respond with a '1'

 there was a dial-in meeting about check shop functions just after midday, except there wasn't much for me to do. there was two messages sent by a senior leader, and it said 'respond with a 1' so i did. when i was at lunch i noticed these went to my phone as well, as a text message. guess our i.t. guy handled most of the demos for the moderator. it was annoying to get more instant messages from the manager in phoenix about the tax checks to send out directly to the recipients. i had to explain that i can't print the file unless it has been approved to print. and the dude didn't even know what i meant when i referred to the name of the business line those two checks were found in. i think i will like the second i-pay release being moved up, as there might have been more checks in it this time, but not many overnights. i was able to get out earlier compared to the previous day. except i had to let the courier in who was picking up the mail tubs. badge access is still an issue for her, but i said no one can count on me being there to let someone in. i watched the world series in the evening, game five, yankees led early but then a big inning left it tied 5-5. the dodgers went on to win, 7-6, and won the series, 4-1. later on i went on a walk and found 35 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when the ladies dressed up as princesses for their trip to disneyland, while the dudes spoke to students at the school howard had attended. it was followed by the one where leonard made it back early from the north sea and tried to be alone with penny but was caught by sheldon. 

courier at teller line

 at work, close to midday the doorbell rang at the check shop and i found out the courier was at the teller line with the mail tubs. when i was leaving at the end of the day, i saw the other courier as well. both claimed to have badge access issues. i said that no one can count on me being there late in the day if the courier is there to pick up the mail tubs. there was also a quick dial-in meeting with the boss, guess the second i-pay of the day is being moved up because the downtown office has an earlier pick-up time on the mail. i wasn't complaining with the first one that was moved up, as there was just five checks and none of them were overnights. one check file with overnights was late, but it was still early enough that i was able to get it printed and sent out same day. vacation replacement tells me the poland team is handling it, and his friend had a four-hour meeting about it, explaining why it was even later on monday. i would like to think that things will get better with the earlier i-pay, but this day also had plenty of overnights from the mortgage file. in the evening i watched the world series on fox, game four, yankees went ahead with a grand slam and went on to win, 11-4. dodgers still lead the series, 3-1. later on, i went on a walk and found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns are doing halloween episodes this week. there was when leonard tried to hook up with a lady from stuart's comic book shop, but then was too honest about dating priya, even though she went back to india. it was followed by the one where edwin 'buzz' aldrin guest stars, in reference to howard talking a lot about being in space. 

boom! got it

 john madden would have been proud, because when i was researching travel ideas and found a good one i let a colleague know by saying 'boom! got it'. madden was known for saying 'boom!' as a broadcaster. i told myself i wanted to make a daytrip more worthwhile when wanting to see an art museum out of town, so it meant finding another museum or historic site to see on the same day. not in the same towns, but just an hour apart. this means it is doable if i get started early enough. i was researching ideas for where to eat as well, wanting to choose a place i don't get too that often. this narrowed the search a lot, especially when some ideas were crossed off the list when i found out hours of operation. if an establishment is closed on the day i want to go, then keep looking. at work i had to say more than once how a file was not approved yet. surprises me a little how i have to prompt business lines about it, seeing an email about checks to be overnighted. then one file arrived late in the day, and i said it wasn't going out same day because i don't have enough time to get it done. i still imported the file, though. taking this step is still a good idea, since it makes it a little easier for me when i am ready to get it done. in the evening i went to perform and the bartender said i was late but when i did get a beer i am told this will be his response no matter what time i showed up. i said 'ha' about it. in my set i did one about stickers on cars, and bank stories about lockboxes and other annoyances i deal with. i watched some of the world series, game three at home, then listened on the radio, and watched some at the bar when i wasn't performing. dodgers won to go up 3-0 in the series. later on, i went on a walk and found 30 cents. the 'big bang theory' reruns were both about penny's ex, kurt. first was a halloween episode, then there was when she paid his fines at court. 

bunyan and babe movie

 this morning i watched a DVD movie, 'bunyan and babe', a recent amazon order. i chose it because john goodman was one of the actors, voicing paul. and one can't go too far wrong when jeff foxworthy is also in it, voicing babe. at first it appeared that kelsey grammer was voicing the villainous hypnotist, and he did, but the closing credits said he voiced both villains, two brothers, the other being a real estate developer. i think this is one of those kinds of movies where we know what the ending will be, but how we get there, the 'thrill of the chase', is still entertaining. in this case, it means paul and babe save the day. i had a dairy queen pumpkin pie blizzard at mall of america in the afternoon, then it was on to see a play in the twin cities horror festival. saw a play there last year as well. this time i saw one about the 'roll the dice' version of baseball. and since it is a horror festival, it means some of the players get murdered. since i know baseball fairly well i was familiar with the name dropping of players throughout this show, or even the puns and other references to historical figures. the program was put inside a red and white striped popcorn bag. if i had any favorite characters, it would be the main character's boss, who calls every so often, because the boss was dour. i had a craving for hash browns or fries after the play and found some at an arby's. then it was home, where i saw the rest of the bears game, near the nation's capital. bears lost on a 'hail mary'. i watched some of the next game, cowboys-49ers, after getting back from a long walk, where i found 32 cents. 49ers won it. 'the simpsons' was about abe as a private eye. then late in the evening i did the dishes. 

