A Weekend with Coffee, Soccer, and Car Models

One week ago today (22 October), I spent some time at the Drury Inn & Suites (https://wwws.druryhotels.com/PropertyHotelServices.aspx?Property=0164) in Brentwood for a business expo, presented by the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce (http://www.brentwoodmochamber.com/). My friend Gina March--a former Webster University colleague--is the chamber's executive director and she invited me to this event. I wondered around tables staffed by Brentwood merchants of many kinds, ranging from financial services and restaurants to healthcare. I ran into two people of note at this expo. One was Peggy, aka Krazy Peg, who I knew from a Meetup group I was in a few years ago. She and her husband run a print shop and we chatted for a bit. I was also chatting with Kitt Weis, an Edward Jones financial advisor who graduated from Mehlville High three years after I did and who knew my brother Brian. It was nice getting caught up on things with Kitt.

After some time at the expo, I headed to the Tivoli Theatre in the Delmar Loop for the volunteer orientation for the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) (http://www.cinemastlouis.org/about-festival), which runs 5 to 15 November at several St. Louis area venues. The volunteer coordinator went over the duties of the volunteers--including offering programs, survey forms, and ballots to the attendees entering the theater; and, collecting survey forms and ballots after the show. I have volunteered for three shifts; I will tell you more closer to the time. I also received several SLIFF posters and promotional cards to have posted around the St. Louis area to promote the festival. This will be my fifth year as a SLIFF volunteer and I'm looking forward to this!

At work last Friday morning (23 October), I brought in some doughnuts from Krispy Kreme (http://www.krispykreme.com/) in Fenton for my colleagues. They included Hannah, the new management trainee who joined our branch the day before. She is brand new to the company, but I feel she will do very well. We had a busy Friday (especially in the late afternoon), but the day closed out very nicely. I was back the next morning to work, and we got through the morning very well.

After work Saturday, I headed to Rise Coffee House (http://risecoffeestl.com/) in the Grove for the Saint Louis Area Sippers (Coffee Meetup) (http://www.meetup.com/Saint-Louis-Coffee-Meetup/) get together. Eight of us got together for some refreshments and talk, which is always most interesting. It it great with these meetups in checking out various coffeehouses I would not have otherwise known, and each place having a charm of its own.

Back home after the meetup, I changed clothes, ate supper, and headed to Saint Louis University's Robert R. Hermann Stadium to cheer on the Billikens men's soccer team (http://www.slubillikens.com/SaspxportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&SPID=93202&SPSID=632571&DB_OEM_ID=27200) against Atlantic 10 Conference rival Davidson. SLU won the match 1-0, scoring early in the second half of a match they pretty much dominated. The win keeps the Billikens' chances of qualifying for the season-ending A-10 Tournament looking good.

The next morning (25 October), I was at the Kirkwood Community Center (http://www.kirkwoodmo.org/content/City-Departments/1856/community-center.aspx) for the Midwest Model Vehicle Association-St. Louis (MMVA) (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/MMVAStLouis.html) Fall contest and swap meet. I joined with two other IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) colleagues in staffing our table at the show. I brought in an assortment of my models and Doug Barton brought in two club displays: "The King and His Court" (stock cars from Richard Petty's final NASCAR season in 1992) and St. Louis-built Chevrolet Corvettes. We also had flyers promoting our contest on 10 September 2016. I didn't stay for the entire show, but I did have a look at the contest models and shopped at several of the vendors.

That night, I went online and made hotel reservations for my trip to Chicago early next month. Going on hotels.com (http://www.hotels.com/), I got some very nice deals for the two nights I'm staying--first in Springfield, Illinois on the way over, and then in Chicago after the model show that day. More on this trip in the upcoming posts.

Work has been going well this week. Busy much of the time, but we are getting our customers completely satisfied, which is the important part. After work Tuesday night (27 October), I joined with other colleagues from our area for a happy hour at Double D (http://doubledstl.com/) in Brentwood. I enjoyed the company for a few minutes before having to leave to attend this month's IPMS/Gateway business meeting at Marion Morris' house in Maplewood. There, the board members present planned next month's meetings and discussed a bit of other business.

Last night after work, I drove to Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) to get my photograph taken for the church directory. I brought a blazer, dress shirt and tie that I changed to for the photo session. It was done in just a few minutes and I was on my way home.

