tour guide for senior leader

 at work a senior leader finally showed up to get a look at the check shop. it was the first time since we had moved it downtown nearly a year ago. i didn't mind being a tour guide at all. there was some mention of being on the same floor because of having to pick up something from the mailroom. i said i didn't have too many complaints about my work at this point, the main one would be how hard it can be to get toner cartridges for the check printers when i need one. i was advised to email this senior leader about it, so i will see if anything can be done. it was nice getting caught up on running checks through the machine, as i am usually able to do by the end of the week. good thing i went to the Walgreen fairly early in the morning for a snack as a courier did show up a little later with the big envelope order. in the evening i went to the Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries, and i was able to get another big box of trash bags. at Walgreen these are locked up, but not at Hy-Vee. i prefer not having to wait for someone to unlock a case. i got a picture of the small pumpkins decorated for Halloween. no plans to buy any of them but the drawings on them with markers were good. 

trumpet player sighting

 when i was taking the first of two buses home from work i boarded and decided to sit near the door next to someone who looked familiar. it was a trumpet player i recall from some open mic shows i had performed at pre-covid. the dude called me a celebrity when i was getting off near the hockey arena, i had to laugh about that as i don't see myself as one. at work the boss was in the shop, it was unexpected as it is usually just once a week. some mention of too noisy on his floor due to construction workers. it led to me re-opening the case on the newer printer, although it led to an annoyance on my part. there was no warning that the printer would be re-booted remotely, and it was in the middle of printing one of the Fargo files. it was a total of nearly two thousand checks in the file and i had to re-print most of them. when it was re-booted remotely earlier in the week, i didn't care as much as no files were printing at the time. the boss wanted the case re-opened due to overflow pages, and we don't get that many of those. i drank a can of miller with the evening meal and now there are four beers waiting. when i was taking a cart back to a nearby store i noticed there was something still in it, an unopened pack of trident gum, it was bubble gum flavor. i claimed it. on Facebook there was plenty of postings about the 75th anniversary of the first Charlie Brown comic strip, and no surprise how i hit 'like' on most of those that i saw. i even spoke of getting a shirt and jersey this season at baseball games that had this theme. 

another a.i. meeting

 we had another A.I. meeting, but this time it was in person and on another floor. the boss didn't like that i was a few minutes late but i had to take two elevators to get there, and there is always something to do in the shop. i was still trying to get the Fargo checks from the previous day run through. still not convinced how it will help me do my job, when most of the time when i communicate with others it is to send tracking numbers. or to say i can print the file when it is approved. when i made it back to the shop the tax specialist was waiting to pick up a check. in the morning i made another trip for coffee, this time it was to the caribou. there was an email about various promotions for the week, and i liked knowing it was a double point day. the baseball playoffs have started, the wild card round. still a question of when i will see a game on TV as the early round games are often only on cable. the news did speak of police officers using A.I. but it is still a reminder of needing to be careful with it. i know this from seeing an 'overview' when i google things as not all of it is accurate or sometimes things are left out. 

lutheran worship hymnal

 when i got off the bus in the evening i saw a book near the bus stop. at first i wondered if it was a bible, but i took a closer look and it was a hymnal. it said 'Lutheran worship' on the spine, and looking inside it appears some pages were partially burned. how it got there, i don't know. i moved it to a nearby little free library. i just hate seeing things go to waste. i made it to work a little early as i didn't have to wait long between getting off the first bus and getting on the second. i decided to go to the convenience store in the building where i work and got a bottle of Dunkin donuts coffee, as well as a Smucker's un-crustable. it was a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. and i bought a postcard along with another Jeff Foxworthy redneck greeting card, this one had a pretty good pun on it. just after midday the tech arrived, after i put on the ticket to call me on my cell phone as i hear it better than the laptop connected phone. on the first attempt it looks like they called the laptop and left no voicemail. i reported how the printer rebooted something like five times in the morning. we did send more check files to it and near as i can tell the remote updates, which is what those reboots were, helped. although no one told us in advance that those would be done, so i sent plenty of files to the other printer, as nothing would print on it until it is done rebooting. some of it what was discovered, as expected, was trial and error, what works and what doesn't. for one thing, i guess we still have to send overflow pages, of there are any, to the same printer as the checks. didn't know if were getting that capability again but it looks like we won't. the tech did say some things we are dealing with are internal ones with the bank, specifically what the server will allow. when the boss left on the afternoon, there was mention of a refrigerator being delivered at his home. 

printer skipped checks

 i was asked by my boss about the check printer that arrived late last week, i said the first file i tried printing on it had skipped checks. there were supposed to be over seventy checks, but it didn't print twelve of them. on another file, it also hesitated and printed all of them, but out of order and spit out a blank page before each check. i was told to call in a ticket, except i don't like using that app that much. once i was caught up with other things, especially running checks through the inserter machine, i made the call. i made sure to move up my lunch, not knowing how long it would take. it said it would take three minutes to be connected with an agent but i waited for an hour, but at least i did get a ticket created. while waiting i stayed active and created most of the overnight labels i needed to do. in the evening i went to perform, another small lineup though. at the outset i was one of four performers, eventually it became seven. one of those who decided to perform later on was the lady i hug and is known for having the Kermit doll. i did stories about the bank, rerouting to work, a toy from the grocery store, the play, the festival, and the photo event. 

fujifilm event

 i was double booked for the day, but the second event will stand out. first was the Czech and Slovak festival close to downtown St. Paul. i got a free can of grape slice, hadn't seen this brand of soft drink in a while. i also got what looked like bratwurst as well as a muffin. and i signed up for a dinner that will be held at the same venue a month from now. i really enjoyed the Fujifilm event, held at the walker art museum in Minneapolis. i had put the email invite aside but didn't delete it on Thursday, then registered a day later. i said i don't get invited to invites like this too often. it was due to being on their mailing list after buying a fuji camera from a best buy more than four years ago. when i tried to do a 'check and clean' i was told my camera was not eligible as it is an obsolete model, no longer sold. i did take plenty of pictures while there on this camera and tried some of those on display as well. and there were the souvenirs. one was a polaroid-type photo, two separate images. one of me, the other of the nearby skyline. a metal cup i drank out of, a 'dirty soda bar', i chose a drink with a cherry in it, a non-alcoholic mixed drink. and the purple ticket i was given upon arrival was good for swag, i chose a keychain that was a roll of film and decided it will become another Christmas tree ornament. i did watch some of the pro football game on TV when i got home, chiefs won big over the ravens. the Sunday night game ended in a tie, packers pla6ing the cowboys, i was watching it and fell asleep and it had just ended when i woke up. then i did the dishes. 

shaving legs, eating peas

 no, not me. i went to a play in the evening in Minneapolis, called 'please!' and the actress in it was seen shaving her legs and eating peas. a weird story, but compelling on some level. i think it was due to the call with a friend, who was at a club and called her to encourage her to come to the club. and the response was 'i can control this environment when i am at home'. i can relate, especially when i was young. the diorama of the Ferris wheel on a table was good, the most realistic of what was on the table. the opening act was a story about a man who wanted a reason to live, and the wish was granted, a love interest but she was dying. then he goes back to who granted the wish and asked why. it was all done in about an hour, i didn't do much after getting home from the show. i did plenty of chores and errand running before it. there was going to the post office, four orders were picked up. i printed some tickets at the copy store, one was for an event that will be this weekend. and i got a sandwich at Jersey Mike's. i got another super sandwich, cold cuts, but i have been asked before about the grilled sandwiches. i got a closer look at the menu and said there was just one that didn't have onions or hot sauce. i also went to the nearby target and bought four items. two were boxes of cereal, now i have all three monster cereals as i got franken berry. the other was pumpkin spice frosted flakes. i also got two Charlie Brown items, one was another set of four patches, the other was some Halloween candy. i got groceries at Aldi before i went to the play. 

second printer arrived

 it was a long time coming, but we have a second check printer again. i was on the email threads where earlier in the week the seller claimed that it was delivered to another floor, but no one had signed for it. this made no sense when this is expensive equipment and i have to sign for many things that arrive, including returned overnight packages. i found out that the dude who had called me in the morning was only doing the installation and not the delivery. the caller spoke of being at the bank's branch across the river in Hudson, Wisconsin, working on equipment there. it was all dependent on the unit being delivered, and it was in the afternoon. i was called in advance on my cellphone and i am thankful i told them to call me there as i can hear it better than the laptop-connected phone. i moved up going to lunch as i wanted to be ready to help when the courier arrived. it was a rare time riding in the freight elevator, and there was a wait as i saw some construction workers with hard hats on when it finally arrived on my floor. the tech doing the installation called about twelve minutes after the unit arrived. in an earlier call we spoke about names in pop culture, in his case it was the 'bullfrog song'. we did get the printer set up, but there was some waiting on his end to get the configuration done. by then there were no live checks to print as i wanted to get them all out the door same day and i needed to get the regular mail tubs to the mailroom. i decided to choose a small file that was already printed as the test print, just under twenty checks. it printed just fine for me, although it was hard to find the printer on the network at first. then we found out it was due to the name being a generic one, 'laser-jet'. i trust that it will be changed to being nearly the same name as the one we already had except for the last digit. in the evening i went to get groceries at the Hy-Vee in Eagan. it was a small order, seven items, and one of them was a Homer Simpson figurine. 

