Plenty of Work and Doughnuts, and A Birthday

Work this past week went well. Plenty of vehicles to clean and ready for rental. Plus, some driving of vehicles to pick up and drop off customers, and ferrying them to and from drop locations.

My birthday was this past Tuesday (7 February). It was low-key, which was just as well at my age. After work, mom had dinner for me, plus a nice cake. She gave me a history book, "Once in a Great City," by David Maraniss, plus a shower caddy for my shampoo and body wash.

Off work Thursday (9 February), I bought 24 doughnuts from Krispy Kreme (https://www.krispykreme.com/) and took them to Enterprise's Airport location. The staff behind the counter really appreciated the treats, which I got in honor of my former Ellisville colleague Hannah becoming their assistant manager. (She wasn't there when I came, but the staffers would let her know.) I then bought some mini-doughnuts at a convenience store and dropped them off at the National/Alamo branch at the Airport. I left them for the attention of the manager, Maggie, who was away when I came by.

During my free times this week, I worked on two models I'm seeking to finish for the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) contest on 21 February. I should finish the car this weekend, and have the aircraft ready to paint early next week.

Yesterday morning, I admired a full moon in the sky as I drove to Krispy Kreme, where I bought a dozen doughnuts to bring to the Ellisville branch. They were well received as usual, especially as we had a very busy day with many vehicles to prep.

I'm off to a meeting and dinner later today. More on that next time.

Later.

Into February and Hockey

This past week had gone rather nicely. Work at the car rental branch has been rather steady. Most days we have plenty of vehicles available for rental. At times, finding room to park all of them was rather challenging, but it gets figured out in the end.

Spent some free time this past week continuing work on a car model I'm looking to enter into the Out of the Box Contest at this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting. I finished painting the body and have the interior and windows installed into the body. Should have it all done by week's end, plus I'll get back to another model I should have done by that meeting.

After work at the branch yesterday (4 February), I had lunch at a newly opened Arby's restaurant (http://arbys.com/) in Ellisville, then went home. Early that night, I drove to Scottrade Center (http://www.scottradecenter.com/) for the ice hockey game between the St. Louis Blues (https://www.nhl.com/blues) and the Pittsburgh Penguins. My brothers bought me the ticket as a Christmas gift and I got a very nice seat--halfway up the lower deck, behind one end of the rink.

I walked around the arena's concourse before the game, taking in the atmosphere and visiting exhibits relating to the Blues and other St. Louis sporting events and events. This was my first visit to Scottrade Center in a few years.

There was a sold-out crowd for the game; however, most fans went home unhappy as the Penguins defeated the Blues 4-1. (There were a number of Penguins fans in the house.) It has been a maddingly frustrating season for the Blues and I was hoping for a strong effort against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Still, it was great just to be there and to cheer on the Blues in person.

Taking it easy at home today. Back to work in the morning.

Later.