full of life, christine and the queens

 i saw an amazon commercial tonight, as i recall it was during 'young sheldon', and the song in it was no doubt captivating. found the commercial and song on youtube, the commercial is called 'concrete jungle' and depicts a young lady with plants in her new home. the song is called 'full of life' by Christine and the queens. comments mentioned how it was a variation on pachelbel's canon, found that too. guess i had heard this canon before, but this german composer is not well known to me as, say, bach or handel. after a long day at work i really needed to hear this song. further research mentioned many pop songs doing variations or samplings of this canon. of course 'christmas canon' by trans-siberian orchestra sounds the most like it. first time i had heard of christine and the queens, guess this is a french performer. at work i put out two more toner cartridges for recycle, i was behind on this for a while. there was five and now it is down to one. late in the day i was asked to overnight a check that had been run through the machine. i was able to find it but let them know it was harder to find due to the late request. i drank the can of lift bridge with the evening meal so now three beers are waiting. 'young sheldon' was mainly about sheldon riding trains in germany and then having to walk back to heidelberg after being left behind when going to a food stand. during my walks i found 3 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends dress up like 'star trek' characters and their car is stolen in the desert. while the ladies argue about comic books. it was followed by the one where leonard buys a time machine online. 

bbq corn-nuts

 a colleague had some small bags of bbq corn-nuts and i claimed one of them. i noticed that the other was eventually left in the breakroom. i said i was willing to try them as i like bbq potato chips. i hadn't eaten any corn-nuts in a while. they were all right but i still prefer potato chips. matter of fact, i have had some of the cookies and potato chips on another floor the past two days. i picked up more boxes from the branch, two were for payroll and i kept one of them as it was envelopes. and i know there are more tax forms to do in early march. saw a colleague who is back for a visit when i was sending boxes up to the delivery table. i spoke about some of the movies i had seen lately and others i will likely see soon. there was an email communication with another colleague that was annoying. i was asked to overnight a canadian check, even after i said i can't find it. then i am told why, as the invoice isn't paid yet. this seems to explain why i hadn't seen this check yet. in the evening i listened to some of the iowa women's basketball game on the radio, playing at minnesota. i fell asleep in the second half as i was laying down, but iowa was way ahead and went on to win. later on i went on a walk and found 32 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends all went to h.r. after alex hit on leonard and he enjoyed it too much. it was followed by the one where we see the quiz bowl, lesley as the fourth team member after sheldon decided to form his own team. 

second harvest heartland

 i claimed a big bag of cereal at work this month from second harvest heartland, it was wheat chex. once there was enough space i dumped the contents into a box of crispy rice cereal. i will be finishing it soon. i had to research this organization, after seeing their name on the label. it is a food bank in brooklyn park, and the label gives their toll-free number. there are links to donate money, and food. and it says it serves 57 counties in minnesota and western wisconsin. how this two-and-a-half-pound bag ended up at the bank, hard to say. since it wasn't expired like many of the other food items left in the breakroom are. at work i picked up some boxes of lysol and moved them to the delivery table on another floor. the courier joked about wanting a check printed. i said my college roommate had joked about it as well, after hearing what my line of work is. i was asked to intercept 25 checks from a file sent to us from st. louis in the afternoon, was told those were duplicated. i knew three of them sounded familiar, as it was the same payee as the previous day, in terms of those to be 'returned to business line'. i was notified just in time, right before i was going to run them through the machine. those would have been harder to find once run through. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 52 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon hates santa after santa couldn't bring back his pop-pop, who died when he was five. it was followed by the one where sheldon gets a young rival, a north korean defector. 

