light rain, postcard sent

 in the morning i decided to send a postcard to my dad about recent travels. it was a card from new ulm, and i spoke of going there for oktoberfest. then i spoke of going to see art museums in rochester and winona over the weekend. while at the post office i picked up a sheet of hank aaron stamps. and i noticed that light rain had started on my way back to work. this rain continued throughout most of the workday. both of the big supply orders arrived, first was the check stock, not long after getting back from the post office. just before midday, the envelopes arrived. i wasn't thrilled about these being delivered when it was raining, wondering if i could refuse the envelopes and ask it be moved back a day when there was no rain in the forecast. but the doorbell to the check shop rang, it was the branch manager, and the UPS delivery man brought the envelope boxes in. one of many times when both big orders arrived on the same day. looks like the two files now handled by poland employees are caught up, as there was five check files for one and two for the other. the overnight volume stayed low, just five checks to be overnighted. voting wasn't too big of a deal, much like in previous years i did the 'what's on my ballot' search online. there was three 'yes or no' votes to do, one was statewide and the other two were just local. i drove to the precinct and made it with just under an hour before the polls closed. and it didn't take long to finish the process once i arrived. i was watching the election returns on tv for much of the night. after a while i did switch channels to see what the other three had. this was shortly after there was a brief interruption for 'the coach's show' with the gopher football coach. it lasted about a minute. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon decided to tag along on dates between leonard and dr. stephanie. it was followed by the one where sheldon's mee-maw visits and she doesn't like amy. 

copy paper, half-box

 the supply orders for the month are starting to trickle in. the two air cans, and the box of copy paper, arrived around midday. i picked them up from the branch. except the copy paper was in a half-box, five reams. i didn't know they made them that small. this should last for a little while, hard to say how long. the number of overnights were kind of low, just under twenty. and there were two check files that did not arrive, actually one was awaiting approval at the end of the day. it meant the ones requested to be overnighted did not go out same-day. it was beyond my control, all i could do was respond to the email about the overnight list and say i could print once approved. the boss said we could work from home on election day, to allow us to vote. of course, the work from home doesn't apply to me, but i vote after work so i still have it covered. due to the morning rain, and being tired after work, i did not do a walk but i hope to be back at it real soon. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we meet dr. stephanie, and howard got the mars rover stuck. it was followed by the one where sheldon was mean to everyone when ill, then went on an apology tour. but it is also one where we see stuart left out again, finding out he wasn't invited on the party bus to las vegas by accident. 

coffee, and bagels

besides returning the rental car in the morning, i had just one thing on the docket for the day. it was getting to the haunted basement to help out with 'strike', or 'tear down', at the end of this season's run. small production this year, not many actors needed, still wanted to be a part of it. when i arrived i recognized this building, or complex that is. this 'haunted house' had been in the former General Mills complex before. i parked near the magazine cover of the governor on a fishing outing from 1973. found out it was in the micro-brewery on the other end of the complex. i was the first one at this place, explaining why i went downstairs and no one answered the doorbell. then a few minutes later, two others arrived, and we got started. midway through my time there, coffee and bagels arrived. eventually i decided to take a break and have some of these items. with the work i did, the first thing was taking down curtains, and then it was breaking down boxes. i am thankful i got a look at what it looked like in both rooms before we got started. one man walked through it, documenting with a video camera. after the boxes were done it was washing fake blood off of the walls. i spent four hours there and felt good about my contribution to the project. besides the food and drink, i was given a button for helping out. later on, after having some frozen pizza heated up in the oven at home, i went to perform at an open-mic. it was delayed until the football game ended, packers lost to the lions. i was given a raffle ticket when i ordered my beer. i did not only bank stories, but also mention of the volunteer work i had done earlier in the day, as well as annoying things i see on facebook. after performing i went to the hy-vee in eagan, picking up three items. i had meant to get some pumpkin pie ice cream two days earlier, still wanted some. also picked up a bag of ore-ida fries, and a little bottle of egg nog. first of the season i've had on the nog, but i have seen it in the dairy aisle for weeks. i guess it is no longer just for the christmas season anymore. when i got home i did the dishes. during my walks i found 77 cents. there was music playing when i was at the haunted house. notables were 'monster mash', and 'don't fear the reaper'. 

