metronome brewery

it was a busy day for me, my birthday. after work i made three stops. one of them was at a meetup event, metronome brewery in St. Paul near the Saints baseball stadium. i had passed by it a lot when i was attending a game, first time inside. this small venue was crowded but i found a place in the back, and spoke with a Canadian lady, who was from the Vancouver area. one dude there i found to be annoying, couldn't get his facts straight and proved to be a hypocrite. i think this is why i am fine with just sharing a conversation with most of these people and then going our separate ways. i was there for a little over an hour and then went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for grocery shopping. this time it was in a paper bag, usually it is plastic. i went to their liquor store first and got another can of paulaner, so there are once again four beers waiting. before i made it to the brewery i went to a fish fry, at St. Thomas More in St. Paul. i had attended this one before, and noticed it was in a different room this time, the auditorium instead of the lunchroom. peach cobbler was part of the meal, and it reminded me of my college roommate. after Hy-Vee i went home and checked email, as expected there were some birthday wishes on Facebook, as well as some birthday offers in my Hotmail account. i guess there are five offers, but one of the movie theaters i have a loyalty account with didn't send an email to remind me like the others did. i have one movie in mind, now it means finding another one to see this month. free popcorn is the offer from both movie theater chains. at work, both of the big supply orders arrived in the morning. first it was check-stock, then the envelopes less than an hour later. this has happened before. one check file was listed as 'awaiting approval' and then was withdrawn. this was after i responded to the emailed overnight list saying it wasn't approved yet. during my walks i found 30 cents. 

bag caught in door

 no, not mine. but i did see a bag caught in the door on the light rail when i was heading home. at the next stop a rider put the bag outside. as i recall it was a re-useable grocery bag from Trader Joe's. i see people block the doors all the time, but usually it is themselves which is much heavier than a bag. sometimes the operator will get on the intercom and tell them to stop it. at work i saw the customer service boss in the morning, when i was dumping out trash in the breakroom. she was picking up something from the mailroom. in the afternoon a business line from st. louis sent an i.m. about their check file and i said i had already printed it. in the morning a tech arrived about the inserter machine, postponed from the previous day. now it is set up where the trays or hoppers can 'cascade', and i was shown how to change it as needed on each job or configuration. then i did the monthly popcorn social and had some peanut m and m's as well. i drank the can of paulaner with the evening meal. during my walks i found 26 cents. 

leanin tree greeting cards

 during my lunchtime i decided to take a walk in the skyway to the next building over, to a convenience store that i had passed by often to get to Walgreen but hadn't been in yet. what had caught my eye before was the greeting cards. i got a good look at the display and bought one, made by 'leanin tree'. chose it as it is the 'year of birth' series. many years were available, i chose 1923 as that was the year of Emerson Hough's passing and of his book, 'covered wagon' being a hit movie. fourteen bullet points were about events of the year, including famous people born that year. one thing also there was mention of the attorney general declaring it legal for women to wear trousers anywhere. women got the right to vote in 1920, so it made sense that other rights would follow shortly after that. on the back of the card, it gives two web addresses. one is of the greeting card company, the other is of a museum of the same name, which according to online searches closed in 2017. i am aware of how some convenience stores have cards that been for sale for years, and some are dated if politicians are on them. this tells me the card had likely been for sale for a while if a now-closed museum is mentioned. there is another card, with a different theme, on display at this store that i will want to get sometime soon. good idea to get it while fresh in my mind, so likely next week. i bought two other items while there, a bag of skinny popcorn and a bottle of Dunkin donuts coffee. some businesses in the skyway weren't open, likely due to the winter weather. signs said a coffee shop closed at 12noon and a pizza place was 'closed for the day', so i guess it didn't open at all. it wasn't too big of a deal to get to work, main thing was getting out my big shovel to dig out my car. then i was ready to go, on to the park and ride. there were no 'big bang' reruns on as state tournament was on instead, high school boys hockey. i didn't watch that, i switched to the 'movies' channel and watched part of 'French Connection' as the channel is honoring gene hackman after his recent passing. later on, i went on a walk and found 76 cents. 

baseball ticket packages

 as we all know, i like to attend baseball games. i saw an email in my Hotmail account tonight, two actually, in reference to baseball ticket packages with the St. Paul Saints. i referenced one when responding to the other, as i had heard from a ticket sales rep. there is mention of a package that includes one of the 'banana' games in early august, except i have already ordered tickets for one of those games- Charlie Brown day. i guess this isn't the first year where i have heard from a sales rep. i did name some other promotions that interest me. i wonder what kind of response i will get. at work the boss was in the shop, and near the end of the day i was asked about preferred places for a luncheon right before i was sending the regular mail tubs to the mailroom. i said i am not overly picky, but don't know the nearby restaurants that well yet. i liked how the backlog of Fargo checks to run through the machine went down, it was a little over a thousand and now it is just over six hundred. i prefer sending out no more than three tubs a day and i have other things to do when midday arrives such as get started on the overnight labels. in the evening i watched the president's speech to congress, which lasted over an hour. during my walks i found 51 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Howard found out his space mission conflicts with the wedding and talks to Bernadette's dad about it. this was followed with 'episode one'. 

charlie brown chex tin

 i had bought plenty of boxes of Chex cereal during this past holiday season as many of them- five kinds- had Charlie Brown characters on the front of the box. the first one was back in October at a Target. i have bought most of them at the Hy-Vee though, and a few at a Cub Foods. i saw mention of the promotion on the boxes, buy three in the same transaction and send a copy of the register tape to get a tin. i sent a November tape in to the site in January, and the tin was waiting for me when i got off work tonight. nine characters are featured on this tin with a winter theme. hard to tell how much cereal it can hold when weight or volume is not given, but it is a decent-sized tin. not as big as ones that once held popcorn though. included is a packet of a party mix seasoning blend, and a recipe card. hard to say how i will use the tin, but as a big Charlie Brown fan i like having it. i still have some boxes of Chex cereal, it will be breakfast for a little while. not just corn cereal, with Charlie Brown on the front, but also peanut butter as i like most things that are peanut butter flavored. odd thing was the box said it was shipped from Battle Creek, Michigan, home of Kellogg cereal. Chex is made by their rival, General Mills. purely coincidental, i guess. i am sure it was a way to get people to buy more of their cereal, and for me it worked. i have been known to buy most things with those characters on it. at work there was plenty of ACH-PDF statements to send out, over a thousand, as we just reached the first of the month. first day sending it on copy paper, and this will save on check stock. vacation replacement was in the shop and we both went to the floor where the supply room is. we put three boxes of copy paper on the cart. i also delivered a check to the team lead while on that floor and got more inter-office envelopes to use. during my walks i found 77 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Howard has his bachelor party, and Bernadette said after seeing the video, 'you're not going anywhere, three-way' to raj. it was followed by the one where Leonard and his mom hug, while Stuart said he loves Denise. 

horton hears a who movie

 there wasn't much to do for the day. in the morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase, 'Horton hears a who'. this was actually two discs, two movies, in one case. the other animated movie i will try to watch soon. the voice cast included Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, and Carol Burnett. i had seen a shorter version of this story before, as i recall it is bonus material on another DVD, the animated version of 'the grinch' TV special. i had read a dr. Seuss book when i was young about the same elephant, it was 'Horton hatches the egg'. when one line was in the movie, it sounded familiar to that book. 'An elephant faithful, one hundred percent'. i saw the movie as having a lot of social commentary in it, and this made it a better story for me. in the afternoon i went to a library to read a recent newspaper that i expected to have this year's fish fry list, except the list wasn't there. i didn't feel like doing an online subscription with the paper jsut to see the list. i did some more searching online and found a Lutheran church going to a different fish fry every Friday during lent, except for good friday. this gives me plenty of ideas. McDonald's is likely one of the seven stops as well. proximity makes plenty of sense on where to attend a fish fry, but there are plenty nearby within a short drive. i also ran my paper shredder for the first time in months, two plastic grocery bags filled. in the early evening i went to perform. there were stories about the bank, a U-turn, and being asked for donations. after i got back, i heard a crying child and then a music box while i was doing the dishes. i wanted to go to my neighbor and ask, 'why did the music stop? i don't mind'. i am sure the music was a way to try to get the kid to stop crying. during my walks i found 51 cents. 

emilia perez movie

in the evening i went to see the movie 'Emilia Perez', in Lakeville. not many screenings available in the metro area, this was the only one for the day at this venue. hard to tell but i might have been the only one at this screening. i sat up front. this one was on my list as i knew it had been nominated for Oscars, including best picture. this was the third and final one of the Oscar nominees that i wanted to see. this venue classified it as a comedy but there was nothing funny in this movie. a musical, a thriller? that is more likely to describe it. most of it was subtitled, not a big deal to me. wanted to see it also because i knew Selena Gomez is in it, as the drug lord's wife. the lawyer to the drug lord was a big part of the story. liked seeing a karaoke scene in it as i have done karaoke before. i got a good look around at this venue, as i saw posters for plenty of classic films on the wall. i got pictures of some of these, including of 'rain man', as well as 'vacation', and 'wayne's world'. i didn't do much after i drove home. in the morning i went to the post office, one order was picked up. then i went to jersey mike's for a sandwich as it was midday by then. i laid down for a little while, then i went to aldi for groceries. i went to a speedway gas station for the evening meal as i needed gas for the car. i got a bottle of juice and two slices of pizza, then it was on to rhe movie. during my walks i found 2 dollars 30 cents. 

