Hectic Days and Nights

A week ago Saturday (7 May), after working that morning at the car rental branch, I was home to work on model kits on my workbench. Late that afternoon, I went to Smugala's Pizza Pub in Sunset Hills (http://smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills) for a beer, then to catch the Pub2Park shuttle bus to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park. I cheered on Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) against Swope Park Rangers, a match the home side won by 3 goals to nil. It was such a fun time.

This past week was a busy one for us at the car rental branch, with Monday morning (9 May) being very busy, even by Monday morning standards. I wonder how we could get things done, but we did.

I spent much of my free time these past few days working on some model kits I wanted done in time for this Tuesday's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting, with the quarterly model contest. I had hopes to have up to three models to enter, but now I won't have any. One I had to set aside as being too complicated, a second has a ruined canopy (I have emailed the manufacturer for a replacement), and the third is now a no-go as a part has gone missing. Wow, I feel like such a chump.

Mom left town last Monday to visit my brother Doug and his family in Los Angeles for two weeks. I am taking care of things around the house in the meantime, such as mowing the lawns yesterday. For myself, I got a new battery for my laptop this past week. It has been nearly two years since I last bought a battery for the computer, and lately it has not been holding a charge. This new battery should work out very nice.

I worked yesterday morning at the car rental branch. Today, I spent the whole day at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield (http://spiritairport.com/spiritairport/index.jsp), which this weekend hosted the Spirit of St. Louis Airshow and STEM Expo (http://spirit-airshow.com/). I helped staff the Missouri Aviation Historical Society's booth (https://moavhist.org/). We passed out MOAHS business cards with info on the club, and bookmarks promoting the book on Lambert Airport our members worked on that is scheduled for release this November. I didn't spent much time outside the booth, so I didn't get to view the static displays much and none of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Expo, but I did see the aerial displays. They included both the US Navy's Blue Angels (https://www.blueangels.navy.mil/) and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds (http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/snowbirds/index.page), plus the US Air Force's F-22 Raptor, the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-18, and some World War II era aircraft. I understand that the cooler and windier than normal weather on Saturday did dampen some enthusiasm, but that today's balmier weather increased visitors to our booth.

By the way, MOAHS meets again this Thursday night (19 May) at 7:00 pm at Creve Coeur Airport (http://www.crevecoeurairport.com/).

Looks like I'll be in Louisville this weekend for the Military Modelers Club of Louisville contest. More on that in my next post.

Later.

A Hectic, But Satisfying Weekend

After a hard, but ultimately successful week of work at the car rental branch, I had quite a weekend. I spent some free time during Saturday (30 April) morning and early afternoon working on a couple of scale model kits. I'm looking to get them done in time for the contest at the May IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting in just under two weeks from now. In mid-afternoon, I headed to West County Center (http://www.shopwestcountycenter.com/) in Des Peres for the Greater St. Louis Book Fair (http://www.stlouisbookfair.org/). After a brief bit of shopping, where I bought two history books, I reported for a volunteer shift. Four about four hours, I helped count the merchandise customers had selected and supplying the totals per price range to the nearby cashier, and packing the items in bags or (in some cases) boxes. I found it wasn't as busy as at previous Book Fairs, perhaps due to the stormy weather that hit the area late in my shift. Still, it was most satisfying to helping out at this event.

Right after getting off my shift, I headed to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton for Saint Louis FC's (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) match against Vancouver Whitecaps II. That was the plan; however, Mother Nature had other plans. Lightning in the vicinity postponed the match. After about a three-hour delay, the match was called off as it was clear that the lightning would not leave the area soon. It will be made up later this season. Hopefully, there won't be stormy weather this Saturday, when Saint Louis FC hosts Swope Park Rangers.