pilot cosplay

 the boss suggested that we sign up for a dial-in class for development week, it was the one about copilot, the A.I. tool. i noticed that the moderators were trying too hard though, as i saw them dressed up like airplane pilots while doing the demo. much like other dial-ins, i was still getting work done during that time. and it was very necessary to do so when i still get visitors to the shop, in this case it was the mailroom dropping off things such as the mail tubs. there was also the box of Canadian check stock that was ordered over a month ago. i said that is likely what it was, although i did speak of a disgraced academic who was name-checked in a favorite movie of mine, 'good will hunting'. i also heard from vacation replacement, as an email was printed in the shop by mistake. i did say i heard the whirring and wondered what it was about. i know this has happened before, not a big deal. i don't know what it is about this day of the week, but by then i am ready for a beer when i have the evening meal. was it due to the shoes i recently bought that are hurting my feet? this time, quite likely. i did drink a can of Coors with the evening meal, so now there are three beers waiting. 

retirement cake

 no, not for me. there were two events around midday where i was willing to leave the shop. the first was puppy day, my second time at that event, in the other tower of the building. it was nice to see people who recognized me and we spoke some about performing, but i can't think of the young lady's name at the table. she did speak of going to De LaSalle, though. it was after i said i was a big Charlie Brown fan and had found many of those statues, and i was told there is one at that school. now it means finding out how to get there and get a picture of it. i had found over a hundred of those but i had run out of ideas a while back. i did hold one of the dogs while there, much like before. then it was on to the floor where i had some of the cake for a retirement party, and i had some Coca-Cola as well as all of the drinks were in two-liter bottles. i like knowing that there are bank employees who leave due to retirement, it sure beats all of the layoffs i had witnessed at previous jobs. a colleague in I.T. asked about my commute, knowing i take the blue line. something about how it took him over an hour to get to work. when i spoke of taking two buses, and one of them was an express bus between the downtowns, the dude said that sounded like a good idea, having spoken of living in Woodbury before. 

reroute, day one

 this was the first day of having to reroute to get to work as the blue line is unavailable. i tried a route suggested in a brochure but it essentially led to some doubling back, so i took a different route home. the morning bus i think was the first time i took one of those lines named after a letter. i am not too interested in taking the buses replacing the blue line when i know it takes longer to turn left into the stations. thankful that it is just two weeks of having to line up alternate plans as it no doubt takes longer to take two buses than it does to take one train. at work, the toner cartridge arrived, after in the morning i was telling my boss about how much justifying i have to do each time i order one. there was a dial-in meeting, theme was a career panel as it is development week at the bank. i listened to it some but still got some work done during that time as i wanted to get overnight labels created. heard my boss say something how 'that call wasn't too important' or something like that. in the evening it was nice to get to a meetup event at a micro-brewery, although this wasn't the typical venue for me as i had been there before for performing. no surprise, when i tried the door to the showroom it was locked. i enjoyed chatting with a dude about music, he mentioned of going to Chicago for concerts, one of them was the cure. i did say i attended plenty of concerts when i was a suburbanite. 

you all will see

 i went to perform in the evening and another performer spoke of having CDs in the back on top of the piano. the disc says, 'you all will see', as i recall this was the performer's stage name. i picked up a business card as well. i did stories about seeing a movie, having lunch after it, the bank, junk mail, and a visit to the outlet mall. it was a short lineup, i am getting used to this by now. i don't mind too much as i just want stage time, and it means getting out a little earlier. at work i was called by Hewlett Packard on my laptop about the toner cartridge order, i said i still needed it. hard to understand why i have to jump through so many hoops to get something so important to my work. around midday i went to the main floor as a check for the foundation was picked up. i asked to see a badge as it was somebody that was unfamiliar to me. i said i haven't had to order their envelopes in a while since their check volume is low. there were plenty of checks left over at the end of the day, from a special project as well as the Fargo file. i will run those through the next morning, about five thousand in all. i stayed late to see that the overnight volume was caught up, it was just over fifty labels created. i was there late enough that i heard the janitorial crew using a vacuum cleaner in the hall, and i am usually not there that late. 

hamilton movie

 mid-morning, i went to Eagan to see the play 'Hamilton'. this was likely the first time i had seen a movie with an actual intermission. there was an hourglass on the screen counting down from ten minutes, and i used the time well. i had a bathroom break, then got some popcorn, and i had more than two minutes to spare. as i recall it said the filmed version of this play was with the original cast from ten years ago. there was an intro that spoke of the famous people who showed up to watch it. i had seen this play seven years ago in Des Moines, Iowa, but didn't recall too much from it. i think this was due to the dialogue mostly being rapping, so it moved fast. i know i was paying much closer attention this time, and i liked the storyline being a biography about a historical figure. when it was done it was lunchtime, and i drove to the Ikea near Mall of America and had the Swedish meatball meal. i brought my 'orange card' with me and it got me a discount as it is during the 40th anniversary sale. i got some rainbow cake as well. when i got home i watched a decent amount of two football games, bears beat the cowboys, and the chiefs beat the giants. the latter was the Sunday night game. 

book of quotes by pink

 i went to target and bought five items there. two were boxes of cereal, promoting the shows known as 'Wednesday', and 'wicked'. and i got some toilet bowl cleaner, as well as a Halloween-themed Charlie Brown stamper in the section near the front door. the fifth item was a book of quotes by pink, the musician. it is called 'the little guide to pink' and says it is 'unofficial and unauthorized'. i had seen this performer in concert and have plenty of her CDs as well so it seemed worthwhile to get it. these quotes are from interviews. as i recall, it was on an 'end cap' and it was a nice find when walking through the books and music section. i saw some Charlie Brown-cooking equipment but passed on all three offerings. there was a popcorn maker, a small crockpot, and some waffle irons, but i already have a waffle iron and don't use it much. i sent a text to a meetup friend when i saw these, since she likes her air fryer. i said i needed to get lunch and went to the nearby Hardee's, i hadn't been to one in a while. before target i went to the post office, two orders picked up, then it was to the capitol grounds to drop off recycle. in the evening i got groceries at Aldi and eventually was inspired to write about music after watching some YouTube videos. what i have learned is that inspiration happens, do not ignore it. 

american eagle outfitters

 i figured out how to save the updates and changes to the written procedure, it was to one drive. since it is an excel document, i was able to find it under the excel spreadsheets i use and forward a copy to the team lead at the end of the day. i wanted to stay ahead on my normal duties, so it meant i kept pushing it back during my workday. i did hear from the branch i had called by instant message, the contact wanted to know why i had sent those two checks to him. i said i would add him to the email thread, and eventually i heard from the branch manager. it said we would take care of it, and that works for me. in the evening i made it to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries, part of the order was two boxes of cereal. at first i was thinking i wasn't going to get any monster cereals this time, as i didn't see any until i made it to the checkout lanes. then i saw two boxes of boo berry and claimed one. the other box i bought was generic Rice Krispies. why pay more if you don't have to? I've bought generic or store brand versions of products many times before.  since i bought a box of Count Chocula a week earlier, there is just one more to get in that category, franken berry. i haven't tried target yet so there is another option on finding these Halloween cereals. before i made it to the grocery store i went to the outlet mall in the same town, first time there. i knew there was a location for American Eagle Outfitters in this mall. i had googled where to find Charlie Brown themed boxer shorts and this was one of the hits. there were four locations listed in the metro area for this chain. i ended up buying two pairs, and i liked how the sales rep was willing to take time with me to find what i wanted. i would like to think there will be more items in this category that fit other seasons. the two i bought were the great pumpkin theme, and i would like to think there will be some with a Christmas theme as well. i signed up for their loyalty or rewards program, and i guess there is a birthday offer. 

calling the branch

i don't think i had called a branch since starting with the bank. i did so this afternoon as i wanted to confirm the address and a contact name. a UPS envelope had been returned, i was not aware that the business line wanted me to send it to a branch. it happened to be in Beverly Hills, and it did remind me of a song that mentions a bank in that town. i had seen an email asking me to correct the address, but i said it was not possible as it was being returned to me as undeliverable. i was told it had to have the bank's name on it to be delivered there, and something about a suite number needed. except the branch said there was no suite. when given a contact name i confirmed the name in the employee directory, although it wasn't the branch manager. I've noticed most of the time when sending to a branch, it is to the manager. not a big deal as long as it gets there. the other notable thing of the day was the team lead saying that updates to the team's written procedure were due soon. i reviewed the ten tabs with my name on it but didn't know for sure how to save the updates or changes to it. i did take notes though so i can still add them in before it is due. it even led to vacation replacement deciding to call me through the laptop as there were questions about his part of the written procedure. some of it was contact names for who to send returned checks to, except we don't get returned checks if a business line has their own envelope. in the evening i drank the can of Budweiser with the evening meal and got a can of blue moon at the liquor store near me so there still are four beers waiting. 

overnighted to ireland

 i do overnight checks to foreign lands from time to time, and as expected it is usually to Canada. this afternoon i had two going there, and one going to Ireland. it will be memorable as it said it was going to Letterkenny, same name as the intelligent comedy show i saw due to my college roommate. those two were placed in the box as i was leaving and the others a little earlier, and it looks like the pick-up from the box happened before i got those last two in. i play the percentages about which ones go in early, in case the pick-up is as early as listed on the box. in the morning there was a request to overnight the remaining checks going to Cincinnati. i said those wouldn't all fit in one envelope, though. i used two, and it meant fifty checks were in one envelope while fifty-three were in the other. in the evening i called an insurance company after i checked my postal mail. i asked them to take me off their mailing list as i wasn't in the market for an insurance company after switching a year ago, and i am happy there. it was also due to getting two items from the same company, one of them wasn't even addressed to me. i had seen it before and had just tossed both of them but figured i should call this time. when there was no return address given on the envelope, it was either calling or going onto their website. 