my dancing shoes

 doing a meetup event tonight, dancing at the VFW in Bloomington. it did say 'get your dancing shoes on'. well, it will be the same ones that i wear to work. i had one beer all night, it was a cup of grain belt. i had some popcorn as well. it was crowded in this venue, next to a Cub Foods. i did find the group i was with though. for a while i was sitting down in a booth, as i wanted to finish my beer before going onto the dance floor. and it was crowded on the fairly small dance floor. i danced to four songs as i recall, early on it was one by twisted sister and the final one was by Bryan Adams. when the band decided to take a five-minute break i said i was done as i was tired. i had been there for two hours by then. i got some pictures while i was there. one of them was of the helicopter near the main entrance. i am used to retired military equipment being a part of these veteran groups. looks like the building also doubled as the local American legion chapter. after a long day at work, this event was something that i really needed. it was my fourth event with this group since joining it in November. it is still hard to top the first one, bowling, in my book though. but at least i enjoyed it more than the event i had done a month ago. i stayed late at the office to get the overnights caught up, there was over fifty to do. i was contacted by i.t. about printing test checks, but it was in the afternoon. i said it was my busiest hour of the day, trying to get the regular mail tubs to the mailroom to be picked up by the courier. Fargo files arrived late, all were printed but none of them went out same day. i.t. said we could move the test checks to monday morning, fine with me. during my walks i found 85 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was part two of the final episode. once it was done i picked up the paper at a speedway gas station and then it was on to the meetup event. 

prefer single serving

 went to the liquor store, got a bottle of beer, Stella Artois. cashier tried to convince me to get another item out of the discount cart, liquor bottles. but i said i prefer beer as it is single serving and a lot less potent than the liquor. i drank the can of bud ice with the evening meal, so there still are four beers waiting. my weekly visit to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries was moved up one day. i didn't use the express lane this time and i was given three plastic bags, i prefer it all fitting into one or maybe two. at work we finished the special project of all of those overnights from the previous day, there was fifty-three more to do. vacation replacement asked if i needed help, hated having to hand off more of them but i did. i sent nearly half of them to my colleague, still did twenty-seven which is more than many days there. there was one stack of a little over five hundred Fargo checks remaining, i can run them through the machine early the next day. pleased that my boss let i.t. know to contact us on Friday about printing test checks as we really were busy enough already. during my walks i found 1 dollar 29 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Bernadette said 'metrosexual, my ass' about raj after giving him a little dog. it was followed by part one of the final episode. 

overnight requests, century mark

 around midday there was three emails in the shared box. it was a total of one hundred and one overnight requests from just one business line. this was no doubt a spike in volume, and the previous day it was eighteen, and on most days nearly twenty would be considered a spike on its own. i copied my boss on it and at first i said there wasn't enough overnight envelopes available. we were told it was due to replacement checks where the original ones were sent to the wrong payee, and it was a regulatory issue in terms of needing to overnight so many. i noticed many of them were under ten dollars, and the cost of overnighting them is nearly that much. these small checks wouldn't even buy a fast-food meal now, and some were for under a dollar. we went to the mailroom and i found out we had enough as the recent order of two boxes of envelopes had arrived. i didn't get to any in my share because i was tackling everything else. my vacation replacement finished share, which was forty-eight. in addition, the two Fargo files were late, and i printed all of the special handling checks. but the lion's share had to wait, two thousand in all, until the next day. we can only do so much in any given day and my boss let the manager know that not all of them would be going out the same day. it was yet another day of me getting a quick lunch at the convenience store on the main floor, a sandwich and a bottle of juice. this was the second time this week that i have done this. in the morning before things got busy i did find the time to apply for an internal job posting, first time since starting there. purely coincidental as it had been on my list to do so for a week. weird thing that was likely also purely coincidental? when i got off the light rail back at the park and ride, there was some big bird droppings on my car. i used the windshield washer fluid on the part that landed there. during my walks i found 1 dollar 98 cents. in the evening i went to get a small bag of chips at the laundromat vending machine. had to say to the kid who wanted to press the buttons that i wanted to use the machine. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Amy makes a scene with Sheldon, after being coached by penny on how to do so. it was followed by the one where a competitor of Sheldon and Amy's for the Nobel got drunk and exposed his colleague at fermi lab for being a fraud, a plagiarist. 

six people, same name

 in the afternoon at work i didn't enjoy one instant message that arrived. it was a manager who asked me when i was sending the previous day's tracking numbers. i had already sent it and say i hit 'reply to all' so whoever is on the original thread gets them. there were shared boxes on the thread, but this boss wasn't, saying the shared box didn't get it. well i got out a screen snip that proves who was on the thread and said, 'take it up with who sent it to me'. i don't like people coming after me half-cocked but there is not much i can do about it. i know this manager has done it before. even though i got a 'thank you' after this was received it doesn't change my feelings about this boss. first thing i said when wanting these tracking numbers again is how there are six people with your name in the employee directory. both the first and last names were common. i said to try emailing me, then i am more likely to send it to the right one. in the morning the check printer stopped in the middle of printing one of the Fargo files and there was an error page. i scanned a copy to i.t., who said it was likely a server issue. when this happens, i know it is important to take good notes to see that all of the checks are printed, and only once. it stopped before it was halfway done, and it meant the four checks pulled for special handling were in the re-print part. i wrote down which ones so i knew what four i had to pull out as a duplicate. i start off with printign the special handling first, this is why i knew i had to guard against anything being duplicated. this is the fourth time that this has happened in a little over six months. i had saved the other three. backlog on checks went down at the end of the day as there was a little over six hundred remaining. there was a spike in volume on checks to be overnighted and it took a while to get caught up. it led to me taking a later train than typical, and i rode to the same stop with somebody i know from i.t. during my walks i found 55 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny cut Sheldon's hair. it was followed by the one when leonard threatens to quit his job at the university, then gets a great project out of it. raj makes some comments at his planetarium gig that are made fun of in the paper. 'night court' was when dan and abby each have a hand caught in a box that was given by a magician. 

pumpkin pie greeting card

 i made a visit to the convenience store on the main floor to get lunch, a sandwich and a bottle of juice, and decided to get a closer look at the greeting cards. the ones about politicians were dated, did not buy them. i liked one about pumpkin pie for thanksgiving, so i bought that one. it will go into one of the photo albums where i keep other postcards and greeting cards. there was a spike in volume in one of the check files that arrive in the morning, this led to playing catch-up for most of the day. some days the total of the PDF checks is just over one hundred, but one of these morning files was well over a thousand. it led to some of the Fargo checks being saved for the next day, over a thousand, also due to the Fargo files not being approved until midday. this is two hours later than typical. i have had a backlog before but i don't enjoy it much. i went to perform in the evening, there was not just bank stories but also light rail stories and Facebook oddities. during my walks i found 1 dollar, all in quarters. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Sheldon and Kripke played basketball to decide who would win an office. it was followed by the one where Sheldon and Amy did sensory deprivation tanks. Sheldon loved it and Amy hated it. 

america: everything you've ever dreamed of

 this afternoon i went to the Trylon and saw a documentary, it was called 'America: everything you've ever dreamed of'. this was actually a collection of short documentaries, filmed between 1971-73, running rime was a little over an hour. i really liked the one about the painters of billboards, it was of a car, the Ford Gran Torino. this would have been the 'sign painters in Brooklyn' mentioned in the description of the film when i made the advance reservation. it began and ended with retirees in Sun City, Arizona, and those segments had some overlapping footage. memorable in those two segments was seeing the 'adult tricycles' the retirees were riding on. not part of the description was 'campus crusade for Christ' but this was a reminder of what i saw in churches when i was young. hearing them sing 'they will know we are Christians by our love' was a familiar song to me. it once was recorded as a way of advertising the church's statewide camp for young people. 'Help-line operators' was part of the description, and it reminded me of my time doing call-center work. when there was mention of 'some people just want somebody to talk to' i was reminded of a call where i could tell that is what the caller wanted, and i said 'i am just an average joe'. it was called 'caustic and deadpan', well i saw the deadpan a lot but the caustic, not so much. it would have been mainly in the segment about 'denizens of a bowery men's shelter'. as those were alcoholics, drug addicts, and former mental hospital patients. there was a segment about 'how to be ladylike' and it showed women how to hold a purse. i had to look up 'comportment' to know what it meant as this was called 'female comportment instructors'. it said, 'how one behaves or conducts themselves'. also memorable were the rooms used by honeymooners in the Poconos, and the executives at 'Musak' who were in the business of music and described what music was best for someone based on their occupation. hard to follow how the segment about Tonga fit as that is not an American territory. it was a stark contrast to the other segments though. not much else to do for the day, picked up a few things at Walgreen on the way to the movie. in the morning i watched three charlie brown specials on DVD. first was 'happy new year' and the other two were Valentine's Day editions. and i did the dishes in the evening. during my walks i found 28 cents. 

jim abbott, keynote speaker

 went to the annual meeting for blaze credit union at the mega-church in Eden Prairie this afternoon. the circus was still part of the opening act, but this time there was a keynote speaker. it was Jim Abbott, the retired baseball player, born without a right hand. Jim even had a catch with Dan Stoltz, the CEO, onstage. but Jim said he didn't want to hit the mascot truck, 'archie', the 1952 ford, so it meant having his back turned to it. when i got home i found out i have four of his baseball cards with the angels. there as a video shown before his speech, it included footage from his no-hitter with the Yankees. i got plenty of pictures there as usual, including one of the St. Paul Saints mascot, Mudonna. being a sponsor of the saints led to name recognition and choosing them when i was looking for a car loan. according to the stats given at the meeting, just under half of the employees were present. i have a friend from meetup groups who is an employee and would not be attending. i sent a text message to this friend when i was having lunch at Taco John's in Eagan before heading for the meeting. before leaving the building and claiming my $25 i saw a sign that pointed where the chapel is. i got a look at it and this 'chapel' looks as big as a sanctuary at some churches! in the morning there was chores and errand running. first stop was the post office, one order was picked up. then recycle was dropped off near the capitol, then on to the copy store. two tickets to Saints games were printed, as well as a confirmation on a member event next month. after the meeting i drove home but didn't have all that much to do for the rest of the day. i had the evening meal, then went to Aldi for groceries. after this i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase, 'Star Wars e-1'. this completes the viewing of the five discs i had bought from half-price books. during my walks i found 76 cents. 