After a bit of sleep at home, I was up early the next morning (1 May) and heading for Six Flags St. Louis (https://www.sixflags.com/stlouis) in Eureka. There, I was a volunteer Course Marshal for the Roller Coaster Race (http://rollercoasterrace.com/), a 10 km and 5 km footrace through the theme park. After some difficulty, I found my station on the course just before the first runners came my way. I was there for about an hour, directing and encouraging the runners as they passed through my position. It was a lot of fun helping out at this event, with proceeds going to Operation Food Search (http://www.operationfoodsearch.org/), which helps provide food to the needy in the St. Louis area.

After my volunteer stint at Six Flags, I headed to the Kirkwood Community Center (http://www.kirkwoodmo.org/content/City-Departments/1856/community-center.aspx). There, I attended the Midwest Model Vehicle Association/St. Louis (MMVA/STL) (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/MMVAStLouis.html) Spring Contest and Swap Meet. IPMS/Gateway had a table there with two model car displays, and I chatted with club members there and elsewhere in the room. I also bought an aircraft model kit from one of the vendors before going home. The IPMS/Gateway display plugged the club's Invitational this September.

I spent more free time this past week working on those models. If all goes well, I will have three kits done to enter in the club contest.

Like quite a few people in and around St. Louis, I have been following the St. Louis Blues (http://blues.nhl.com) in the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Let's go Blues!

Tuesday afternoon (3 May), after flexing out of work, I went home and made contributions on Give STL Day (https://givestlday.org/). This was an effort on behalf of various non-profit organizations. The website was down, though, due to heavy traffic, so I ended up phoning in my contributions. This year, I pledged to: Viva Brasil STL (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/home); Cinema St. Louis (cinemastlouis.org); Circus Flora (http://circusflora.org/); Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri (https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-st-louis-region-southwest-missouri); and, Saint Louis Power Soccer United (http://www.saintlouispowersoccerunited.org/).

Later.

Evading Fake Bullets and Real Rain

One week ago tonight (21 April) found me at Creve Coeur Airport (http://www.crevecoeurairport.com/) for the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) meeting. The late Missouri aviator Gene Talbott was remembered, with his movies taken while serving as a McDonnell Douglas engineer during the Vietnam War were screened. They were silent films, but most interesting in showing carrier operations off Vietnam and the shore bases in South Vietnam and the Philippines. We also got an update on the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show and STEM Expo (http://spirit-airshow.com/) on 14-15 May. I am looking forward to that show.

Saturday morning (23 April) found me at Jefferson Barracks County Park (http://www.stlouisco.com/ParksandRecreation/ParkPages/JeffersonBarracks) in south St. Louis County for the annual World War II Weekend (http://2ndrangers.org/wwii_weekend.php). Hundreds of reinactors played American, German, British, Canadian, Australian, and Soviet troops. I came in time for a battle where these reinactors battled--shooting blanks, of course--in demonstrating how soldiers fought in World War II. After the battle, I toured the various encampments where the reinactors talked with visitors and displayed their uniforms, equipment, and weapons. It is always a most interesting time for this history buff.

That night, I was at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park (http://saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) for the St. Louligans Trivia Night. I joined with others to answer various trivia questions while raising money for the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate fund and the Soccer Park refurbishment. My team did very well, finishing second. After the trivia, we watched the Saint Louis FC away match at Sacramento Republic. (Saint Louis won, 1-0.) A very good night overall.

Back to work on Monday after a relaxing Sunday at home. Monday night, I was at home watching the St. Louis Blues (http://blues.nhl.com/) defeat the Chicago Blackhawks and advance in the NHL (https://www.nhl.com/) Stanley Cup Playoffs. Go Blues!

Around midday Tuesday (26 April), we got some stormy weather. Thunderstorms, a touch of hail, and winds battered our area. Fortunately, the worst passed Ellisville. After work, I drove to Rick Keasey's house in Edwardsville for the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting, where we planned next month's meeting and discussed club business. A lot of driving that day.

This morning on my day off, workers came to the house to replace the mattresses on my and my mom's beds. The old mattress was badly in need of replacement, and the new one should work out very well for years to come.

