totally rad vintage fest

 after doing the laundry in the morning, i met some friends and went to the st. paul saints baseball game. actually it was a double header. the theme was a 'totally rad vintage fest'. a comic friend showed up after our main group did, the bathtub comic, and decided to look around there. he bought a 'simpsons' VHS tape and some packs of trading cards. i got a look there myself but i noticed it was mostly clothing. there were some CDs but most of those discs i recognized were ones i already had. it is rare to get invited to an event with comics away from the clubs so i welcomed it. i was invited by cul-de-sac and his companion. the double header was a split. saints took the lid-lifter, and the nashville sounds took the nightcap. when i spoke of seeing the 'san diego chicken' or 'famous chicken' perform at an iowa cubs game vs. nashville when i was just a kid, it made me feel old when the other comics didn't know who that was. had to look up that performer and found out he still performs, but not too often now. i know i didn't pay too much attention to the games compared to when i see it by myself, but i didn't care too much since i was around people i have seen less often since the pandemic began. i was wearing the long sleeve charlie brown shirt i bought online from cane's chicken, inspired by when those characters were in that food outlet's ad campaign. bathtub wanted a picture of it. and i got in a group photo with mudonna, the saints mascot. the other comic there i didn't know as well, who has a joke about the movie 'coming to america', but it sounds like we work for the same company, different locations. in other issues i checked facebook and got a response to my message from the alumni chapter, asking if there is a twins game outing this season. i am told there will be one in july, and it is a weekend where i had nothing planned just yet so it is likely that i can make it. during my walks i found 95 cents. 

george foreman movie

 at mid-morning i went to see the bio-pic about boxer george foreman. the character i liked in it the most was his trainer, played by forest whitaker. this was the only actor i recognized in it. it covers the highlights of his boxing career, and getting into preaching, except the mention of the grill bearing his name was just a passing reference. it was a sparse crowd at this screening, in eagan. i had noticed this week when checking fandango that even though it was just the second week at theaters, there weren't many screenings in the metro area. so i knew i had to see this movie quick. also notable was the preview for the documentary about baseball player yogi berra. it is starting in new york and los angeles in less than a week and i would like to think it will get a nation-wide release shortly after that. after the movie, i drove to the hi-lo diner in minneapolis on lake street. i had the dish called 'gary cooper', which was fried chicken in gravy on top of a house donut. this was such a big donut that i used a knife and fork to eat it. there was an older couple next to me that said it was their first visit as well. the man saw my leather jacket and spoke of gloves he still has that he bought the year of the moon landing. after i got home i took out what was stashed under the front seats. this included the two e-bay orders i had picked up at the post office before the movie, as well as the event tickets i had printed at the copy store. i also found some things under the front seats. there was a lens from ray-ban sunglasses, and two receipts. one was from a gas station in st. anthony in 2010, and the other was from taco john's in new brighton in 2011. in the evening i watched the baseball game in fox, sort of. i was online for part of it so i wasn't paying too close attention to it. boston beat philadelphia 7-4. during my walks i found 78 cents.

eagle token

 i check the change counting machine when i go to hy-vee in eagan, and tonight there was an eagle token in it. on the other side of the coin it said 'no cash value'. i still like keeping those as souvenirs. it was another small order, eight items. but i get only what i need. at work it was a day of seeing i was caught up by the end of the week, so it meant sending out returned checks. three of them were overnighted to kansas city. usually i wait for a live check to send with them but there haven't been any lately. there was some emails about a check 'with no funds' when presented at a bank to be cashed. i had overnighted it as part of the newer business line, but i was not immediately aware of what i could do. it was positive paid on my end. still trying to do some event planning for the summer. i am aware of how all things are subject to change, and of course i might cut an event or two off my list when it gets closer. i am considering two county fairs, although i haven't been to one in a while because it is just easier to attend the state fair. during my walks i found 8 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the friends were being chased after stealing the special screening of an indiana jones movie. while the ladies do girl talk, as well as truth or dare. it was followed by the one where a beach boys song gets sheldon and amy back together. 

