peanut butter cookie dough blizzard

 at the end of lunchtime at work i went to the nearby dairy queen and had a peanut butter cookie dough blizzard. now i have had five of the six in the lineup. i could definitely taste the peanut butter in it. at work i had a question about i-pay checks from a colleague, but there was no check to send an i.m. about so i guess it is not approved yet. i liked how i stayed ahead on doing the overnight labels, aided by some files being sent fairly early and starting on them as early as i could. also by needing to do just one out of the second i-pay, the final file of the day. i found some blank pages filed away in a cabinet so i put them in the copier and those got used. always best to avoid wasting any supplies if at all possible. i liked hearing the 5pm surprise from a local radio station, the songs were by maroon 5, moby and gwen stefani, and matchbox 20. i had seen all of them in concert, technically, as gwen was the no doubt frontwoman. in the evening i went to the hy-vee in eagan and there was a self-checkout available, i bought ten items. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 67 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon gave his star wars ticket to wil wheaton and spent amy's birthday with her. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy tested rumors in their circle of friends. 

chili dinner

 i wanted to fill in the weekly meals with something besides a tv dinner as aldi doesn't seem to have any of those and i chose chili. i don't use the stovetop much but i did to heat it up. the st. paul saints bowl that is normally used for cereal was used as the chili bowl. there was some pringles left over from a party stack and i finished them with this meal. i drank the can of michelob with this meal so now three beers are waiting. Sometimes i don't go to hy-vee and after getting back from st. louis i wanted to stop at just one grocery store. actually it still was two as i got everything except granola bars, in my rush i wasn't thinking of those. the next day i got the bars at the walgreen near my workplace. but it still meant no extra driving for it. at work there was a request to do payroll forms but i had to let this colleague know, who i hadn't seen in a while, that i was unable to do them for two reasons. one, no payroll envelopes left. two, not set up for that configuration on the machine as i hadn't done them in months. definitely not this calendar year as the new machine arrived in january. i researched a play, and a movie, that i would like to see soon. the movie just started, the play is at the guthrie and starts three weeks from now. also at work i was asked about checks i overnighted to an estate. this business line sends me the list by email. i overnighted eight checks but i was told there was nine, except i am only told there was nine well after the fact. in the evening i went on a walk and found 61 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy get back together, and a beach boys song got sheldon there. it was followed by the one where bernadette said 'that bitch' about priya, and penny helps sheldon get his stuff back from todd z. by kicking him in the groin. 

commuter meeting

 there was another dial-in meeting in the morning, this time it was about commuter issues related to the move to a downtown office. i will choose the metro-pass and it will be comparable to when i was taking the bus to work at a former job, this time i would be taking the light rail. early next month we can register for the passes, and i like how the bank subsidizes nearly half of the cost. there was a spike in volume in one of the PDF files, the one at midday, well over a thousand checks. i have seen this happen before, where i call it the 'california factor' as most of the checks have a zip code starting with a 9. and most of them speak of a 'quarterly contract payment' or a rebate. for this reason, i decided that just over a thousand checks from a fargo file can wait a day to be sent out. i still sent out four mail tubs at the end of the day. another notable thing about the day was some 'twos'. i bought two bags of chips from a vending machine in a laundromat near my home, as the one at work needed to be fixed. i still saw a refund request posted on it. smaller bags than at work but cheaper as well. the other was booking two meetup events, one of them a micro-brewery and the other a picnic. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when elon musk was a guest star when the friends went to volunteer at a soup kitchen on turkey day. it was followed by the one where leonard gets contacts because he is dating priya, and sheldon can't figure out howard's card trick. 

just a sound check?