rochester art center

 this was a 'road trip day'. i visited two museums outside of the metro area, first one was the rochester art center. it was inside their civic center building. i had been there before to see the blue man group, but that was over a decade ago. first time at this museum. i wanted to see a limited-run exhibit of celebrity photos that will be closing in a month. naturally i mostly recognized the ones of actors, such as steve martin. his photo was part of the article i found online about the exhibit. others included james earl jones, barbra streisand, and jane fonda. when i first arrived in town i stopped at a caribou coffee. the pumpkin spice coffee arrived right away but the lemon loaf was delayed. after the art museum i had lunch at the taco bell just north of downtown. then it was on to the next museum on my list, the marine art museum in winona, about 50 miles away. i already knew the famous painting, 'washington crossing the delaware', has been gone for more than two years, it was on loan by the then-owner and was sold. it looks like many of the paintings on display were on loan. there were some by ed moran, who did a series of paintings on american history, on loan from the naval academy museum. one of them was about explorer hernando desoto, except one of two captions said his name was 'ferdinand', odd how nobody had caught that one. obviously, one is not correct. there were some ceramic artworks, including of mermaids. the painting i liked most was 'stolen moment', showing a woman with a cap on and her eyes closed. i bought three greeting cards with art on them in rochester, and three postcards in winona. i stayed at the winona museum until just minutes before closing time. then i started my drive home. when i made a stop, it was at a holiday gas station in inver grove heights, for a quick dinner, some chicken sticks. i had been driving for two hours by then so it was time for a break. shortly after i got home i went to get groceries at aldi, then i started watching a football game on NBC. the iowa hawkeyes were home, against wisconsin. it was just before halftime, iowa was up 14-3. the hawkeyes went on to win, 42-10. during my walks i found 3 dollars 74 cents. i was in the car a lot for the day and it meant having the radio on. notable songs i had heard were 'when smokey sings' by abc, and 'nasty' by janet jackson. 

cheeseball discount

 i was getting groceries at the hy-vee in eagan and decided to get some of the discounted halloween candy. this also included cheeseballs. when i was at self-checkout it rang up with a high price, that an attendant changed for me. i got some reese's peanut butter, as well as hershey kisses, the latter having a harry potter theme. haven't read any of the books or seen any of the movies but don't feel like that is a requirement for buying the candy. i bought two pieces of reese's peanut butter during my weekly walgreen visit a day earlier, and a good chance that is it with what i buy for this 'candy holiday'. at work i placed the monthly supply order, first time having to order copy paper as most of my colleagues left the building in july. i discovered stairs that led down one floor, because that door was open. there was a water fountain and a janitor closet beyonf that door as well, and the stairs also lead to the roof. a senior leader's phone said there was fifty-one missed calls. during my walks i found 26 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon went to texas with leonard to meet george at his tire shop. it was followed by the one where howard went as sheldon for halloween, while sheldon and amy responded by dressing up as howard and bernadette. 

beer can translation

 i drank the can of lift bridge with the evening meal, deciding to finish the one labeled 'oktoberfest' before the month was out. i wanted to know what it said on the can so i went to google translate. not the first time i have been to that site. 'prost' is cheers, 'bier' is beer in german. but the bottom of the can had even more. it said 'erhohen sie den moment mit das perfekten paarung'. it means 'elevate the moment with the perfect pairing'. which fits well with what a beer can do. later on i went to the liquor store and got a pryes, so there still are four beers waiting. at work the notable thing was more checks to be pulled out of the oshkosh file and sent directly to the payee. there was four. at first i only saw three, and two were lumped together as they were going to the same place. and it meant i used just one of the two overnight labels given to me as there was one emailed for each of the four checks. when i said there was no check for the fourth form, going to seattle, when i hit 'reply to all' i was told the other would be ordered the next day. then it was said that the check needed to go out same-day, like the others. so a 'special edition' check file was done near the end of the day, it was for one check, and for jsut over $2 million. but i don't bat an eye anymore about printing and sending a check for that amount, i do this all the time. later on i went on a walk and found 37 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was about penny signing autographs and leonard was the 'change daddy'. and meanwhile, sheldon and amy have a dinner party but it slips that it was a practice round and it upset stuart. this is one time where i could relate to stuart, sadly. where he speaks of being left out and forgotten by people he considers to be friends.