more festivals found

 we all know how i like to attend festivals. i did some more online searching and found two more to attend this summer. one is at a church, and another is near downtown St. Paul. both are on weekends where i had very little or nothing was booked just yet so it works well in my schedule. 

to be or not to be movie

 not much on the docket for the day. in the evening i went to see a movie at the Trylon, 'to be or not to be', a comedy from the World War Two era. hadn't seen too much before starring jack benny. the crowd loved it, plenty of laughing after deadpan lines. 

mideast fest, st. george

 i made it to a middle eastern festival at a church in West St. Paul, called St. George. i spoke to some people there how i had found it by accident. i was confirming information for another festival i have attended. i googled 'St. George festival, St. Paul' and found it. two churches, same name, their festivals are held a week apart. one drawing card there appears to be the camel rides. i got some pictures of the two camels, probably hadn't seen that many before. i made it a little after midday so i was ready to have lunch by then. i got a chicken kebab, although it looked more like a wrap sandwich, and some fries, along with beer. three beer choices, and i picked the most local one, Leinenkugel. i bought some dessert items as well from the bake sale inside the church. there were some small green French cookies, macarons if i am not mistaken, ate those right away. the other two items were taken home, some baklava and a small loaf of cranberry nut bread. i did a tour of the sanctuary, and i learned something. there were plenty of artworks of icons, the saints especially. one of these was of the 'last supper', except it was called 'mystical'. i bought two small souvenirs as well, there was a button saying, 'only positive vibes' and a greeting card depicting a camel with bright colors such as blue, green and purple. festivals are known for food, drink, and music. after the sanctuary tour i went to the tent and saw some dancers performing. i said 'worth it!' about being there. i got plenty done in the morning before the festival. i went to make a deposit at the credit union, and i bought two pairs of pants at the JC Penney, both in Roseville. then i had a superman blizzard treat at the dairy queen, in the same mall where i got the pants. i had a sandwich at the Jersey Mike's in the evening, except i was annoyed because the sandwich maker was making comments about my shirt. i watched some baseball on fox when i got home. the cubs were home against the red sox, and the cubs won, 6-0, aided mostly by solo home runs. 

small toner cartridges

 mailroom manager, who i don't see much of, delivered a box in the afternoon at work. i wasn't expecting anything, opened it and found out it was small toner cartridges. i can't use those for the check printer. now it means figuring out how to return it to the sender. in the evening i went to get groceries at hy-vee in eagan, first time in two weeks as had to skip last week's visit. ten items were bought, it has been fewer than this before but it is usually more than this. 

chicago mix, candyland

 coworker got me chicago mix from candyland, picked it up before lunchtime. 

next bridge over

 a bridge was closed for construction, had to use the next one over to get to fringe volunteer training after work. 

luncheon at d-brian's

 there was a team huddle in the morning, then i went back to work on my normal duties for a little over an hour. then there was the luncheon, for some birthdays this month. we went to d-brian's, i had a turkey blt sandwich. it left be behind on work as it was a high-volume day for the fargo checks. i stayed a little late to see that all were printed, over four thousand did not go out and will be run through the machine the next morning. 

filtering out by zip code

 as usual, i have to tell someone it was a day off for me. in this case i don't know why i was copied on an email about checks that were not 'returned to business line'. i filter out the checks that have no zip code, for the business line in kansas city. went to perform in the evening and had some stories about visiting st. louis to share. 

lunch bowl, evening sandwich

 began the day at my hotel in Saint Ann, Missouri, near the St. Louis airport. as usual there is not much on the docket on the final day out of town. get breakfast, check out of the hotel, get to the airport. returned the rental car after breakfast and before checking out. arrived at the airport mid-morning, and departure was on time. i wrote a postcard -to myself- and sent it while at the airport, not sure how long it will take to arrive. stayed a little while at MSP after we touched down there, ate at panda garden, chose a bowl meal. it was past midday by then, so it made sense that i wanted to eat before leaving the airport. also got some postcards, saw the snoopy statue, and got a Charlie Brown book. there was a display about the artist community found in northeast Minneapolis as well. i got a picture of the bison artwork. didn't do all that much after getting home. there was unpacking my bag, then i laid down and slept for a while. i got groceries at Aldi, then got a sandwich from a speedway gas station in the evening. as usual, it didn't take long to unpack my bag. it was mostly full of dirty clothes and cheap souvenirs. i did find some loose change during the trip, i checked the bag and it was 30 cents. as expected, i made it back with more than what i took with me to the gateway city. this was evident with how the gym bag wasn't the only thing i had when i boarded the plane. not all of it fit in that one bag. there was the metal tumbler, and the plush Charlie Brown. those two items were put in an overhead compartment, in the same plastic bag, and the gym bag was put under the seat in front of me. 