 at work there was a dial-in meeting, the garden-variety quarterly update. my boss said it became two hours instead of one, but when i dialed in i left after ten minutes as the first hour wasn't part of the official meeting. it sounded like just a sound check between the senior leaders. and the first page on the slide show also said it still began at the originally scheduled time that we were given. so i got some of my normal duties completed after signing off for the first time, check printing and running checks through the machine. i didn't understand why some polls such as vacation destinations and favorite pets were part of the meeting. just before i went to lunch my boss showed up in the shop and had questions about the envelope stuffer. in the evening i went to the liquor store and got a can of bud light, so now there are four beers waiting. during my walks my find 1 dollar, all in quarters. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends spied on amy's date with the british guy. it was followed by the one where the friends went to raj's place because of leonard dating priya, and the new friends sheldon tried to find 'were having fun wrong'. 

another window seat

 i began the day at my hotel in st. ann, missouri, near the st. louis airport, the wingate. as usual, there is not much on the agenda on the final day in town. get breakfast, check out of the hotel, get on the shuttle back to the airport. i had basically the same breakfast as the day before, eggs and a waffle, although this time there was an attendant and i found her to be annoying because she kept talking to me and neither did i ask, nor did i need, her help. i figured things out on my own just fine the previous day, when there was no attendant on duty. orange juice was watered down, so i dumped it out. likely why i got some juice when i was at the airport, to drink with a small bag of peanuts, along with a postcard i didn't have yet. i was able to get another window seat on the southwest flight back to minnesota, i was pleased about that. it was in the back row much like on the flight to st. louis. the flight touched down at MSP just before midday. i looked at the available food there and decided to get just one item, a small bag of popcorn out of a vending machine. then it was a short ride on the light rail, and the bus, back home. as expected, i found a sandwich, and a drink, for way cheaper at the gas station near me. not much to do when i got back, there was the dishes and getting groceries. i knew aldi was closing early due to the holiday so i got there just under an hour before closing time. i performed in the evening and there was some bank stories, but much of the set was about visiting st. louis. during my walks i found 1 dollar, all in quarters. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon was interviewed for a 'spock-umentary'. it was followed by the one where howard says to bernadette, 'i choose you' and leonard goes to see priya while raj forbids it. 

union station carousel

 i liked having breakfast at the hotel, a 'make your own waffle' along with some scrambled eggs. then i watched a documentary on HBO about stax records, two installments of it. for lunch i went to steak and shake, a nice walk down the road from the hotel. but i still wanted to get started early getting downtown as i wanted to see some things before the game started. i made it to the former union station, now an amusement park with an aquarium. there is a ferris wheel, but the only thing i bought a ride ticket for was the carousel. i liked how there was more than just horses to ride on. i chose the elephant. i also saw an eagle, giraffe, lion, bear, and deer. i did some of the things i did when on a carousel last summer, at como zoo. i said 'oh marie' like in catcher in the rye' when holden takes his sister, phoebe, to a carousel. and i screamed a little like lt. dan in 'forrest gump' during the hurricane. even got a selfie in the mirror. then i found a bank facility i have sent overnighted checks to, in the fashion square building. then it was on to the stadium as it was clouding up. it was starting to rain and the game was delayed for more than two hours. during that time i got some pepperoni pizza, and root beer. made two laps around the stadium concourse and got another idea, an ice cream sandwich from a self-service concession stand. even picked up a nacho bowl, it was empty and next to a trash bin. this bowl is much like the one i have from a st. paul saints game. i use it as a cereal bowl. i got a picture of a rainbow once the rain ended, one couldn't see it that well but it was there. the cardinals led 4-0 at one point, due to two home runs hit by goldschmidt, both with one on, and held on to win 4-3, over the cubs. the train i got on to get back to the airport read 'not in service'. it was after midnight by the time i got back to the airport, so all i really wanted to do was get to my hotel and go to sleep. during my walks i found 2 cents. 