disregarded payroll email

 i saw an email in the morning that was from payroll, it said i hadn't submitted my timecard yet. then i heard from the tax specialist when checks were picked up and i found out that dude got the same one. when i got it i forwarded it to my boss. then the payroll dude said it was in error. later in the day it did say to disregard the earlier email. another one hundred checks slated to go to Cincinnati arrived, although not in the i-pay file. and i was fine with doing what i did the day before, wait a day to send them out. i think i had seen this kind of spike in checks before, but i think it is just on an annual basis. when i saw it before i got out a box to send them all at once as no envelopes would be big enough for that many checks. my boss was in the shop for the first half of the day and when i arrived there was a cookie waiting for me from the lady who places supply orders from me. i liked how i didn't have to go to another floor to get it as i know it can be time consuming. i called in a ticket for a toner cartridge for the check printer so hopefully it arrives soon. the payroll check was picked up, and i referred our rep from the foundation to the tax specialist when i was asked for a courier referral. 

crowd too loud

 i went to perform at an open mic in the evening and i did stories about the bank, attending a Saints baseball game, getting shoes, using a crayon, and seeing a movie. i was in the midst of telling a story about my check printing work and then some crowd members entered, but they were being too loud. i even said 'performer on stage'. eventually i didn't hear them, and a little later i went to the bar area and i saw these people. i was told they were asked to leave because they were being too loud. there was four of them, three of which were ladies, and mention of being adoptees that were from northern Wisconsin. it was a short lineup so by the time i went back into the showroom the show was over. and when i went back out to the bar area, those four were gone. i heard the show runner talk about a fellow performer, some mention of moving to Florida. this might explain why i hadn't seen the wild guitar player in a while. at work i saw just over two hundred checks in the second i-pay file near the end of the day. it meant most of them did not go out same day, at least the ones that were slated to be sent inter-office to Cincinnati. i wanted to see that i had the correct checks in the correct pile and it meant having another chance to look at all of them the next morning. there was also a payroll check that i printed and it is set aside, waiting to be picked up. although it looks like a surrogate will be picking it up at a later date. 

sound of music movie

 in the afternoon i went to see the movie 'sound of music' in Eagan. i liked how i managed to make it through a three-hour movie without a bathroom break. i had one just before in and just after it. i don't think i had seen a movie this long before, let alone in theaters. a coworker kept telling me to see it and i am thankful i did and seeing it in theaters for its 60th anniversary was the best game plan. i laughed, i cried, it was a carefree movie for a while. then the intermission happened, and the nazi part was in the second half. good thing i stayed in my seat when i said 'intermission' on the screen as this interlude didn't last long. i had sang some of those songs in music class in elementary school. it was mentioned on 'big bang theory' twice. even the first episode of 'the nanny' reminded me of it, as a rich man hires a nanny and the hired help understood the kids better than the dad did. this included the dad having a hard time accepting that the eldest daughter was already dating. in the case of this movie, it was actually a governess instead of a nanny. actually, i called an audible on what screening i attended. i went to Jersey Mike's for lunch, and i knew i wasn't quite going to make it to a screening at another theater in time. seeing it in another town more than an hour later worked out just fine. i went home and watched some pro football before i left for the theater again. i think this was the first time i had been to that sandwich shop on a Sunday, and there were four football games on at the same time on their TV near the main door. i had just enough time before the movie to get to the nearby dairy queen and i got a pumpkin pie blizzard treat. 

napoleon cake

 i stayed active for much of the day. there was going to the post office, four orders were picked up including two CDs. i needed some things at JC Penney and went to the one in Roseville. I got a pair of socks with a Halloween theme and some shoes. while there i decided to use a small bench a little farther away to sit down and try on shoes, saying 'let him have some fun' noticing a little boy was on a bench next to his dad, and the dad was trying on shoes like i was. then it was on to the French alliance to see the art display. usually i get there before midday, when there isn't much of a crowd in the building. this time i heard 'bonjour' and was asked if i needed help, i said 'art gallery', stating what i was there for. the theme was black and white photos in Paris and mention of acupuncture as well. i had heard of some of these places but not all of them, and i found a black crayon in a kid's room so i could write some things down in the pamphlet about the exhibit. when i was done i returned the crayon to where i found it. then i make a quick stop at home to drop off what was acquired at the store and post office, and i was off to the Armenian festival at a church in St. Paul. i had been there before and the food is good there, this time i had the Napoleon cake after having the pork and rice pilaf meal. i also read the stories from families escaping the genocide, which were posted in the sanctuary. i went home again but wasn't there for long. i rested a little and then got groceries at the Aldi. then it was off to the stadium to see the St. Paul Saints baseball game. the Saints lost to Columbus, 9-3. it was fan appreciation night. it was my tenth game of the season, actually eleven as one night in June was a double-header. i had to choose a different food truck this time as the lineup can change. as usual, i chose one right away after the floodgates were opened as the lines get long really quick. i went to the fish and chips place and had the chips. when i got home i found out it was on the 'dining for miles' program, and it was nice to get some unexpected airline miles. there were some songs to keep people interested before the fireworks show, including a parody of an Oasis song. another was from the movie 'midnight cowboy'. during the fireworks there was the Sinatra song about baseball. 

thailand package

 there was another international package i had overnighted where i am called and emailed about it, this time going to Thailand. not much i could do besides notify the business line, in this case two shared email accounts were copied. it is up to them to supply more contact information to see that it gets delivered. matter of fact, i had to do the same for the one stuck in the Virgin Islands. it was nice getting caught up again on running checks through the machine at the end of the week. there was just over a thousand to do in the morning and i had two full mail tubs to send to the mailroom near the end of the day. i am finding out it works just fine to go on Friday morning to the Walgreen as i can get the paper there. i get it just once a week, and at times if i wait until i go to Hy-Vee in the evening it is already sold out. this way it counts towards my loyalty points total, and i know it doesn't at Hy-Vee. i did go get groceries in the evening, and it was the first time this season where i saw the 'monster cereals' so i bought a box of Count Chocula. this year it has a Muppets theme, honoring an anniversary at Jim Henson's studio, so we see Muppet versions of these cereal mascots. it was a small order, nine items. i found out i tend to have the same problem with listening to the Saints baseball game on the radio even in my car. the signal can be crowded out at times by the station next to it. good thing the game was also on local TV. the Saints beat Columbus, so their long losing streak ended. soon i will be attending another game in person though. 

undetermined pizza

 there was plenty of goodies to be found in the breakroom, and i did partake of most of it. i ended up taking a late lunch and i saw three boxes of pizza there, although i am not sure what the meat was on it, possibly chicken. best to just say 'undetermined'. some were cut into squares; others were cut into triangles. and i think some had onions on it. i felt a little weird after eating the pizza and made two trips to the bathroom in the afternoon, one right before delivering the regular mail tubs to the breakroom. when i got home i did drink some Pepto-Bismol, to help out a little, before i had the evening meal. i also made a good haul on the goodies that were left on the counter when i went there for some water for my mid-morning snack. i claimed a muffin, as well as some yogurt. with the latter i saw the post it on the refrigerator that said, 'for anyone'. i also claimed what was in a cardboard box for the next few days. this included some small bags of popcorn and chips, peanut butter crackers, trail mix, and some little Reese's peanut butter cups. wouldn't surprise me at all if some of it had just expired, or would be soon, as this is often why so much snack food is left in breakrooms as whoever leaves it wants it to be eaten. 

quick door inspection

 it was a weird day for meetings and visitors. i let the tax specialist know in the morning about me having a team huddle during the time that those checks are normally picked up. except the dude wasn't in yet and didn't see my instant message. then my boss was called during the team huddle and i went to the other floor to hand them off. this was after my boss dismissed what i had said, even though i knew it was relevant, and it was confirmed to be. then when i got back to the shop, there was two visitors. one was from the mailroom, not a big deal. it was the customary delivery of the empty mail tubs. the other was the preventative maintenance visit, which didn't last long. the dude said he'd be there for just two minutes. and all it involved was inspecting the door, starting with me badging into it. the check stock arrived as well. i showed the check copies to my boss when requested in the afternoon and found out i have to submit just twenty-four of those. some were essentially the same business line, and we need to submit only once. i said i would do so the next morning when i have no check files to print. it means blotting out the payee names as well as the DDA account number for each one, but it won't take long. and then i send it to a folder called 'reporting' on a drive i use all of the time for moving the PDF checks to after they are printed. 

fanning the checks

 my boss does one day a week in the shop and when coming back from a meeting on another floor saw the 'hot product' error on the machine. i had to say that the checks were hot, not the machine itself. this was when i was advised to pull a fan over and see if this would help with cooling down the checks enough. i don't think that it did, though. i am used to running through as much as possible until just before i go to lunch and then switching over to creating overnight labels. then whatever Fargo checks are left over are run through the next morning, when i don't get that error at all as the checks have been sitting for quite a while by then. i know best how to do my job. there was also mention of needing check copy samples for each of the business lines that i handle. i did some by the end of the day, the ones that i see most often. still need to find out the deadline on getting those submitted, and where to submit them, of course. 

