Catching Up (Part 2)

Continuing to get caught up on this blog, New Year's Day was rather low key. I just stayed home for the holiday. The following Saturday (4 January), I was at World Wide Technology Soccer Park to play for St. Louligans against American Outlaws--St. Louis in the annual Winter Classic. It was a cold day, but a fun outing for the two supporter groups as we played, consumed sports drinks (OK, beer), and raised donations for the St. Louis Area Food Bank. Julie was there to lend her support from the grandstand.

Two days later, we got a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet, and snow. It came to a total of 5 inches (0.1 m) at my house. The road was so slick I could not drive to work that day. I stayed home to shovel the driveway and walkway to the porch. The snow persisted in the area for about two weeks, due to the cold weather.

On 19 January, Julie and I went to the Schlafly Tap Room for the St. Louligans' Annual General Meeting. Plans for the coming St. Louis CITY SC season were discussed, and this year's jersey and scarf were unveiled. I ordered a scarf, which should be ready for pickup later this month. It was an informative time with plenty of socializing.

I completed my first model of the year (having started it late last year), a 1:72 J-8II "Finback." At the January IPMS/Gateway meeting, I successfully bid on several kits in the annual Kit Auction. Proceeds from this auction benefit club activities.

Late last month, I took in my first IPMS/USA executive board Zoom meeting, where I was unanimously approved to serve as acting Director of Local Chapters (DLC). I am replacing John Figueroa, who stepped down to concentrate on being 2026 IPMS/USA National Convention Chairman. I am the only candidate for DLC at this year's IPMS/USA e-board election, which will be held later this year. It will be a lot of work for sure, but I am looking forward to serving the society and its members. 

I have my hotel room reserved in Hampton, Virginia for the IPMS/USA National Convention on 6-9 August. I am looking forward to this event.

My birthday on 7 February was nice. My Enterprise branch colleagues signed a greeting card for me and bought me lunch from Pepper's Deli & BBQ in Ellisville. Two days later, Julie picked me up from home and took me on a date to celebrate my birthday and Valentine's Day. We first shopped at Left Bank Books, where I selected two books Julie paid for, plus she also got me a pair of socks. After walking around the Central West End for a few minutes, we then went to Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in the City Foundry for dinner and a movie. We ordered dinner from our seats, which was brought to us as we enjoyed "Casablanca." It's one of my all-time favorite movies and a great choice for Julie and I to watch together. I had given her a small bouquet of flowers and a personal accessory set (necklace, earrings, hair pin). The latter item was something I bought a few years ago and (as I told Julie) was being saved to give to a worthy woman. She greatly appreciated those items. It was a great date.

Been at work lately on another model, a 1:35 BMW R75 motorcycle with sidecar. I hope to have it done by this Tuesday's IPMS/Gateway meeting, which will have the Out of the Box Contest. For sure, I will enter the J-8 in that contest.

Yesterday (15 February), I joined two other IPMS/Gateway members in staffing a booth at Fox Con, a student-run fair at Fox High School in Arnold, Mo. We had a variety of models on display with club literature. The show was mostly cosplay and gaming enthusiasts, but we had a few visitors stop by and pick up our flyer. It was good to get ourselves out in the community.

That's it for now. I should be more frequent with my posts in the near future.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer

St. Louis Area Food Bank: St. Louis Area Foodbank | Member of Feeding America

Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room — Schlafly | St. Louis' Original Craft Brewery

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC

IPMS Gateway Chapter: IPMS Gateway Chapter

IPMS/USA: IPMS/USA | IPMS/USA Home Page

Pepper's Deli & BBQ: Sweet Peppers Deli

Left Bank Books: Left Bank Books | Customer Service | Community Service

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema--City Foundry: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Fox High School: Fox High School / Homepage

One Shot Down, One to Go

Yesterday (28 April) was my off day from work for this week. I began it at the Holiday Inn St. Louis--Creve Coeur (https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/st-louis/stlcr/hoteldetail?PID=9069228&_PMID=99634975&cm_mmc=CJ-_-5250933-_-9069228-_-www.ihg.com-_-366dca26a95011eb820af0cd0a82b820&glat=AFFI&setPMCookies=true&cjevent=366dca26a95011eb820af0cd0a82b820) for a networking event organized by the Job Seekers' Garden Club. I didn't really find any recruiters that I was looking for regarding positions in public relations or publishing, but someone from an accounting firm told me of some firms I should look into for such positions. I thanked her for the information and we exchanged business cards. At least something good came out of that event for me.