blues (music) museum

 i landed in st. louis this morning for my annual visit for cardinals baseball games, flying on southwest. i needed to fill in a few hours before i could check into my hotel near the airport so i went downtown on the metro-link light rail system and toured the blues museum, about music not the hockey team. i noticed many of the musicians in the movie 'blues brothers' were covered in this museum, but the movie itself is not mentioned at all. i bought some souvenirs at the end, a sticker, postcard, and magnet. i had lunch before starting the tour at the barbecue place next to the museum. it helped that there was a big orange construction sign advertising it next to the entrance, saying 'BBQ today'. i noticed plenty of stickers on display there, one was of schroeder from the charlie brown comics playing a piano, likely advertising headphones as he is wearing them. cool that even on the signs related to the 'end game' was well-known characters, oscar the grouch for trash and the band kiss for the metal trays. the museum does mention many with st. louis ties such as scott joplin, and chuck berry. first time i had heard of an event sometimes known as 'frankie and johnny', on what is now the hockey arena, which inspired a song. i did think of various songs while there that were relevant to the genre, such as 'at last' by etta james, in the movie 'rain man'. along with marc cohn's 'walking in memphis' and u2's 'angel of harlem'. those two name-checked musicians. when i made it to the hotel to get checked in i didn't stay for long, as i needed to get back downtown for the baseball game. i had a st. louis style hot dog just outside the stadium, then went in. it was an up and down game but the cardinals found a way to win, 7-6 over the cubs. when i made it back to my hotel at the end of the night i drank a can of budweiser and had some planters peanuts while i wrote about the day. 

high heels left behind

at work recently i noticed that the cube once occupied by one of those who trained me still had some personal items in it. this included some high heels, black open toed with the inside part red around the toe. along with some framed pictures on the countertop. but it looks like all has been cleaned out now as there is nothing on the counter except for some cords. not much claimed for me from the table in the common area, just an American flag pin but it was a nice find any time of year, especially just before Memorial Day weekend. saw an email thread where colleagues could leave early with pay, except for me but i didn't mind. i still worked my tail off so i didn't have to stay long after my nornal leave time. this was aided by having some check files sent early, especially some that had overnight requests in them so i could get the overnight labels done. evening meal was at jersey mike's. i entered the 'young sheldon' sweepstakes much like the ones they have had for 'big bang theory' reruns. this one was where sheldon had a splinter taken out of his finger by missy. during my walks i found 56 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends bought helium from somebody in a parking ramp. it was followed by the one where leonard meets mrs. latham and does the 'walk of shame' after shagging the old lady for donations to the university. nice thing about getting out earlier from work was hearing the 5pm surprise on a radio station. heard ones by rhe lemonheads, green day, and sheryl crow. 

check shop pictures

 first day back after a day off. vacation replacement showed thirteen pictures of the check shop to forward on to our 'move champion', so we have enough space for where we are moving to. it covered just about everything we need to get our work done there, including every table we use and every machine as well. a check left over from the previous day was picked up by a courier, normally that recipient wants them sent inter-office. i had the courier sign the form so i had some information to send back by email of who had 'taken ownership' of it. we had been trading plenty of emails about it in the morning. i claimed two more items from the table in the common area with the bank's logo on it, a mouse pad and a ruler. hard to say how more there will be, but i have already claimed more than a dozen items since the cleanup happened. also liked claiming a bobble-head of buddy from the movie 'elf'. i drank the can of coors light with the evening meal and got a can of elm creek so there still are three beers waiting. during my walks i found 1 dollar 29 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon gets an acting lesson from penny to help him as an instructor, while raj daydreams about bernadette.

