One Week Closer to Christmas

Work this past week has been very good. We are keeping things moving along with exceeding our customers' expectations. My manager presented my annual review on Friday (18 December), two days ahead of my three-year service anniversary. I am most happy to report that the report was all positive, with high marks all around. I really had nothing to add to that, but am most happy.

Tuesday night (15 December) after work, I was at the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) in Mehlville. After two years as the club's secretary, I was elected vice president for the coming year. It was also a great night in two other areas. One, I had the highest score in the annual recognition contest (22 of 25 correct). This contest consisted of photos of aircraft, cars, armor, ships, and miscellaneous subjects. Four of the five photos in each category was of the subject, with the last being the sprue of parts for the subject. We had multiple choice answers to choose from on the answer sheet.

The second great takeaway from the night was in winning one of 10 kits the club was giving away. Each member had one ticket and if it was draw, one could pick from any of the kits on the table. I chose the Revell 1:32 UH-1D Huey Gunship kit.

The next night, the old and new club officers gathered at Brad and Julie Vaughn's house in House Springs for the IPMS/Gateway business meeting. (It was moved up by six days due to Christmas this coming week.) We planned the January general and business meetings, planned the 2016 Modeler of the Year contest special categories, and handed off from the old board to new.

Off work Thursday (17 December), I got my hair cut at Great Clips (http://www.greatclips.com/) in Mehlville. The stylist did the usual splendid job on my hair. Then, it was off to the Enterprise branch in O'Fallon, Illinois where my former colleague from Ellisville Tommy is the manager. I gave him his Christmas card and some cookies for the staff. I then visited the Kirkwood branch to give its new manager Kelley her Christmas card.

I also activated my new phone, which arrived the day before. It's a Samsung Galaxy 6S (http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/all-products?filter=galaxy-s) from CREDO Mobile (http://www.credomobile.com/), a quantum leap over the LG Volt I was using from Virgin Mobile. After settling matters with Virgin, I got my phone activated and transferred my contacts and apps from the old phone to the new.

I went after work Friday night to Elmo's Love Lounge (http://www.elmoslovelounge.com/) in University City for Stress Free Fridays (https://twitter.com/stressfreefri), a networking happy hour meeting at various establishments in the St. Louis area. I brought two cans of food for donation to a food drive being held there. It was very nice seeing Mark Anthony Jones and the group again; due to my work, it's hard for me to get to these events after a long day of work.

Yesterday, I completed my Christmas shopping and mailed just about all remaining Christmas cards. Glad to get all that done. Last night, I went to the International Tap House (http://www.internationaltaphouse.com/) in St. Louis' Soulard neighborhood. The St. Louigans (http://stlouligans.com/) supporters group held its annual Christmas party. I had a nice time there, that included bringing some clothing for the group to donate to Peter and Paul Community Services. While there, I ran into my colleague Cayla, who was with others for dinner at a nearby restaurant and was waiting for her table to be ready. We chatted a bit before Cayla's party was called.

After a while at the International Tap House (including two beers), I had a slice of pizza and a soda at Epic Pizza & Subs (http://www.epicpizzaandsubs.com/) next door. I had the Toasted Ravioli pizza and it was most tasty.

I attended service at Calvary Presbyterian Church today, staying around for fellowship afterward. Then, I stopped by Best Buy Mobile (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/cell-phones-20151220) at South County Center (http://www.shopsouthcountycenter.com/), where I got a screen protector and a car charger for my new phone. The guy from Best Buy even applied the screen protector to my phone for no charge while I was there. Very good of him.

Later.

Hot Days and Nights in Town

It now really feels like summer in St. Louis. Daytime temperatures this past week have gotten to about 96 degrees F (36 degrees C), while heat indices (temperatures combined with relative humidity) have reached 105 degrees F (41 degrees C). It's been quite a challenge anytime I've been outside, be it for work or pleasure. At least my co-workers have been understanding and making sure my colleagues and I get well hydrated and stay inside as much as possible.

Plenty of work going on at the car rental branch, with summer vacation season in full swing. We're all working hard and yet our morale is very good. We truly enjoy our colleagues and that helps make the work day go better.

I've been finishing a model the past few days for taking with me to Columbus, Ohio later this week for the International Plastic Modelers' Society/USA (IPMS/USA) National Convention. Just a last bit of finishing to do and I can get that all done tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to this trip and will give you plenty of info in my upcoming posts. The website for the convention is: http://www.ipmsusa2015.com.

On my off day last Thursday (16 May), I had a blood test done at the request of the doctor who examined me the week before. The nurse called me the next day to say it was good news overall, with nothing that a little adjustment in diet and exercise could not help. I then got my haircut, which needed it.

I was at Creve Coeur Airport that night for the Missouri Aviation Historical Society's meeting. We had one of two air traffic controllers who helped talked down a US Navy aircraft who had a fuel emergency to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in 2012. He talked of his experience that day and on being in air traffic control (ATC) work. We also had a presentation on the history of ATC and a local pioneer in this field. More on this meeting and the organization here: http://moavhist.org/.

Yesterday (18 July), I went to the St. Louis Area Sippers Meetup in the Tower Grove South neighborhood of St. Louis. We were to have met at Mokabe's Coffeehouse; however, we found the place was closed for a week while the owners were on vacation. We then found a nearby Saint Louis Bread Co. location and had our Meetup there. The five of us present had a nice time talking about various things over refreshments.

That night, I went to International Tap House in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis to join other Saint Louis FC supporters in a watch party for their match at Toronto TC II, which was being streamed via YouTube. Saint Louis won, 1-0, thanks to a Toronto own goal late in the first half. We'll take it. I will be out of town this Saturday, but Saint Louis FC will be home Saturday night against Oklahoma City Energy. Hope you can Pack the Park! Info at: http://saintlouisfc.com. Check out the International Tap House; their website is: http://www.internationaltaphouse.com/.

After the game, during which I had two beers, I walked next door to Mission Taco Joint for a snack. Their have very nice tacos and other Mexican food, and is worth the visit. Here's their website: http://missiontacostl.com/.

Take care and I will blog again from Columbus. Later.