answer was jealousy

 as we all know, i have been riding the light rail to work at the bank for months now. i see all kinds of things on these rides. this morning i saw a transit cop ask if a rider was all right. the dude had his shoes off and pants down far enough that one could see his undies. the cop said the shoes needed to be put on and the pants pulled up. then there was a question about what happened to his face, and the answer was jealousy. i try to avoid interacting with other riders as all i care about is getting to work. in the evening there was a lady asking about what train that goes to the airport, and i boarded the same train as her. but then i kept quiet and left her alone for the duration of the ride. at work i did make it to another floor, where many of my colleagues are, to deliver a check. it was for paying off a corporate card, and i ended up saying 'not my first rodeo' about it. then i was able to hand off some returned checks to vacation replacement. i was tired for much of the day and fell asleep for nearly an hour after i got home and ate. then i went out to perform. i did stories about the oil change, a meetup event, visiting the speedway gas station, and the cinema. and i started off with answering a joke from a comic i wasn't familiar with, about fireworks at baseball games. i have answered jokes before when i know i am more knowledgeable than the comic who first tried to joke about it. there was a thin lineup, show didn't start on time for this reason. i know the Vikings were playing that night, this might have been given as the reason. i did watch some of this football game in the bar area when i wanted a break from the showroom. the Vikings were on the road, in Chicago, and beat the Bears. 

all through the night movie

 in the evening i went to the Trylon and saw another classic movie, 'all through the night', starring Humphrey Bogart. the supporting cast included Jackie Gleason, and Phil Silvers. i liked finding another movie about World War Two when it was a current event. in both cases, the story or setting takes place just before the United States entered it. i laughed a lot at the deadpan humor in this one. Bogart was really good as usual. i am trying to figure out when my next visit will be, although it might not be for a movie as there is a poster sale in October. that month is shaping up to be a busy one, so it may be just as well. a film festival at another venue interests me, as well as Halloween- themed events at places like the Saints baseball stadium. i did laundry in the morning and finished up just before midday. then i went to speedway again and got another Slurpee, but this time it was in a plastic Green Day-themed cup. it was a larger volume cup than the disposable one from the previous day, it meant i drank half of it before i got home and then the other half was my drink for the evening meal, a small pizza. when i first saw it i was about to leave the store but got a picture of it to remind me. i am a big believer 'get while the getting is good', even though there were plenty of these collectible cups still available. it was on my mind and didn't want to forget to pick one up, so it was no big deal to go there on consecutive days. i also got two snack items. there was some ice cream on a stick, and a pack of Reese's peanut butter- combined with Oreos. according to what i had found online, this promotion was announced months ago but i hadn't seen it before. this is likely due to me usually getting bottled juices in the refrigerated aisle. it was opening weekend for pro football, but i didn't watch any games. guess it was due to the teams i wanted to see weren't playing that day. 

two fist bumps

 as usual, the weekends are about chores and errand running. this included getting an oil change for my car. i went to a new place, sort of. first visit to a Tires Plus location in more than a decade. there were two techs but i liked the second one more. the first was trying to joke around, and when it comes to my car i am not interested in jokes. it is the way that i get around. i liked the second tech better. i got two fist bumps from this dude, who said my car could run forever. also asked me if i had pets, and i do not. and if i was planning on watching the football game on Monday night. notable was seeing a crew boarding up a plate glass window which had a hole in it, boarded up on both sides. i made it there before midday, and my visit to the post office was moved up for this reason. three items were picked up, one of those was postcards from brawler. there was four, and one appeared to be from Paris. another was from Madrid, which made sense as the dude now lives in Spain. after i was done at the shop i picked up a quick lunch from the speedway gas station near me, actually it was a breakfast sandwich under the heat lamps. then i went home and watched the second half of the Iowa football game at Iowa state. Iowa lost a close one. in the evening i went to a meetup event at a micro-brewery in Brooklyn Park. a friend of mine was there, our first visit in a while. she was willing to speak a little about getting sued for a snowboarding incident but i didn't ask about it, figuring it still might be a sore subject. i parked at the adjacent steakburger place, Freddy's, and ate there. once i was done i went to the brewery. 

frames at michaels

 in the evening i made my first stop at the Michaels in Eagan, instead of Hy-Vee for groceries. i wanted a frame for a poster and when i went online this was one of the results. i wanted a 14 by 20 frame, couldn't find one so i chose a 16 by 20. some were more expensive than others, i just needed a basic one. when i got home i put the poster from the Charlie Brown movie of ten years ago in it, which was in a frame that was too big for it. then a St. Paul Saints poster that was acquired in August was put in the larger frame. now i have two framed Saints baseball posters, although i have four total. the other two are still in cardboard tubes so still well preserved. the framed ones are more about the team, and the tubed ones are of individual players and i am the type that roots for teams when it is a team game. then i went to Hy-Vee, and ten items were in my grocery order this week. i got the paper when i went to Walgreen in the morning to get some tea and cookies. i was busy at work all day, but i didn't mind. i wanted to get caught up by the end of the day and i did. it helped that the volume of the Fargo checks dropped, finally. the checks i printed today was a lower total than the backlog, which was over two thousand and run through before the newer ones. this was another day of deciding to get the returned checks caught up, over fifty were sent in interoffice envelopes to the corresponding business line. as usual, it was just in time to get some more. the check stock and envelope volume is getting low; order was placed two days ago. i was copied on an email thread about our office address, saying it needed to be updated. wondering if this is causing the delay. 

virgin islands package

 once again i couldn't hear my phone, but this time the one connected to my laptop, when i had the inserter machine running. i saw it was UPS, calling about a package going to the Virgin Islands. i tried to call the number given but it was the wrong one, something about medic alerts. i went online and found the correct number for UPS. it was a waste of time as i was on hold for a while and kept getting transferred, and what i was trying to tell them was to just 'return to sender'. i know this will happen after enough inactivity on the package anyway. i didn't like how the call center rep tried to hide behind 'this is our procedure' and i said i had done call center work before and it was getting ridiculous. when i was asked how to contact me, by email or phone, when i didn't want to be transferred again, i just hung up. as it was taking way too long for something that seemed simple enough to me. also notable about the day was being asked to send a package through fed-ex, except i don't use that courier. i didn't have any of their envelopes and didn't know where the closest box was. a colleague who was working from home was asking for help about it and wanted to email me what was to be overnighted. when i confirmed i had none of those kinds of envelopes i was told that the colleague would handle it next week when in the office. fine with me. i drank a can of surly with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. 

end task function

 i was trying to go too fast near the end of my workday when i was trying to get a check copy for a colleague. it was from the PDF file and sometimes all i can do is a screen snip. when i realized i was going to print all eight checks in the file i tried to stop it and print just the one i wanted. then the screen froze, or i usually say 'got stuck'. i sent an instant message to an IT rep who said use control alt delete, then task manager, then 'end task' and this got me un-stuck. now i will try to learn a lesson from this experience so this doesn't happen again anytime soon. also notable about the day was getting the spare maintenance kit from the tech who was working on the check printer last week. i was running the inserter machine and it can get loud so i didn't hear the phone ringing but i picked it up from the security desk on the main floor. some mention of needing to go to Mankato so couldn't stay for long. i said i wasn't going to complete the survey until i had this item, and at the end of my workday i stayed a few extra minutes to complete it. this was also a day where i finally got started on the online classes due at the end of the month. i did one in the morning, doesn't take long but i still just do one per day. in the evening i went to the liquor store and got two cans of beer. it was a Michelob and a surly, so now five are waiting. 

alternate hotmail login

 i check email in my Hotmail account in the evening and it said i was unable to log in through the laptop. hard to understand why this happens at all but it has a few times in the past month or so. this meant viewing it on my phone, although this is not preferred as i like the larger screen and keyboard on the laptop. as usual, most of it is not too important. the surveys i do for airline miles mean the most to me, although i did not do one due to the issues i was having. although i have logged on to their website directly before. most of the time i go to surveys through the daily email. at work it was the first time in nearly a week that i had printed any of the ACH-PDF statements. getting checks out was more important when we were having printer issues. it meant sending out four tubs of regular mail as the ACH was well over a thousand pages. also printed the stubs for payroll, four days' worth, although those didn't go out just yet. the boss kept asking about the printer, i said it was running just fine after the tech visited. i saw how i was assigned more online classes, due at the end of November. i have some due at the end of this month, i will want to get started on those real soon. i usually do one a day until they are done as it just takes a few minutes to complete. there is still a backlog on checks to run through the machine, but it is manageable. it is the larger Fargo file. running it through the next morning still works fine. the Twins baseball game against the White Sox was on Fox-9. i watched some of it after the news on Fox-plus but fell asleep and missed the ending but i knew the Twins were way behind. 

