game, the minnesota wild were playing the boston bruins. except this was more than 90 minutes before the game started. some of what i saw i had seen when working downtown, but not all of it. got pictures of a few things along the way, such as a stained glass window early in the walk. others were inside the depot, including of the mighty mississippi. and of a vending machine, which sold hospital masks for two-fifty, same price as the bags of potato chips. it was a small group, i was one of four, and nobody there my age. the cost was two dollars, i paid with quarters i had found from my walks. and i ended up finding some more on the way back to my car after the walk was done, just after midday. not a big deal on changing my weekend routine a little for the walk, it just meant moving up my stop at the post office, two orders were picked up. oh, and i did check the score of the game, followed it a little on the radio after i left downtown. the wild lost 5-2. i got another shamrock mcflurry at mcdonald's after the walk, because they were out of shakes. then after a brief stop at home, it was on to get a sandwich at jersey mike's. then i laid down for a little while, and when i woke up it was time to get to aldi for my weekly grocery order. i made it back just before the baseball game on Fox started, team USA playing venezuela in the world baseball classic. it was a slugfest, the americans won 9-7, a grand slam in the 8th put them ahead. it was 3-2, USA leading, at the end of the 1st inning. also notable about the day was de-friending four people on facebook. i like how i don't have to do this too often now, but when i do it is because i haven't talked with those people in a long while and i prefer the friends list to stay fairly relevant. good idea to do it after my birthday, to see who did and didn't send wishes my way. i stopped at the liquor store, and got a can of surly, so now four beers are waiting. during my walks i found 4 dollars 71 cents.

shoe swap

when i was getting off work and going to my car i noticed one of my shoes was flapping way too much. at first i considered just trying to re-glue it when i got home but noticed that didn't seem practical. so i just swapped them out for another pair when i got home. what made the decision easier was how it felt like i couldn't get to the pedals in my car as well as i normally could. there was two stops i made before i got home. i went to a little hy-vee and got some juice and a reese's peanut butter. then it was on to the ukraine center in northeast minneapolis to pick up a fish dinner i had ordered the night before. then i heated up the fish and the fries when i got home. there was some puffs in a separate bag with a sticker of the organization closing the bag and they were good. i watched some of the college basketball tournament after getting back from hy-vee in eagan but not a lot. so this was a big deal, going to two hy-vees in the same day. i bought another box of lucky charms while there. at work it was nice that it was a low volume day. and the machine stopping way less made it easier as well. i had some points to use after getting a nomination for handling incoming mail for other departments for two-plus years so i asked for amazon gift cards. looks like the parts for the envelope stuffer will arrive on monday, i was emailed about this. weird how the doorbell rang to the shop around midday. a branch employee asked where to leave a shipment of janitorial supplies although i am not responsible for those. i said they are normally left in the hall, on the wall, near the bathrooms. so that is where the courier left them. just as weird as earlier in the week when somebody picking up a check was telling me about being absent due to chicken pox. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when amy tested sheldon on closure, he wasn't good at it. so i led to him re-doing all of it on his own. my favorite still is when he lays on the floor like he is drunk after all of the dominoes fell, while penny arrives to call him a weirdo.  

waiting, green day

 i was watching the college basketball tournament on CBS after the news was done and was thrilled to hear a green day song in a promo for next year's super bowl. i wrote down some key lyrics and found out it was 'waiting'. so i went to find the song on youtube. of course only part of it is in the promo, but i can see how it fits the theme when hearing the full song. one sees a tour bus in the promo. guess it wasn't the only green day song i heard throughout the day. also heard 'time of your life'/'good riddance' on the way home. it reminds me of how it was not only on some episodes of the TV show 'ER' but also the song played when the st. paul saints played their final game at midway stadium. this week, it was announced that the saints had been sold to the same investor group that also owns the iowa cubs. it was a long day at work, but i liked having a cupcake with a plastic ring on it that said 'st. patrick's day'. the envelope stuffing machine was being inconsistent on sealing so i had no choice but to call in the morning. we tried getting it done remotely but it still wasn't performing well enough. so i saw somebody in the afternoon. i was told parts had to be ordered, but it was set up to run checks through without sealing the envelopes. so what needed to go out still was sent out at the end of the day. i drank a a can of a craft brew, wooden ship, with the evening meal and got a lagunitas this week so there still are three beers waiting. during my walks i found 2 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon found a letter from howard's dad. then sheldon used amy as a human shield and amy said she didn't like that. 