analog phone, laptop phone

 the analog phones were picked up, four in all, after being put in a box and sitting in a corner of my office for the two months since i moved downtown. my boss asked me to follow up on an order for a phone tied to my laptop. i did so, and my boss was copied on the email. surprised to hear something right away as the order was placed more than a week prior. guess i have a laptop phone now, at least i was given the number, but i don't know yet how to use it. as usual, i was thinking of staying ahead on my normal duties. there was plenty of PDF checks in the morning, nearly five hundred, so i ran those through the machine early due to the volume. no need to wait until afternoon when i have the time to run them right before or right after the Fargo checks. the ACH-PDF files are also run through early. for lunch, much like the previous Friday, i went to the skyway location for a pizza place, but this time had a slice of sausage. i am probably not going to make this a regular thing, though, as i know it is cheaper to bring cans of soup for lunch. i still eat out some on the weekends though. in the evening i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries and was recognized by the cashier as i prefer going to the express lane. during my walks i found 76 cents. there were no 'big bang theory' reruns on as state tournament was on, high school girls hockey. it was the semifinals, saw some of the first one before going to the grocery store. Hill-Murray was leading 2-0 over Rosemount at the end of the second, and i hear they went on to win it. no surprise as Hill-Murray was way ahead in the shots on goal category. 

asking for mail code

 at work i had received the alternate address for forwarding some returned checks, that are handled by the Poland team. but then i noticed i didn't have the mail code so i asked for it. this isn't the same as what is on the checks themselves, so it hasn't been updated yet. when it was sent to me i searched it in the employee directory and saw a few names i recognized under it. two of them were from 'out of office' replies that i sometimes see. based on this, and seeing none under the earlier one, i got the checks we had into an inter-office envelope and sent out at the end of the day. i try not to hold onto those for long. there was one PDF check file that didn't go out same day, as i noticed one file that arrived in the afternoon had nearly two hundred checks in it. this was way more than the i-pay file. i wanted to have the time to go through and see if any of them were special handling and none of them were. looks like they were all refund checks, and fairly small, one hundred dollars or so, definitely not amounts that would typically be overnighted. i drank the can of bent paddle with the evening meal. then later on, i went out and picked up three items. this included a small bottle of milk, a small bag of chips, and a can of Michelob, so there still are four beers waiting. i just wanted enough milk to get through the next two days on cereal for breakfast until my typical grocery run. i got the chips from a vending machine inside a laundromat. when i was waiting to get on the light rail to go home i saw a couple taking a picture outside the courthouse, even though it was still freezing outside. then when i got on the train i was near a man who was talking to himself, while he was eating some ice cream. during my walks i found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Sheldon caused a power failure and created 'Leonard's day' while Howard got the astronaut nickname 'Froot Loops'. it was followed by the one where the friends did experiments on and with Howard and Bernadette's kids, while penny got an offer from a competitor at a convention. 

unwanted apps

 i looked at my phone tonight and saw plenty of apps that i didn't know i had and didn't want. don't know how they got added, i think many of them were for gaming. so, i deleted them, and kept one that wasn't google, the MLB ballpark app. i still need that one for baseball tickets. i think this freed up twenty percent of memory space on my phone. it was discovered when i tried to add the minor-league baseball app, but when i tried to log in i kept getting kicked out. so, i deleted that one as well. this was due to ordering another ticket for an early- season St. Paul Saints baseball game. i had to sign up for an account first, guess they switched ticket-selling providers. when i looked at the ballpark app, it was a nice reminder of games i have attended when the tickets went there, although not in every case did this happen. when i saw a Twins game through the alumni chapter we were given paper tickets as it was a group outing. so, the only ones i saw on the app were ones i ordered directly and not through a group. i think i found a way to get into the site where i can print the tickets myself so i don't have to use the minor-league app. i am used to 'print at home' anyway. at work there was a dial-in meeting in the afternoon, but the boss and the I.T. people did most of the talking, didn't say anything at all. i saw it as an opportunity to get some of my normal duties done, in this case it was getting Fargo checks into inter-office envelopes. i moved up my lunch a little for it. and i saw a big spill in the breakroom covered up with plenty of napkins. during my walks i found 20 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj thinks he is dating his phone, Siri. it was also when we first see 'fun with flags', where Sheldon and Amy dress like Germans for that flag. it was followed by the one where William Shatner and Kareem Abdul Jabbar are part of a celebrity d and d game with Wil Wheaton. 

linkedin job postings

 i have various email subscriptions in my Hotmail account, and i have done my best to unsubscribe from those that are no longer relevant to me. for a while i was just looking at those job postings from LinkedIn and saw very little of interest. sometimes there was something from my current employer, the bank. this evening i saw one that was of interest, and now it means figuring out how to apply for it. i haven't inquired much about transfers since i started as i like what i do. at work there was two meetings in the morning. one was about the ACH files that just went PDF. i was still waiting for those to finish printing when it began. then right after it was the team huddle, first time since i had moved downtown. some colleagues were working from home due to the subzero weather. later on, i had a quick meeting with the boss about a pay raise. i was given the printed page. in the evening i watched 'night court'. roz returned as a bailiff. i do recall saying when watching the original 'night court' how i wanted snappy comebacks like that character, along with carla from 'cheers'. inspiration for my eventual foray into doing stand-up. during my walks i found 26 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and penny 2.0 began, which often meant fighting but also having sex. it was followed by the one where leonard tells wyatt, penny's dad, to back off. it was in reference to the offer to be a sperm donor for her ex-boyfriend, zac. 

becoming led zeppelin documentary

it was a day off from work, due to the bank holiday, and i decided a good way to stay occupied was to go see a movie. i went to see the musical documentary, called 'Becoming Led Zeppelin', in Edina at Southdale mall, mid-morning. before i made it there i first went to a Walgreen and got a vaccine done. as the title suggests, it is mainly about how the band was formed and then the band's early years. i was pleased with all of the music in it, first was what inspired the band, then it was songs from their first two albums. of the three surviving band members, it was mostly Jimmy Page being interviewed, but this made sense as it was Jimmy who formed the band after the Yardbirds broke up. there were audio interviews with the late John Bonham, the drummer, as well. notable was when the band passed the Beatles and became number one in album sales. i liked what frontman Robert Plant said about songwriting can be hard, as it means being intimate and exposing yourself. i know i have said this about the performing i do, as i usually do sets about my own life. after the movie was done i drove to Mall of America and had lunch, at Hooters. i was flattered when i got carded, but they likely have to card everybody. i had ordered a beer, a Surly. for the food part of the order i had the fish sandwich and fries, no complaint at all about the fries as it was more than most places i had been to. there were four songs i noticed while at the mall, three while having lunch. there was Alanis- 'hands clean', Pitbull- 'give me everything', 'Everclear- 'wonderful', and Selena Gomez- 'love you like a love song'. the fourth was while i was looking around inside the Five Below, but didn't buy anything on this visit. i did get some ice cream at the American Cookie place though, as i like ice cream and earning airline miles. i walked around most of the mall, doing a lap around floors one through three. when i got home i placed two calls, one was to discover card, the other was to my health insurance provider. then i watched jeopardy. the final jeopardy clue was about diseases mentioned in novels, i correctly guessed it was scarlet fever that was written about in little women, and little house. in the evening i went to perform, and i did speak of my day off as well as bank stories. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Amy got a tiara from Sheldon, laughed a lot at this one. it was followed by the one where Leonard has a dream that he eats Bert, then Raj. 

cameraman movie, buster keaton

in the afternoon i went to the u of Minnesota and saw a silent film, 'cameraman', with buster keaton. it was at Northrop auditorium. i had seen events there every so often since moving to the twin cities, including a robin williams comedy show in 2008. most recent event before this one was a Christmas edition of cirque du soleil just over a year ago. i showed up early as i heard there was popcorn available, and i got some. i also put my name in a drawing. this 1928 movie was on my list as i had read how a scene was filmed at yankee stadium. i liked it, especially when buster tricks a man into picking up something off of the pavement, then kicking him into the water. even though there was plenty of slapstick, it was a good setup in many scenes in terms of wanting to avoid making the same mistake, and this was also good.  after the q and a with the organist who backed up the movie, there was the aforementioned drawing. i was the winner of getting to meet the organist and get a close-up look at the organ. it was truly a case of 'must be present to win' and i was drawn for an earlier prize but no one responded like i did when the later names were drawn. the event moderator said she was calling an audible and awarding it to me. when i said 'works for me', there was a smattering of laughs from the crowd. sounds like i still get the other prize too, which is two tickets to another event at this venue, but don't recall which one. guess i will hear more by email soon. in the morning i ordered two more items on e-bay, a postcard as well as a CD. the former is of the winter carnival, the latter has charlie brown songs on it. i didn't do that much after getting back from the movie. there was a delay of about ten minutes after getting on the light rail. i tried to watch the anniversary special of saturday night live but laid down and missed some of it. later on, i did the dishes. during my walks i found 76 cents. 