rawlings sporting goods store

 went to another baseball game, cardinals lost to the braves, 7-6. in the evening i went to the Rawlings sporting goods store, at a mall in the suburbs. this was in Maryland Heights, i had seen a show the comedy club in that complex before. i bought a ball at the Rawlings place. plenty of baseball artifacts on display there. also sang at a nearby karaoke bar. i did two songs, 'bullet with butterfly wings' by smashing pumpkins, and 'bird set free' by Sia. this appeared to be a jazz club, according to what i was seeing at the entrance there on the walls. i made it earlier to the convenience store this time and found a can of beer to have when i am writing. i was a bud light platinum. i picked up the rental car in the morning from enterprise, a one-day rental. this makes it easier to get around to more of places that interest me. although in recent years, i went without one as i wasn't using it enough and wanted to save some money. i found a place where the movie 'up in the air' was filmed, an office building in the suburbs. i used the hotel's computer in the lobby to look up driving directions after i had the continental breakfast, including the 'make your own waffle' that i enjoy. most of my pictures of the office building were outside. i did go inside, saw a piano, photographed it and i left. also liked seeing a constable statue nearby, and a fountain. next stop was a bank facility i send checks to, in another town. since the game was in the afternoon, this was all i could do in the morning as i wanted to park the car back at the hotel and get to the stadium. i wanted the giveaway item, a big metal tumbler, and got it. this was sponsored by Coca-Cola and QT stores. it was nice having the car radio on, heard a catchy song on a countdown, it was called 'anxiety', it was sampling 'somebody that i used to know'. although the theme song i chose for this trip was 'i am not okay' by jelly roll, as i was hearing it often enough leading up to this weekend. also heard Alessia Cara's 'scars to your beautiful', a theme song from a Chicago trip, and Chappell Roan's 'good luck babe'. in the evening the one i heard was Rihanna's 'umbrella'. before the game i got a plush Charlie Brown from the stadium's souvenir shop. it wasn't the only cardinal item i bought throughout the day though, as i stopped at a Schnucks grocery store and bought a beer cozy. i ate at the stadium, getting some pepperoni pizza and a bottle of coke. i got some ice cream as well, chocolate and vanilla, except they called it a 'swirl' instead of a 'twist'. i liked seeing a photography display at the airport, even chatted a while with a man who was from Columbia, he was waiting for a flight that had been delayed. i got the evening meal at a McDonald's near the Rawlings place after checking the directory. i had to pause while writing back at the hotel at the end of the night, as i got a text from a friend, Yemen native, and i was getting emotional about what performing has given me. i was asked about what i had sang at the karaoke bar. 

freddy's steak burgers

 flew to St. Louis, picked up at airport by a friend of mine. first time eating at a Freddy's steak burgers place. i am not quite sure what town it was in although i know it was just a few miles from the airport. i later noticed there was a location at the baseball stadium as well. i ordered tater tots with the bacon double burger, and the drink i chose was a lemon custard shake. i was dropped off at my hotel after we were done. i hadn't spoken at length with this friend in a while, it was the first in-person visit in over a decade. probably was the first time ever one on one, as usually i see the entire family, as i happen to be a classmate of his wife.  but i knew his wife was out of town, attending a golf tournament that their youngest son was participating in. must be a real good golfer, already doing out of state tournaments at age twelve. i didn't do much after checking in at the hotel, mostly resting. i wanted to get back to the airport fairly soon to get on the light rail downtown to the baseball game. cardinals lost to the braves, 6-5. the cardinals never led in this one, falling behind 3-0 before even their first at-bat. this makes it harder to win. after the game i did go to the main souvenir shop and bought one item on my list, it was a pair of socks as i knew the pair of cardinal socks i already had was nearing the end of its life span. another item, a long sleeve t-shirt, was out of my price range. i didn't eat much at the stadium due to the late lunch. i liked how i had plenty of time to get some errands run before having to board the plane. i made it to great clips shortly after they had opened for the day and got a haircut. i still had a wait a little but i could afford to. my flight on southwest wasn't scheduled to leave until just after midday. i also went to the nearby FedEx office and printed a St. Paul Saints baseball ticket i had just ordered. during my walks i found 50 cents. i wrote about the day back at the hotel, but no beer this time, it was tap water instead. i went to the nearby convenience store, on the run, but arrived around midnight which is during their shift change. i didn't feel like waiting it out. my flight was delayed 30 minutes, found out shortly after arriving at the airport. i snacked a little before my flight left. i wasn't in the terminal for long, went to the bathroom and when i got out i checked my phone, had just taken it off airplane mode. found out my friend was already there, so i said what i was wearing, and i stood out when i got to an exit. a beige cardinal hat and a leater jacket, especially the jacket as it was warm there. 