interoffice envelopes, cup overflows

 i saw an email late last week and it said interoffice envelopes were being sent. we had just been sent some a few days earlier but i didn't mention that. there was two big boxes picked up from the branch. i said i was pleased with how many and likely wouldn't have to ask for more for a long while. no doubt our cup overflows. now it is a matter of when the overnight envelope order arrives. i started using ones with stick-on pouches in the middle of the day. it takes a little longer to complete those but the most important thing is to get checks out. in the evening i went to perform, and i went on near the end. i did one about returning a cart, along with a bank story and a karaoke story. nice seeing the mad hatter perform after me, playing a guitar and singing in spanish. during my walks i found 7 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy was spanked by sheldon for lying to her about being sick. it was followed by the one where sheldon is sick and leonard tries to avoid him by going to a 'planet of the apes' movie marathon. 

drop dead gorgeous movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'drop dead gorgeous' at the trylon cinema in minneapolis. i have been there fairly often in recent years so i finally added them as one of my likes on facebook. i did one thing i normally don't do, order a ticket a month in advance, as the demand was high for this one. at the outset there were four screenings scheduled, then two more were added and all six were listed as sold out. except the screening i attended had no one in the front row, besides me. during the previews i changed my seat as some late arrivals were talking and i didn't want that distraction during the feature presentation. i got a small cup of popcorn and a can of 7-up. i decided to attend this one after reading how this movie is a satire of beauty pageants- and filmed in minnesota. i didn't laugh at every joke but i liked a few that were dour, no surprise when i am dour. i felt myself tingling when the 'mary tyler moore' theme song was played, 'love is all around'. guess the movie released a soundtrack, this must be why there was a recent drag brunch with this movie as the theme. i didn't attend the brunch as i wanted to see the movie first. i had found some clips of this movie on youtube to stay interested during the month-long wait, but i am thankful i saw the movie in full eventually as it all made more sense in the end. my next visit to this micro-cinema is likely for some hitchcock films in april. after the movie i went to target and bought a CD by jelly roll. liked hearing some of his songs on the radio, and the clip i found on youtube of his testimony in congress about the fentanyl epidemic. one patron was swearing at everyone and it was catching the attention of security. in the morning i found a way to consolidate some of the saved articles in the binders. it freed up two more sheet protectors so i was able to get more things about work in the binders, such as last year's pay raise and the recognitions leading to being awarded points. 'the simpsons' was about mario kart. later on after doing the dishes i went on a walk and found 68 cents.

blaze credit union meeting

 this afternoon i went to the blaze credit union annual meeting at a mega-church in eden prairie. this was the first one after the merger of spire, which i was a member of, and highway credit unions. first one i had attended in four years as well. two were virtual due to the pandemic, and i skipped last year's as i was ill. shirts with the new name were being given out, so i got one. acrobats from circus juventas performed, much like previous years, after the annual meeting business was completed. plenty of TV ads for the credit union were shown, of course i liked the one with mike veeck, the former boss of the st. paul saints. and i still talk about getting car loans with this credit union because they are a sponsor of the saints. i picked up a quick lunch just before i arrived at the venue, it was a slurpee drink and breakfast sandwich from the speedway gas station. while there the cashiers spoke about somebody placing bets on various things, including the outcome of presidential elections. i said that one can make a bet on just about anything. i got some things done in the morning before i drove over there. i stopped at the post office, all three orders were ready to be picked up. and i printed a ticket for a saints game in april at the copy store. then i got a shamrock shake at mc donald's. after the meeting i picked up a green day CD from a target on the way home. after i had the evening meal i went to aldi for groceries. then i went to sing karaoke, i did maroon 5's 'this love'. the bartender was in a green and black outfit for a while, but then took it off. seemed a little early for a st. patricks day costume. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 7 cents. 

chat with deacon

 went to a fish fry in st. paul tonight at st. thomas more church and school. i had been to this place before for fish. there was a long line for food, and when i sat down i had someone join me shortly thereafter. it was a deacon of the church, and i said i liked seeing a linus statue in a corner of this dining hall. upon closer look i noticed it had been sponsored by mitchell law college. it was one that i hadn't seen before, and i have found over a hundred at various places. once i was done it was on to hy-vee in eagan for groceries. later on i went on a walk and found 87 cents. i watched quite a bit of a 'young sheldon' rerun when i got home from work, with david hasselhoff as a guest star. but there was the state high school hockey tournament on after that, so no 'big bang theory' reruns on tonight. not a big deal, easier to get on the road for the fish when this is the case. hill-murray was playing andover and hill was out to an early lead, 2-0, when i had to leave for dinner. found out hill went on to win the game, a semifinal in the girls tourmanent from the xcel center. at work i liked getting caught up on running checks through the machine, it helped that the volume was fairly low and of course the machines were humming along. 