nucky's speakeasy

 this afternoon i went to an event at Nucky's speakeasy in Anoka. it was my second time doing speed dating, and the first time in two months. the time allotment was for six hours, but it didn't last that long. the speed dating part wrapped up around 6pm, and the scheduled start was 3pm to be signed in and get a drink. during my time there, i drank one beer and then had some ice water. guess there was an Elvis impersonator performing later on, but i noticed most people left shortly after speed dating was done. this was one reason why i left when most others did, also because it was getting crowded there and i got sticker shock when looking at the food menu. i pulled one from a wall caddy and the bartender said that one wasn't in force for the night, which didn't make sense to me at all. i would like to think there is a better chance that i get a match this time, as the organizers said we can pick five instead of three. i recognized one date from the event of two months ago but didn't let on about that. either way, i know it is important to do events like these as i haven't done internet dating in years. it was time to eat the evening meal and when i got close to home i stopped at a popeye's chicken place. the super bowl had just been in new orleans so that place was on my mind. when i got home i watched a DVD movie, 'catch-22'. it was a recent purchase from barnes and noble. due to the event in the afternoon, my visit to aldi for groceries was moved up. i went there shortly after getting back from having a sandwich at Jersey Mike's for lunch. in the morning i went to the post office, one order was picked up. i also went to the copy store and printed a receipt for a ticket to a st. paul saints baseball game that had just been ordered. when i got home i found out the actual ticket was in a separate email that went to the junk pile. i moved it to the main inbox and will print it on my next visit. during my walks i found 12 cents. 

cloth flower

 there were cloth flowers being handed out near the elevators in celebration of valentine's day. i got one and said it would go into a vase that i was given at my grandma's funeral. i knew there already was a flower in it, but it was dead. as i recall, it wasn't the one from the funeral though. i know sometimes people go into bars to sell flowers, and i got a yellow one when i was singing karaoke. i checked out a key to get into the shop for the third, and final, day. a tech was already working on the door when i arrived on that floor, and i didn't need to use the key at all. the door was fixed by mid-morning, and i was asked to help with testing it. i scanned my badge three times and the door worked properly. i still kept the key until the end of the day, though. i wanted to stay caught up on my normal duties. i did leave the floor at lunchtime as i had seen a sign in the skyway saying there was a happy hour discount at a pizza place. one dollar off on pizza slices after 1:30pm until closing time, so i got one, along with some spring water. emergency phone was tested in the morning, a call out to my boss. there was a dial-in meeting mid-morning, about ACH statements going PDF. in the evening i went to hy-vee in eagan for groceries, and while there i got some valentine-themed cheerios cereal. it was in a cart with other items for this unofficial holiday. i went to a walgreen as well, as i wanted the paper and they were sold out at the grocery store. i bought the last copy at walgreen, and some snoopy-themed candy, hershey kisses. during my walks i found 60 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when we meet the scientists from the fermi lab who stole sheldon and amy's idea. 

emergency phone installed

 at work a tech showed up to do the emergency phone installation. it was in the morning, and this took up half of my workday. i wanted to see that all were fine with the placement. and it meant having my boss sign off on it, who was onsite and arrived from another floor. having it in the room where my laptop is, that wasn't practical. building manager said it had to be near the main door. it was placed on a different wall than the check printer and inserter machine, but still close to the door and to the exit sign. guess it can be used for more than just emergency calls, although once programmed it is lit up red and says, 'dial 911 for emergency'. a different contractor also showed up, related to the door, but i was told that there would be a return visit the next day. not much has been done about the door yet and it still means picking up a key and giving up my driver license to get it. when i turned it in at the end of the day to get my license baclk the guard made a big deal hearing how i have printed checks in the millions. i ran through over a thousand tax forms and let the payroll manager know where i was with it. i said if i don't finish what is in the shop by the end of the week then early next week. i drank the can of Michelob with the evening meal. i also went to the nearby liquor store and bought a can of bent paddle so there still are four beers waiting. during my walks i found 76 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Stuart went on a date with Amy, a movie. Sheldon shows up and Amy said he used a 'quadruple negative'. it was followed by the one where Zac asks Leonard to be a sperm donor. 

basquiat movie

 tonight, after work i went to the trylon cinema and saw 'Basquiat'. this was part of the 'sound unseen' series, which also has a film festival in November. i did see one in the film-fest, at bryant lake bowl in uptown Minneapolis. the trylon is a much better venue for a movie, though. i attended with the retired postal worker, who gave me the idea through a text message. the venue claimed that the screening was 'sold out', but we sat in the front row and there were some empty seats. i was largely unfamiliar with the subject of this biopic, but i did read up about this painter in advance. like some other famous people, died of a heroin overdose, at age 27. the cast had plenty of notables in it, including David Bowie (as Andy Warhol), along with Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Courtney Love, and Parker Posey. when the closing credits start rolling, we hear 'hallelujah', the john cale version. this movie was in black and white, except for a scene after the credits rolled, in color. i recognized this scene from earlier in the movie, it was when he uses a big paint roller. i correctly guessed one scene as announcing when Warhol had died, figuring that based on the time period being covered that this would be mentioned somewhere in the story. my friend suggested seeing another movie in this series sometime soon, and i am up for that. i think this was our first in-person visit since the state fair in august. after i got home from work, i wasn't there for long. i dropped off a few things and had a snack and then i was gone again, wanting to eat at a burger king before making it to the movie. i went home after the movie, knowing i was tired and wanting to do my after-work routine of going through emails and such. at work i was waiting at security for twenty minutes due to access to the check shop being changed when the door was locked. i was escorted into the shop and later on was given a key but needed to give my driver license for it. i got it back when i turned in the key at the end of the day. looks like we will have someone looking at the door the next morning. just under a thousand tax forms went out, besides the checks. vacation replacement was in the shop working some more on updating the written procedures, i was asked to proofread the one about a file that went PDF. during my walks i found 26 cents. 

takis fuego

 in the morning i saw vacation replacement, who had been to the vending machine, and was told that an extra bag of snack food dropped. this was Takis Fuego, hadn't heard of it before, but i know the second word is Spanish for 'fire'. i made it through the bag, slowly, and got water to help me through it. taking it slowly made this spicy thing more manageable. i got the drive mapped out that i needed, by using the 'Eva app'. i used it to create excel spreadsheets that report the stats on the checks printed by me each day. and it helps me with where to move the check files that went PDF, once those are printed. then i got the laptop boxed up and to the mailroom, and the UPS label was slapped on the side of the box, in the afternoon. i took out the additional items in the box, some cords as well as a docking station, and only sent them the laptop. sounds like this was all that was being requested. we did see a tech related to the '911 phone' installation, but not as early as projected. found out a cable is still needed to get it done, so it means a tech visit has to be rescheduled. the check stock order was delivered as well, and this led to me creating another work order on the door as the courier got inside the shop without any help from me. i did see a tech in the afternoon, but the door isn't fixed just yet. tech left before i had completed all of the overnight labels, i was behind due to the high volume of checks from the Fargo file. there was a flurry of emails about it, and two colleagues, including vacation replacement, kept asking about it. the other was the team lead, as the boss was ill and was absent. 'Night Court' had the bailiff get a pie in the face as there was plenty of clowns in the court. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when Sheldon and Amy set their paper on fire, and it led to the shower curtain catching fire. this was also a cross-over episode with 'young Sheldon' as we see his football coach dad, and his brother, appear on a VHS tape.  

laptop return prompt

 near the end of the workday i saw an email from a colleague who said i needed to return the older laptop. the newer one i have had for a little over a week now. i was still using the older one as i didn't have a drive mapped out just yet that i use every day. i had seen this colleague on occasion related to the check printer. i then asked where the box to return it was, as i was used to seeing a small oblong one. there was no response by the end of the day. guess it means using the one the newer one arrived in, as i did find a return label there. i was pleased to get another thousand tax forms for California employees run through the machine and out the door. there is just one box remaining now. in the evening i went to perform. there is still a smaller crowd, even after moving back the start time by thirty minutes. i started off with mention of 'old man and the sea', saying i only knew it as the name of a Hemingway novel that i read back in college. show runner, when doing the announcements and ground rules, said it was also the name of a long song. i did some bank stories as well, and mention of a movie i saw on super bowl Sunday. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Sheldon's mom visits and Sheldon gets caught out in the rain. it was followed by the one where Howard translates a Russian paper and finds out this disproves Sheldon and Amy's paper. 

brave the dark movie

 around midday i went to see 'brave the dark', at the mall in eden prairie. this movie is about a homeless teenager that is adopted by his teacher. it was hard to watch, to say the least. i wasn't sobbing, but i cried a lot. i did see someone leave the auditorium, but if it was a 'walk out' or a bathroom break, i don't know. there were some reminders of unhappy things from my younger years. i didn't recognize any of the actors in it. i know one thing i saw in the closing credits wasn't typical. it was asking for donations on their website in order to get more people to see the movie. after the movie i went to the nearby dairy queen and had a blizzard treat. i looked around inside the barnes and noble book shop as well. i spent a while in there, finding one DVD, 'catch-22'. i had hoped to find another item of interest to me, but couldn't. then i went home, and not too long after that the super bowl began. eagles won, 40-22 over the chiefs, after leading 24-0 at the half. i had hoped for a close game, but it wasn't. no commercials really stood out to me. it was a lot like the lineup of previous super bowls- plenty of ads for cars, beer, and snack foods. in the morning, i got started early on laundry as i knew i had to move my car for the snow ordinance. but i didn't  mind as it meant i was done well before midday and was still able to get to the movie. during my walks i found 35 cents. 