illinois tax forms

 in the morning i ran the remaining illinois tax forms through the machine, there was just over five hundred. i notified that department how it appears this special project is finished now. there was some dial-in meetings but i didn't have much time for them as i had my normal duties so i listened to very little of them. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 42 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when the dudes went to speak with students about science, while the ladies went to disney-land. raj did a 'text date' with lucy. 'the conners' was about dan and jackie driving to oklahoma for a hardware liquidation sale.

kitchen-aid demo

 when i was bringing up some boxes for the customer service manager she spoke of doing a kitchen-aid demo, and has done it for 13 years. at some point i will have to inquire further about it, as mention of it intrigued me. i am trying to visualize it, and i am thinking of how there is a kitchen on the set of twin cities live, a show where i have been in the audience. and a friend a while back once spoke of having a gig for revlon, at various stores where their products are sold. even recall seeing somebody stocking greeting cards in that section of a walgreen. i chipped away some more at the illinois tax forms, more than six hundred went out and the estimate is that six hundred are remaining. so i would like to think i can finish it the next day. one emailed request asked to see copies of nineteen wire transfers. it was near the end of the day but i wanted it gone so i didn't have to do it the next morning. there was a spike in the volume on the overnight envelopes, due to the newer business line, sending eleven checks. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 cent. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and penny had drinks together while sheldon bonded with leonard's mom. not sure if i had seen that one before. it was followed by the one where penny was on 'fun with flags', then she is in the play 'streetcar named desire'. raj is bummed when lucy bails on him. 

needs list

 i recall working at a nursing home when i was in high school, and near the end of the shift sometimes a colleague would ask me for a needs list. except i didn't know what the needs of the department were. but the term still stuck with me. well when i went to walgreen near the end of my lunch i found out i was able to get all of the things on my needs list for home. this was laundry soap, toilet paper, and socks. most of the laundry soap and dish soap is locked up now, i know why. this is to cut down on theft. but it is still sad to see it nonetheless. but there were a few bottles not locked up, and i found out on my register tape that the kind i chose was discounted. at work i got more than a thousand illinois tax forms run through the machine, about half of what is remaining. so i am hopeful to finish the other half the next day. there was a dial-in meeting in the afternoon, but i did not tune in as i wanted to take care of my normal duties. i performed at the open-mic tonight, and a fellow comic was in the front row and kept laughing. i didn't think my stories were that funny though. a newer comic who was reading from notes was asking about his set, but i said the next performer was on. a performer i hadn't seen before was pretty good, doing a poem. hard to ignore how he walked with a limp, it was part of the poem. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents.so now i have enough saved up to pay the fee for a meetup walk. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon lent money to penny. it was followed by the one where penny ruined valentines day by being jealous of who her ex was with. 

caribou coffee birthday offer

 i used the second of four birthday offers in the afternoon. i had just started laundry and decided to go to a nearby caribou coffee. the offer was a free coffee, and i still ordered a blueberry muffin to go with it. i don't make it in that often so i needed a little time to figure out what i wanted. i do like how there is more time given to use it, a full week. previously it was available just the day of. the two offers left to use are speedway gas station, and redbox movies. i have a month to use the former and 2 months to use the latter. i liked how there wasn't much to do for the day, besides laundry. i did put away a few things in my home that had been laying out for a little while as well. one of them was a book i had ordered from amazon. some things don't take all that long to do. in the morning i responded to all of the birthday wishes on facebook, there was more than 20 of them. i watched the selection show for the college basketball tournament, looks like the iowa hawkeyes play auburn on thursday, in birmingham, close to auburn's campus. i got a better look at my state income taxes and will want to get those submitted soon, as there is a much larger refund due than on the federal taxes. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 57 cents. 

she-ball movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'she-ball'. i recognized ced the entertainer in it, and marla gibbs. the former was a politician, the latter the main character's grandma. it was about a community center in inglewood, california, where a women's basketball league would play its games. the venue known as the forum, where the lakers once played, is shown in transition scenes. i liked the scenes where the basketball games were played, but the other scenes not so much. it was hard to like the main character, who was a hypocrite. it appears the lead actor, nick cannon, is also a rapper as many of the songs listed in the closing credits had his name on it. there was some scenes where i said 'what is he doing?' and it was later revealed he was trying to manage a gas leak at the center. after the movie was done i got started on errand running. there was six stops to make. i picked up two orders at the post office. a third item in my box wasn't for me so i just pushed it through and it fell onto the floor where an employee can get it in the right box. then i got a shamrock mcflurry at mcdonald's, because they were out of shamrock shakes. next was dumping the movie at the gas station, followed by sending recycle to a place near the capitol. finally was printing two items at the copy store, and lunch at ikea. i had a coupon for a free piece of cake, as it is my birthday month. i got the swedish meatball dish with it. when i got home i laid down for a while, then had the evening meal and went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. then it was time for a baseball game on fox, the world baseball classic. team USA was playing great britain. the americans fell behind early on a solo home run but went ahead in the third and went on to win 6-2. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 9 cents. 