red velvet brownie

 the bank brought us lunch and it was from jimmy john's. liked the variety of sandwiches offered. i also had a red velvet brownie, wrapped in plastic. not too often that the company buys lunch, it was likely due to a dial-in meeting. those who attended in person at another office got cake, celebrating service anniversaries. four mail tubs went out at the end of the day, still trying to get caught up on the fargo checks. i was still printing some from the previous day in the morning. there is just over two thousand printed that still need to go through the machine. good chance i will get caught up the next day. there were complaint messages about checks not arriving, so i did a 'schedule a pick-up' with UPS. some were still waiting to be picked up for two days. i checked one of those tracking numbers and it looks like a driver had been there near the end of the day, so now those checks are on the way. i drank the bottle of modelo with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. 'young sheldon' had more about sheldon in germany, this pleased me. the 'dadada song' was in this episode, which had been in a volkswagen ad. later on i went on a walk and found 92 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard was jealous of penny's classmate. sheldon plays hackey sack in a private room. it was followed by the one where sheldon and leonard fight after a presentation, and howard uploads the video. the background music was 'three blind mice'. 

car shield offer

 there was one item in the postal mail for the day, it was an offer from car shield. it went into my box of things to shred. there was mention of the famous people who have endorsed it, but i still don't see the need for it. i think they've had an info-mercial on local TV before, after the evening news. at work there was three meetings, thankful that one of them was a dial-in, the middle one. the first was a team huddle, the third was a one on one with the boss, first one of those since may. i prefer days with no meetings at all, as it left me a little behind on my work. the two big fargo files were late, arrived in the mid-afternoon, so i printed off the special handling checks and those still went out same-day. one of the files i had just enough time to print all of them before the end of the day, but not enough time to run them through the machine. printing the larger file will have to wait until the next day. 'the conners' had chickens playing a toy piano. liked that more than jackie clashing with her mom, with the latter deciding to get on a train in Chicago. later on i went on a walk and found 18 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon left with raj's date, because raj was drunk, and boring. also shown was sheldon playing an electric piano after being served a spiked drink by penny. 

expired cereal

 when i went out for a walk i saw some food left at a bus stop. this included two boxes of cereal. except i checked the dates on both and both were expired, so it was left behind. i saw some jars of peanut butter as well, not expired yet, so i claimed one of them. during this walk i found 46 cents. earlier in the evening i went to a walgreen to return a cart i had seen near me. i've done it before, found a way to get a little cart into the back seat of my car. then i went inside to see if there was anything of interest to me. there were some valentine items remaining, i got some reese's peanut butter. and i got a can of lemonade and tea. at work there was a spike in volume on the PDF checks, i call it the 'california factor' as these were contract payments. it meant four mail tubs went out at the end of the day, more than expected for the first day back after a holiday. there was one colleague who picked up three checks, all in separate visits. one was printed more than a week ago. i watched 'night court', first time this season. a recurring theme was a character who was trying to sell condos in cleveland. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny didn't want a college history class paper to be written by leonard, so she got bernadette and amy to do it. this was followed by the one where howard was interested in the 'whore of omaha', penny's friend from back home in nebraska. 