saints mega merch sale

 there wasn't much planned for the day, but the main thing was going to a 'mega merch sale' at the saints baseball stadium. i knew full well that i wouldn't buy much, as i already have plenty of hats, jerseys, and shirts. what i liked was that the souvenir shop wasn't near as crowded as it is on game days. i bought one item, a ball. it was a black and white ball with the STP in the shape of a pig, likely from the 25-year anniversary season. i am aware of how some items from their days as an independent club haven't sold yet, and this must be one of them. it will go next to the other one i have with this styling, which is blue and white. i had lunch there as well, but only one food stand was open. and not much was available, so i ended up getting a hot dog and some cider. i will likely return to this venue for the holiday lights, sometime in december but no ticket ordered yet. i wanted to get my money's worth on the parking fee i had paid, which was two hours. after leaving the stadium i walked around downtown a little. first stop was at a pizza place near the stadium and mears park. i usually pass by it on game nights, having already eaten before the game, or just wanting to get back to my car and leave after the game. i had some sparkling water and a slice of pepperoni pizza. i ended up at rice park, then going past candyland and then back to my car. before then i did the typical errand running. there was three orders to pick up at the post office. then i dumped recycle at a bin near the capitol and went to the copy store to print an event ticket. i had some ice cream at a mcdonald's, after finding out a dairy queen was closed for the season. when i got home i rested some and then got groceries at aldi. in the evening i had a sandwich at jersey mike's, then went home to watch the world series on fox. much like with game one, i was tired and fell asleep and missed some of it. i laid down when the dodgers were leading the yanks 4-1 in the 6th, found out the score held up, as the dodgers went on to win, 4-2. another thing i did was get a look at various things in the kitchen, and decided to take out some of the plastic food containers i wasn't using. i had six, but really just use two. one is for granola bars and snack cakes, the other for canned fruit. so now it is down to three, the others will be sent for recycling. later on i went on a walk and found 1 dollar 59 cents. 

broken coffee mug

at work i was coming back from lunch and had the mail tubs with me. i was a little too careless and i dropped my coffee mug, it fell on the concrete floor in the check shop, and it was broken. this was a mug given to me when working for General Electric. my first idea was to get a replacement, from e-bay. but when i got home i found out i had a plastic cup from 'employee appreciation week' at g.e. so i have found a suitable replacement. i recall when my stoneware container for heating up soup in the microwave oven was broken many years ago, it was replaced with a plastic one as those are less likely to be broken. and i still use that plastic container. long live this cup! actually, i have already had it for a while. it was in the freezer with other souvenir cups from schools and sporting events i have attended, along with some charlie brown cups. it will be taken to work soon. and the mug was the only personal item i kept at work. if i feel the need at some point later on, then i can order another mug from e-bay as there were plenty of listings available. but that mug would likely only be used at home, where i have seven in rotation, changing once a week. it was annoying getting an i.m. from two people about the same check copy request. i had to let them know that at the time it was emailed to me, the file it was in was not yet 'approved to print' and was approved an hour later. i printed it just minutes after it was approved. i let them know when i hit 'reply to all' once the check copy was found how i need time to complete requests. i don't know why that was considered to be the most important check in the file, as it wasn't even close to being the highest value in terms of those i was overnighting for the day. i got groceries from hy-vee in eagan in the evening, nine items. there are some boxes of halloween cereal that remain, four kinds. good chance that some will be discounted when i make another visit a week from now. if i get any more, the edge goes to the apple jacks and rice krispies. i still have eight boxes of halloween cereal i am still working on. i was watching the world series at home, then found it on the radio for the drive to the store. it was a scoreless tie when i entered, and the yanks were up 2-1 when i got out. a man liked my wild hockey winter hat, said so when entering. i watched the game once i got home again, but fell asleep in my chair near the end of it, dodgers won on a walk-off grand slam. during my walks i found 50 cents. the 'big bang theory' rerun was when sheldon and amy get together on her borthday, while wil wheaton gets his ticket to 'star wars'. 

cheddar cheese combos snack

 i bought another bag of cheddar cheese combos from the vending machine at work, it was the second i had bought this week. i like things with cheese in them, so hard to beat a baked pretzel. the bag does say there are other flavors available. there is cheddar cheese cracker, and pizzeria pretzel. there is also mention of a web address, 'for more fun'. this is made by mars wrigley, and i was familiar with both companies before they merged. at work the boss was in and stayed longer than expected but still left to work from home. there was mention of more meetings he had. it meant i delayed going to walgreen for a snack, normally that is done at the end of my lunch. when the mail dude did an intro for his fill-in the boss spoke with him as well. guess this will be for two months, visiting his native land. we did put out the question again to the big mailroom, about getting a lockbox at the downtown facility. it had been more than a month since the dial-in meeting about it. and it likely means there will be more meetings about it. taking it with us doesn't seem practical, as facilities would have to un-hook it from the wall, a brick wall no less. i drank the can of michelob with the evening meal so now four beers are waiting. during my walks i found 1 dollar, all in quarters. the 'big bang theory' reruns were when we meet ramona, who reveres sheldon but is also controlling. this leads to a rare song being played, 'be my yoko ono'. it was followed by the one where sheldon and amy get back together, after sheldon figures out the song stuck in his head was a beach boys song.