blue collar movie

 in the evening i went to see the movie 'blue collar' at the trylon in Minneapolis. Harvey Keitel, Richard Pryor, and Yaphet Kotto were in it. this was about auto workers who burglarized their own union hall, and what was found in the safe besides petty cash. i knew it was produced by Norman Lear's company, then known as TAT, and this explains why three clips from TV shows in scenes of this movie were from his shows- 'Jeffersons', once, and 'Good Times', twice. i recognized product placement in it, as Harvey's character was wearing a McDonald's shirt, the song about what is in big macs. Yaphet's character was all right, but i found Richard Pryor's character to be too extreme. Harvey's character reminded me a little of my dad, with a '30 and out' hat, and the short-sleeved sport shirt. my dad was a labor union man as well. i also noticed the name change of their labor union, to AAW instead of UAW, in this case 'auto assembly workers'. i liked seeing something in the background in a toy store, as it was Linus with his blanket, on the wall. i didn't stay long after the screening was done, as the snow ordinance was just about to take effect. i took a picture of the sign saying what movies were playing that night, then knew i had to 'get out of dodge'. i didn't do much after getting home. in the morning i went to the post office early, one order was picked up. then it was on to get an oil change done on my car in inver grove heights. then i went to lunch at the McDonald's a few miles away, but returned after noticing the wiper blades were skipping a fairly big part. i got an adjustment done. i rested a little at home, watched the ending of a college basketball game, Iowa's men's team lost to Wisconsin. i dropped off recycle near the capitol, then ate at home before watching the news and then heading to the movie. during my walks i found 1 dollar 75 cents. 

waterloo sparkling water

 there were some goodies at work in the morning near the elevators. this included cans of waterloo sparkling water. i had seen it before but hadn't drunk it before. it tasted fine, about the same as any other kind of sparkling water i've had before. i also got some Knott's berry farm cookies. this was part of heart month, and i saw some cards about it. technician was in early about the inserter machine but was told there is still an issue with the software. i was shown how to change hoppers when i am running checks through. some of the rollers were cleaned as well. in the afternoon my boss shared an email about intercepting some Canadian checks. getting the tax forms out the door is still moving right along, another thousand. now there is just over one full box left so it is likely to have them all done by the end of next week. in the evening i went to get groceries at the hy-vee in eagan. this included getting a three-pack of bar soap, and i knew the trick that would work is to write it down. usually i go to the store without any kind of list at all. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we see two 'betrayals'. brent spiner guest stars and sheldon sees it as a betrayal when leonard goes to wil wheaton's party. then bernadette tells howard's mom about his plans to go to space. it was followed by the one where raj showers with anu. sheldon tries to bond with amy's parents, and amy's dad isn't good at magic. 

popcorn social

 finally did my first event offered by the building manager since moving to the downtown office. it took more than a month. it was a popcorn social, at skyway level. there was candy available as well, on the table, three kinds. i had some of the m and m's. hearing the popcorn machine reminded me of visits to movie theaters, except i don't get it there that often as popcorn can get expensive at the movies. i also asked about other events, and found out it was best to go to the management office on the main floor. i hadn't seen any emails lately, and said i was unable to get signed up for those that required it. i am told that sign-up events often fill up quickly. i liked how the inserter machine hummed along, little or no issues since adding some more configurations. i was notified about the arrival of a supply order, envelopes. nine boxes were brought over to me, and i was fine with going to the mailroom to pick up the other eleven boxes as i had carts to use. in the evening i watched some YouTube videos about the move of the NFL's Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis. most of them mentioned one important factor, how the government wanted to pass a law to invoke 'eminent domain' to seize the team and prevent them from moving. this led to the owner deciding to move the team in the middle of the night, when media attention was less likely. i was just a kid then but recall the headline. it was 'Colts trot off to Indianapolis in midnight move'. looking at it this way, this does make more sense. i once went to my rep in the state legislature, disappointed that a business in my neighborhood would be closing, and was told 'i can't force anyone to do business in the city'. correct. what government can do, is offer incentives, such as tax breaks, making it easier to do business. this is part of what i am used to seeing during the course of my life when sports teams move. the two most important factors are: ownership, and the venue. teams will move if another city gives them a better deal. fans might be passionate about their team and get upset when a move happens, but fans don't have a vote. the league approves the move of any teams. i have also noticed that when teams move after a city refuses to build a new venue, then the city is willing to build a new venue to get another team. i drank the can of miller with the evening meal and went to the liquor store near me and bought two more cans, so now five drinks are waiting. one was a mix of Coca-Cola and Jack Daniel's; the other was bent paddle. during my walks i found 1 dollar, all in quarters. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj dates deaf Emily. his parents say that the choice is the money or the lady, and 'you're an idiot' when raj chooses the lady, at first. but then the relationship ends. it was followed by the one where Howard and Bernadette build a playhouse for their kids, and Bernie goes there when stressed out and it becomes a 'secret club' where penny and Amy join her. 

air conditioner swap

 when i arrived at work in the morning i noticed the air conditioner was on and blowing out cold air. so, it meant that facilities had been there. a few minutes later, i did see a tech and heard more about it. the unit had been swapped out. i was used to the previous one shutting off every so often. later on, i was having issues with the inserter machine stopping a lot, saying 'envelope too deep'. vacation replacement was able to get some alternate configurations going. after this the machine just hummed along. another case of my colleague taking a lot off of my plate. the boss asked about it on a visit to inspect the air conditioner, wasn't expecting my colleague to be there. still waiting to hear when the e-911 phone will have installation done, and when four 'inactive phones' will be picked up. those phones have been in the corner of the room i work in since i moved there over a month ago. i checked movie times for the weekend and now i have a 'super bowl movie' to attend. there is an early screening available, starting around midday, which will wrap up well before the game begins. i am not interested in watching those pregame shows, just want to see the game. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Amy attended a wedding with Leonard, while Sheldon stayed home and played with toy trains. Howard and Bernadette hear 'in or out' from Howard's mom. liked this one as Bernadette said 'he hasn't tried them yet' about the pancakes. it was followed by the one where Amy us upset about being pulled off her own project- by Sheldon, and the university president. 

software upgrade for hoppers

 we had a tech look at the inserter machine in the morning, found out there was no call as the only number on file was the former location. tech said a software upgrade was needed to use the other two hoppers on the machine. it made sense to ask for this when there are three hoppers in case we ever need to switch to another one, as i sometimes did on the previous machine in order to get checks out as quickly as possible. in the afternoon was my 'one on one' with the boss. some of these other meetings were also done in the shop. in the evening i saw how the local baseball team, the Minnesota twins, had announced their promotions schedule. there is one that is of interest to me, so i might want to order tickets soon even though the season hasn't started yet. hopefully the other local team, the St. Paul saints, also releases a promotions schedule real soon. i go to more of their games. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Leonard did skype calls with Priya. penny claims a chair and Sheldon doesn't like it. this is when penny does 'what's up buttercup?' and the scene ends with a cushion being shown to Sheldon. it was followed by the one where Bernadette and penny have dinner with anu, raj's lady friend. i also watched 'night court', and it involved a polygraph. 

fluid bottle cut open

 vacation replacement was in the shop as expected, and first thing i mentioned i needed help with was the fluid bottle. couldn't get it open, so the bottlecap was cut open. this should take care of our needs in this area for a while as the bottles last for over a month before needing to swap it out. tried to use the laptop that just arrived friday, but it took a while to get all of the mapping done on it, what i need to get my work done moved over from the one i was using. so it was just left on and moved to another table. for the third straight day, the inserter machine went down close to midday, sensor issues. don't know what my colleague did to override it, moved some knobs that i usually don't want to touch is all i know. this was after i had called for a tech. i was told i would get a call within two hours, except no one called at all. but i guess we didn't need them, at least just yet, when i got all of the checks run through. i am still wondering if it has anything to do with the tax forms i am running through in the morning. my colleague did copy one configuration where i could run tax forms on an alternate hopper, there are three hoppers. i had already met my goal for the day so i said i would try again on running tax forms this alternate way the next morning. i was getting annoyed with a mailroom employee when i went to the breakroom for water before having a granola bar just before midday. i ended up hearing more than i really cared to hear, as this man often seems to be angry to me. guess i have the option of just avoiding him more often by going to a breakroom on another floor. during my walks i found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the only advice that leonard gets from his mom was to 'buck up'. amy has a sleepover with penny. it was followed by the one where amy said 'what the hell, penny' after penny said she didn't want kids. 

basic instinct movie

 still working my way through the DVD movies recently purchased from half price books. this morning it was 'basic instinct', with Michael Douglas, and Sharon stone. i had heard about this one for a while, including it being name-checked on an episode of 'young Sheldon'. and now an episode of 'the simpsons' made more sense when groundskeeper willie crossed his legs, showing no undies, which would be a parody of this movie. it is a thriller, and i do like thrillers. this one did keep me guessing until the end. when a sports car was wrecked i said 'waste of a good car'. this was when someone tried to kill the cop, played by Douglas. it had some other cast members that i recognized, including Chelcie ross, Wayne knight, and Jeanne tripplehorn. liked seeing a Bart Simpson keychain in it, and a clip from an episode of 'the Jeffersons'. the show's theme song was also listed in the closing credits. since it was made more than thirty years ago, a few things in it now make it look dated. this would be using a public pay phone, and the cop driving a Plymouth. of course, one is largely obsolete now, and the other is a now-defunct car brand. thankful i finally saw this one. when it finished i got started on the next thing right away, watching a college basketball game. my school, the Iowa Hawkeyes, were on fox, playing USC, women's basketball. the game had just barely started. Iowa raced to a big lead, but USC closed the gap and led by a point at the half. but Iowa found a way to win by seven, on the day of the retirement of Caitlin Clark's uniform number. hard to understand how at times that Iowa seemed baffled by the other team using full-court press, when that can be overcome by just passing. there was mention by Caitlin how her pro team, the Indiana fever, would be playing a game in Iowa city. i found it online, this is an exhibition against the Brazilian national team in early May. hopefully it will be on TV somewhere. in the evening i went to perform, including bank stories as well as 'weird interactions with the general public'. i called my dad late in the evening, one thing notable about it was hearing more about his favorite uncle. during my walks i found 1 cent. 