jar re-purposed

 i had the day off for a dental appointment, in the afternoon. i had to find ways to stay busy before then. one of the stops was to goodwill, sent a box of mugs and plastic cups there that i wasn't using. it had inspired me to find more things i'm not using and donate them. i saw a jar given to me by a former employer, it was holding golf balls and tees but i don't golf much. so i am donating the contents and re-purposed the jar, which now holds dominoes i had found and there was no box for them. i registered for an alumni event in the morning and printed the event reminder before i made it to goodwill. i had lunch in the skyway before the appointment, at the cajun grill. just half of the store fronts in the food court are active. i did not see a receptionist when i arrived but i saw one when it was done, so i was still able to make the next appointment as usual while onsite. during my walks i found 1 dollar 8 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj and howard formed a band. footprints on the moon. sheldon tries to go back to rhe way things were before meeting leonard and penny. it was followed by the one where the friends go to big sur, and howard meets bernadette's ex. watched 'the conners' season finale, the time slot had changed due to having 'jeopardy' on at the start of prime time. sounds like this sitcom is wrapping up its run next season. it's just as well as i enjoy seeing john goodman on this show and that is it. 

ball and coin

no, not ball and chain. these two items were nice finds at work. the ball was from the customer service boss, given to me when i was bringing up refund checks. it is a foam rubber baseball, and i wrote 'given by' and the date on it much like baseballs i have found before it. this was from the table in the common area where many things have been left in hopes that someone will claim them. good chance that some of it will be thrown out. i claimed another item with the bank's logo on it, a beer can cozy. the coin is italian, 20 lira, from 1957. it will go in the tin with the other foreign coins i have. as usual, i stayed a little late to see that things were caught up as i have the next day off for an appointment. while on the main floor, a team lead gave me some overnight envelopes that had been found in the recent cleanup. i was thankful to have them and used them right away. it will postpone a little on having to order more.  during my walks i found 25 cents. the ' big bang theory' rerun was when penny said 'take your sheldon back' and sheldon ends up helping penny with an app for finding shoes. 

check printer on shelf

 vacation replacement dropped in for part of the day at work in the shop. we are discovering things we didn't even know we had down there. one of these is a small check printer that was put on the shelf. we looked inside the tray and there still was some check stock in it, so it was moved to the printer we currently use. i am doing the same thing with windowed envelopes discovered on the main floor- even if it isn't many, i am using them in normal production. there will probably be even more that we will unearth before the move downtown. our 'move champion' wanted pictures of the shop, and i decided to defer to my boss on that one. i saw it as above my pay grade when i have heard for a while how we are not to share pictures of what our work areas look like. i performed at a mic in the evening, some bank stories as usual. other stories were about the doors open tours and the double header at the saints stadium. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon said 'amy is horny' and gets zac to do something about it. 

cardboard scale model train

 i did some doors open minneapolis tours, three in all. at the third one i got a cardboard scale model train, like the light rail trains used by metro transit. it states the end of the line for both the blue and green lines. i saw one that another tourist had when i was going to the second stop, the ford center near the twins stadium. the ford tour was brief, as it is a re-purposed building. we heard somebody talk in the library. but i knew i needed to go this time as the twins were out of town so a much thinner crowd around the stadium. the first tour was done before midday, at the star tribune building. liked seeing all of the steps in the assembly of the paper, all of the machines involved. one area left up for tours reminded me of scenes in movies where someone yells 'stop the presses!' at the metro transit tour, it was at the maintenance facility next to the franklin avenue stop on the blue line. many wanted to go inside the train and sit in the driver's seat and blow the horn, myself included. i got plenty of pictures throughout the day, but of course i liked the first and third stops the most. i had lunch in eagan at the kentucky fried chicken as i was inspired by the final episode of 'young sheldon' and i had some ice cream at the nearby mcdonald's as well. then it was on the light rail to get to the second and third tours. it helped to get started early in the day. in the evening there was a 'simpsons' episode about bart and a brain in a jar. during my walks i found 62 cents. 