voting on comics

 in the evening i went to a comedy show in the basement of a bar in northeast Minneapolis. i was interested in attending after having seen a text message from brawler, who was in town. this is who was performing when the votes were being counted at the end of the show. i was given a ballot but did not turn it in, as i wanted it for a note page. it was my first time at this venue in more than five years. i was introduced to the booker, who was wearing a 'cow onesie', and now i have stage time there in a month from now. i recognized two other performers at this show, one of them i call a 'ball of energy', and that was the night's winner, and the prize was a burger king hat. the other is now a mailman and spoke of getting bailed out of jail once by a stripper. the latter said i was 'the real deal'. i found out that brawler now lives in Spain, after being in the Carolinas for a while. this was another move for his wife's job, a physician. there was some mention of sending postcards to me and gave out my PO box address. even though it was a day off for a bank holiday, Labor Day, it was still an active one for me. i was at the state fair in the morning and afternoon and was able to get most things crossed off my list. i think it was the first time that i went on the final day of the fair. i did make it to an animal barn, for cattle, and chatted with a young man there. i learned there is a French cattle breed called 'Limousin', the name almost looks like the kind of car. there was one final day deal i liked getting, it was at the fan zone building, where i went to see the St. Paul Saints display. i got a picture frame and a long sleeve shirt, both were half off. it looks like the shirt was once going for way more than this but had been marked down apparently even before the fair. i am still doing 'one for one' on shirts and this will replace the long sleeve Chicago Bears shirt. i knew the cuffs were getting ratty on it. i made a return visit to the milk booth, as i didn't have milk for breakfast, which was another Egg McMuffin and orange juice at McDonald's. and it was nice to make it back to the giant slide as well, i got a better Lt. Dan from 'Forrest Gump' scream this time. and a big reason for the second visit this year, the fine arts building, i did see some paintings i liked. there was one about hot dish, along with ones depicting ice cream, and a pencil sharpener. i finished the walking tour map and my prize at the historic society was a magnet. i sang at the karaoke stage, 'bad reputation' by Joan Jett, after hearing it the day before when i was performing. and i had lunch at the Hamline church dining hall. it was meatloaf and mashed potatoes, for dessert some blueberry pie. after choosing some other dessert options first, i said i wanted the pie even more. i left the fairgrounds shortly after i had sang, it was mid-afternoon by then, and i made it home on the bus in time to watch 'jeopardy'. 

meetup picnic near zoo

 at midday i went to a meetup picnic near Como Zoo in St. Paul. it was hard to find a parking spot, as the lot nearest the picnic grounds was full. i ended up finding street parking a few blocks away. i brought a box of twinkies much like before and ate two of them there. i left with seven, so it meant that just one was eaten by somebody who wasn't me. one of the games i played after eating, ladder golf, was with this man. this was the third meetup picnic, out of six in the series, i have attended this summer, and i said it will be the final one. there is another one in three weeks, postponed from an earlier date, but i prefer to avoid getting annoyed and i was at two of them, including this one. in both cases, it was due to others being critical of my nametag. i had plenty to eat there, including a hamburger and a hot dog along with desserts and some potato salad, and i slept when i got home. for this reason, i had very little to eat in the evening, just some popcorn saved from the show i had attended the night before. i performed at an open mic in the evening. i did stories about the picnic, the bank, a Facebook posting about being spotted, and movies i had attended. i was the final performer in this show. 

relay movie

 in the afternoon i went to see a movie at St. Anthony main in Minneapolis, it was 'relay'. i chose it as i like a thriller, and this one kept me guessing until the end. the setting was New York city and was about a man that called through a relay service whenever someone needed his help as a whistle blower. i was planning on attending the 1pm screening but changed it to the one at 4pm. with the errand running i was doing in the morning, i still wanted to be able to enjoy the sandwich i ordered at jersey mike's instead of wolfing it down. after lunching there in Richfield, i went to the nearby target and bought two frames for posters. when i got home i went to Aldi for groceries. two of the comedy posters recently acquired were put into frames, replacing two that had no pictures of performers on them. i still have ten posters from comedy shows for this reason. essentially, the two frames i bought meant that two posters I've had for years, not related to comedy, were finally framed. one of the frames i realized was too big, at 24 by 36, for most of the posters i have. but i noticed the 'Herky on parade' poster, from a visit to Iowa City, fit in it nicely. the other one was from an advance screening of the first 'Shrek' movie. some of the shuffling was due to realizing that some frames were kind of big for the posters i had in them, and wanting to cut back on the 'empty space' that one might see. there is one more that i want to get a frame for, it was from a St. Paul Saints baseball game this month. some posters i realized that i didn't value them enough and were ripped up and tossed in the trash. there is one bag full of rolled up posters and it now has nineteen in it, down from twenty-three. in the evening i went to a comedy show at the parkway theater in south Minneapolis, called 'the brothers'. i knew many of those on the lineup, including school bouncer and the fancy comic. the first member of the ring of honor performed as well, who now lives in Boston. i bought not only a can of Hamm's beer there but also some popcorn. it is a much nicer venue for comedy than what i am used to, including the bathrooms being cleaner. guess this should be expected when it isn't a dive bar, and this venue still sometimes shows movies. 

patterns movie

 i made another visit to the Trylon cinema tonight, my second in this month of august. it was to see 'patterns', a corporate drama written by Rod Serling. i knew i was tired before i departed for the theater, but i managed to last until the end so i was pleased with that. when i left the venue i said 'passion', as there was plenty in this movie. i said i like passion in my entertainment, but hearing that much arguing in my own life, no. it was about a new executive who agreed with an older one that was in conflict with the boss over ethics. while there i said the popcorn smells good, but i didn't get any during this visit. i already have a ticket for another movie at the same venue next month though. guess i am saving the quarters i have for another event that i plan on attending on Labor Day. i do pay attention to the promos before the feature, in this case a series called 'Nixon land' in October. i looked it up after getting home, looks like mostly horror movies from the era when Nixon was president. i am not big on horror movies but this cinema has plenty of other offerings that i like. for the evening meal i went to McDonald's and had the limited time meal known as McDonald land. this is the second 'gimmick meal' i have had this month, the other being at Wendy's of course. i chose a quarter pounder this time because i wanted something different after having chicken nuggets before. the shake was good, and i liked the tin that was included with the meal. it was a 'luck of the draw' and i got the one about Mayor McCheese. there were some stickers inside, a passport, and two postcards, the thing i liked the most. i know, shocking. i have to give the edge to McDonald's here as i recall those characters from my childhood. and i made more visits there as my hometown had one but not a Wendy's. i saw a Facebook posting when i got home. mason city, a fellow comic, spoke of seeing me, likely either when i was walking to the fast-food place or after i had left it. at work the tech arrived around mid-morning and the parts were swapped out. it was an assembly put in, so it meant seeing the machine taken apart essentially. we tested it and it works fine once again, and i am caught up on check printing and the overnights. thankful that the number of emails i will have to send out about the printer being down for a day will likely be done. 

pumpkin is here

 my visit to Hy-Vee for groceries was moved up one day due to being booked on Friday evening. i got a picture of the fold-up sign near the entrance saying, 'pumpkin is here'. it was an ad for pumpkin spice coffee from Starbucks. this was a small order, nine items. i am aware of how i skipped a week there, didn't need enough from that store. at work there was a notice about the parts needed for the check printer. guess there will be a delay, i said we prefer in the morning because someone needs to be present when any maintenance is done. easier for me to test it when ready as well. i decided to print as much as i was able to, even if it meant some from the Fargo file would be held until the next morning to be run through the inserter machine. it also meant making choices on the overnights, still a day behind on getting those out. i have a life outside of work and didn't feel like staying until late in the evening just to get those caught up. this is especially true when i know the driver picks up from the UPS box just once a day and anything put in after that time waits until the next day anyway. i know the best game plan is to print all i can before the tech arrives, then switch over to doing the overnight labels. 

our god, our help in ages past

 i usually don't talk about 'the news of the world' in this forum, as i prefer to talk about my own life. this evening i watched the vigil on TV held at a school in Richfield related to a shooting at a catholic school and church in Minneapolis, two fatalities. three if you count the shooter, who turned the gun on themselves. the first song during this vigil, shown on fox-9 plus instead of the 7pm news hour, was 'our god our help in ages past'. we all know i like the hymns better than scriptures at church services, because i am a more active participant in hymns. i liked this hymn, i think because it was sung by the church choir in the movie 'cold turkey', which was filmed in my native state of Iowa. when i heard it in the movie, the line i liked the most was 'our shelter from the stormy blast'. when i looked it up online, i saw how the hymn has been around for a while, apparently going back to 1708. and the inspiration is much older than that, apparently being from psalm 90. proverbs, as well as psalms, have the most meaning to me in the bible. it makes sense that psalms would, when those are most like poems and songs or music. at work, we did see a technician about the check printer, in the afternoon. we were able to get printing again, a temporary fix. some strong glue was used on the plastic part that broke off in the output tray that was causing it to jam. we were told to let it dry for a while, more than an hour. when i got back from a team huddle on another floor, we started it up. one thing, though. those two parts, which work in tandem, were often staying up after about five checks saying it was full when it wasn't. we found out it meant having to push it down for it to keep printing. i was able to get hundreds of checks printed this way, but we still have a way to go to get caught up. i was told to send checks to the Marshall office, and about a hundred checks were sent there, mostly the PDF files. this included four that were marked as overnights. the final file sent there was the midday i-pay. 

chair massage

 a little after midday, i did my first chair massage at the workplace since i moved to this office less than a year ago. it was about fifteen minutes and i liked seeing cans of LaCroix sparkling water so i got one. if i am not mistaken, this was the same place that had the puppies not too long ago. i went there shortly after the check printer started jamming and i couldn't get it running again. i wasn't about to skip this massage when i knew nobody was coming right away about the printer. i opened a ticket about it after i got back, and i ate lunch before i went. no surprise, nobody came by the end of the day. i sent out as much as i could, but there was plenty that i couldn't print. this included a little over a thousand Fargo checks as it was a high-volume day. it jammed on a three-check file, kept trying to print the same check. first one notified was vacation replacement, and then eventually the team lead and the boss knew. this is why i wasn't thrilled that our alternate printer was picked up nearly two years ago, although we've lucked out that it was the first time breaking down since then. 

