Good Moments and a Work Disappointment

Last Saturday and Sunday (14-15 January), I was refereeing games in the Midwest Regional Futsal Tournament played at Creve Coeur Racquet Club. I worked four games Saturday morning and early afternoon, and five games Sunday morning and afternoon, including a semifinal and a final on Sunday. Overall, the games went well, although I had to crack down on players at times when they got out of hand. On Saturday, I cautioned a player in one game for dissent, and sent off a player in another game for foul language directed at an opposing player. The yellow cards also came out in the final I worked on Sunday, with one player booked for dissent and another for unsporting behavior. Overall, though, the games went well and there was good, spirited competition. I was very happy to have worked this tournament.

Saturday afternoon, after a shower and change of clothes, I was in Crestwood for a birthday party at Animeggroll, a Japanese shop in Crestwood Court. The party was for my new friend Linsey. She, her mom and a few other friends were there. (Actually, her birthday was late last month, but Linsey held off on the party until last Saturday.) It was a fine time, as we enjoyed snacks (including prawn flavored crackers), Japanese soft drinks, trying out origami and flamenco dancing (Linsey's real good at that), and playing Chocolate-Opoly, a variation of Monopoly. I really enjoyed being there, and Linsey and her mom appreciated my coming.

Last week, I was told by my one temp agency that I was up for an ongoing copywriting assignment with a client. Tuesday, the agency told me that I and the other candidates were rejected by the client. I guess I wasn't quite what the client was looking for. Oh well, I'll keep on looking for work.

Tuesday night (17 Jan.), IPMS/Gateway held its annual Swap & Sell and Kit Auction at Calvary Presbyterian Church. We had a very nice turnout, the vendors were doing some good business, and our auction raised some funds for our picnic in September. Tom Bogacki, running his first meeting as president, did a good job with that task. He did most of the auctioneering, but I relieved him for a while about midway through the auction.

The next night, I took the online test for the TV game show Jeopardy! It was a 50-question test, for which I had only 15 seconds to type in the correct answer. I think I did quite well on this, but won't know just how well until the show's staff contacts me about being a possible contestant on the show. If selected, I'll be in the contestant pool for 18 months.

Last night, I was at Husch Blackwell in Clayton for the monthly Missouri Aviation Historical Society (MAHS) meeting. We had a great crowd--several new people in attendance, and some extra chairs had to be brought into the conference room for the crowd. Myron Lane presented a program about Missouri's Tuskegee Airmen, a good tie in to the new movie about these World War II African-American aviators, "Red Tails." The next MAHS meeting is Thu., 16 Feb., back at Husch Blackwell.

That's it for now. Later.