conclave movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'conclave' in eden prairie. i recognized john lithgow in it, and the voice still sounds familiar. and as my old man would say, usually the one thing that doesn't change is a person's voice. once this movie got some oscar nominations, including best picture, i put this one back on my list. decent crowd for this screening, likely aided by having just one for the day at this theater. it is described as a thriller, and it doesn't disappoint. there were plenty of twists and turns in it. i had a sandwich at jersey mike's before getting to the theater, and after the movie i looked around inside the mall. there was a newer store that was of interest to me, once finding out there were some charlie brown items. it is called 'miniso'. i got a 'paint by number' and a foldable shopping bag. and i got a dairy queen blizzard treat as well, french silk pie. when i got home i went to aldi for groceries. i considered going out to eat for the evening meal but i was tired and just got some pizza at a speedway gas station as i needed gas for the car as well. in the morning i went to the post office, two orders were picked up. still doing some planning as usual, there is another oscar-nominated movie i would like to see. so far i have seen two of the best picture nominees, the other being the bob dylan biopic. but i checked the schedule online and it looks like the other one on my list was moved back a month, just before the awards ceremony, in terms of being in theaters. not a big deal. i already have, and will have, plenty of other things booked until then. during my walks i found 1 dollar 12 cents. 

our lady of lourdes keepsake

 when i was walking to my car in the morning to get to work i picked up what looked like six coins. but later on, i found out it was just five. one of them was the size of a dime, and a religious keepsake. on one side it said, 'our lady of lourdes' and the other said 'pope paul vi'. i may not be catholic, but i am a history major and i know saints are a big part of the history of the catholic church. this one is from france. i looked it up on my phone when i was taking the light rail to work. at work it was another challenging day. the fargo file was big for a friday, due to month end maybe? and i had an issue with the inserter machine again, different error message this time. but it still meant re-calibrating sensors worked just fine. actually, i had to do so twice, was advised to try this when i called for remote help. then the tech said he'd call later in the day. i said i needed to deliver the regular mail tubs first, and by the time the call happened i didn't have much left to do. there were just some overnight labels to create. i did say the tax forms i am running through may be a factor, since i did just over a thousand for the day. and i am aware of how this machine doesn't seem to do as well with copy paper as it does with check stock. in the evening i went to the hy-vee in eagan for groceries. first stop was to their adjacent liquor store. i bought a can of paulaner so now there are four beers waiting. during my walks i found 78 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when priya said she was moving back to india. i think this was a season finale. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy return from their honeymoon and go on a scavenger hunt. 

mutual ugh day

 in the afternoon i got an i.m. from somebody i didn't know. guess this is who calls for a courier for our tax specialist. it was an apology for the courier being late. courier arrived as i was getting back from having lunch in the breakroom, then i went over to the walgreen and got a bottle of iced coffee and some cookies. no ice cream candy bar so it meant lining up alternate plans. not a big deal to me on the late arrival. in fact, it was just as well as around midday i was on the phone with a tech about the inserter machine. found out there is another section of the machine where i can re-calibrate the sensors, the tower part. then i was able to get more checks run through. still a backlog, but it is now smaller than the previous day. i consider my goal of a thousand tax forms to be run through each day as being met, even though the machine said it was just under that. i still had to stuff some envelopes manually due to jams. another i.m. was from a home-based employee, near the end of the day, who said the business line name on the fargo checks was wrong. this would be in terms of how it reads in the return address section. i said you'd have to go to the fargo team about it as i just print them, i don't approve them. same rep said she had already contacted that team and said it couldn't be changed, so i don't know why i was contacted about it then. oh, as for the lady who apologized to me, when i explained the machine issues i was having, she said it was a 'mutual ugh day'. hadn't heard of that before but i guess it fits. i drank the bottle of summit with the evening meal so now three beers are waiting. during my walks i found 76 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard's mom was in the hospital. i have named it as my favorite episode, even though i noticed amy isn't in this one. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy are on their honeymoon in new york city. 

post-dated checks

a manager from a business line i had dealt with before, really demanding, wanted to know when i was going to fix a problem with over a hundred post-dated checks from last week. i said i print them but don't approve them. then i got an i.t. rep involved, and i was vindicated, and this was the last i had heard of it. i think the dude figured i was on the hook for it as i had overnighted some checks from that file. it should have been dated January of this year but was dated for December, a big difference. vacation replacement stated by email being ill and signing off for the day mid-morning. i did just over a thousand tax forms for payroll. more than half were Oregon, then i got started on Illinois. envelopes are not great, and some were not sealing and of course jamming the machine. so, some had to be manually stuffed. i did hear from the loft literary center and i guess there is a member/friend event coming soon enough. i have enjoyed doing those before. looks like both of the Oscar-nominated movies i would like to see will be back in theaters soon, can see both this weekend. not many screenings but only need one. and the best game plan is to do one per day. might have to adjust my typical meal schedule, in the case of one it would mean moving up the evening meal a little. but not a big deal, i have done it before. during my walks i found 2 dollars 10 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when Bernadette tried to be a double agent on a double date to find out more about Priya, but she got it wrong about penny's fake boyfriend. it was followed by the one where Mark Hamill was a guest star as he became the officiant at Sheldon and Amy's wedding. i clapped when penny stood up to Amy's mom. probably had done this before when seeing this episode. 

next tax forms batch

 the next batch of tax forms to send out for payroll arrived. three different states were in it, smallest volume is oregon, under a thousand. sounds like three thousand in all. i said i would do as many as possible the next morning. the boss was in the shop and was copied on an email from the canada office. it was asking us to send out forms for them, response was due to their machine not working. the boss responded and advised that office to contact the mailroom about it. vacation replacement was not in, was ill and decided to work from home. i spoke of a returned check arriving for our team and was told it would be handled the next day. there was two in the blue company envelope. the other was an oregon check, and i decided to send three oregon checks, including that one, in an envelope to another office as i do that once a week. saw a message in my hotmail account about my membership with the loft literary center, and i  responded to it this time. i didn't when i was asked 'how are things?' in late october when i would have had more time to do an online chat as i had days off to use at year-end. i asked if there would be another member/friend event soon as i like attending those. tried doing surveys for airline miles but the site just wasn't functioning well so i guess i have to wait for another day for that. during my walks i found 14 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we see amy's smoking monkey. sheldon and amy kiss and then amy vomits. it was followed by the one where sheldon and leonard go to texas, and we meet sheldon's brother, george, at his tire shop. 

platitude tirade

 i had more energy than typical in my set this evening. it started off with a tirade about platitudes. this was prompted by the show runner's set mentioning this word. i even referred to an episode of 'facts of life' where i had heard this word. this wasn't part of the set i wrote out in advance, but it set the tone and i liked how this one went. but i am aware of how i tend to have better sets when i talk about things that annoy me. this included the meetup event this weekend that 'left a lot to be desired'. the show started late, and the official start time will likely be moved back, effective next month. it is still ending early, fewer performers so far. we were about to get to having Kermit onstage and singing 'rainbow connection', then three more people performed. this included the fancy comic, who gave me shout-out in his set. i had to tell someone so i sent a text to Yemen native. at work it was a fairly low volume day all around. there was just under twenty overnight labels to do. vacation replacement was in the shop for most of the day. tax forms for payroll were run through the machine in the morning, just under a thousand. during my walks i found 3 dollars 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both about marriage. howard proposes to bernadette. it was followed by the one where amy searches for a wedding dress. sheldon goes to las vegas and is escorted out of a casino by a pit boss and two guards. 

babygirl movie

 went to see a movie in inver grove heights, it was 'babygirl', an early screening that began at 11am. i recognized Nicole Kidman in it. this was about a CEO that has an affair with her intern. Antonio Banderas plays her husband, a director of live theater. i laughed when i saw a sign in her husband's theater saying, 'leave the drama on the stage'. surprised me a little to hear two songs in this movie that were released decades ago. it was 'never tear us apart' by INXS, and 'father figure' by George Michael. guess it fit the story they were trying to tell. after the movie it was time for lunch, so i walked over to the nearby speedway gas station and got a sandwich. i ate it and the peanut butter cookie and some taco-flavored chips in the car, then i drove home. good timing on what song was playing on my car radio when i was en route, it was Al Green's cover of REM's 'everybody hurts'. the first of the two football games of the day had already started, eagles went on to win handily over the commanders. eagles led by eighteen with ten minutes left, i turned it off as i wanted to listen to a john wayne CD i had bought at a resale shop. found out the eagles scored twice more. then the chiefs beat the bills in a close one, so now the super bowl matchup is set. i didn't get started on the dishes until after the second game was over. i also logged on to linkedin after getting an email suggesting i add a contact. didn't add that one but another one, and cut four so now i am down to under fifty. i still believe in relevance on my online activity. during my walks i found 26 cents. 