fish fry volunteer entrance

 i went to a fish fry tonight, but made it through the volunteer entrance so i had to ask where i can go to eat. i arrived near the end of the time allotment and was told they were out of cole slaw and peach cobbler, not a big deal. still had a good meal in spite of it, including a sugar cookie. this was at a catholic church and school just a few miles away. then it was on to hy-vee in eagan for my weekly grocery order. i saw a st. patrick's snoopy card there and it played 'irish washer-woman'. i did self check-out but there was an issue where and employee had to approve it. i had just seven items. at work it was nice to get caught up on things. not only getting all of the checks run through, but also getting the final online class done out of six. along with placing two supply orders, one of them being the toner cartridge for the copier. for most of the overnight packages i used the envelopes with the stick-on pouches, we still have plenty of them. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 2 dollars 22 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon went rock climbing with kripke. it was followed by the one where amy said 'here i am' to sheldon when there was some shuffling on roommates, although nobody wanted to say they were opposed to it.

pharmacy closing notice

 i took some returned mail over to the walgreen when i went there for an afternoon snack. i was told it was a notice of  the closing of a nearby pharmacy. i left it at the pharmacy and the manager was summoned to handle it. i noticed it had a stamp saying 'suburban' so it might have been sent from suburban chicago, where walgreen is based. at work, as expected, it was easier to get caught up on things because there was no long lunch and no meetings. the backlog of checks to run through is now under a thousand. i did another online class so there is one left. even though i have until the end of the month i don't plan on waiting that long to finish the final one. the doorbell to the shop rang in the morning and i pointed out where the mailroom is so hopefully there won't be any more hiccups on where the mail is left, or when it arrives. i said the tubs can be left anywhere on the carpet in that room, and a photo was done of it as well. i drank the botte of peroni with the evening meal, and got a can of modelo this week, so there still are three beers waiting. 'young sheldon' was about failures, and it ended with what appeared to be missy running way in the truck although she is too young to drive legally. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 26 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon had to work with kripke on a proposal but kripke kept asking about the private life with amy. howard and raj got a 3-d printer.

counting crows, mr. jones

 i went to a bowling event in ham lake tonight. plenty of music played there, but most notable was hearing 'mr. jones' by counting crows. it reminded me of another place i had bowled at, in southern california when i was visiting some distant cousins, when the song was new many years ago. listened to the song on youtube, the theme is 'stare at the beautiful women' and the song name-checks picasso as well as bob dylan. as usual i bowled two games and the second was better than the first. my scores were 94 and 122. it was a crazy day at work so i made it to the bowling alley when i could, after the overnight labels were caught up. there was another afternoon meeting, about where the mail is being left in the morning. i heard from driver services shortly after the meeting ended. my boss less than an hour later showed up in the shop and asked me about an email i researched weeks ago that was bounced back to us. i said i couldn't find the check numbers, same as before, so i don't know why i was being asked about it again. there was a department luncheon at a buffet in a nearby town, i got a picture of the stone statue out front. i had some ice cream as my last item, once i found out where the machine was, in the corner. i would like to think there will be no meetings for the next day, and a lower check volume, this would make it easier to get caught up on things. i did two more online classes in the morning, so now there are two left. 

show me the inboxes

 there was two meetings in the afternoon. the first was about the transition on incoming mail. i am used to scanning much of it. but now 'return to office' has been happening, three days a week. so i said i need to see where the inboxes are. i scan some things to new vendor, some to customer service, some to recurring. the second and third are apparently lumped together, so it is just two inboxes i will be using on another floor. and i got another look at the returned stack of refund checks from energy park. i was asked to find out what checks were missing. there was one, and another the amount was off by five cents. there was a register tape included, and my findings matched the difference given in red. so i added the manager for that function to the thread and was told that her team would figure it out. and it meant i brought those up, along with refund checks that recently arrived in the incoming mail. the second meeting was shorter. it was from a business line asking for about seven hundred checks to have a special stamp on the envelopes. as expected, the boss said this was not practical. but i still felt lost due to the jargon the dude was using. there are six online classes due at the end of the month, i did two of them in the morning so there are four left for me. those classes don't take long once getting started. and i got the texas tax forms run through, over six hundred. one box left, the illinois forms. it was my birthday, so plenty of activity online. i counted 17 wishes on facebook, 18 if you count the one sent as a private message, by the fancy comic. as expected, there was emailed offers from some companies i have an account with. besides one i saw earlier from ikea, tonight i also saw ones from caribou coffee, redbox movies, and the speedway gas station. i like how i am getting longer than typical to use the offer from caribou, a week. at one point it was good only the day of. probably will use some of them this weekend. i was a little bummed about a drag brunch i wanted to see later this month was already sold out, all three performances. but i reminded myself there is a meetup walk that same day so i got myself signed up for it. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 68 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when the friends made the penny blossoms. 