I have a busy weekend ahead, starting with volunteering Saturday afternoon at the Greater St. Louis Book Fair (http://stlouisbookfair.org/) at West County Center. I'm also volunteering at Sunday morning's Roller Coaster Race at Six Flags St. Louis (http://rollercoasterrace.com/races/st-louis-mo-10k-5k-six-flags/). More on all that in my next post.

Later

"Who are we?" "S-T-L!"

I kept hard at work at the car rental branch late last week, including Saturday morning (16 April). The latter was one of the calmer Saturdays I've been working at the branch--not that many rentals, not that many vehicles to clean and park. It went smoothly, needless to say.

That night, I drove to Smugala's Pizza Pub in Sunset Hills (http://smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills), where--after having a beer--I got aboard the Pub2Park shuttle bus that took me to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park for the Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) home opener against Tulsa Hurricanes. I was part of a sellout crowd of just over 5500--myself joining in the chants of the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/)--but the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Still, it was great fun and I'm looking forward to many more great matches this season.

The next morning (17 April), I was at Sportport (http://www.sportportintl.com/) in Maryland Heights to referee two under 10 boys league matches. These are 8-a-side, on a smaller field with 25-minute halves. It was my first matches since last fall and I did feel a bit rusty at first, but overall things went well.

After the matches, I drove to Shameless Grounds (http://shamelessgrounds.com/) in St. Louis' Benton Park neighborhood for the Sex Positive STL Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/Sex-Positive-St-Louis/). After lunch there--I had the Chauvinist Pig sandwich of ham, pulled pork, and bacon--the meetup had a discussion of Autism & Dating, with a certified analyst and a group member with Asperger's syndrome (like me) leading the discussion. It was very interesting and I got much out of it. The analyst invited me to contact me about how he could work with me to help me out in the social sector, and I plan to take him up on that.

Work this week has been good, and busy. Plenty to keep me occupied, for sure.

After work on Tuesday (19 April), I headed to Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) in Mehlville for the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting. Rick Keasey gave a demo on making display cases, and we had our Model of the Month "Beauty Contest."

On my off day today, I visited the IKEA store in midtown St. Louis (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/store/st_louis/indexPage) for the first time. I was most impressed by the place, with the size, variety and quantity of home furnishings available for purchase. I bought a couple of small items--a lazy susan for use on my model workbench, and a small picture frame--and had a nice lunch in their restaurant. Plenty to see there and I hope to be back in the near future.

After that, I went by CRM Hobbies (http://www.crmhobbies.com/) in south St. Louis, where I bought some filler putty and a small armor kit, which I hope to finish by next month's IPMS/Gateway meeting. I also have three other kits in progress, and I hope to have them all done next month.

Off to the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) meeting tonight. More on that--and this weekend's World War II Weekend at Jefferson Barracks County Park--in my next post.

Later.

A Night at the Science Center

Had more productive times the past few days at work. Working hard along with my colleagues, including two new management trainees who just joined the Ellisville branch. They will be strong additions to our location.

Got some scale modeling done the past few days, including work on two aircraft kits. I hope to have one of them done by the IPMS/Gateway (http://ipms-gateway.com) meeting next month, when a contest will be held.

After work last night, I headed to the Saint Louis Science Center (http://www.slsc.org/) for Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) Night. I arrived at about 6:50 pm, so I missed the lecture that started the program, but I did join with others in visiting the Center's current exhibit "Above and behind," which I toured two weeks ago. After some time there, we went to the Omnimax Theater to watch the film "Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag" (http://www.fighterpilotfilm.com/), which came out 12 years ago. It was a thrilling look at a US Air Force fighter pilot taking part in a Red Flag training exercise in Nevada. I--and other viewers--felt we were flying along on these missions. A very nice night.

Off work today, I had my semi-annual visit with my dentist. Good news: All is well with my teeth. Got lunch and did a bit of shopping before coming home, where I finished doing my laundry and rested.

Looking forward to the Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) home opener this Saturday night. I will let you know how that goes in my next post here.

Later.

