16 June 2016

The Heat is On for Sure!

Last Thursday night (9 June) found me volunteering again at Circus Flora (http://circusflora.org/). I was stationed in the center seating area, close to the ring, so I got a great view of the action. The air conditioning inside the big top was most appreciated, with temperatures topping 90 degrees F (32 degrees C) outside. The good sized crowd enjoyed themselves and we had no problems that I was aware of that night. I will be back there next Thursday (23 June); the show "Pastime" runs through 3 July. Hope to see you there!

It got real hot last weekend, with highs topping 90 degrees F and the heat indexes reaching 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). This was especially true in the wash bay at our rental branch, which soon took on the feel of a sauna. Not much fun being outside, even with frequent water breaks in the air conditioned lobby area. However, we got the job done.

After working Saturday morning (11 June) and a shower and rest at home, I went back outside to cheer on Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) against Tulsa Hurricanes FC at World Wide Technology Soccer Park. The home side won handily by 7 goals to 1, and I happily enjoyed cheering with the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) at the match. Fortunately, I did not have any problems due to the heat.

I found myself working in air conditioned comfort the next day, at the Kirkwood Community Center. Viva Brasil St. Louis (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/home) presented its third annual Festa Junina (June Festival), a Brazilian folk festival. I volunteered to help, and helped staff a children's game booth for about two hours. It was a fishing game, where young children with a pole fitted with a magnet tried to get rubber fish, ducks, or sharks that had matching numbers on the underside in two tries. If the boy or girl got matching numbers, he or she got a little prize. With five wins, the child got a larger prize. It was easy for me to grasp how the game worked and I had a great time with this activity.

After my stint, I got a bit of lunch. The food booths had so much business the entrees were sold out, so I had to settle with a slice of banana bread and some sweets, along with water. I also witnessed some quadrilha (square dancing), which I found a lot of fun. Before leaving just after the Festa Junina ended, I picked up brochures on Viva Brasil St. Louis and on Portuguese language courses offered through St. Louis Community College this fall. I may sign up for a language course. The volunteer coordinator thanked me very much for my help that day and would like to keep in touch with me regarding future events by the organization. I told her it was a pleasure to help and I would very much like to help out in the future.

Work this week had been a challenge with the high heat and humidity, but I have done my best, as have my colleagues, under the conditions. I made sure to drink plenty of water between vehicle cleanings, and to stay in air conditioned areas as much as possible. Due to fatigue on Monday (13 June), I passed on going to that night's Saint Louis Composite Squadron 1, Civil Air Patrol (http://www.stl1cap.com/) meeting. However, my friend in that Squadron, Linsey Daman (http://cacstlouis.com/index.html; http://singlesuccessfulceo.com/) told me by phone the next day that her unit wants to host a presentation next month by Gateway Chapter IPMS (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/). I told Linsey I will let my club mates know and would very much like to make such a presentation.

Off work today, I made the rounds of some fellow Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) branches. I took two dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme (https://www.krispykreme.com/) to the Airport location. My former Ellisville colleague, Hannah Gober, happily accepted the doughnuts for the branch. We chatted a bit, with Hannah telling me she is coming back to Ellisville tomorrow (17 June). I was very happy to hear that; she is a real go-getter. Then, a took some butter cookies to the downtown car rental branch, and to the downtown truck rental (https://www.enterprisetrucks.com/truckrental/en_US/businessUse.html?cm_mmc=EnterpriseWebsite-_-Footer-_-businesses.truck-_-ENUS) branch, where another former Ellisville colleague, Adeline Wider, is manager. I chatted with her and a colleague there, and got caught up on things. Adeline was very happy to accept the treats from me, telling me these are her favorite cookies. She's another terrific person I have worked with at the firm. I concluded my visits with a stop at the Brentwood branch, where a dropped off cookies with Alex Breuer, the new manager there who was assistant manager at Ellisville last year. He was most happy to see me, saying this brief visit made his day. I was very happy to hear that from Alex, a great guy.

Home, I watched UEFA EURO 2016 (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/) group stage matches on TV, and got my laundry done. Tonight, I am off to the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) meeting, with airborne law enforcement the topic. More on that in next post. I'll also follow the USA vs Ecuador quarterfinal in the Copa America Centenario (http://www.ca2016.com/). Go USA!

Later.