Meeting Melissa Etheridge; Getting a Rental Car; Circus Flora

Monday night (19 June), right after work, I headed to River City Casino (https://www.rivercity.com/) in Lemay to see Melissa Etheridge (https://melissaetheridge.com/) perform in concert, with my brother Brian on drums. He got tickets for myself, my mom, and our friends Jim and Pat Cook to see the show. It was a marvelous show--the third time I've seen Etheridge in concert in the last two years--and Brian got a very good greeting from the crowd when Etheridge introduced him late in her set. During the encore, she joined Brian on the drums. That was great!

After the show, Brian met us in the showroom's foyer, then he took us to the stage door to introduce us to Etheridge. A great thrill. She noted the Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) shirt I was wearing, and mentioned that she was going to be renting from Enterprise during a break in her current tour. I told her how much we (Enterprise) greatly appreciate the business. I also mentioned to Etheridge--a lesbian--that I would be marching with Enterprise colleagues this Sunday at the St. Louis Pride Fest Parade (https://pridestl.org/), and she was very happy to hear that. After posing for some pictures with us, Etheridge and Brian got ready to board the tour bus and head to their next stop: Springfield, Missouri. I bought an Etheridge T-shirt from the souvenir vendor, but it was on the vendor.

The next morning, I delayed going into work to take my Corolla to the body shop at Dave Sinclair Ford (http://www.davesinclairford.com/collision-center.htm), so my damaged rear bumper could be repaired. After signing the car over to the body shop, I walked over to the Enterprise satellite office at Dave Sinclair. After a few minutes' wait, one of their management trainees saw me and got me into a Ford F-150 pickup as my loaner vehicle. My insurance firm, GEICO (https://www.geico.com/) is paying for the rental; I just cover the taxes and protection packages. After the walk through and sign off with the Enterprise MT, I got my things from my Corolla into the F-150 and headed to work.

After work Tuesday, I was off to Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) in Mehlville for this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/). We had our Model of the Month "Beauty Contest," and a good presentation on model photography by our Jim Roeder. I also showed my award-winning models from the recent shows in Crystal Lake, Illinois and Branson, Missouri. A few guys in the group, upon seeing my F-150, wondered if I had traded in my Corolla for the pickup, but I explained this is only a loaner for a few days.

Work has gone well, despite the heat and humidity that made it tough in the wash bay after just a few minutes. Temperatures topped 90 degrees F (32 degrees C); however, the humidity (especially in the wash bay) pushed the heat index past 100 degrees F (38 degrees C).

Thursday (22 June) was my off day as usual. I did my laundry and generally relaxed at home during the day. That night, I was at Circus Flora (http://circusflora.org/) in Grand Center. I helped scan tickets as the audience members came to the entrance, then helped as an usher during and after the show, which had a very good sized crowd. Earlier that day, I volunteered to help out at tonight's performance. The current show, "Time Flies," ends tomorrow (25 June).

Our manager Cory treated us at the branch yesterday to quesadillas from Global Quesadilla Company (http://theglobalq.com/). He texted me the night before asking what one I wanted, and I asked for something with chicken--which was what I got. It was most tasty.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, with marching in the Pride Fest Parade in the early afternoon, then helping out at Festa Junina, a Brazilian folk festival Viva Brasil STL (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/) is presenting at the Kirkwood Community Center. Hope to see you at either of those events.

Later.

Air Show and A Modeling Trip to Branson

A week ago last night (11 June), I joined with others from the Ethnic Restaurant Fans Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/Ethnic-Restaurant-Fans/) at Anis Hyderabad House (http://www.anisusa.com/) in Creve Coeur for Indian cuisine. It was a good time for our group as we enjoyed our dinner and conversation.

The next day, my Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) colleague Marion Moen came to pick me up at home, then he drove us to Scott Air Force Base (http://www.scott.af.mil/). The base hosted an air show to celebrate its Centennial. Marion and I staffed our Society's table in Hangar 1, in which we gave out info on our group and showed a pair of documentaries we had a hand in on a television screen. I did go out for awhile to view the aircraft on static display and to see the US Air Force Thunderbirds (http://afthunderbirds.com/site/) perform. It was a hot, but satisfying day.

Work at the rental branch went very well this past week, despite the heat. Temperatures reached 90 degrees F (32 degrees C), with heat indices (heat plus humidity) topping 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). It was busy early in the week and leveled off by mid-week, then picked up again on Friday.

I was off to Toyota Stadium at World Wide Technology Soccer Park right after work to help cheer on Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) against Chicago Fire in the Fourth Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (http://thecup.us/). I marched into the stadium with fellow St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) to cheer on the home side, but Chicago escaped with a 1-0 win. It was a game effort by Saint Louis FC witnessed by a standing-room-only crowd.

Off work Thursday, I took my Corolla in to Jim Butler Collision Center (http://www.jimbutlerbodyshop.com/) to get the damage done a week and a half before hitting a telephone pole evaluated by a GEICO (https://www.geico.com/) claims adjuster. He gave me the figure and cut me a check to give to the repair shop I would go to for repairs. I arranged to have it taken this Tuesday morning to Dave Sinclair Ford's Body Shop for the repair work, and for Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) to have a loaner car for me.

That night, it was off to Creve Coeur Airport (http://crevecoeurairport.com/) for this month's Missouri Aviation Historical Society meeting. This was a debrief on the Scott Air Show, with several members presenting their pictures, videos, and stories from that weekend. I came early, to bring in the Society's gear from the Air Show booth.

As work ended Friday, I checked into a rental car at Enterprise, then drove home to pack up. Early yesterday morning (17 June), I set off for Branson, Missouri and MOSS CON, a model contest hosted by IPMS/Missouri Ozarks Scale Specialists (http://ipmsmoss.com/) at the Branson Convention Center (http://www.bransoncc.com/). I took nine models to enter in the contest, and some flyers for this September's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) Contest. I shopped among the vendors there, bought some raffle tickets, and had lunch at Famous Dave's (http://www.famousdaves.com/) at Branson Landing (http://www.bransonlanding.com/). I won two model kits in the raffle, and one of my contest entries--a Kuebelwagen--took Third Place in its armor category. I had a great time there, and hope to be back next year when IPMS/MOSS hosts the Region 5 Contest.

Midday today, Mom and I went to the hotel at River City Casino (https://www.rivercity.com/) to pick up my brother Brian, who got into town late last night. He's drumming for Melissa Etheridge (https://melissaetheridge.com/), who is performing at River City tomorrow night. Brian, Mom, and I had dinner at Rich & Charlie's (http://www.richandcharlies.com/) in Mehlville, then came home to relax.

Later.