minimal carryover

i started off the day at work with some carryover, not just about a thousand Fargo checks but also ACH statements. i was pleased that the carryover was minimal by the end of the day, just six Canadian checks. when i have to change the stock for Canadian checks, i usually don't print those first. when i knew the next day is likely going to be a high volume one, i preferred being caught up again. it meant sending out three regular mail tubs to the mailroom. i did see vacation replacement for a few minutes shortly after i had returned from lunch. we swapped a few stories, as usual. no surprise how some were about my day off. in the evening i went to perform at an open mic. one performer was an elderly man who sang two show tunes and did not want to climb the stairs to go onstage. one of them was from 'paint your wagon'. it was a small list of performers for the night and i went on after this man and there was just one performer after me. i did stories about a former boss, a Walgreen cashier, attending the state fair, a bank story, and a venue closing. the road construction near the venue is still a mess. 

hike and brew, meetup

 not much on the docket for the day, it is how i prefer a Sunday. i gave my car the day off, as the only event i had planned i was able to walk to, a meetup event known as 'hike and brew'. we did a hike at a nearby park, then went to a micro-brewery. i have done some long walks around the neighborhood this summer, but i think this distance was even longer. i had done some hikes in this group, but it was the first one since November, and those were usually evening hikes that i had done before. i am a brisk walker, and this is helpful when i get annoyed with one hiker and want to talk to someone else. in this case it was a lady who showed up right before we began, who was being a 'contrarian' and trying to provoke an argument but i wasn't taking the bait. i prefer being near the front, close to an event coordinator anyway. i saw one organizer before the hike began, she thought she had arrived at the wrong entrance to the park and left but then came back. i went by what the map said as to the meeting spot. my guess is that not everybody from the hike went to the brewery after it. i had one beer and then i left, and some left even before i did. when i went home i had a TV dinner for the evening meal. i am aware that the lynx, the local women's basketball team, was playing the Indiana fever. i had a last-minute ticket offer but when i inquired further about it the night before, i heard no response. i said i passed on the ticket offer from a few days prior as those seats were all upper level, and when i saw this same matchup a year earlier my seat was lower level. the one lynx game i had attended this season was a free ticket, and this game was a hard sell as the fever's star player, Caitlin Clark, is still sidelined with an injury. the game was in the evening, and it would have been hard to attend it and do the hike, so it was just as well that i heard nothing back. i was signed up for the hike more than a week in advance. 

coptic church festival

 we all know i like to attend festivals. i found another one to attend this summer, and it was at the Coptic church in South St. Paul. i went there around midday and had lunch first, a gyro sandwich, some fries, and some baklava. then i did the church tour, where i learned something. i know, shocking. i put me in situations all the time when i do. in this case, it is how 'Coptic' refers to a 'dead language' that looks like Greek. i bought some souvenirs as well, two postcards and a magnet. all these items are about Egypt; the magnet was of 'king tut' and Nefertiti. one of the postcards had a camel on it, a reminder of an earlier church festival i had attended. i also bought an item from the bakery section in the same room as the souvenirs, it was a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread. before i went to the festival i went to the post office, two orders picked up. then to the copy store where i printed an event ticket. after the festival i went home and had the evening meal, then got groceries at Aldi. later in the evening i performed at the final open mic at a venue that i hadn't been to in a while, the corner bar in Minneapolis. i know full well why i had been absent for a while, as even before covid i said i would go to venues only if i get stage time. i did have some nice memories of when i had performed there, and i enjoyed seeing some comics that i hadn't seen in a while. one of those now lives in Kentucky, in the college town, but spoke a lot about being in Florida before that. i attended his dad's memorial. i did stories about a boss at a former job, attending the state fair, a cashier at Walgreen, and a bank story about I.T. issues. i took plenty of pictures, not only of some comics onstage but also of the venue, including the list of those signed up for the mic, using a marker on the wall. plenty of show posters were put out in the bar area on the upper level, i claimed three. mind you, i did not attend any of those shows, but the performers on it i recognized. a few small items such as a paper clip and a bottlecap were claimed out of the 'green room'. some joked about looting, and i guess that does happen when a venue reaches the end, where it tends to be stripped for souvenirs. the wolf tagged me in a Facebook posting about being there, where it showed John Wayne on a quaker oats container saying, 'listen up, pilgrim'. 

meetup group postcard

 in the evening i went to a meetup event in the micro-brewery group, it was at dual citizen in St. Paul. when i arrived i liked chatting with the event coordinator, and there were postcards on the table where i picked up my nametag. i got one and a sticker as well, why not? i attend more events in this group than any other, by far. i did catch up with those i recognized there, one is a former coworker from the bank. another is a dude that wears a cowboy hat, who once lived in Austin, Texas. then there was a dude i know from the comedy circuit, who made an intro for me to a man from Austria who spoke about his homeland and Europe in general. i didn't go to Hy-Vee after that i like i normally would as i didn't need much, i just went home. at work an early morning PDF check file had over two thousand checks in it, i saw that all of those went out. ACH statements and some of the Fargo checks did not, but i can run those through the machine the next workday. i was just about to leave for the day and got an instant message saying a check needed to be stopped. i said the regular mail tubs had already been sent out an hour ago. then i found out it was a check i had overnighted as it was for over two million. it is still annoying how often i am asked to clean up other people's messes. i have intercepted checks many times before, and it is easier to do so when i hear early enough in the day. but i can still only do so much for others. 

flight beers, state fair

 it was a day off to attend day one of the Minnesota state fair. i went to McDonald's for an egg McMuffin and hash browns for breakfast, normally i have cereal at home. before leaving for the fair, i got a text message from vacation replacement, asking where the Canadian check stock is. i said where it was, then heard okay, thank you, and as expected i didn't hear any more from work the rest of the day. i got on a bus less than thirty minutes later, the first leg of the journey as it meant getting a transfer to another bus once i reached downtown St. Paul. and then when we got close to the fairgrounds, it slowed down a lot, so i got out and walked the rest of the way. a staff member said she didn't want to be late, working in a ticket booth, and when she got out i did too. i was leaning towards doing so even before she got out. i did a few activities before i met up with a friend from meetup groups, the retired postal worker. i brought quarters from taking carts back to Aldi and used most of them. there was the 'all you can drink' milk booth where i got a cup of white milk and chocolate milk. then there was the giant slide. finally, i bought a sticker at the 4H building that reminded me of a green day song. then i got a look at the newspaper museum near it. those things cost 10 dollars, and for the rest of the day what i bought went on the debit card. when i met my friend, it was at the agriculture and horticulture building, where we got flight beers. later on, we stopped there again and i got a different set. first time was pilsner, second time i got award winning ales. i got a Schell's Oktoberfest at the hangar. for food i got fish on a stick, walleye, then plenty of garlic fries for lunch. for dinner i got a pork chop and a dr. pepper. after both trips for flights, we sat in a gazebo nearby and he chatted with those next to us. near the end of the night, we stopped at the DNR stage for some music. i left the grounds shortly after that as it was a little after 9pm and many places had already closed for the night by then. i got to some of the things on my list, but not all. didn't make it to the fine arts building, it was closed by the time i made it over there. i decided it would be fine to make a second visit, on the last day of the fair, Labor Day, as i have nothing booked on that day just yet. there are a few other things i can see besides fine arts by giving myself a second day there, such as finish my punch card of historic places at the fair. i found five and that means there are seven left to find. it means buying another ticket, guess i can get it online if i want to avoid standing in line to get one. music was everywhere i went, notable were songs by Carrie Underwood, Mel McDaniel, Marc Cohn, and Jelly Roll. 

death on the diamond movie

 i watched a DVD movie tonight, a recent purchase from amazon. it was 'death on the diamond', as a big baseball fan, especially of the St. Louis Cardinals, i liked finding this one. and as a history major, this one spoke to me as i knew it was released in 1934, and i liked studying the great depression. there is an NRA image at the end of the movie, the national recovery act or administration, with the eagle, sometimes it also says, 'we do our part'. child star Mickey Rooney played the batboy in this one. this was a whodunit that kept you guessing until the end. the cardinals were in a pennant race, and their players were getting bumped off. the movie was kind of short by today's standards, running time given on the case was 71 minutes, but i didn't mind as the story was still good enough. at work i swapped out the toner cartridge fairly early in the day, then opened a ticket to get another one. it always seems to be a struggle just to get one, i was trading instant messages about it near the end of the day and still not sure if one is being sent even though i really need it to get my work done. i wanted to see that i was caught up by the end of the day as i have the next day off, it meant sending out five tubs of regular mail. normally i think i would have held back about a thousand Fargo checks so then i would be only sending out four tubs. 

little ham sandwiches

 i went to a picnic in the evening at Como Park in St. Paul, sponsored by an organization i had joined a while back. there was plenty of food there, i had some of the little ham sandwiches, three in all. along with some potato salad and some peanut butter cookies. there was food left over, and the event coordinator encouraged people to take some of it home, and i did. i claimed three sandwiches and will have them for the evening meal the next day. i did speak with one couple there, they live in crystal. i said i had once worked nearby, one town over. at work we mostly got caught up after the 'idle day'. i could tell it was a big deal as i heard from a senior leader that i hardly ever hear from in the morning, by instant message. i said i would try importing files. first one i couldn't, some already were. the others i was able to import. the one i couldn't, i notified the business line, and they worked it out with someone from I.T. we had a replacement file to print by the end of the day. i sent out four mail tubs as over six thousand checks went out. just over four thousand were printed but didn't go out same day. i will run them through the machine the next morning. with the high volume, it wasn't realistic to be completely caught up in one day as the highest number of tubs i have sent out in any day is five. and i rarely send out as many as four. vacation replacement was helping out in the shop, tending to the inserter machine, as it freed me up to do the overnight labels in a timely fashion. there were just over forty sent out, although five were labels supplied by the business line that i didn't have to create, only print. this makes it easier for me. 