joey meatballs, roseville

i had the day off from work as it was a bank holiday. i decided it was a good time to mark 20 years of living in minnesota by going to roseville to have lunch. when i was looking at housing i stayed at the motel 6 in that town and ate at the nearby joe senser's. the restaurant is closed now so i went to rosedale mall instead. i ate at a place called joey meatballs. i had one of their signature dishes called 'fat tony'. chose that one as it reminded me of 'the simpsons' as it is the name of the head gangster. then i had a blizzard treat at the dairy queen. i also needed to shop at jc penney. i got some jeans there, after noticing a table where girl scout cookies were being sold. but i said i wanted to get jeans first. after i got jeans i got a box of the peanut butter sandwich cookies. in the morning i went to the DMV in inver grove heights and applied for my driver license renewal. this was after i had some coffee at the caribou near me. i crossed most of the things off of my list. i got started on my income taxes online but have not filed yet. liked watching jeopardy as usual when i have a day off, knew one answer that the contestants didn't, the small business admin. in the evening i went to perform, went on early, second slot. notable was starting off with a story about what i saw on a facebook dating group, what a member posted. during my walks i found 2 dollars 85 cents. i got a can of vodka at the liquor store so now there are five drinks waiting. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard got back from space but everyone was too busy for him, he ended up getting some free cheesecake. it was followed by the one where leonard and lesley hook up and we see lesley flash freeze a banana.  

weirdo and nope

 i made a return visit to the minneapolis art institute, and this time got more than just a smashed penny as a souvenir. i bought five postcards and two buttons. the former were of some of the artwork i had seen. the latter had cats on them, saying 'weirdo' and 'nope'. i've said before how while i am in a bar performing i have encountered weirdos before, and to some i am the weirdo. and there are times where my only response to something, such as watching football on TV, is 'nope!' so both of these work for me. one of the postcards was the iconic image of the migrant woman during the depression. i got a good look at the two floors that had the art during a little over two hours there. i didn't have much else planned for the day. also notable was finding a little jigsaw puzzle of the mascot of my credit union, a truck. i decided to get it framed since i had one that fits it well. 'the simpsons' had a good joke about homer leaving the nuclear power plant in terms of how many times this had happened before. later on i went on a walk and found 37 cents. 

toothpaste ordered online

 i did one thing i hadn't done before, ordered toothpaste online. i like aim, and it is getting hard to find in stores. went to three different target locations and none of them had it. but i found it at amazon, and it has been ordered from a place in brooklyn, two tubes. usually i just order books, CDs, and DVDs there. i made plenty of stops throughout the day. went to the post office, one order picked up. and i went to the copy store, two event tickets printed there. i tried getting a slurpee at speedway but all that seemed to be available were fountain drinks, so i got one of those along with some peanuts. and three seven-eleven stickers with pac-man on them. i got groceries at aldi, and a sandwich at jersey mike's. an employee asked me if i knew sub teacher's friend, something about a pic of me being on instagram, and i am not on that social media site. then it was on to the Minneapolis art institute where i did a guided tour through the french alliance. i had been there before, but not too often. one of those times was their martin luther exhibit in early 2017. a poster of this exhibit was near the bathrooms when i went to use it.  we did some highlights, all painted by europeans across various centuries. i also saw one near the end of the tour that was familiar from a previous visit, about lincoln. and a grant wood painting of herbert hoover's hometown. i got a smashed penny souvenir as well. i think i will want to make a return visit soon so i can see even more of the art there. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 13 cents. 

care package arrived

 a box arrived for me at work, picked up from the branch just before midday. it was a care package from a classmate. there was five shirts in it along with a coat that i think was used when hunting. i can find some use for the shirts as they have collars on them and can wear them to work. there was a card in it on top with a hawkeye state sticker on it. this serves as an early birthday present for me, it was signed by my classmate and his wife. i know it is not the first time this friend has sent a similar package to me as this was done just before his getting married nearly 20 years ago. the courier who brings our mail had just arrived and got a look at it and heard about this classmate. i got caught up again on sending checks through the machine, which is nice. still was able to fit it all inside two mail tubs as the volume was low enough. when i got off work i went to arby's for a fish sandwich, the first in lenten friday meals. already got a look at many other nearby places who will have fish dinners. went to hy-vee in eagan for groceries in the evening and i bought ten items. one of them was a box of caitlin clark cereal, with proceeds going to her foundation. no surprise seeing it since she has done commercials for hy-vee and just broke the womens college basketball scoring record. later on i went on a walk and found 92 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon's mom showed up to help him get his job back after he insulted his boss. liked this one as she said 'shower, shirt, shoes, shove off'. 