wildcat movie, ethan hawke

 in the evening i saw the movie 'wildcat', at st. anthony main in minneapolis. ethan hawke had plenty of involvement in this movie, despite not acting in it, as he is listed as the director, a writer, and a producer. his daughter, maya, plays the main character, as it is a bio-pic about a writer, flannery o'connor. it wasn't the conventional bio-pic as we see some of the stories she wrote being acted out, so some actors played more than one role. there were scenes depicting her time in iowa city, as she was at their famous writer workshop. there was the typical disclaimer about how it is not a documentary, some scenes and characters were invented for dramatic effect. sometimes i can guess which ones, based on what will get the biggest crowd reaction. one of these has to be when she is in the waiting room at a doctor's office and another lady that is waiting is daydreaming. liked seeing liam neeson in it, as a catholic priest. the story seemed to end a little early, with an epilogue saying she wrote for something like thirteen more years. i had already read up about how she suffered from lupus and died at age 39, in 1964. guess i had heard of her novel, 'wise blood', before, as there was a card i had picked up about an adaptation of it when i was acting at a haunted house many years ago. this movie was at the same venue for MSP film-fest but there was limited screenings during the festival and none really worked in my schedule so i am thankful i waited it out and there was a wider release to a theater near me. i did do more than just the movie. i went to the st. paul saints baseball double-header. the saints won the lid-lifter and omaha won the nightcap, both games had 4-2 scores. the first game was actually the completion of the suspended game from friday when there was rain. after the movie i stopped at a walgreen as i wanted a drink and got a bottle of raspberry tea along with a box of cereal and a charlie brown sticker. before the movie i got some godfather's pizza from bobby and steve's, a short drive from the theater. during my walks i found 84 cents. 

brownie batter blizzard

 i am still working through the dairy queen blizzard lineup for the summer. this time it was the brownie batter blizzard, so i have had four of the six. i was planning on going to the one near work, at the end of the day, but the line was too long. i ended up going to the one in eagan, near the movie theater, before i went to get groceries at the hy-vee. i was asked if i wanted a cover for it, i said no as i was going to eat it there. i think i was asked due to the pouring rain, which started just before i started my drive there. i bought eight items at hy-vee, a little bummed that the self-checkout was unavailable. even said so to the cashier, but there was a reference to how some stores, like wally world, plan on taking them out. it may be just a case of them being down after a certain hour, but in recent years i have seen fewer of them when i go to this store, period. at work a lady showed up at the check shop to claim the remaining envelopes for payroll. in advance i was sent an i.m., saying she wanted a thousand. i said that is all we have left, so if you need more then you will have to order them yourself. also notable was me claiming two more items with the bank's logo on it from the main floor. i am aware of how this is due to more cleanup related to the upcoming move to a downtown office. i claimed a coffee mug, and a plastic tumbler with a lid as well as a strawhole, so this brings me up to ten items i have claimed recently with the bank logo. at a former job i was used to these being given to me, especially shirts whenever we signed up a big client. not a big deal how these aren't given out much at the current job as i just like having work i enjoy that pays well. i was sent some care packages as a new hire, which included a water bottle. eventually i got a nameplate as well. with what i have found, the old saying applies: 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'. either that or these things were just plain left behind by employees who have left the company. but who cares why they are available? i like having all of these items. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and penny get married in las vegas. it was followed by the one where raj and howard kiss in telescope lab, while penny fakes getting back together with leonard to please her dad. 

walk of life, dire straits

 tonight was the final two episodes of 'young sheldon'. the show ends with the song it began with nearly seven years ago, 'walk of life' by dire straits. i still have the album it is from, 'brothers in arms', on cassette. i have only about a dozen of those left. i mainly got it because of 'money for nothing'. i have discovered that the song is about a street performer, or busker. it helped to read the lyrics that i found online. this would have been lost on me as a kid, as i am from a small town and didn't see street performers until i went off to college in iowa city. the lyrics are brilliant at the end, likely why it was chosen for the first episode, and the final one as well. 'after all the violence and double talk/there's just a song in all the trouble and the strife/you do the walk of life'. i liked finding the song on youtube, and noticed i was not alone on saying that 'young sheldon brought me here'. i am thankful that the final episode wasn't the funeral for his dad, as it was hard to watch. it was the first one of the night, and the second shows sheldon going off to caltech. the second also shows the family having one final meal together, but from kentucky fried chicken as the mom said she didn't feel like cooking. this inspires me to eat there this weekend. i drank the can of bud light with the evening meal so now three beers are waiting. during my walks i found 26 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy said 'goodbye sheldon', a season finale. it was followed by the one where the ladies have a slumber party, and the dudes go to a special screening of 'raiders of the lost ark' and steal the film, then get chased by the other moviegoers. 