big ten night

 it was big ten night at the St. Paul Saints baseball game, i had a reserved seat this time, first base side. saints beat the Iowa cubs, 2-1. there was a group picture done near the top of the section in the concourse. this was done shortly after the seventh inning stretch. just a few innings before then, i saw the event coordinator from the alumni chapter, and she spoke of it. also mention of how she'd like to quit as leader of the alumni chapter but i said i am not a leader. i know i am a lot of things, but not that. i even spoke of a time when i was part of the writer's union where i was given a bag of cash as the chapter treasurer wanted to quit and i turned down the opportunity, giving the bag to another officer in the union. at work, there was over fifty overnight labels to do. many of them were for various IRS offices, eleven in all. easily seen when i look at the list for the day, after the labels are created, and put them in 'alpha' order. i pointed out how a recently retired colleague was still invited to a team huddle next week, i got an 'lol' from vacation replacement when i did. when i made a stop at the Walgreen to get a bottle of tea and cookies in the morning, i also saw some Charlie Brown items and bought one. i know, shocking! these were die-cast model cars, something like five to choose from. i chose the yellow one with various images of snoopy on it, one of them hitting a baseball. during my walks i found 2 dollars 15 cents. 

foreign ach statements

the boss asked me about foreign ach statements that arrive in the afternoon, i am only printing the ones in the morning. the afternoon ones are low volume, was told it was fine to skip over those, something about not wanting to send out anything with the bank's logo on those files. at first i just sent the attachments, found out this was not good enough. i ended up forwarding each email from the shared box. i picked up two fluid bottles for the inserter machine after i heard they were in the mailroom. it had the boss's name on it as that is who had ordered it for me. i did not do much in the evening after getting off work. i sent a text message to a college roommate, and to a meetup friend from the brewery group. during my walks i found 25 cents. 'Big bang theory' reruns were when Leonard returned from the North Sea early and wanted to spend some time with penny but was found out by Sheldon. it was followed by the one where Sheldon used a 'quadruple negative' when he crashed her date with Stuart in a movie theater. it led to Sheldon and Amy taking their relationship to the next level. 

credit union night

 it was credit union night at the St. Paul Saints baseball game against the Iowa cubs. i got the giveaway item, a plastic cup with the credit union's logo on it. also nice seeing a bagpipe band performing there. saints won, 11-5. i understood the bagpipe band was due to a cross-promotion of the police and fire department foundations. this led to three first balls being thrown out, one of them by the credit union CEO. the mascot truck, the 1952 ford known as 'archie' was what gave him a ride to home plate. i did not know in advance what the giveaway item would be, just that there would be one. i bought one item at the souvenir shop, it was a glow in the dark ball. i am careful about what i buy, wanting to avoid getting what i already have. i did the 'taco Tuesday' special, except the two tacos were small. i later got a cup of fries. i did not spend any time at home after work, wanting to increase the odds of getting the giveaway. although i noticed there were plenty of cups on the table near the main gate well after i got one. showing up early to see the bagpipe band was worth it. naturally this is a different one than the one i see at canadian days in little canada. the drink was a jarritos soda, i recall getting those at a venue i once performed at. i was tired by the end of the game, but thankful i lasted until the final out. at work, the boss said to call in a ticket for the air conditioning system in the shop. an email was forwarded to customer service. it was about a check that i had overnighted. nothing unusual there, except there were plenty of executives copied on it, including both CEO's, the current and former one. two checks for payroll department, both canadian, were finally picked up. during my walks i found 25 cents. 

more overnights?

 a business line asked us to do even more overnighted checks for them, deferred to the boss, who turned it down, not capable of covering it. when asked, i said it would more than double the checks we already overnight for them. i knew we were only capable of covering it if all of them were returned to business line, as we do with the file going to Oshkosh. the request was to do thirty to sixty additional per day. it is rare that i even do that many per day across all business lines. vacation replacement said his brother quit; this is who was giving a ride downtown to work. there is now a need to order a bus pass and i was asked what i paid for mine. i know it is not much, and it is a payroll deduction that is done once a month. during my walks i found 64 cents. 'Big bang theory' reruns were when the friends help with making penny blossoms. it was followed by the one where sheldon said 'she sounds weepy' about amy. it was when she found out by accident about not being invited for dress shopping. later on she calls from a liquor store parking lot, and is taken home by sheldon and leonard. this is one of my favorite episodes, because her observations were spot on. and i know what it is like to be snubbed this way. 