only pdf checks printed

 i thought i had seen it all in my time at the bank, but i am still seeing more issues if what can prevent me from printing checks. i was unable to print most of them for the day, due to server issues apparently on the system where most of them are found. a small number are emailed to us in a PDF file, i could still print those. it also meant the overnight volume dropped a lot, i sent out just seven envelopes and one of them was returned checks going to Ohio. the team lead said to notify business lines, i notified three. those were the ones that email us with their overnight requests. although she had emailed most business lines and asked me, as well as vacation replacement, to follow up with calls to all of those business lines. except i am used to communicating with them by email. the one i tried, i couldn't get through, not knowing what prompt to press, so i was hung up on. it was largely an idle day, and hopefully we are back up and running the next day. i performed in the evening and did bank stories. other subjects were seeing a movie, attending a baseball game, and getting a fast-food meal. i saw the show runner of another mic when i was leaving, and he spoke with tonight's show runner. eventually there was a lady who showed up with a guy, didn't know her but she said she had performed stand-up but had quit. she told stories for over thirty minutes and i was bored, and she was shouting down anyone else who had tried to talk. i was not impressed with her at all. 

spill before twins game

 my alumni chapter had their annual outing at the Minnesota Twins baseball game. we meet at a bar near the stadium. this was the first year where i already had the ticket, did not have to pick it up there. because it was sent to the ballpark app. although i prefer the paper tickets. i didn't make it right when the time allotment began as there were some things i wanted to get done before i got on the light rail. but i got them done and made it a little after midday. i had some of the appetizers ordered for us, enough food that i knew i wouldn't need to eat anything at the game. this time it will be memorable as an event coordinator spilled a cup of water at a table i was sitting at, while eating some chicken. some of it got on my pants, guess i didn't quite get up in time. the dude apologized twice, i said it could have been a lot worse. i had ordered a beer, a can of Pabst. i saw that i finished it before leaving for the stadium. i was there for about thirty minutes by then, and most people were leaving as the gametime was fast approaching. but then it was delayed as there was a team hall of fame induction, the game started about twenty minutes late. even though there was rain in the forecast, i am thankful that it didn't rain at all. the twins won, 8-1, over Detroit, aided by three home runs, one of them a grand slam. there was one dude a row in front of me that was in our group that i found to be annoying. he talked a lot during the game, especially about places to eat, and i was there to see the game and it was harder to follow the game because of him. will i do things differently next year? probably. one man got up a couple of times during the game and took a walk, sounds like a good idea to me! my entrance and exit from the stadium were from different points. i knew the main entrance had guitars on the wall that celebrated concerts at this venue. i wanted to see what they had for the show i saw a year earlier, green day and smashing pumpkins. got a picture of this 'guitar' on the wall, along with other shows that i didn't attend. but they were bands i had seen in concert, just not at that venue. there was pink, Billy Joel, foo fighters, and pretenders. i slept for a while when i got home, after having the evening meal, and then called my dad and spoke of being at the game. 

superman movie

 there were plenty of things on the docket for the day, and one of them was to see the movie 'superman'. it had been out for a little over a month, but i had other things to do for a while. i was out of town, i went to see other movies, and then there was two weekends of the fringe festival. still a decent crowd at the screening i attended. at times i wasn't enjoying it, as one would see superman being pushed around by the villain, Lex Luthor, for quite a while. but i kept watching, figuring it probably wasn't going to end that way. much like a James Bond film, or other superhero movies, good wins in the end. this movie did make me laugh at times, such as seeing a slow garage door and then one of the robots taking care of superman quipped about names. i knew there was a scene filmed at a baseball stadium, this was a rather short scene. i did like the message given by the movie how superman couldn't do it all on his own, as there was help from various people along the way. i saw this one in Eagan. i did have to change my schedule a little, but not much. i made it to the post office first, four orders picked up, including a DVD ordered from amazon. then i printed two event tickets at a copy store. next stop was the French alliance to see an art display; it is closing in a week. i am used to those art shows lasting just a month. some was paintings, some was sculptures. one painting was of De Gaulle during World War Two. what changed in the schedule was related to meals. i went to Jersey Mike's for lunch and decided the India-fest at the capitol in St. Paul could wait until evening. i ordered a chicken platter at the festival, and took half of it home with me, plenty of rice in it besides the chicken itself. i had a blizzard treat at Dairy Queen after the movie, another one of those superman blizzards, a notable way of promoting the movie. then i got groceries at Aldi before i went to the capitol, where i dropped off recycle besides attending the festival. i watched part of the baseball game on fox when i got home, tigers beat the twins. 

meal of misfortune, wendy's

 i had seen an ad recently about a 'meal of misfortune' at Wendy's, promoting the show 'Wednesday' on Netflix. i had to go online to find the closest Wendy's locations for me and decided that one in Eagan worked best for me. i had the evening meal there, then went to Hy-Vee for groceries. it was a small grocery order this time, just seven items. there are two Wendy's locations in that town but i chose the one closest to the grocery store. when it arrived i said 'i love it' with all of the packaging being specialized for this meal. the bag saying, 'there's nothing happy about this meal', 'the spoon of gloom' for the frosty treat, and for the frosty itself it said, ' best served cold, like revenge'. the food itself was what one would expect at a Wendy's, and that is fine with me. the dipping sauce for the chicken nuggets was spicy, but i was smart enough to pace myself when using it and made it through without any issues. only used it on the nuggets, the fries were fine by themselves. i usually have ketchup for those and didn't see any and didn't ask for any. at work the backlog of checks was eliminated, although more than six hundred Fargo checks were run through the machine in the afternoon as i was getting the 'hot product' error before i went to lunch. i went through the returned checks and opened over a hundred envelopes, then had them sent in inter-office envelopes. good thing i did all of those as i was given some more later in the day. 

leaking fluid, pump issue

 the second service call of the week was in the morning. the inserter machine was leaking fluid even though it was still running just fine. i knew i couldn't ignore the leak though. technician said it was a pump issue, and it was handled right away. i pointed out another error in a different part of the machine, when it reached the end of the stack and i would auto-end it. i was told this was a sensor issue and it was handled as well. the backlog on the checks went down some more, now it is just over five hundred. a box arrived, found out it was the data-vac that was ordered two days ago. i put it on a back table as my normal duties were more important. i was given refund checks to overnight, as vacation replacement is on vacation for the week. i was also given plenty of returned checks that i will go through when i have the time. i did another long walk around the neighborhood, but it was shorter than the previous two days as the skies looked threatening. 

three boxes already picked up

 the team lead was in the shop, and as usual said 'knock-knock' but i was sitting down in my office so i didn't get up right away. but i didn't have to say who's there as i knew who it was. i had to say that the supplies recently ordered had been signed for by me and were picked up by our boss already. also notable about the day was getting booked for a chair massage appointment, for two weeks from now. it was due to getting an emailed newsletter from the same organization and going back to the bank's monthly events announcement. i saw one appointment available and signed up for it near the end of the four-hour time allotment, but it is just 15 minutes. since i moved to the building over six months ago i had wanted to do that but it seemed to be all booked up rather quickly. either that or i was avoiding the QR code. this time i used the code and it led to what was available. i did another evening walk after watching reruns and the news. also at work the backlog of checks went down, to under two thousand. but it usually goes down as the week goes on, but it means sending out four full mail tubs. usually the most i will send out per day is three.  

datavac ordered

 at work the service call happened in the morning. the tech said the problem was caused by a straw from the air cans being stuck in the machine. we were told to order a data-vac instead. it means just one purchase instead of ordering air cans all the time. the machine moved along at a brisk clip after that. there was still a backlog though, due to the high volume on the Fargo checks. it meant over five thousand checks were left over, but i am used to some kind of carry-over on most days. my boss announced a schedule for the next two weeks, due to visiting California for his daughter's surgery. in the evening i took a long walk around the neighborhood, first time in a while. i felt better after it, but had to push myself to get out there as i felt tired after work. 

century link service canceled

 i finally made the call in the morning when i was at work, it was to century link to cancel my internet service. i had switched providers and the service i am getting seems to be better than theirs. it was time to call them since they were finally going to do something about the cables, but it was too late. it had been down for two weeks, even said that was unacceptable. at work i placed a service call as the inserter machine wasn't folding properly. technician said arrival would be in the morning, there was another one in front of us. not that much was left over though, just over a thousand Fargo checks as well as five hundred ACH forms. in the evening i went to perform and part of my set was about internet service, along with a bank story, attending fringe, and the art search at a baseball game. 

search for paintings

 went to the St. Paul saints baseball game this afternoon, my ninth game attended this season. saints beat the Iowa cubs, 3-2. this was 'artsy-fartsy' day, i went because of the team card set giveaway. it was one of two, though. the other giveaway was a poster depicting this year's program cover, i will likely get a frame for it soon. part of the art events was a scavenger hunt, there was various paintings throughout the stadium. there was code words from each one to write down. the standard to get the prize was twelve, i found thirteen. then i was told i had missed one. i went around again and found it, there was two hot dog paintings. i liked how one of these fourteen depicted Charlie Brown. i didn't do much after getting home from the saints game, i laid down and fell asleep. when i woke up i did the dishes. i had lunch before reaching the stadium, getting a deli express sandwich from a gas station near it. 

