The Heat is (Still) On

This past week saw a heat wave hit the St. Louis area. Daytime highs reached at least 95 degrees F (35 degrees C), with heat indices getting up towards 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). It's not fun to be outside or in the wash bay at work, so I stayed inside the air conditioned lobby as much as possible, drinking as much water or thirst quencher as I can. Fortunately, I am fine, though tired at the end of the work day.

I flexed out Tuesday afternoon (19 July), and came home to chill out (literally). That night, I helped run the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/). We had a good turnout for our beauty contest, plus a nice demo on attaching windshields and other clear parts to models. All of us attending stayed cool inside Calvary's Fellowship Hall.

After taking care of some personal affairs on my off day Thursday (21 July), I drove to Creve Coeur Airport (http://www.crevecoeurairport.com/) for this month's meeting of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/). This meeting featured a tribute to former McDonnell Aircraft lead test pilot Bob Little, including the debut of two new documentaries on him. One was about Little's life and career, which included service in the US Army Air Forces during World War II, and the McDonnell aircraft he piloted on its first flights (F2H Banshee, F3H Demon, F-101 Voodoo, and F4H [later F-4] Phantom II). The documentary climaxed with Little's meeting last May with Col. Ronald "Elvis" King, the last USAF F-4 pilot at the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show and STEM Expo. A second video screened for us was an extended version of the interview with Little and King. The Bob Little documentary began airing today on HEC-TV (http://www.hectv.org/watch/hec-tv-live/legendary-wwii-and-test-pilot-bob-little/24325/).

Jacqui Poor, the Society's vice president, produced the Little program for HEC-TV, and she was helping screen the program for our meeting. Because of that, I was asked to man the membership table in her place, and I made sure attendees signed in and also accepted some membership forms (both new and renewal memberships), plus directing members to their name tags on the nearby table. We had a very good turnout at the meeting, despite the heat outside. (Due to that heat, the Society asked Little--who's in his early 90s--to stay home; we'll have him at a later meeting.)

Yesterday, my high school and church friend Susan Shrum appeared on KHOU TV's program "Good Day Houston." She has lived in Houston for some years now and helps run a casual dining restaurant there, Happy Fatz (http://happyfatz.com/). Today is National Hot Dog Day and Susan and her colleague Rebecca Hernandez Sanders showed off their hot dogs and desserts to the host. The segment video is here: http://www.khou.com/entertainment/television/programs/great-day-houston/celebrate-national-hot-dog-today-07222016/279768573

I worked at the rental branch this morning. It was a busy one, but we got our customers taken care of with our usual dispatch. Our manager Liz will be leaving after this Tuesday, as she has been promoted to manager our Cape Girardeau branch. Best wishes to you, Liz, and thank you for your service at Ellisville.

Chilling out at home, then brazing the heat to attend tonight's Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) match against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. More on that in my next post.

Later.

The Heat is (Still) On

This past week saw a heat wave hit the St. Louis area. Daytime highs reached at least 95 degrees F (35 degrees C), with heat indices getting up towards 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). It's not fun to be outside or in the wash bay at work, so I stayed inside the air conditioned lobby as much as possible, drinking as much water or thirst quencher as I can. Fortunately, I am fine, though tired at the end of the work day.

I flexed out Tuesday afternoon (19 July), and came home to chill out (literally). That night, I helped run the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/). We had a good turnout for our beauty contest, plus a nice demo on attaching windshields and other clear parts to models. All of us attending stayed cool inside Calvary's Fellowship Hall.

After taking care of some personal affairs on my off day Thursday (21 July), I drove to Creve Coeur Airport (http://www.crevecoeurairport.com/) for this month's meeting of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/). This meeting featured a tribute to former McDonnell Aircraft lead test pilot Bob Little, including the debut of two new documentaries on him. One was about Little's life and career, which included service in the US Army Air Forces during World War II, and the McDonnell aircraft he piloted on its first flights (F2H Banshee, F3H Demon, F-101 Voodoo, and F4H [later F-4] Phantom II). The documentary climaxed with Little's meeting last May with Col. Ronald "Elvis" King, the last USAF F-4 pilot at the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show and STEM Expo. A second video screened for us was an extended version of the interview with Little and King. The Bob Little documentary began airing today on HEC-TV (http://www.hectv.org/watch/hec-tv-live/legendary-wwii-and-test-pilot-bob-little/24325/).