finally, repair completed

 in the morning my phone said the home internet repair was completed, two minutes apparently after the tech had arrived for the day. when i went home after work in the evening it was up and running, after being down for three weeks. and after i was skipped on one appointment and kept getting rescheduled. there was a survey but i haven't responded to it. at work the computer monitor on the envelope stuffer went black while i was doing the first stack of checks for the day. i tried to figure it out and then let my vacation replacement know, who knew what buttons to push on the monitor to get it back. re-booting it didn't do the trick. thankfully it was figured out early enough that i got back on track in a short amount of time. and it helped that it was a lower volume of checks for the day as well. during my walks i found 62 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard raj and stuart sing 'hard knock life' from 'annie' when doing chores. it serves as a reminder of a connection to its companion show, 'young sheldon', as the latter had an episode where the play 'annie' was staged. it was followed by the one where an FBI agent interviews the friends about howard. 

before you go, lewis capaldi

 recently i had heard a song on my car radio and it is still stuck in my head. it is 'before you go' by lewis capaldi. i liked reading about it as it was a very personal song for him, about the suicide of his aunt when he was young. the more personal songs tend to be more successful as we tend to know ourselves well. the line that meant the most to me was 'well time can heal, but this won't'. this is sad but true about many things. there are plenty of questions in the lyrics, and i liked that as well as i tend to do this in my own writings. i sometimes ask questions that might be hard to answer, but sometimes the most important thing is just asking. back at work after the day off, it was nice to be back. as expected, some mail left over so i delivered it, such as more NSF statements to a senior leader that is sometimes in the building but not too often. there was a team huddle in the morning, in the conference room near the breakroom. vacation replacement was joining remotely and asked about the blank pages on some of the check printing selections. i said i had let i.t. know last week, but no response yet. i forwarded the email to my boss and some action got done. my boss was on the original email but had been on vacation when i sent it. during my walks i found 1 dollar, all in quarters. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when we meet priya, raj's sister. 

grippo's bbq chips

 i had a day off from work as it sounded like i needed to be home for an internet service repair. i decided to get lunch at a nearby gas station, which included a sandwich, as well as barbecue chips i hadn't seen before. they were called grippo's, from cincinnati. a little too spicy for me though. technician did not arrive until the afternoon, about two hours after lunch. after twenty minutes the tech left and said someone else needed to fix it, which was annoying. same thing i had heard two weeks prior. i did my best to stay busy until the tech arrived. i shredded junk mail, hadn't done that in a while. and i watched three more episodes of the 'charlie brown and snoopy show' on DVD. now i have watched 12 out of the 18. in the evening i performed at an open-mic, and some of the bank stories i told were rantings. show runner liked mention of the play i had attended as i said it wasn't the first western i had seen there, and after i was done he sang a little from 'liberty valance'. during my walks i found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon did a video to be seen by space aliens. it was followed by the one where sheldon thinks he is screwed because amy wants him to meet her mom, done over a laptop. 