new jersey, texas forms

 a day after getting california forms finished, i did the new jersey and texas tax forms. there was just over nine hundred in all for those two states. so that is it for tax forms until early march. and based on the expected volume, another box will have to be ordered by payroll. the commute was slow in the morning, almost got stuck. during my visit to walgreen during lunch i got some discounted valentine candy, all of it reese's peanut butter. after lunch the boss felt the need to call me about a PDF check file, even though it was just two checks, and i print all of those when i have the time. i drank the can of surly with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. i would have liked seeing more about sheldon in Germany during the season premiere of 'young sheldon' but it was mostly about how the family was coping back in texas after the tornado. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard was in space, and the other astronauts drew on his face. and penny couldn't break up with leonard because of his sad face. it was followed by the one where lesley heats up soup in the science lab and the kiss with leonard doesn't go well. then leonard hits his head on the table on his date with penny. 

california tax forms

 the california tax forms were finished in the afternoon, just over a thousand went out at the end of the day, twelve thousand in all over the past two weeks. tech arrived in the afternoon shortly after vacation replacement dropped in to the shop. i had four questions written down, and one of them was the pass codes for calibrating the sensors. i would like to think it will be a while before i have to call for service again when some of these things i can do own my own, once shown. five tubs went out and another is already full. there still are new jersey tax forms to do, and some fargo checks, but i should be able to get caught up the next day. looks like the envelope order is due to arrive the next day as well, we are running way low on those and not sure what the hold-up was with it. the snow had already started falling when i got off work and when i got home i was fine with staying in for this reason. 'the conners' was much like many other episodes, liked seeing john goodman and wanted to see louise but she didn't appear. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon and leonard cleaned penny's place when she was sleeping. 

remote calibrating

 i had no choice but to place a service call on the envelope stuffer in the afternoon. it was 'dead in the water' and i liked how a tech helped me remotely with calibrating the sensors. then at least i could get checks running through again, even though it is jamming a lot and sometimes tearing envelopes and documents. some california tax forms went out, but not a lot. all of them were from a tub of forms from monday where the machine was jamming them. so still about a thousand left. and not much of the fargo files went out same-day either. but what needed to go out did. the check stock order arrived in the morning, but i still need the envelopes as well. after work i got a can of miller at the liquor store near my home so now there are five beers waiting. later on i went on a walk and found 24 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when kripke helped expose the fermi scientists as frauds, helping sheldon and amy with their nobel campaign. it was followed by episode one, where we meet the five main cast members. 

slurpee air freshener

 at work i picked up a slurpee air freshener near the entrance by the ATM line. it had been there for a few days, now it is in my car. at one time i was using one found at a car wash, it was blackberry clove, but i put it away a while back. once this newer one was claimed i decided to toss the older one in the trash when i went to the gas station after work. i ran through two thousand california tax forms. not done yet but the end is near, machine is still jamming a lot. saw how school bouncer had asked on FB what your theme song is, after careful thought and reviewing some videos on youtube i chose 'guts over fear', by eminem and sia. boxing metaphor made sense to me, as sometimes one has no choice but to fight. along with the lines about being afraid but now i have guts over fear. i worked it into my set when i performed near the end of the night. along with a bank story. now i guess it means trying a slurpee sometime soon. 