Jacqui Poor, the Society's vice president, produced the Little program for HEC-TV, and she was helping screen the program for our meeting. Because of that, I was asked to man the membership table in her place, and I made sure attendees signed in and also accepted some membership forms (both new and renewal memberships), plus directing members to their name tags on the nearby table. We had a very good turnout at the meeting, despite the heat outside. (Due to that heat, the Society asked Little--who's in his early 90s--to stay home; we'll have him at a later meeting.)

Yesterday, my high school and church friend Susan Shrum appeared on KHOU TV's program "Good Day Houston." She has lived in Houston for some years now and helps run a casual dining restaurant there, Happy Fatz (http://happyfatz.com/). Today is National Hot Dog Day and Susan and her colleague Rebecca Hernandez Sanders showed off their hot dogs and desserts to the host. The segment video is here: http://www.khou.com/entertainment/television/programs/great-day-houston/celebrate-national-hot-dog-today-07222016/279768573

I worked at the rental branch this morning. It was a busy one, but we got our customers taken care of with our usual dispatch. Our manager Liz will be leaving after this Tuesday, as she has been promoted to manager our Cape Girardeau branch. Best wishes to you, Liz, and thank you for your service at Ellisville.

Chilling out at home, then brazing the heat to attend tonight's Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) match against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. More on that in my next post.

Later.

In Print; In the Dark

I worked at the rental car branch a week ago yesterday (9 July), and it went well. Not real busy. I grabbed some lunch after work, and washed my car at Martian Car Wash (http://www.martiancarwash.com/) in Ellisville. The place opened up a few weeks ago. They did a great job cleaning my Corolla, and was a good value for the money.

Resting at home last Sunday afternoon, I got a pleasant surprise in my email. The long-delayed, long-awaited latest issue of Middle Marker, journal of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) arrived. It was the first issue put out in two years, and included my story I wrote then about Charles Morley, a Missouri airman killed during the Vietnam War. My article told of Morley's story, including how his F-4 was shot down over Laos one night in 1970 and he and his crewmate were listed as Missing in Action. The remains were found in Laos 25 years later and Morley was buried with full military honors. The story also included some photos of Morley and of an F-4 displayed at Jefferson Barracks Air National Guard Station that is painted like Morley's plane. (Two of my photos are included in the article.) I am very happy to see this issue of Middle Marker out at last, and for my work to appear in print. I am hoping to write more articles for this journal in the coming years.

Work went well this past week, although it got very interesting on Wednesday afternoon (13 July). A thunderstorm with high winds blew through the Metropolitan St. Louis area. Power went out at our branch for about three hours, so we had to resort to using tablet computers to process rental transactions (thank goodness for tablets!), cell phones for communications, and flashlights for seeing in darkened areas of the lobby. The power was restored just as we were closing for the day.

However, power also went out at my house, and my mom and I were left in the dark until late Friday afternoon. We had to resort to candles, flashlights, battery operated devices (radios, cell phones, and tablets), and not moving around much at home due to the heat. Ameren (https://www.ameren.com/) reported that over 100,000 metro area residents were without power, and the last were not restored until today.

Fortunately, power was restored at my doctor's office on Thursday morning, when I went for my annual examination. I am in very good health overall, with no problems apart from lingering tendonitis in my one heel. I should get some blood work done in the coming week or two.

Friday morning (15 July), I brought in some doughnuts from Krispy Kreme (https://www.krispykreme.com/) for my colleagues, and they greatly appreciated the gesture. My branch mates look forward to my bringing in doughnuts on every other Friday morning, which coincides with pay day.

Yesterday starting with catching up on my laundry, then I was at Caleco's Bar & Grill (http://www.calecos.com/Calecos%20Downtown.htm) in Downtown St. Louis for lunch with the St. Louis Historic Sites Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/St-L-Historic-Buildings-Meetup/). About 19 of us got together for a fine lunch. It was my first time at Caleco's in Downtown, and enjoyed meeting with the group, which had come off touring some Downtown landmarks.

On the way home from that lunch, I stopped by Crown Vision Center (http://www.crownvisioncenter.com/) in Tesson Ferry to pick up my new glasses. They fit great and I can see great with them on.

After time at home including dinner, I drove to Stone Spiral Coffee and Curios (http://www.stonespiralcoffee.com/) in Maplewood for the StL Tea Club Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/StL-Tea-Club-Meetup/). About ten of us attended and we enjoyed sampling several teas while we conversed about tea and other things. It was a most pleasant outing.

Home today, I attended service at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) this morning, then rested at home this afternoon.

Later.