tr baskin movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'TR baskin' at the trylon cinema in minneapolis. liked seeing what chicago looked like in the early 1970s. it starred a young candice bergen, along with peter boyle and james caan. it was about a young lady leaving her small town and telling her parents via telegram that she went to chicago to seek fame and fortune. i know what it is like to leave a small midwestern town for chicago so it was relatable to me. before the movie i went to use a gift card given to me by yemen native for the lowbrow restaurant, also in minneapolis. i had the reuben sandwich, plenty of fries with it. liked the baseball card themed counter at the bar, i had some of those cards. then i went to the ragstock in uptown minneapolis and found a brown leather jacket with a zipper that works for me. i tried on three before i said 'we have a winner'. after the movie i saw the big dog at an ice cream place with his two kids and the baby mama, for a mother's day event. the ice cream there reminded me of what i had in new ulm as it had the same cow logo. during my walks i found 1 dollar 2 cents. i did laundry in the morning. i also called my college roommate. as i needed an advisor. i was advised that the wrong number and whatsapp invite from thursday was likely a scam. i did say i didn't like being pushed to get on the site, and i was ignoring the text messages for two days. so i finally said 'i have had enough' and blocked the number. as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

men on boats play

 in the evening i went to see the play 'men on boats' at the round theater in minneapolis. it was based on the journals of john wesley powell, who led an expedition in utah and arizona on rivers. at times the performers were in the seating area to get to the next set as it is a small venue. enjoyed the show, laughed a few times. the man at the window was condescending though, hard to forget that one. nobody needs to tell me to get to my seat or turn off my phone, i got there less than ten minutes before the show began so i was still a little early. earlier in the day i went to the open book building and looked at an exhibit at minnesota book arts. i heard about it when i was at the loft for a member event a few months back and knew this exhibit would be closing in less than a month. nothing special but i liked the postcards i found in the adjacent gift shop. bought some of animals, of a bald eagle, turkey, giraffe. elephant, and foxes. some were for just a half-dollar. looked at another ragstock, this time southdale mall in edina, still not quite what i was looking for. shopped for groceries at aldi as well and had a sandwich at jersey mike's for lunch. i had some godfather's pizza before the play. during my walks i found 57 cents. 

animal cookie blizzard

 after work i had an animal cookie blizzard at the nearby dairy queen. there are six different flavors for the summer and now i have had three. i stayed a little late to see that things were caught up, no surprise there. i tend to do this on the last day before a day off. it will be my first vacation day used this year, on monday. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and amy build a blanket fort. it was followed by the one where howard gets advice from famous people to 'make the move' on bernadette. ten items bought during my visit to hy-vee in eagan for groceries. 

wrong number, whatsapp

 i checked my phone when i was at lunch and saw a text message i didn't recognize. area code was in california and asking about a barbecue. i let them know it was a wrong number but i invited them to add me on linkedin. counteroffer given to me was whatsapp, which i am not on. i wanted to confer with friends first to see if any of them use it. one can't be too careful. during my walks i found 1 dollar 54 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends play a ping-pong game where the prize was a dr. who phone booth. it was followed by the one where sheldon had too many cats after he ended things with amy. then they get back together and he gives away the cats. there was two episodes of 'young sheldon' tonight. these were better than some others this season, felt like they were phoning it in on some. george sr. gets a vasectomy in the first one and dies at the end of the second one. i drank a pryes with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. 

workday demo

in the afternoon at work i did a workday demo. since my vacation replacement was out the team lead asked about rescheduling, but i said i was fine with keeping the same time. for one thing, the fargo files had not arrived yet and i wanted to stay busy. those files did arrive later, and all i had time to do same-day was load them so i could print them next morning. i liked the exposure i got on the demo, which should help some more with searches on checks and ACH statements. weird how i had two calls at the same time on the check shop phone before lunchtime. saints called me back about getting a rain check used, now the ticket order has been placed for a game in june. the other call was about the check stock order arriving, so i got out the carts and brought it into the shop. during my walks i found 25 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends had the last dinner made my howard's mom. it was followed by the one where sheldon uses a virtual presence device. 

no fargo files yet

 vacation replacement dropped in early in the day, wanted to help out. i said there were no fargo files yet. something about wanting to stay busy and it was going to take a while for the updates on his laptop. during my walks i found 56 cents. 'big bang theory' rerun was when amy asked if penny was a slut, when penny drove and was a chaperone during her date with sheldon. 