zapps voodoo chips

 i am used to seeing mostly frito- lay products in the vending machine at work, so it surprised me to see something from zapp's, which is owned by utz. since i loved visiting the big easy, i bought the only bag of zapps chips i saw, voodoo new orleans style. it was barbecue flavored but i could taste the vinegar as well. the bag is really colorful, i liked that. it was a low volume day on check printing, the fargo files totaled under a thousand, usually it is not that low. but it meant i had more time to do the overnight labels, and there was ten to do for the newer business line. and there was some refund checks to send to another office, a thing i do usually once a week. i am still finding ideas for meetup events, one of them is a museum tour but it is after labor day so i haven't signed up yet as it is more than four months away. i think i will stick to just seven groups for now, even though i got a look at some others. i was getting emails when events were announced saying i was close to RSVP number 50. i joined a little over seven years ago, no surprise it is taking me that long to get there as i have mostly been doing weekend walks. and i have other interests to pursue that exist outside meetup. and i co-opted a few ideas, so that also kept the number of events attended kind of low. 'young sheldon' was about sheldon accepting a summer program in germany. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 47 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when an FBI agent interviewed the friends about howard. it was followed by the one where some friends decided to spy on amy's date with a brit, but get caught when they hit his car. 

back-to-back shipments

 i was wondering if this month's supply order was held up by a senior leader approval, but this morning i found out it no doubt had been placed. first the envelope order arrived, 30 boxes, and a few minutes after completing it the call arrived for the check stock, 33 cartons. i do prefer the morning for handling shipments as i have more time to get caught up on my normal duties. and the backlog of running checks through the machine has been eliminated, aided by a lower volume to print for the day. i did some more research about the meetup group i just joined and it looks like some of their events fill up quickly, months in advance. after being wait-listed for the first event of theirs that i signed up for, i hesitate to sign up for another where i know i will also be wait-listed. i have ordered a ticket for a st. paul saints baseball game on memorial day weekend, so now i have two events to attend on that holiday weekend. i found two more festivals of interest to me by going to the explore minnesota website. and i will try some other sites to get more ideas. i have ideas on events for most weekends through oktoberfest in new ulm, although i am being careful on not ordering tickets too far in advance. so far it is just an event in late june, aside from the end of this month, where i have already booked it and paid for tickets. 'the conners' was about mark's graduation, and it showed high school senior pictures for other cast members, including john goodman's which i had seen before. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 85 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard has a fling with priya while she has a layover. it was followed by the one where leonard nimoy's son interviews sheldon for a documentary, and reveals he had a ring for amy and was ready to propose to her when they broke up. 

duplicated meetup events

 one of the lines on my to-do list was to send a text to a friend i know from meetup events. it was the retired postal worker. i was looking for recommendations on groups. i said i had left a group due to seeing how it was duplicating events from another. based on this, i joined one group and left three, so now i have seven groups i am in. and i signed up for two events for this month, although i was wait-listed for one of them. i checked the events in groups i had left, in some cases it wasn't just duplicated events, it also was ones i wasn't attending such as i am not a gamer. so it goes back to 'stressing quality'. at work it was a high volume day on check printing but since the machine is humming along i got most of the checks out the door. it was four full mail tubs put out, just two stacks of checks remaining. one colleague asked if i can pick up outgoing mail from the bin i leave incoming mail in, i asked why they couldn't put it in the tub in the mailroom. i said i wasn't going to pick up from it that often, as i check the floor for deliveries just twice a day. for another department, i found out that manager is out of the office for now, but i had plenty of refund checks to drop off so i let someone know that i was going to leave plenty in their bin. 'night court' was a 'to be continued' episode where dan decided to leave for his native state, and abby the judge is arrested. later in the evening i went on a walk and found 1 cent. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when leonard is fixed up by howard and bernadette, but she was awful. it was followed by the one with 'uncle harvey', the helium tank that sheldon and leonard bought from a man in a parking ramp. and amy's phone is hijacked by her friends, who make jokes about the dudes on the dating app.

flushing hydrants

 when i was out for a walk at the end of lunchtime i saw a city employee flushing some of the nearby fire hydrants. so i got a picture of it. i did my best to avoid stepping in the water when i was crossing the street. i haven't done many of these walks lately to see the nearby businesses. not too much out of the ordinary at work aside from putting in the monthly supply order in the morning. and late in the day i put in one for more stick-on pouches for the overnight envelopes. looks like the boss is working off-site for much of the week. i am doing my best to plan out the summer by writing down the events that are of interest to me and printing an online page to remind me as well. late in the evening i went on a walk and found 25 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when howard and bernadette had guest stars trying to tell the when to 'make the move'. while raj and sheldon try to work together but end up acting childish. it was followed by the one where the friends learn fencing from kripke.