Quietly Busy Week

After a lazy Sunday at home, it was back to work on Monday (4 April). Our branch said goodbye to three of our management trainees, two of whom were transferring to the Airport and a third to the Manchester branch down the street. One management trainee came to us this week from the Airport, with another joining us late this week. Things are going well at the branch, working with our customers and adjusting to the inventory, weather (a bit of rain yesterday), and reduced available parking slots. The latter is due to a business opening soon in our old location next door, which means we won't be able to use the parking slots by their for our vehicles. We'll work around it, though.

Not much happening here this week. Been rather tired. Must be because I have a hard time sleeping. Hope that improves soon. This afternoon, on my off day, I did shop for some new cargo pants and found a nice pair at the Old Navy (http://oldnavy.gap.com/) store in Mehlville.

Later.

Highs and Lows This Week

A week ago tonight (26 March) found me at the International Tap House in Soulard (http://www.internationaltaphouse.com/#!locations/c5ob), where I joined with other St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) in cheering on Saint Louis FC's (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) season opening match. Saint Louis FC opened the season at Real Monarchs SLC, which we witnessed via YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/). Real Monarchs won 1-0 with a 90th minute goal. A disappointment for sure, but it was fun with the large crowd (about 180) of St. Louligans in the house. (Saint Louis FC lost its second match, 3-0, at LA Galaxy II Wednesday night; they are at Orange County Blues tonight.)

Work this past week has been good, with some busy stretches. A particularly interesting time was had yesterday (1 April), and that wasn't an April Fool's joke. I was detached with a colleague to deliver vehicles to the Kirkwood branch, which was very busy. I ended up cleaning up a vehicle there, helping keep the counter going well, and going to our Creve Coeur branch to get another vehicle for Kirkwood. I was returned to Ellisville some three hours later. It was real calm back at Ellisville while I was gone, but picked up before closing time. I worked this morning there and it was quite busy, but our customers were taken care of in good order, as usual.

After flexing out Tuesday afternoon (29 March), I stopped by HobbyTown USA in Ballwin, which is going out of business. The cashier told me the store owner was retiring. I bout a model kit and a die-cast aircraft model, both at 40 percent off list price. That night, I was at the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting, held at Marion Morris' house in Maplewood. We planned the April meetings and discussed other club business.

My off day Thursday (31 March) was full. I got my hair cut at Great Clips (http://www.greatclips.com/) at Tenholder Plaza in Mehlville. After starting my laundry, I headed to the Enterprise branch at Lambert Airport to drop off a card for my friend and colleague Kerry, who gave birth to a baby girl earlier in the week. Then, I drove to the Saint Louis Science Center (http://www.slsc.org). I went there to tour the exhibit "Above and Beyond," which looks at aerospace technology today and in the future. Very nice, with many hands-on exhibits. The exhibit runs until 8 May.

After grabbing lunch in one of the Center's cafes, I took in the Omnimax film "Living in the Age of Airplanes." It's a movie about the role of aircraft in connecting the world through tourism and business. I was very impressed with this movie. I then browsed at the Center's James S. McDonnell Planetarium, where Mercury and Gemini spacecraft were on display. I also viewed an F/A-18B Hornet fighter in Blue Angels colors and markings displayed just outside the Planetarium. Overall, a very nice day. I needed that, after feeling rather down the day before as I wondered if I really was somebody with a future. My colleagues assured me I did.

After work today, I grabbed lunch at Steak 'n Shake (http://www.steaknshake.com/), then drove to the St. Louis County Library Headquarters in Ladue (http://www.slcl.org/content/headquarters). The STL Aspies Meetup group (http://www.meetup.com/STL-Aspies/) met for the first time in about a year. About eight of us got together to tell ourselves how we're doing. It was a nice discussion and then we retired to St. Louis Bread Company (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html) at nearby Plaza Frontenac (http://www.plazafrontenac.com/en.html) for refreshments and discussion. A good time, and we'll meet again in August.

Later.