envelopes discovered late

at work the big shipment of envelopes for the month was discovered late in the day at the branch, 24 in all. so i took the time to get them on carts and moved into the shop at least. during my walks i found 5 cents. 'big bang theory' reruns were about howard trying to get his mom's ashes. it was followed by the one where we meet amy, and howard said 'good god what have we done?' since he and raj blackmailed sheldon into meetung her. 

la boheme, mn opera

 plans for the day are to see 'la boheme' at the minnesota opera in downtown st. paul. i liked reading how it is what inspired 'rent' which i did see on broadway in 2005 near the end of its run. it was in italian so it meant reading subtitles above the stage. memorable was the final line, 'why are you looking at me like that?' at midday i went to eat at mall of america, some pizza and ice cream. looked around at ragstock as well. i am looking for a replacement for my leather jacket and what they had wasn't quite it but there are some other locations to try. during my walks i found 1 dollar 38 cents. 

house bunny movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase, 'house bunny'. a comedy club employee had recommended it a while back. there were a few things i liked about it, such as two songs in it, 'take a bow' by rihanna and 'girlfriend' by avril lavigne. but i also saw it as largely a rip-off of 'revenge of the nerds'. as it was about a misfit sorority trying to keep its house and the elite one was trying to sabotage them. another scene was a rip-off of 'forrest gump' as well. it was about a playboy bunny finding another job, as a house mother of the misfit sorority. after it was done i went to do errand running, including picking up an order at the post office and paying for my box. in the afternoon i went to the st. paul saints baseball game, as i read how they were wearing the charlie brown jerseys, postponed from the rainout of nearly a week earlier. saints had a big first inning, 7 runs, and it held up as they beat louisville 9-6. there was a star trek theme and an ushertainer dressed as mr. spock. in the evening i watched some baseball on fox, rays beat the mets 3-1. during my walks i found 98 cents. 

cotton candy blizzard

 after work i went to the nearby dairy queen and had a cotton candy blizzard. it was a nice way to cap off the week at work. there are likely some more flavors i want to try this season. it was a fairly slow day at work, no complaints there. my boss wanted me to submit a timecard a little early so he could approve it before going on vacation all of next week. in the evening i went on a walk and found 93 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard's mom passed. and the theme was 'let it go' about various things. it was followed by the one where we meet joyce kim, when leonard tells the story about moving in to penny. i heard from my college roommate that lives in the area, but grilling will have to wait as our schedules aren't matching up just yet. i will figure out some events to do this weekend, one is likely a saints game. 

coffee and wine

 i went to walgreen at lunchtime and i got more than just a snack. i also got a greeting card as i liked the sentiment on it. there was a cup of coffee handing off a baton to a glass of wine. i don't drink the former that much, and hardly ever drink the latter, but i do like beer when i am performing. and sometimes i need a drink after a long day at work. this was true after the machine kept jamming but i must have guessed well after a while after moving a few levers as it stopped jamming. i drank a can of pryes with the evening meal and got two more beers from the liquor store, a pryes and a michelob, so now five are waiting. 'young sheldon' name-checked the ricki lake talk show. and sheldon called the teddy ruxpin toy a 'nightmare' and i had to laugh about that one. i do recall how both were a big deal for a little while. later on i went on a walk and found 27 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the ladies found embarrassing videos or writings by all three. it was followed by the one where sheldon had a visitor, the 'slut bunny'. 

twins bottle opener

 i found my fourth item this week at work with the bank's logo on it. this time it was a bottle opener with the twins baseball team logo on it as well. actually it was five as i claimed a sticker saying 'i love where i work'. it took a while but i am finally getting branded items at work, all due to cleanup getting ready for the move. the one on one with my boss was in the afternoon, some of the questions were about the move. but it was obvious that we weren't on the same page when we talked about bus passes as those passes can be used on light rail as well. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 76 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon had spaghetti and hot dogs with penny.