Today on my off day, I bought some sanding tapes and a magazine from CRM Hobbies (http://www.crmhobbies.com/) in South St. Louis, and dropped off a pair of dress trousers at a tailor shop for a minor repair. I used those sanding tapes in smoothing out some parts for a model kit I hope to finish in time for the IPMS/Butch O'Hare Chapter (http://butchoharemodelers.com/) show I'm attending next Saturday (7 November) in Downers Grove, Illinois. Looking forward to it.

Later.

I Like This Extended Indian Summer

Today is a most pleasant day to be out on my off day from work. It's sunny and nearly 80 degrees F (27 degrees C) today. It's been that way the past week. Cool overnight--getting down to about 55 degrees F (13 degrees C) at night--and then unseasonably warm by midday. Not that I'm complaining, though. We did get a bit of frost last weekend, and it looks like we'll get some much-needed rain this weekend.

Work has been fine at the branch. Hectic at times, but definitely manageable. We're getting a new employee at the branch today--I'll meet her tomorrow morning--which should help with staffing at busy times. Overall, we're moving forward.

Last Thursday (15 October), I updated my resume into versions aimed at public relations (PR) and publishing fields. One copy was sent to a staffing firm, for a PR opening, and I also sent it to several trusted friends asking for their critique. I have heard back from a few, who said overall it was very good, with only minor adjustments needed. One I am hoping to hear back from soon has experience with many resumes, so I will wait until I hear back from him before making the changes. I'm laying the groundwork for an active pursuit of full time opportunities in those areas (although I am keeping my present job in the meantime).

Also on Thursday, I got my hair cut (thanks for a great job, Great Clips), and that night was at Creve Coeur Airport (http://www.crevecoeurairport.com/) for the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (MOAVHIST; http://moavhist.org/) meeting. Air Force veteran and flight instructor Brian Kissinger spoke at the meeting, where he presented clips from "Fly Now! The Movie" (http://flynowmovie.com/), a reality aviation documentary he executive produced and starred in. The film--based on Kissinger's book "Life Short, Fly Now!"--tells of Kissinger's experiences flying around St. Louis and attending airshows around the country, while expressing the basic spirit of flight. It's also an inspirational story of going after your dreams, be it through flying or some other passion. Kissinger told the attendees of his recovery from brain cancer about 10 years ago and how that has affected his outlook on life. Jeff Wilson, director of "Fly Now! The Movie," also spoke at the MOAVHIST meeting.

Kissinger invited the attendees to a screening of the movie, which was that Saturday (17 October) at the Hi-Pointe Theatre (http://hi-pointetheatre.com/) in Clayton, Missouri. About 75 people attended the screening, which followed brief remarks from Kissinger. Afterward, I joined Kissinger and some others for lunch in the Dart Room of Blueberry Hill (http://blueberryhill.com/) in the Delmar Loop. We had sandwiches and beer, and I joined Kissinger and two others in playing darts. Not having played darts in a few years, I felt I did fine. A good time was had by all.

Right after I came home from Blueberry Hill, I got dressed in a more formal outfit and joined several refereeing colleagues at the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame (http://www.stlsoccerhalloffame.com/) induction dinner, which was held at America's Center (http://explorestlouis.com/meetings-conventions/americas-center/) in downtown St. Louis. Nearly 1000 people attended the event, in which 11 St. Louis soccer greats were inducted and several players, coaches and teams were honored. This was poignant for me (and others, I'm sure) in that one of this year's inductees was my late acquaintance and refereeing colleague Paul Dueker, who died last year. He was a goalkeeper for school and club teams, and he was a great fan of the sport, both locally and internationally. My group had to leave early--one of our party had an early game to referee the next morning--but it was most enjoyable and a wonderful way to celebrate soccer in St. Louis.

Sunday found me at home clearing out hundreds of email messages from my inbox, dating back nearly a month. It was a long effort, but worth it. I just need to be more proactive in culling my inbox daily or at least during the week.

After flexing out of work Tuesday (20 October), I got some cell phone storage hints from a salesman at Best Buy Mobile at South County Center, then went home to relax a bit before going to Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) in Mehlville for this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting. We had a nice crowd and a good turnout for the Model of the Month "Beauty Contest," plus a demo on marking models for painting, which was very informative.