footloose, tremors mashup

 in the afternoon i went to a show at Bryant Lake Bowl in uptown Minneapolis. it was a mashup of two movies starring Kevin Bacon, 'footloose' and 'tremors'. i have seen the former but not the latter, although i found the trailer of the latter on YouTube so i wasn't entirely lost about that part of the mashup. it was more about 'footloose' in the end. it was campy, but not that great, reminds me of some of the fringe shows that i have seen over the years. then there was the server, who kept checking my beer can and sent me the check too soon. i am used to 'dropping checks' near the end of the show, but even a performer admitted aroud  that time how it was jsut two thirds of the way through. when asked why i hadn't paid yet, i said 'show not over yet'. it led to me giving a lower tip. i got a can of Hamm's beer. before the show i went to the nearby McDonald's for some ice cream. in the morning i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from goodwill, 'o brother where art thou'. as i recall, i got the movie soundtrack from a second-hand store as well. it was the last of the four goodwill purchases to watch. i knew the premise of the story, 'homer's odyssey' in the depression-era south. i recognized George Clooney and John Goodman in this movie. i also listened to both of the jelly roll CDs that i own, it was the first time hearing the most recent, 'beautifully broken'. i wasn't home for long after getting back from the show. i had the evening meal a little early, then went to perform at an open mic. i did stories about a Facebook singles group, two meetup events, the bank, and the show i had just attended. later on, i did the dishes, after getting back from performing. during my walks i found 25 cents. 

tango art exhibit

 the first half of the day was active with chores and errand running. this included seeing the tango art exhibit at the French alliance in Minneapolis. since it was a holiday weekend i lucked out that the building was still open. it looked like that the coffee seller was closed for the day, but there was a conversation group still happening. i like how i am usually the only one in the art gallery and can get in and out without having to say a word to anyone. there were eighteen works of art on display, and some had been sold already. but all of them were out of my price range, most were going for four hundred dollars each. there was two of the subway trains that i liked, as well as one of a lady with a camera. and some that were silhouettes of dancers. i knew it was the best day to attend as, like most of the exhibits there, it is for just one month. first stop of the day was the post office, one order picked up. then to the capitol complex, where i dropped off some recycling. on to the credit union, where i made a deposit into my savings account. the coin counter said it was over eight dollars, and i have it counted quarterly. then i saw the art, and after the art it was midday so i went to have a sandwich at Jersey Mike's. i was asked about what i did on the fourth. when i got home there wasn't much else to do for the day. i got groceries at the Aldi, then shortly after that i had the evening meal, a frozen pizza. there was a baseball game on fox, Detroit beat Cleveland 1-0, only run was on a home run. during my walks i found 36 cents. 

hairball concert, saints stadium

 in the evening i went to a concert at the Saints baseball stadium. it was hairball, a cover band that plays 80's songs. i recognized a decent number of the songs played and had seen some of the original artists in concert before. there was guns-n-roses, in Iowa City, and Van Halen, in Winnipeg. the band led off the show with two by GNR, 'welcome to the jungle', and 'paradise city'. there was even a prince tune, which works in Minnesota, as 'let's go crazy' was played. i noticed the pattern, for lack of a better term, as usually it was a two-song block. i also liked hearing 'under pressure', when doing the block of queen songs. i ate before getting there, stopping at a speedway gas station for a sandwich and apple juice. i bought a can of tea and lemonade at the stadium. for souvenirs i got a sticker, and a patch, i could justify those when it didn't cost much. when i was leaving the venue i said i would be back for a game next week. this was an active day, and i preferred it that way. there was a fourth of July picnic at midday, in south Minneapolis. i brought patriotic twinkies. it was a box of eight and i ended up eating half of them, two at the picnic and two in the evening. two were left behind, and i guess someone ate two there. i saw an ice cream truck in the same park and got a treat while there. i counted out my quarters first and got an orange dream bar for two dollars. i paid for parking for two hours and when i went home i watched a DVD movie, a recent purchase from goodwill. it was 'last man standing', a gangster movie, bruce willis as a hired gun. before leaving for the picnic i got a look on the fringe site to get a good idea of what shows to attend this year. i found five that are of interest to me, including some that have performers i have seen before. during my walks i found 65 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when the friends did a new years eve costume party at the comic book store and zach was superman. 