northstar tavern

 in the evening i did a meetup event, at north star tavern in Bloomington. i was delayed on getting there as i made a wrong turn after getting off the interstate. good thing i wrote down landmarks as i knew i was close when i saw the lunds and byerlys grocery store. i am aware that some enjoyed their time, but i did not. it left a lot to be desired due to who i was sat next to. it was a lady that kept telling me to read some book after hearing i had majored in history. and she wasn't listening to me at all as i said, based on her one-sentence description of it, that i wouldn't enjoy it at all. i figured it was done when i went to the bathroom after paying the check, but she tracked me down and then showed me a text message on her phone showing me the title. i still said 'no', and my attitude is that talk is cheap. i didn't see her offering to buy me a copy of it. and seeing the text told me she likely hadn't even read it herself. there was also some dude who kept going on and on about the evils of bitcoin, and how he didn't like the president, among other things. this was another thing that i could have done without. this was my third event with this group, and i will likely hesitate before signing up for another one of their events. i liked doing bowling, but the other two, not so much. i drove home and watched a DVD movie, another recent purchase, it was 'night at the museum'. loved it, probably hadn't seen it since it was at theaters. this included robin williams as teddy roosevelt, of course. i bought five discs recently and there are two of them that i have yet to watch. i did some things in the morning and afternoon as well. there was the stop at the post office, one order was picked up. then on to the capitol to drop off recycle. then to the copy store to print an event ticket for next month. by then it was time for lunch, i stopped at a speedway gas station and got a chili cheese dog. then it was on to the st. paul winter carnival. good thing i ate before going, as there was just one food stand at rice park, and it sold corn dogs. i already had some of those this week. great seeing the ice sculptures there, some of them were still being worked on. i went inside the nearby landmark center as well, but mainly to use the bathroom. while still downtown i went to candyland and got some popcorn. when i got home i got groceries at aldi. during my walks i found 3 dollars 26 cents. 

kar's trail mix

 sometimes i get snacks from the vending machine at work. recently this has been kar's trail mix fairly often. i liked seeing the story of the company on the back of the package, starting out selling nuts outside tiger stadium in Detroit in 1933. this week i got the cranberry almond delight. it has peanuts, dried cranberries, and almonds. i like this more than the one that has seeds in it. i am still noticing not only a slightly different lineup of snacks offered in the vending machines i have found, but also a difference on price. i go a floor below where i work, taking the stairs inside the breakroom, and get them there where it is a dollar cheaper. sometimes i also get a Kellogg nutri-grain bar, lower calories. the boss was in the shop in the morning and helped with getting the laptop ordered when the pop-up arrived. sounds like i.t. was able to get the ship-to address changed to the downtown office where i am now based. the first of the tax forms arrived, i said those would be done early next week. easier to do in the morning when there are no check files to print. in the evening i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. i liked seeing some metallic balloons with smiling faces on them for various fruits. i bought two boxes of Chex cereal and finally noticed the variation on the lettering between the regular-marked boxes and the ones with the charlie brown characters on them. there still are some with charlie on the box, the corn-flavored kind. this was one of the two i bought, the other was peanut butter. i also got a look at the tax form sent by the credit union. no surprise how the interest rate yield was way higher on the certificate of deposit. for the year, the interest payments on the savings account was well under a dollar. this was something i realized a while back, and decided to start moving as much as i could into a certificate. still pleased how i have already more than doubled the amount in there since i opened it over four years ago. during my walks i found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when penny kicked a man in the groin for sheldon and said 'give him his stuff back'. it was also when bernadette said 'that bitch' about priya. it was followed by the one where we meet denise, who works in the comic book shop. 

inbound, pumpkin ale

 this evening i had the can of inbound, pumpkin ale, with my meal. i recognized this as the brewery i was going to attend a book fair at this month but the line was too long to get in. found this one in the discount cart at the nearby liquor store. it says it is a 'samuin harvest'. couldn't find anything under that word but i did for 'samhain', the Irish or Gaelic celebration of Halloween. it is called an 'autumnal treat'. i also got a can of bud ice so there still are four beers waiting. at work there was a pop-up less than an hour after logging on in the morning about ordering a new laptop. i pressed 'remind me the next day' and notified my boss about it. i was told to say something when it shows up again the next day. i also saw three separate emails asking for a total of twenty-five checks to be overnighted. except one is slated to go to a p.o. box. the companion file wasn't ready by the end of the day, was told due to server issues. i can only send out what i get, i know i have said it before. during my walks i found 76 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when priya told leonard to cut the cord with penny. it was followed by the one where the friends go see dr. wolcott in the woods, while amy gets drunk and passes out early at her bachelorette party. 

delta skymiles anniversary

 i saw an email in my Hotmail account saying it was my anniversary for delta SkyMiles. of course, when i started it was a northwest airlines account. i have had it for 20 years. it is one of three frequent flyer accounts that i have with airlines, the others being American, and southwest. this serves as a good reminder of checking the miles balance on all three soon. i know American has the most by far. i am still adding to all three periodically. when i get sandwiches at jersey mike's those miles go to delta. and most of the online surveys i do go to southwest. i do surveys with American once a month so the two-year period continues to start over as i understand that miles expire after two years of inactivity. there was an old commercial on TV that said, 'you have a frequent flyer account, but don't fly frequently'. that describes me. i see it as hedging my bets, where if i am flying then the miles should go somewhere. i know one reason why the American airlines account has more miles is that i have done free trips with the other two, but not that one, in a while. i do see offers for credit cards from some of these, but i don't need another one. at work the boss was in the shop for part of the day but left for an appointment in the afternoon. i asked about getting my location updated in the employee directory. it was hard to tell, but one thing seemed to say it would be changed effective sunday. guess if i need to do more, then i will be notified. i was told by a branch manager about updating through workday, where my timecard is. i would prefer that over going to the 'not much help desk'. a business line said their address is changing, from kansas city to overland park. i recognized the new one, as it is the same as two other business lines i handle. this means the 'hub strategy' that led to me moving a month ago is happening in other metro areas as expected. during my walks i found 2 dollars 12 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon said his new friends 'were having fun wrong' so he went to see his friends, who were over at raj and priya's place. it was followed by the one where sheldon, as leader of the tenant association, had a food truck move. 

alternate printer

 i liked getting caught up on the overnight labels before deciding to go to lunch, over twenty of them. but then i found out the secure printers were down. this meant re-printing with the alternate printer, the check printer, and swapping out the check stock to do so. not a big deal, i've done it before. but i am aware that not everybody has this option available. a senior leader asked about scanning something in the shop, didn't know at the time if we could scan anything. vacation replacement was in the shop for most of the day, said it was cold on another floor, and handled a check copy request near the end of the day. found out we could scan on the main printer. when i handed off the tax checks to the tax specialist in the morning, i was told that access had been granted on the badge to the building. it was tested and worked fine. this makes it easier for me when i have tax checks as i won't have to leave the floor with them. during my walks i found 56 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and priya were together and raj forbade it. howard said to bernadette that 'i choose you' after his mom kept asking if whoever was at the door was a sex criminal. it was followed by the one where bill gates was a guest star. 

american outlaws movie

 in the morning i watched another DVD that was a recent purchase, it was 'american outlaws'. the storyline may have been about the james-younger gang, but it seemed largely fictionalized. early in the movie we hear that the civil war has just ended. kathy bates plays the mom of frank and jesse james. a decent story, and it included some romance as there was a character known as 'z', the love interest of jesse. and tim dalton, who had played james bond, was mr. pinkerton, head of the detective service hunting down the gang. after the movie was done i watched the inauguration of the president, since it was a bank holiday i had the time to do so. i don't think i had seen these too often before. i wrote down some of the songs that i had heard during this event. many of them were patriotic, one of them i knew was the air force anthem. one of them was a church hymn, 'for the beauty of the earth'. once the chopper left capitol hill that the outgoing president was on, i figured it was time to get some other things done. one of those was going through my comedy sets from the past year and getting them onto blank pages and into sheet protectors in a binder. along with souvenirs, usually candy bar wrappers. these were clipped together by each visit. not all were taped onto pages, but now i am just over two months behind. not sure why i let them pile up for so long. i got six pages in all into binders, three each for the sets and the souvenirs. then i watched 'jeopardy'. in the evening i went to perform at an open mic. i did stories about movies i had watched at home, attending a memorial service, a song i had recently heard, and weekend errands. during my walks i found 60 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard sleeps with mrs. latham, a contributor to the university. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy find a wedding venue. 

clint eastwood, out of the shadows

 i watched a DVD this afternoon, it was 'clint eastwood, out of the shadows'. this documentary was a recent purchase from half price books. this is the first of five discs that i recently bought. morgan freeman served as narrator. not all of eastwood's movies are covered, but the hits were. this doc was released in 2000, so it made sense that the most recent movie covered was 'space cowboys'. i was living in suburban chicago then and recall how a reviewer called it 'grumpy old astronauts'. i did like how a decent amount was mentioned about getting into directing. this was due to working with don siegel, who directed 'coogan's bluff'. i do recall renting 'play misty for me', the first film eastwood directed, many years ago. in the scene index, it listed the 'spaghetti westerns' as the 'leone trilogy' and 'every which way but loose' as 'monkeyshines'. i am thankful i found this doc, but we all know i like documentaries and biopics. i did watch some of the NFL playoff games of the day. due to watching the disc first it meant the first game i 'joined in progress'. eagles beat the rams in the first, and bills beat the ravens in the second. i fell asleep for a little while after the first game ended, and it was halftime when i started watching the second game. it is subzero weather again so i didn't want to be outside for long. during my walk i found 75 cents. 