three games

 i didn't go outside for a while for the day as there was three games of interest to me. the first two were college basketball, my alma mater played in both of them. the iowa women were on TV, fox, at nebraska, but lost 82-79 despite leading for most of the game. the iowa men were on the radio, home against minnesota, and won 90-85 despite trailing at one point by twenty points. i did go take a walk after the second game was done, and shortly after i got back it was time for the super bowl. chiefs beat the 49ers, 25-22, in overtime despite trailing 10-3 at the half. just the second overtime game in super bowl history. there of course were the ads, a standout for me was the state farm ad with arnold schwarzenegger and danny devito. for me it was a reminder of how the two were in the movie 'twins'. as usual, plenty of ads for cars, beer and snack foods, although i knew in advance it wouldn't be any american cars. there was some from VW, as well as the BMW ad with christopher walken. didn't watch the halftime show that close, as it was the time when i made calls to get two bills paid, one was my credit card and the other was best buy. i heated up some chili on the stove for the evening meal and had some microwave popcorn as well. and i did the dishes after this third game was over. then i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 14 cents. 

phantom of the opera movie

 in the evening i went to see a screening of the silent movie 'phantom of the opera' from 1925, backed up by an orchestra, in uptown minneapolis. first time at this venue, but the third movie i had seen in this series. i sat near the back of the venue, still had a good view of the screen. i had first seen this venue at the doors open event last may. i had seen the broadway adaptation many years ago. i ate at the nearby mcdonald's before the show. i did one thing out of necessity, alternating between eating my burger and the ice cream cone as i didn't want the cone to melt too much. this was the second of two events for the day for me. in the morning i went to the minnesota history center and attended a lecture about the charlie brown comic strip. the presenter had written a book about the comic strip, an instructor from alabama. his public speaking skills left a lot to be desired, as he was often stuck on a word or a phrase, not sure of himself. i expected somebody who claimed to be knowledgeable about the subject to be more polished in his public speaking skills. some of what was presented was what i already knew, as i am well-read about the comic strip, but i did learn a few things from this event. it was nearing midday by the time it was done, so i walked down the hill to the restaurant district near the xcel center and had some pizza at cossetta's. then i went back to the museum and toured the charlie brown exhibit a second time, first time since july when i was interviewed about it. then i went to the souvenir shop and bought three items. there was a magnet, a dish towel with snoopy on roller skates saying 'let the good times roll', and a jigsaw puzzle that fit inside a tube. there is just one souvenir shop now, there was two for a while. before the lecture i went to get groceries at aldi, and picked up two orders at the post office. after the lecture i went to target and got another golden book, about the movie 'back to the future', and a taylor swift CD, 'midnights'. looks like a movie i am seeing this month is so popular, that more screenings were added. there was four, and three are already sold out, now there are six. during my walks i found 77 cents. 

dinosaur and teddy bear

 i went to get groceries at hy-vee in eagan and there are plenty of displays about valentines day. near the frozen aisles i saw an inflated dinosaur and teddy bear. both had hearts that said 'love' on them. i did get another small box of hershey kisses with snoopy on it. along with some things that will be eaten when watching the super bowl this weekend. one of these was chili. it was inspired by hearing what was on the radio during the drive home from work, which mentioned how many avocados would be eaten and the DJ said he was fine with sticking with chili. and i realized, so am i. at work i got two thousand california tax forms sent out. the estimate on the remaining total is three thousand, hopefully i can finish it on monday. machine is still jamming a lot, especially in the afternoon, and it meant having to re-print some checks, which i don't enjoy at all. during my walks i found 2 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard had his bachelor party. it led to bernadette saying to raj, 'you're not going anywhere, three way'. it was followed by the second half of the final episode, where sheldon and amy get their nobel prize. 

restaurant report

 the customer service supervisor dropped off refund checks to send out near the end of the day. since i had plenty of other things to do overnight labels for i am fine with sending them out the next day. this was the first time i had seen this ticket in this calendar year. i was given a report about a nearby restaurant that had just opened, which has karaoke on some nights. guess it is the same storefront as a barbecue place that closed before i started working at the bank. sounds like the beer by the bottle is kind of expensive, especially compared to a place i started doing karaoke at late last year. i said it was a hard sell to perform anywhere close to work when i am thinking about getting home and doing my after-work routine. plenty of checks being overnighted were going to government agencies, especially the IRS, but more than one office. one of them is going to alaska. in the evening i drank the can of wabasha with my meal so now there are four beers waiting. i added the trylon cinema, which shows classic movies, as one of my likes on facebook and noticed that five of my friends like that cinema as well. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 37 cents. 