leaning beer can

 i drank the can of Michelob tonight with the evening meal so now there are four beers waiting. i noticed this one was leaning a little so i didn't want it to tip over, and it was put next to books on the table when i was eating and drinking to prop it up better. of course, this meant it was dented near the bottom of the can. it is a reminder of how i am not that picky about what i buy when getting single cans or bottles from the nearby liquor store in their discount cart. a discount for a dented can, fine with me. the weekly visit for groceries at Hy-Vee in Eagan was moved up one day as i am already booked for the next day. it was a small order, just six items bought. i didn't want to take two plastic bags to the car so i put it all in one bag. at work i went to Walgreen in the morning and got some vitamin water and some cookies. of course this was done after the morning files were printed, but those didn't take long. i liked getting the carryover done first, over a thousand checks run through the machine, and there was no backlog at the end of the day. i stayed ahead on the overnight labels even though it was a little over thirty. it meant i could leave close to my normal leave time and see all of a 'young Sheldon' rerun. it was the final episode, from a little over a year ago. also notable about the day was getting registered for two events. i looked at this month's events at work and one of them required registration and it only took a few minutes to complete. the other was done in the evening, and it was volunteer training for the fringe festival. now it means getting a look at the list of shows to see as well. in recent years i have attended just five, as the saying goes, less is more. it requires me to be pickier about the shows i see and i am more likely to leave the venue pleased with my choice. during my walks i found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we meet 'shel-bot', as Sheldon is using a virtual presence device. it was followed by the one where Howard kicks a girl out of bed as Bernadette doesn't want him to go to space and tells his mom about it. 

two re-calibrations

 i was getting an error often enough from the inserter machine in the same place, in the wetter section, that i decided to re-calibrate the sensors. hadn't done this in a while. except i got another error that i couldn't clear in a different part of the machine and had to call remote service. found out it was due to re-calibrating while two checks were in that other part of the machine. a second re-calibration was good enough, but the delay left me behind on my work. i decided to get a sandwich and a bottle of juice from the convenience store on the main floor as it saved a little time. there was the mortgage file to overnight, over twenty checks, so i still had to stay late to get it caught up. i saw the team lead in the afternoon, who was in the shop to drop off returned checks, and i was wished a good fourth. vacation replacement dropped off some checks in the morning as well. the boss was not in, an early email said it was gout so that meant working from home. i heard from Oshkosh as i was told no checks had arrived this week. i said i had to check tracking numbers. for the first one it said on the way, mechanical issue with UPS. the second said it was not picked up yet. sometimes the driver picks up a little early from the box onsite. i saw to it that the third envelope of checks was in the box a little earlier to increase the odds that it would get picked up same day. in the evening i went through my bank statement after letting it sit around for days. most of the receipts were there, and all of what i saw i checked off and made sense to me. although i still wanted to confirm a few things such as the amazon order so i logged on to my amazon account for that. during my walks i found 4 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when sheldon gets a napkin for christmas from penny. it was followed by the one where we meet deaf emily, who dates raj. 

tom reid's pub

 in the evening i went to a meetup event, it was scheduled two days prior, at Tom Reid's in downtown St. Paul near the hockey arena. event coordinator wanted to go to a place to celebrate Canada day. i parked in a lot near the place and saw a sign about getting it refunded if i spend at least ten dollars at the pub. i got a cup of Molson beer, and a cup of chili. i was there for a little over an hour and got a good look around as it was my first visit there. naturally, most of what was on the wall were hockey artifacts. but i did see a few related to baseball, both cereal boxes. one was about the twins winning the world series, a Wheaties box. the other was a Safeway box, Mark McGwire and Tony LaRussa was on it. i didn't get many pictures there, as i knew my battery was low. one was of the Canadian flag in the patio area. i should go back soon and get one of the Safeway box. i learned something from looking at the artifacts, i know, shocking. i found out tom reid was a pro hockey player, who had played for the north stars and blackhawks. i had seen bars and restaurants named after sports stars before, so not too surprised to find this out. i knew i had been there long enough when a dude in the patio area was being condescending, i even said i was annoyed. at work it was a high volume day on check printing. there was a backlog, a little over a thousand fargo checks did not go out. the checks to be overnighted was a fairly low volume, though. during my walks i found 56 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we hear 'be my yoko ono' as we meet ramona, who reveres sheldon but also controls him. it was followed by the one where leonard attends a wedding with amy.