memorial service, inside a bar

 recently i saw a facebook invite from the fancy comic about a memorial service inside a bar. i had performed there before, but it had been a while, definitely pre-covid. this was in arden hills, and there was mention of a comedy show after it. it was a cold night, but i decided to go anyway. thankful i did, and not just due to the stage time. i also saw a comic that i recall performing with at a saints game many years ago, at that event he was dressed up as 'gumby'. when i arrived i said a man with a guitar, from the side, looked like former WCCO news anchor don shelby, but i found out it wasn't. in the break between the memorial service and comedy show, i ordered the evening meal. i got a bottle of grain belt, along with a reuben sandwich and fries. i largely did my set 'from the hip', usually i write down what i want to do. i spoke of printing checks at the bank, not talking about stand-up at the bank, seeing the movie 'major league', and the song 'pink pony club'. there were two NFL playoff games, watched only part of both. when i saw the time this event started, i knew i had to get on the road right away. the first game ended when i was at the bar. i didn't see much of the second game there, but i did once i had driven home from the bar. the chiefs beat the texans in the first game, and the commanders beat the lions in the second. it didn't look good for the lions when i got home, already trailing by ten at the half. i hear it was the turnovers that doomed the lions. i stayed busy in the morning as well. i went to pick up the toner cartridge, at the bank location i was formerly assigned to. i picked up a bottle of Dunkin donuts coffee from the nearby Walgreen as well. then it was on to dropping it off at my current office. had to call security to get buzzed in, since it is the weekend after all. when i got it up to the check shop, on a small cart, i opened the box and saw there was two cartridges inside. so i can likely afford to skip a month on ordering those. i paid for one hour of parking near the building, but i think i was in and out in about twenty minutes. it was what i preferred as i had other things to do. then it was on to the post office, one order was picked up. and i had a sandwich at jersey mike's. i opted to move it back a week on a movie i'd like to see at theaters and watched a DVD movie at home after getting back from the sandwich shop. it was 'major league', i recall seeing it at theaters decades ago. the movie still works for me. i watched some of the special features as well, including an interview with bob uecker, who played the broadcaster in it. after this was done i got groceries at aldi. during my walks i found 1 dollar 1 cent. 

pink pony club, chappell roan

 i have been listening to music less often on my car radio, due to shorter commutes to work. but i found a good song when i was coming back from a visit to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries. it was 'pink pony club' by chappell roan. with lyrics like 'it's where i belong' i found it to be relatable, in terms of me being a stage performer. i watched the video on YouTube, and it does show her dancing and accepting dollar-bill tips. i also read how it was inspired by visiting a gay bar in west Hollywood, along with a strip club in her hometown of Springfield, Missouri. i liked one site that said it is a 'metaphor for a safe space where you feel free to be exactly who you are'. with mention of leaving behind family and moving out of state, another way i saw it as relatable. another song i liked hearing on this radio station, 89.3 the current, was 'bad luck' by social distortion. i have seen them in concert twice, i have just their self-titled CD but that song is not on it. i was a little later than typical on my grocery run as i first went to a meetup event at a micro-brewery in downtown St. Paul. i did an event there a year ago as well. i spoke with various people for a little over an hour, but it was a small bar, and no doubt was crowded there. at work the branch manager said the toner cartridge box arrived, so i said i would see about picking it up when i have the time. thankfully there was no 'crisis before the holiday', although it looked like there was going to be one. i said what the deadlines were on getting an approved file to me. this was a business line where i overnight all of their checks and had already overnighted eight of them that day. then i was told there was no need for what was originally spoken of. fine with me, as i had plenty of other things to keep me occupied. i read an article in the paper about baseball great bob uecker. who had just passed on thursday. it not only mentioned various appearances on johnny carson as 'mr. baseball' but also the sitcom 'mr. belvedere'. during my walks i found 28 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when raj daydreams about bernadette. it was followed by the one where howard and bernadette's second kid was born. 

skyway walk, then tech

 i went on a skyway walk at the end of my lunch over to the walgreen, where i got an ice cream candy bar and a bottle of starbucks coffee. when i got back i saw a missed call on my phone, and an instant message. found out a tech had arrived and i needed to get to the guard station on the main floor. this was for the other machine, the check printer. a maintenance kit was sent as well, but i pointed out we already had one when swapping out was necessary. but the one the tech brought was the one put in. the warning related to the kit was gone, but the icon is still there in reference to empty trays, not a big deal. we also looked at the level on the toner cartridge, already at half, and was swapped out last week. good thing the rep finally ordered this item, although it sounds like it is going to the former location. i was advised to call the help desk on getting my location updated. i figured it would get updated on its own in the employee directory, and with UPS, but i guess not. in the morning i found the time to do a big check copy request for the colleague that places supply orders for me. there were thirty-three checks to find, once i found the correct date, back in september, most were in one file. all but one, that is. i am a credit union member, and i just got registered for their annual meeting that will be held next month. in the evening i drank the bottle of heineken with my meal and went to the liquor store and got a bottle of summit, so there still are four beers waiting. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends went to a symposium in big sur and kept switching hotel rooms. it was followed by the one where howard was on 'professor proton' with wil wheaton. 

letter from prison?

 i see all kinds of things when working at the bank. today was a weird one though, as it was a letter from a penitentiary. it spoke of a check i had overnighted, and there was some kind of error on the amount. i just print checks and send them out, i don't approve them. when it arrived, vacation replacement brought it to me, i searched for the check and found it in the system. this meant scanning it and letting the business line know about it. same was true with a check that a branch employee from nebraska had sent me. the boss was in the check shop for much of the day and wanted me to help with moving things around. it meant swapping tables so the larger one could be used as a desk instead of for boxes of check stock. some boxes of check stock were moved to another room, as those would serve as the 'reserve boxes'. i was largely caught up with getting checks sent out by the end of the day, this time four full tubs ended up in the mailroom. i was also asked for verbiage when sending an email to the service provider on the inserter machine. when the tech had arrived there was mention of a credit hold, i said there was a grounding wire that was re-attached near the conveyor belt, but it only took five minutes and not two hours. later on, it was said that a case would be opened to cancel the invoice. this led to a delay on my lunching, so i decided to get a sandwich from the nearby convenience store. during my walks i found 26 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon and penny worked on an app for finding shoes. it was followed by the one where raj meets the husband of a patron from the planetarium, the two were only separated and not divorced yet. 

tracings on envelopes

 tech arrived mid-morning to get a look at the inserter machine. it was determined that the issue was the envelopes being used on our largest business line. tracings were done to show what was best, acceptable, and not good. in terms of what would jam the machine, of course. and it meant trying the envelopes from a different month, and the more recent ones worked. the way the tech worded it was the ones from other business lines were fine, just put the fargo return address on those too. my boss said let the supplier know. tech was there for half of the day. vacation replacement helped with getting most of the checks run through. four tubs went to the mailroom at the end of the day, but the fourth had very little in it. just a thousand checks were not run through when we left. so it won't take long to get caught up again. during my walks i found 75 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when amy met zac and said 'hoo', as she was turned on. it was followed by the one where raj, howard, and bert played in a band, and played 'six tons of granite'. the 'night court' episode had mayim bialik, as herself, guest starring. it didn't do much for me. one reason is the overkill on mentioning she is a scientist, once would have been enough. having mayim as herself was likely done so the 'blossom' dance could be performed. 

annoyed, three times

 this was a day that i felt annoyed at work, three times no less. there was finding out i am still not getting the part i need for the check printer apparently, as it needs a spare toner cartridge. but the notes say the other side cares about something else more. then there was the inserter machine acting up. although it was doing so only on the fargo envelopes. but this is something i couldn't ignore as this is our highest volume business line to process. service was called for, but the tech will not be arriving until the morning. then there was dropping off the mail tubs in the mailroom. one colleague there asked me if i was watching the game, figured she meant the vikings playoff game. then she insisted it was going to be on fox, even though i know full well that monday night football is on abc and espn. i finally said 'i don't have the time for this' and left. and i didn't, because i had some more overnight labels to do. in the evening i went to perform. the mic was moved up two hours, but the crowd was light due to the cold weather, and likely the football game as well. i watched part of the game at the bar, vikings lost to the rams. this was a game moved from los angeles to the phoenix area due to the wildfires. i did stories about the bank, but also going to a book shop and to see a movie. during my walks i found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard and penny fake a relationship for her dad. it was followed by the one where amy said 'bestie!' after penny said 'you're an idiot if i am not your maid of honor' then amy hugs penny. 

to die for movie

 in the afternoon i went to see another classic movie at the trylon cinema in minneapolis, it was 'to die for', part of the nicole kidman series. i chose this one because gus van sant directed it, who also directed my favorite movie, 'good will hunting'. along with other things, including a music video for the red hot chili peppers. i do like a good 'mock-umentary' or 'satire' so this one worked for me. and i recognized two young actors in it, casey affleck and joaquin phoenix. it was about a lady that relentlessly pursues stardom as a newswoman in new england. i knew it was loosely based on a true story, and i was paying attention to the credits. found out it was based on a book by joyce maynard, who i had met at a special screening for a movie based on another one of her books. this was through my membership with the loft literary center. i noticed she had a small role in the movie, but i am used to a movie adaptation finding a role for the author. due to being interested in the promos, it is likely that i will make more visits soon. two more movies of interest to me are slated to be shown at this venue next month. i bought a small popcorn and a can of 7-up at this screening and still like getting food and drink at this theater as it is decidedly cheaper than at a first-run theater. i did watch some of the pro football games of the day, but only parts of the three games. buffalo, philadelphia, and washington won. i fell asleep for a little while in the evening, and watched some of the third game when i woke up. but i also needed to get the dishes done. during my walks i found 25 cents.