insurance company search

 i was reviewing emails when i got home this evening and there was one from my car insurance company. it said the company had been sold and will be getting out of the insurance business. my policy has an expiration date in september so i have some time to find another provider. no problem thinking of ideas when there are plenty of car insurance companies that have t.v. ads. i could think of five right away for this reason. this is a holdover from a former employer, and i liked not needing an agent for it. now it is a matter of how i get quotes, if i just send them a declarations page. i may not even choose a provider with t.v. ads as the cell phone provider i chose over two years ago was one that i hadn't seen any ads for, i just shopped around online. i do recall an insurance agent many years ago that kept sending me a postcard but i didn't respond to it for two reasons. one, i was happy with what i had. two, he couldn't spell my name correctly. at work i got one thousand five hundred california tax forms sent through the machine, another box was emptied. and more forms arrived. the total so far is six thousand sent out, so based on what i am told to expect i am halfway through. i got the fargo checks caught up in the morning before i did any tax forms, and much like the previous day the second fargo file did not go out same-day. but there still is a smaller backlog this time. in the evening i watched the season premiere of 'the conners'. i still like john goodman in it but not sara gilbert. and still would like to see more of louise. this episode was mainly about a celebrity chef helping to improve the performance of the lunchbox that jackie is too busy to run. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj was given a dog, cinnamon. and bernadette said 'metrosexual, my ass'. it was followed by the one where leonard said he forgave his mom, and they hug. 

little cereal tubs

 at work there was some food items left in the breakroom. i claimed all of the cereal. there was eleven little tubs of cinnamon toast crunch. there was a bag of chex as well. when i got home the content of the little tubs were dumped into the box of shredded wheat. hard to say how many bowls it would be equal to, at least three i guess. the tubs were expired, no surprise as usually the food left there is expired. but the big bag wasn't. there was a team huddle in the afternoon to give out awards, didn't enjoy it as it lasted too long and there was also some gripes about the workday system. i am used to having this time of day for doing the overnight labels. i was able to run through just over one thousand california tax forms in the morning, and then we got some more later in the day. one of the fargo check files did not go out as it was a high volume day, vacation replacement helped out a little as the machine kept jamming. in the evening i got a can of lift bridge from the liquor store near me so now there are five beers waiting. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 40 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when raj did his planetarium gig and was mocked for mention of the possibility of aliens. after visiting the liquor store i did watch my DVD copy of the movie 'la bamba' in its entirety. seen it many times before, but i think i noticed a few things that i hadn't noticed before. 

tape dispenser

 i saw an odd thing at work, it was a tape dispenser on a window ledge in the hall. no tape in it. i know some office supplies are left out on tables to be claimed. in fact, i claimed some binder clips that were on another floor. i was able to get just over three thousand california tax forms run through the machine in the morning, so i was able to empty one of the two boxes i had. it was a low volume check day, fargo files totaled under a thousand, did not run any checks through until the afternoon. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon and amy did sensory deprivation tanks, sheldon loved it and amy hated it. this led to amy having a drink with mrs. davis in h.r. 

adding to ordering list

 i liked how there wasn't much to do for the day. so i stayed in for a while. the main thing i did was adding to a list of things to order online. there was a note pad where i decided to re-copy three pages to a larger page, and some of the notes were of quotes by writers but not all. this 'nice to have' list is mostly the typical things i order from e-bay and amazon, CD's, DVD's, books, postcards. although i don't order that much at a time, one or two items a weekend, so it will have to wait until next weekend for placing more orders. also discovered how i had printed 'rime of ancient mariner' from poetry magazine and finally read it. i know why i hadn't any earlier as it was long, seven pages printed. but at least now i am aware of how this writing was a big deal, with mention of the albatross, as well as 'water everywhere but not a drop to drink'. then in the evening i went to perform, i did three minutes at the end of the show. this included stories about the books i had just bought, as well as what i saw in a discount bin and didn't buy. after the show i spoke about performing with a young lady who is named after a president. when i got home i got the idea to watch the movie 'la bamba' on DVD but i watched many of the special features first. i did watch part of the actual movie, but stopped it early on as i wanted to watch the news. except the news wasn't on yet as the grammy awards were running long. liked seeing billy joel perform. during my walks i found 52 cents. 