Off work today, I went to my dentist in Kirkwood for a minor procedure relating to a tooth that was pulled some months ago. I was out of the office within a half hour and then visited three Enterprise branches where former Ellisville colleagues worked, bearing cookies for their respective office staffs. First, I saw Maggie and Melissa at the Kirkwood branch and chatted with them briefly. Then, I drove to the Truck Rental office in Earth City to see Adeline, who's assistant manager there, and get caught up with things. Finally, I went to our Airport location and chatted with Kerry. After these visits, I shopped a bit at The Boeing Store (http://www.boeingstore.com) in Hazelwood. On the way home, I stopped to get gas and a wash for my car. All that occurred between 8:00 am and noon. Rather productive.

I have some stuff going on later today that I'll mention in my next post.

Later.

Time of Doubt

Things are going well at work of late. We're all working hard to keep the customers busy and coming back to us. Even with short staff at times and major surges of customers (like we had this morning), everyone in the branch in pitching in to make it happen. I'm glad to be a part of such a team, even if I do leave the branch at night rather tired.

This past Saturday morning (10 October) found me at the St. Louis Artists' Guild (http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/new/) in Clayton for the Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) meeting. There was a panel discussion of children's books, with three local authors of these works telling about the processes they followed to get their books published. It was a rather interesting program, and I mentioned this to one of the authors that spoke. This was also the first time I visited the guild, which was located at the basement of the old Famous-Barr store, and which had an exhibit of textile art, which I found pretty interesting. For more on MPC, visit their site: http://www.mpc-nfpw.org.

After the MPC event, I shopped for work shoes at a Famous Footwear (http://www.famousfootwear.com) store in Brentwood before going to Cafe Ventana (http://cafeventana.com/) near the Saint Louis University (SLU) campus in midtown St. Louis. At Cafe Ventana, I met Lisa Baudendistel-Suntrup, a SLU grad I met at the party at Humphrey's late last month. We talked over coffee for about three-quarters of an hour, getting to know each other more. Lisa particularly wanted to know more about me and to try to help me out as much as I can. It was a very nice time and I really appreciated Lisa meeting me for this.

That night, I went to Amsterdam Tavern (http://amsterdamtavern.com/) in south St. Louis to watch the CONCACAF Cup match between Mexico and the USA on TV. I joined with other USA supporters to eat, drink beer, and watch the game. We came away disappointed, as Mexico won 3-2 in extra time.

Sunday (11 October), I helped my friend Linsey Daman with a letter of recommendation for the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), in which she serves in a communications role. Linsey asked me to recommend her for promotion in the organization, so I wrote a letter that she gave to her superior that night. Hopefully, this helped her. I was to have seen Linsey the next night at the CAP meeting in Hazelwood, but she mentioned that afternoon she would not be able to come, so I passed on the meeting. Maybe next time.

Lately, I've not been feeling very well about myself. I'm greatly concerned about where I am in my life, and wondering if I will ever get ahead. I want to find a better paying job doing what I love--paying enough to enable me to move out on my own. (Nothing against my current employer, of course; I just don't want to be cleaning cars all my life.) Also, I want to find a girlfriend, not really having had one ever. This makes me wonder if I will ever find true happiness, whether I will ever have a viable future. I just feel so frustrated right now.

Anyway, I am off tomorrow (Thursday), so I should have some time to recharge.

Later.

Nice First Week of October So Far

The weather has been nice--not too cold and not too hot. That's fine with me.

The week has been good at the branch this week. Enough to keep us busy. Yesterday, I said goodbye to Katie, one of our management assistants, who's leaving the firm this week. She's moving to Chicago and pursuing opportunities there. I certainly wish her all the best. We hope to touch base soon after she settles into her new place.

After work Tuesday night (6 October), I was at Mark Twain Hobby Center (http://www.hobby1.com/home.php) in St. Charles for the IPMS/St. Louis (http://www.ipms-stlouis.com/) meeting. We had six members and guests present and we talked for a bit about our latest projects, news from around the hobby, and admiring two figures one member brought in. I also browsed for a bit in the store before the meeting.

Off work today, I typed up a short article for Middle Marker, the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (http://moavhist.org/) newsletter. It was a summation of our most recent meetings. Still feel good about editing this newsletter, after my initial anxieties subsided. Still wish I had it all ready for us to put it out by our next meeting (Thursday, 15 October), but it should be ready by the beginning of November.