too much jargon

 i got an i.m. from somebody who had spoken with a colleague first, and she said 'talk to the boss'. so i don't know why this dude didn't do that. especially when jargon was being used and i kept asking what it stood for and means and no answer was given. i let the boss know about it and there is a meeting about it in the afternoon the next day. although i don't know if we can deliver on what is being asked for. when there is mention of things like stamping the envelopes, and there are 700 checks expected in the file. it was nice getting caught up on running checks through by the end of the day, all that was waiting in the morning was the fargo file. there was a full tub of the jacksonville file, the special project, sent out at the end of the day. guess this was what my colleague did after i had left for the day on friday. in the morning the branch manager notified me about having a visitor, it was a courier with the envelope delivery. except the primary driver usually brings it into the shop by themselves. this one unloaded the pallet and then left. so i had to cut the plastic off the pallet and get the 30 boxes inside by myself. i used four different carts to get it done, the two smaller ones aren't used as much. in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar, all quarters. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both about holiday parties. the first was the new year's eve party where the friends were dressed like the justice league. the second was the halloween party where sheldon is dressed like the doppler effect. 

geese in iowa

 i watched 'CBS sunday morning' because there was a segment about the charlie brown comic strip. i watched the entire 90-minute show and there were some other good segments. one of them was about geese in iowa. one was sad because it was widowed, so the cemetery caretakers found her a mate. there was also segments about comedians, jimmy fallon as well as nick kroll. i liked the one about the former way more than the latter, likely since i had heard way more about the former. around midday i ventured out, taking the light rail to the vikings stadium as there was a college baseball game i wanted to see. nebraska was playing mississippi in the cambria classic. i went to bobby and steve's first for lunch, i had pizza but they apparently no longer have godfather's there. ole miss went ahead early in this one, going up 8-0 at the end of the first inning. the nebraska pitcher didn't finish the inning. ole miss went on to win 14-5, guess they proved they still have a good team this year, after winning the college world series last year. they were a little late on the 7th inning stretch with playing 'take me out to the ball game', but i liked how the pitcher waited until it was done before starting the inning. i wasn't home for long after the game, long enough to have the evening meal. then it was on to perform at an open-mic. i spoke some about what i had done for the day. a crowd member said i should perform more, i said i've been at it for a while. during my walks i found 60 cents. i called my dad late in the evening, saying i got the card. 

running with the devil movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a redbox rental, 'running with the devil'. i recognized nicolas cage, laurence fishburne, and cole hauser in it. leslie bibb, who was on 'ER', was a DEA agent. this movie was about the drug trade, especially cocaine from colombia. notable was the characters being introduced with their names being typed out on the screen, though it was 'the so and so' and not their real names. also how the price of a kilo kept going up the closer it arrived to the destination in america. this movie did remind me of one from a while back, called 'traffic'. especially when it was said that drugs are still everywhere despite all of the ways law enforcement tries to stop them. also notable was the opening scene being shown again near the end of the movie, but more action was shown the second time, explaining things more. i pay attention to the music in movies, especially a song i had heard before. it was 'battle flag', by lo fidelity all-stars and pigeon-hed. it was actually a remix, the original artist was pigeon-hed. i found both versions on youtube, i like the remix more, because it is shorter and just plain sounded better to me. i had heard it on 'ER', an according to wikipedia it has been in plenty of movies and TV shows over the years. 

once the movie was done i got started on my errand running. there were six stops on my list, and i broke it into two sets of three. there was the post office, one order picked up. it was the last of the nine 'lyle crocodile' books i was searching for, the christmas edition. then i dumped the movie at the gas station and went to mcdonald's and got a shamrock shake. i went home and dropped off the book, then got a sandwich at jersey mike's as it was lunchtime. then on to a walgreen where girl scout cookies were being sold near the entrance, and finally the copy store to print some things. when i got home again i laid down for a while. when i woke up i had the evening meal, then went to aldi for my weekly grocery order. during my walks i found 77 cents. 