golden books for kids

 in the afternoon i wanted to get up and take the recycle to the capitol, a chore i had missed earlier in the day. except i needed to think of another thing to do when out and about. then i came up with going to target to check out their valentine candy. none found with a charlie brown theme, so i went over to the CD and DVD area. saw a display with plenty of golden books for kids, bought two of them. no surprise how both i bought were about musicians, lady gaga and dolly parton. on the back of one there was mention of a willie nelson book in this series, except the website said it wasn't sold in stores. so i went to amazon and bought it there, along with one about the city of chicago. it might be my next 'rabbit hole' since i found some more by this company that are of interest to me. nice how these books don't cost much, five dollars each. 

  there was plenty of other things i did besides go to target. in the morning i went to get groceries at aldi, and i got a can of wabasha at the liquor store. so now there are four beers waiitng. then i went to the post office. no orders to pick up, but there was one item i sent to the window as it wasn't for me. then it was on to the french alliance to see a limited-run photography display. there was 31 photos in all, i was intrigued by the american things that end up in france. one photo showed concert posters for sale, including ones of the doors, and red hot chili peppers. then it was on to jersey mike's as it was midday. i like how i can get more than just a sandwich there, as the TV screen had trivia on again. i knew many of the answers but i liked one that i learned from. 'don't turn around', a hit for ace of base, was originally recorded by tina turner. except tina's probably wasn't a hit, as my research said it was a b-side. in the evening i watched a college basketball game on TV, fox, the iowa women beat maryland 93-85. iowa had a decisive edge in rebounds, this went a long way to winning the game. i am aware of how my alma mater's team is on TV more since it is the 'caitlin clark show', and she is closing in on the all-time scoring record. then i went to the bar to sing karaoke, i did 'don't dream it's over' by crowded house. i wanted to do more but it took a while to get up to sing. nice seeing some baseball in the bar area, caribbean series, played at the marlins stadium in miami. except the USA doesn't have an entry in it unless you count puerto rico. in fact, the game i saw was the dominican republic beat puerto rico, 5-2. when i got home i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 80 cents. 

cupid works from home

 i went to hy-vee in eagan tonight for groceries and bought two greeting cards. one of them said 'cupid works from home', i like having it as it is another artifact i can claim from the pandemic. the other was also valentines day themed, a charlie brown card with linus and snoopy on it. and some nice red felt as well. at work i got the oregon tax forms sent out and the california forms started to arrive. just over five hundred of the california forms went out, found a little time in the afternoon. there are thousands more that i hope to get out on monday morning before checks arrive. still mulling over if i go traveling in the spring to see a comic friend, and a classmate. a facebook posting from newsboy hat asked for advice about handling credit card debt. i said i had it for years because i enjoyed traveling too much. it was only when i cut spending across the board when covid hit that i finally got out of debt. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 28 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and kripke competed for a retired scientist's office. it was followed by the one where the frauds from fermi lab went onto the ellen show and then later on amy called them out for being frauds. 

illinois tax forms

 at wotk i got the illinois tax forms sent through the machine and out the door, nearly two thousand in all. i got the oregon tax forms as well, and i will work on them the next day. i found some screenings for an oscar-nominated movie of interest to me, on fandango. it is a month from now, so just before the award show. just one screening a day at the nearest theater to me though. i drank the can of founders with the evening meal so now there are three beers waiting. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 2 cents. and i liked punting a ball found near a car. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon tried to take his vacation in amy's lab, while howard finds out that bernadette wants a pre-nup. it was followed by the one where penny is offered a job at a conference, while bernadette tells this competitor to 'shoo'.