Living and Working Around Flooding

It was a wet week here in St. Louis. So much so, that the Meramec River overflowed and there was flooding in parts of the St. Louis metropolitan area. That included the route I usually take to and from work: I-44 west of I-270 to Highway 141. The 44-141 interchange was flooded out from mid-week, so I had to take another route to and from work. Looks like that should reopen early this coming week.

Work at the branch has gone well, though we had to deal with a crowded lot Monday morning (1 May). We worked around the problem and got it solved. Wednesday afternoon, the manager was away at a meeting and the assistant manager was at a dental appointment, so one of the area managers filled in, with me as the sole car prep on duty. It was busy at times, but all was well in the end.

Yesterday morning (5 May), I stopped by The Donut Palace of Ellisville (https://www.thedonutpalace.com/) to get some donuts for my colleagues. (Normally on those Fridays, I go to the Krispy Kreme in Fenton, but the road is currently flooded.) It was much appreciated as usual by my colleagues.

Later today, I co-host Writer's Block from Naturally Autistic ANCA Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-/2017/05/06/connected--writers-block-10am-pstradio-drama-11am-pst). Tim Pylypiuk and I will discuss two topics: Libraries, and literacy in the digital age. Hope you can tune in live from Noon, Central Time (10 am, Pacific Time; 1800 GMT), or catch the archived rebroadcast from 2 pm, Central Time (Noon, Pacific Time; 2000 GMT).

Tonight's Saint Louis FC match against Rochester Rhinos was postponed, due to the flooding at World Wide Technology Soccer Park. The match will be rescheduled for a later date. My night won't be a waste, though, as I will be a volunteer at the Greater St. Louis Book Fair (http://www.stlouisbookfair.org/), going on this weekend at the Greensfelder Recreation Complex of Queeny County Park in west St. Louis County. I've been a volunteer the past few years, and this time I'll be a cashier. Proceeds from the Book Fair--a large used book sale--go to various education and literacy programs in Metro St. Louis. Hope to see you there!

Also due to the flooding, my refereeing assignment for tomorrow at World Wide Technology Soccer Park is cancelled. I may try to get a make up assignment for that day, or I may help with cutting the back lawn.

Later.

Wet Days Lately

One week ago tonight (23 April) found me at Fox High School in Arnold, where I officiated three youth soccer matches. I had a girls match in the middle to start the set. It was a physical affair and I issued a caution to each team, but the match stayed in reasonable control. The other two matches went well.

Work has gone well, starting with a busy Monday morning as usual. I did flex out Tuesday afternoon (25 April), since I would be in the following Saturday morning.

I hosted this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting. We had five of us club officers there as we planned next month's general meeting and discussed some other club business. I bought some beer for the meeting, but only one bottle was taken (by me). At least we have some for the next few weeks at home.

After work Wednesday night, I headed to the Wehrenberg Des Peres 14 Cine (http://www.marcustheatres.com/theatre-locations/marcus-des-peres-14-cine) for the TCM Big Screen Classics (http://www.tcm.com/fathom/?ecid=subnavtcmfathom) presentation of the 1967 classic "The Graduate." It was my first time seeing this in a theater, and there were about 20 of us watching that night. Despite a glitch where the video of the introduction and start of the opening credits was absent (the audio was loud and clear), it was great seeing this film in a restored print.

By the way, that Wednesday at work was the last I saw of Lauren, who is now at our branch in Mount Vernon, Illinois. She's a terrific employee and person, and I wish her all the best.

Off work Thursday, I visited my dentist late that morning for my semi-annual check up. No problems were found, and my teeth were nicely cleaned. I ran off some flyers for this September's IPMS/Gateway Invitational, which I took to Schaefer's Hobby Shop (http://schaeferhobby.com/) in Sunset Hills and Checkered Flag Hobby Country (https://checkeredflaghobby.com/) in Mehlville.

Friday (28 April) was the first day at our branch for our new manager, Cory, who had previously managed the branch down the street in Ballwin. We had a lot of cars on our lot to start the day, many from customers wanting to return their cars before the rains really hit hard. It was a challenge to find space on our lot for the cars until they can be rented or taken out by our traffic drivers, but in the end it worked out. Cory and I were back there yesterday morning. After work, I had lunch at Yiro/Gyro (http://yirogyro.com/) down the street from us in Ellisville. I enjoyed a nice gyro with french fries.

It has been raining a lot the past few days here. After getting just over 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from Tuesday through Friday, we were soaked with 2.1 inches (5.3 cm) yesterday. The rain kept falling overnight and into today. The soccer matches I was scheduled to referee tonight were called off due to all this rain.

Later.