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.