Also, found my backup thumb drive that has my resumes and related materials on it. I was able to call those files up and print out several of them, and save the files to my computer's hard drive and external hard drive. I plan to update these materials in the coming weeks, and let some of my trusted connections have a look over. I'm looking to get myself out there and see about opportunities in publishing or public relations. (Not that I hate what I'm doing now; it's just I want to do something more in my career wheelhouse.) You can check out my LinkedIn profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsdelaney

Later.

Articles Edited as October Begins

It's been some good, productive days at work lately. We're having plenty of business and we're working hard keeping the customers satisfied. This past Friday (2 October) marked our manager David's last day with the firm. He's left to take a sales position outside our firm. Sad to see him go, as he's done very good work since beginning to manage our branch last spring, but happy that he's found a good position going forward.

After flexing out this past Tuesday (29 September), I stopped by the Kirkwood branch to say hi to a colleague, Melissa, who used to work with me at Ellisville. We briefly got caught up on things and I asked her to say hello to her boyfriend and her mother for me.

I made much of my day off last Thursday (1 October), getting the oil changed on my Corolla in the morning. Then, I spent some time editing articles for Middle Marker, the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (http://moavhist.org/) member newsletter. I worked on four articles, including my feature for the cover story and a smaller photo feature. Scheduled for publication in mid-October, it has now been pushed to beginning of November, due to some late items we need from our society's president. Still, it was a productive time.

After working yesterday at the branch, I headed to Coffee Cartel (http://thecoffeecartel.com/) in St. Louis' Central West End for the Saint Louis Area Sippers Meetup. Three of us were there most of the time, before a fourth arrived late in the event. We enjoyed drinks there and chatted about this and that. Plus, we observed many people walking by our corner. A nice time we all had. On the way home, I stopped at CRM Hobbies (http://www.crmhobbies.com/) in south St. Louis to browse for awhile.

Later.

Meetings and a Dentist Visit

Last Thursday night (17 September) saw me at Creve Coeur Airport for the monthly meeting of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (http://moavhist.org/). A presentation on aviation photography was made by four of the society's members, which I found most interesting. I also touched base with others regarding the member newsletter, Middle Marker, which I am now editing. The society's board is meeting this Saturday morning, so I can get them up to date on things from my perspective.

Work at the car rental branch has been going well. I was working last Saturday morning (19 September), and we got through the shift very well. This week has been fine so far.

Saturday night found me at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park for Saint Louis FC's final match of the season. Saint Louis came from behind to defeat Louisville City, FC, 2-1, before a packed house. I briefly joined the celebration on the pitch after the match. Although Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) missed out on the playoffs, I feel they have a great start on next season, on the pitch and in the stands.

After work Tuesday night (22 September), I got dinner at a Jack in the Box, then drove to Bill Wagner's house in Oakville for the IPMS/Gateway business meeting (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/). The board members discussed the very successful recent Regional we hosted, and planned our next general meeting for Tuesday, 20 October, plus some other club business.

Today, on my off day from work, I went to my dentist for my semi-annual cleaning and checkup. It's going pretty good, although the dentist's assistant recommended I modify my brushing technique a bit to reduce plaque buildup. The dentist also wants me in next month for a minor tooth repair, so I will.

Later.

Back to Warm Weather, and the IPMS/Gateway Meeting

Back to work this past Monday (14 September), after quite a good weekend. Plenty busy in the morning, as usual, and leveling off as the day went on. Work has been going well. Warm weather has returned after a mild stretch, with temperatures approaching 90 degrees F (33 degrees C).

Flexing out Tuesday afternoon (as I am working this Saturday morning), I relaxed at home, then opened up Calvary Presbyterian Church's fellowship hall for the IPMS/Gateway (http://ipms-gateway.com) meeting. We had a nice turnout of entries in the quarterly contest, including two of mine. I entered my Jupiter C model--the one that took second in its category at the Regional last Saturday--in the Made in America special category. Neither model won, but at least I got some points for entering this contest. We also had a wrap up of our very successful Regional.

Off work today, I did my laundry and going tonight to the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (http://moavhist.org) meeting, with a presentation on airshow photography. Should be interesting. Also, I hope to get materials together to put together the Society's member newsletter, Middle Marker. It will be quite a challenge, but I believe I am up for it.

Later.