palmer's bar closing

 i had heard the news how the bar known as palmer's, in the cedar riverside area of Minneapolis, is closing soon. i went there in the afternoon, after attending a fringe show, and drank a can of grain belt. i heard a johnny cash song on the jukebox, 'Sunday morning coming down'. i knew i had to wait until after the show to go to the bar as i saw the plate on the door last week saying it was open at 3pm. i saw two fringe shows, the one in the afternoon was a variety show at mixed blood. i saw a fellow comic on the way in after stepping off the light rail, wanting to avoid the traffic at the Vikings exhibition game. she has a solo show at fringe, and i said i would see it later in the day and i did. i sat next to her during the variety show, liked the burlesque performer the most. it was 25, a Fargo native now based in la-la land, who had the solo show. it was finny at times but also honest. it was in the final time slot of the night, 10pm, at Rarig. i am thankful i saw the volunteer coordinator after the mixed blood show, who said there were sandwiches from Caffrey's at Rarig later on, along with popsicles. this was part of volunteer appreciation day. i went to an Arby's near me for lunch, and didn't have much for the evening meal due to the Caffrey's sandwich. fringe is an 11-day festival, and there is one day left, but i am booked at another event on the final day so this capped my fringe involvement for the year. 

white meat chicken tender bites

 during the morning walk i found five unopened packs of jack links white meat chicken tender bites. i ate one of them right away and it tasted fine, I've had this kind of snack before but not too often. at work, it was a case of 'good news bad news'. check stock order for the month arrived, nearly a week late. but it was dumped in the hall, all forty boxes of it. saw it on the way to lunch. i ate lunch and then got out a cart, moving eight boxes at a time into the shop. i told my boss that i am cool with letting him argue it out with the supplier about the way it was delivered. in the evening i went to Hy-Vee in Eagan for groceries, ten items bought. Saints baseball game against the Iowa cubs was on fox-9 plus, but the Saints were way behind. saw some of it before, and after, the grocery run. listened to the game on the radio when i was in my car. i laid down and fell asleep and missed the ending of the game. 

mad magazine, 80's spoof

 i picked up more than just the typical bottle of tea and some cookies when i was at the Walgreen in the morning. i also decided to get the special 'mad' magazine, that spoofed pop culture things from the 1980s. most of it was familiar to me, except for the TV show 'dynasty', as i didn't watch that show. there is another special magazine i am seeing that i will pick up eventually. i got this one at Walgreen as i got points on my loyalty account there. also saw it at Hy-Vee but usually don't get points when i run my card there. 

modem picked up

i saw the UPS tracking number from the modem order and entered it at work. this was mid-morning and found out it was delivered to the store less than an hour prior. i found the time in the evening to pick it up just minutes before closing time. now we are back in business! i didn't waste any time getting things done once again, after too many trips to check email at a fed-ex office location. i placed an amazon order and registered for a meetup event later this month. 

whiter shade of pale

 when i was out and about recently, i heard the song 'whiter shade of pale'. it probably wasn't the original, as that is from the 1960s. it sounded good, then i looked it up and it said the song was inspired by drug addiction. well i know that inspiration can be found anywhere, but i still like the song. 

month of transition

 over the course of my life, i have noticed how the month of august can be one of transition for me. i have moved residences twice during that month, ended friendships and dating relationships as well when i said 'i have had enough'. and now another case of change when it was necessary, as my home internet provider service was no longer performing. i shopped around for another provider, it will be cheaper and hopefully more reliable. the modem had to be ordered but it should be arriving in a few days. 

husk/vessel show

 i attended three shows at the fringe festival. the one standout for the day was the first one, a non-verbal dance show called husk/vessel. sounded like it was performed by an out-of-town dance troupe, but they were really good, using curtains as props with their dancing. this was at the southern theater, the second show was right after it at the rarig. then i went to perform at an open-mic and then went home and did the dishes. third show was the final time slot of the night, 10pm, about a lady artist that died decades ago. the second show was about storytelling. there were some bright moments from those other two, but in my both fell short for various reasons. 

nightshift, british movie

 i did the second and third ushering shifts for the Minnesota fringe festival in the afternoon. at the third and final one the box office manager had stickers, and i got one, it said 'bang!' reminding me of seeing Eminem in concert. in the morning i did the pancake breakfast at Canadian days, then the car show, but no bagpipe band this year. in the evening i went to the trylon and saw the movie 'nightshift'. this is the British movie about a hotel desk clerk. it had the feeling of a documentary without a narrator, i liked it. 

pop and a pizza

this is what i heard from a pizza vendor when i went to Canadian days in Little Canada. also got a can of dr. pepper besides a slice of pepperoni, and a Tweety-space jam ice cream treat as he also owned the ice cream truck next to it. the owner's young daughter was helping out and got me the ice cream. i liked how it was pizza by the slice as another vendor only seemed to have whole pizzas and that would be too much for me. naturally i was there for the corn on the cob feed, and to pick up my festival button. i was planning on getting just one ear of corn but was encouraged to get more so once i finished the first one i did go back and get a second ear. i did see the dude i recall from a previous festival, who had made envelope deliveries to my employer for a while but said he's now retired. 

fringe begins

 this was the first day of the Minnesota fringe festival. for me that meant my first shift of ushering, as i prefer to get those out of the way and then see some shows. it was the final time slot of the night, as i knew i would be able to get around there on time. i looked at some of the show cards on the table. it was odd how someone asked if i had seen anything yet as it was just the first day. this was at the university's Rarig venue, i like that one as three shows can be shown in that building at the same time. the information booth for the festival is in that building. i still like how i don't have to do much as an usher to earn the points to see shows. 

recent

it the

was

smurfs movie

 i went to see the 'Smurfs' movie in Eagan this afternoon. i still have some Smurfs figurines from when i was young. a big reason why i chose this movie as john goodman is the voice of papa Smurf. i picked up a poster while there as some were on the table near the front door. i got a snack at the nearby Trader Joe's before i entered the movie theater, and i ate at taco bell that day as well. i knew full well to see this movie first. the other one on my list, 'superman', is doing better in ticket sales, and i figured i would have more time to see it in theaters than 'Smurfs'. the movie was all right but a few things in the storyline didn't make sense to me, such as Gargamel! helping the Smurfs at one point as he is supposed to be a villain. 

another george festival

 around midday i went to another George festival, this one i had been to before. it was at St. George Greek orthodox church in St. Paul. i did the typical food and drink there, the gyro and fries and mythos beer. under the tent was some music, at one point there were contests but i wasn't enjoying it as i was saying it was a waste of some good pita bread. i say this because it was being thrown around between contestants and sometimes it hit the ground. looking at the sanctuary this time, when doing a church tour, i had a different perspective after being at a festival a week earlier. some things looked familiar to me, such as the paintings of Christ on the ceiling. Or should i say similar? i saw one man bring a beer in there but i said nothing, as it wasn't my place to call him out for that. but it still didn't look right to me. in the evening i went to the St. Paul Saints baseball game, against Worcester. this is the red sox team, and i know why i chose this game. for a while i was seeing one red sox game a year as i saw it as my way of keeping the memory alive of my favorite movie, 'good will hunting', a movie that changed my life. based on my plans for attending their baseball games this year, it would also get me up to a round number, ten games. at the outset i think i had planned on seeing just seven, based on looking at the promotional schedule. but it is fine to attend games even when no big fireworks show or giveaway item is planned. and i had the time to attend as well. the Saints won, 9-5. 

twins game, hawaiian shirt

 this was the day of the Minnesota Twins baseball game where a Hawaiian shirt i wanted was being given away. i had to order a special themed ticket but i didn't mind as it has a Charlie Brown theme. one reason is because it is held for me until i pick it up and i don't have to be one of the first in line to get it. no surprise how the team's mascot, TC bear, was dressed for the occasion, wearing Charlie's famous shirt. the Twins beat the Washington Nationals, 1-0. a sac fly was what scored the game's only run. i was in the upper deck as i wasn't picky about where i was sitting. it proved to be a good idea as there was a laser light show after the game ended, and i had a good view for it. some of it did include the Charlie Brown characters, of course. i had dinner at the stadium, and i found out that cub foods, the grocery store chain, has a location there. this is where i got a bratwurst. i also got some ice cream from another concession stand. the tough thing was knowing what to do before the game and after getting off work as i had some time to fill. i decided to take the light rail back to my car and left some things in my car that i didn't want to carry around during the game. the Twins jersey given to me by my stepfather, i wasn't just wearing it at the game. i was also wearing it at work. no one said anything and i didn't expect anyone to either when many are working from home on Fridays, or that is the day of the week where people are more likely to take the day off, period. 

meetup at lake monster

 there was a meetup event at a micro-brewery in the evening, at lake monster in St. Paul. i had been there once before, having a beer there after a play i attended with a friend of mine, the retired postal worker. this was because the venue was close to the brewery. i picked up a brochure while there about a concert that will be at another venue this weekend. the concert wasn't at the brewery, but close to it. there seemed to be more than once place where one could get a drink but i prefer beer and it think the other place wasn't beer. same went for seeing pizza available, as i usually eat before i get there and this night was no different. i moved up going to Hy-Vee in Eagan as i am already booked the next day. we all know i have done this before. it meant going for groceries after i was done at the brewery. 

having

still

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 at the capitol. both are on weekends where i had very little or nothing was booked just yet, so it works well in my schedule. and i went to perform in the evening. 

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.