between hockey games

 i did watch part of a 'big bang theory' rerun tonight, it was between two hockey games on fox-9 plus. it was the one where leonard kept saying 'we're not living together' even though plenty of evidence said dr. stephanie had moved in. it was joined in progress, after the gopher women's game, gophers won in  a tournament, empty netter sealed it over wisconsin. then it was the st. cloud state men, but i didn't watch much of it as i wanted to get on the road to hy-vee in eagan. during my walks i found 1 dollar 39 cents. it was a long day at work, but plenty got done. i got most things caught up that hadn't been touched in a while, such as moving an envelope from a bankruptcy court to another department once i figured out where it belonged. it was nice having help in the shop, my colleague arrived late but she said she had a doctor appointment. but most of the backlog on the checks from the special project has been eliminated. what is left over, such as the tax forms which had been paused, i can handle starting next week. i also valued being able to chat with somebody a little about things that aren't about work, such as concerts we've attended. most days i am fine with working by myself, as long as there isn't too much on my plate. i went to a nearby mcdonald's after work and got a fish sandwich. there were a few residual things at work but i had to say it was beyond my control such as a check that is un-printable. i am still dealing with it two days later.

only the screen snip

 there was a new business line to print checks for, i finally did once an i.t. issue was cleared. but there was too much being asked for. there were not only emails, but also i.m.'s, asking the tracking numbers be entered onto an excel spreadsheet. even a colleague, who was copied on the thread, agreed with me on how we do for them what we do for all other business lines- send a screen snip of the tracking numbers and that is it. but even after my boss told them the same thing, they still kept asking for it. then the same file was holding up the positive pay function for other check files we print. there was multiple dial-in meetings about it. and it seems like they are asking for too much in terms of overnighting all of the checks. there were 31 in the file, most were for less than a thousand. for another business line, we only overnight if at least ten thousand. for yet another file, once the checks are printed, all are 'returned to business line', one overnight label. i would prefer the latter when the volume is hard to predict. even an i.t. person said 'they are asking for the world'. and it sounds like my boss will have meetings with them and things will change. there was 53 overnights for the day and 26, nearly half, were for just this one file. two techs arrived, one for the envelope stuffer and the other for the copier. sounds like spare parts will arrive later for the envelope stuffer and i can place them in a cabinet under the machine. the copier is fine now but the toner cartridge will have to be swapped out soon. with he special project, remediation checks, we did get plenty sent through the machine but there was three big files to print as well. it is nice having help with getting caught up so i don't have to babysit the machine when it jams. my boss was disappointed about what i didn't get to on my first day back, but i had a lot on my plate and what i didn't get to was handled in the morning. and some of the overnights were dropped off at a UPS retail location because not all of them were done by the time the driver picks them up from the drop-box on-site. but i like knowing how there are alternate plans available. i drank the can of pabst with the evening meal so now three beers are waiting. 'young sheldon' was bout the birth of mandy and georgie's baby.

pulling the call

 first day back at work after being on leave for a little over a week. there were issues with some of the machines. i was asked to call about the envelope stuffer, and when i found out the wait on seeing a tech arrive i was asked to call again to a different tech. this one i had seen most often, reminds me of the kind i would see when i was attending concerts. the term used was 'pulling the call'. there was a temporary fix done so more checks could get run through as a special project, remediation, is in full swing. some have been printed and still waiting to be run through, but i feel like i did plenty for the day. no surprise how some said 'welcome back'. when i was checking the branch for deliveries one employee there said it was great that i came back from vacation, i said 'we will call it that' and spoke of a line from the movie 'forrest gump'. when i arrived i wanted to get things arranged better, and go through a little over 80 emails, so it was a while before i actually got to production. about an hour later i did finally print some checks. i had a colleague in the shop for much of the day helping out, she was running the checks through the machine, it did make things easier for me. still a question of what is to be done with the copier, which had the toner cartridge ripped out. but when most things can be printed on a check printer it wasn't high priority to call about it on a crazy day. there was a team huddle, in the training room next to the breakroom. looking at emails it looked like it was chaos when i was absent, even some overtime to get california tax forms run through apparently on a saturday. i do like being back as i like being active. in the evening i went on a walk and found 74 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we me meet dr. stephanie, as she was told by howard she could pilot the mars rover. it was followed by the one where amy is ill and sheldon takes care of her. when sheldon finds out she lied to him, she was ill but didn't admit to getting well because she liked the company, sheldon decided to spank her but she enjoys it too much. on 'the conners' harris had a miscarriage. and we see louise return from a concert tour, but she doesn't want to leave the bedroom for a while, saying she had no purpose without performing.