A Wet End to 2015

We got a lot of rain in St. Louis since last weekend. At least 8 inches (20.3 cm) of rain fell the previous weekend. That caused rivers to rise and flooding to occur. The upshot for our rental branch has been that busy Manchester Road became even more crowded, as westbound traffic diverted around the flooded portions of I-44 spilled onto our street. That made it a longer drive for customer pick ups and drop offs, and for just going down the street to put fuel into the vehicle.

The flood waters also altered my commute, as the I-44 and Route 141 interchange was flooded. This made my trip to and from work longer each way. Wednesday night (30 December) was especially bad, as I-55 was blocked due to Meramce River flooding. I had to drive down I-255 all the way to Telegraph Road to get home.

At least the weather is dry for the next few days and the flood seems to have crested, so it should get better in the coming days. There was slight seepage of water into the basement of our house, but no real damage.

Last night (31 December), I was home with Mom, watching TV while the last hours of 2015 ticked away. At midnight, we stepped out onto the front porch to make some noise for a minute in welcoming the new year of 2016. After waking up this morning, we just stayed around the house, going out to Culver's (http://www.culvers.com/) in Mehlville for lunch.

Tomorrow morning (2 January), I co-host the first Writer's Block of 2016 with Tim Pylypiuk on Blog Talk Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-). We'll talk about Miguel de Cervantes' classic story Don Quixote. The show airs live at Noon, Central Time (10 am, Pacific Time; 1800 GMT), and will be immediately archived for reairing from 2 pm, Central Time. I hope you can tune in.

Best wishes to everyone in the New Year. May we all find peace, happiness, and success.

Later.

Christmas 2015

Back at work a week ago (21 December), my colleagues and I busied ourselves to getting our customers taken care of as Christmas approached that week. We had plenty of business in the days before the holiday. I flexed out Tuesday afternoon, as I would work the following Saturday. (More on that later.)

I got the last of the gifts wrapped and put under the tree at home. During that time, though, I came down with a chest cold, which did not feel well. I was able to take some medicine, which helped, but which left me somewhat fatigued. Still, I managed to press on with work and life, and trying to get into the Christmas spirit.

Off work on Christmas Eve, I attended a service at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/). It was moving and very nice.

The next morning, my mom and I went to our living room, where the Christmas tree was set up, and opened our presents. I gave mom--on behalf of my brothers--an electric knife, which she needed. I received some clothing from mom--including a sweater, lounge pants, casual shirt, and athletic-leisure shirt. I also received a gift card from Rick for Barnes & Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/), in lieu of a book he mailed me that disappeared in transit. Mom and I relaxed at home during the day.

The next morning (26 December), I worked at the rental branch. It proved less busy than expected, due to the rain that was falling. A number of reservations were cancelled due to weather concerns. We got through the morning well, but driving home, some flooding at the I-44/Highway 141 interchange slowed my trip. I had planned to attend a movie that afternoon in St. Charles County with a Meetup group, but bowed out due to weather and driving concerns, plus my lingering chest cold.

That day's mail included two more gifts from Rick to me. One is the DVD "JFK;" the other is the book "To Hell and Back" Europe 1914-1949" by Ian Kershaw. Rick thanked me for the book I sent him, and for the St. Louis Cardinals onesie I sent to her daughter--and my goddaughter--Kate.

I basically chilled out this past weekend, trying to save my strength for the week ahead. I was at work today and it was not as busy as normal for a Monday, due to the rainy weather, but things went well nevertheless.

Later.