Then, it was off to Micro Center (https://www.microcenter.com/) in Brentwood, where I bought an external hard drive for backing up files from my laptop. I also got a set of wireless headphones for free, a customer loyalty gift from the store.

After shopping, I made my way to the Central West End of St. Louis. Browsing at Left Bank Books (https://www.left-bank.com/), I found a new book for sale, "The Bomber Mafia," by Malcolm Gladwell (https://www.gladwellbooks.com/), which tells of technology and best intentions collided during World War II. I bought that book and look forward to reading that in due course.

I walked across the street to Mission Taco Joint (https://www.missiontacojoint.com/) for lunch. I had two tacos--one chorizo, the other fish--along with chips and salsa. It was great to be able to dine in one of my favorite meal spots.

For dessert, I walked across Euclid again, this time to Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams (https://jenis.com/). I walked out with a scoop of sweet cream biscuits and peach jam ice cream, which was most delicious. I enjoyed the ice cream in my car.

After a short trip to south St. Louis, I returned to the Central West End. This time, it was to the BJC HealthCare (https://www.bjc.org/) Clayton Avenue Building to get my first dose of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine. After checking in with the intake nurse, I was directed to another nurse who injected my upper arm with the Pfizer (https://www.pfizer.com/) vaccine. I then sat in a waiting area for 15 minutes, just to make sure I was fine after the shot. I also made an appointment for getting my second shot in three weeks, also at the Clayton Avenue Building. Feeling no ill effects, I walked out of the building, got into my car, and drove home.

Later.

Christmas 2020

Christmas Eve (24 December) was an interesting day, starting with a shortened work day at Enterprise Rent-a-Car (Rental Cars at Low, Affordable Rates | Enterprise Rent-A-Car). Much of the time was spent helping ferry vehicles from various home city branches to the St. Louis Airport Branch. That went well, and I returned to the Ellisville branch to take care of detailing matters until we closed at 3:00 pm.

Then, I visited my friend Laura, delivering my annual newsletter to her. We chatted for a bit before I left to go home.

After dinner with mom, we opened our presents that were under the Christmas tree in our living room.

I bought my mom some Estee Lauder (Estee Lauder | Beauty Products, Skin Care & Makeup) perfume and skin treatment, which she really liked. I received some books, including two history works my brother Rick got me. (I bought a book off of Rick's wish list from Left Bank Books (Left Bank Books | Customer Service | Community Service (left-bank.com)) and shipped it to him.) I also got new slippers, two pairs of cargo sweatpants, a calendar, and a casual shirt. It was a nice Christmas for my mother and I.

Christmas Day was spent at home. I relaxed there, watching TV for the most part. The next day (26 December), I ran some errands, starting with getting a haircut at Great Clips (Haircuts for Men, Women, & Kids | Great Clips Hair Salons).

Then, I drove my Toyota Corolla to Jiffy Lube (Car Maintenance - Oil Changes, Tires & Brakes | Jiffy Lube) for an oil change. After that bit of car servicing, I began shopping for a new three-in-one (printer/copier/scanner) for my home office setup. The three-in-one I had the past eight years needed replacement. I shopped at Office Depot and Office Max (Office Depot OfficeMax | Official Online Store) and at Best Buy (Best Buy | Official Online Store | Shop Now & Save). None of the model I was interested in was in stock, so I ordered it on Best Buy's website after I got home. It won't be delivered until the middle of next week, so I will use my mom's printer when necessary.

Back to work tomorrow morning, as we enter the last week of 2020.

Later.

 

Two Book Talks This Week

I was present at two author events presented by Left Bank Books (https://www.left-bank.com/) this week.

Wednesday night (24 October), the Ethical Society of St. Louis (https://ethicalstl.org/) in Richmond Heights, Missouri hosted an event for the new book "My Blues Note." It is the memoir by Bernie Federko--St. Louis Blues (https://www.nhl.com/blues) legend, 2002 Hockey Hall of Fame (http://www.hhof.com/) inductee, and current Blues studio analyst for Fox Sports Midwest (https://www.foxsports.com/midwest). Federko and his co-author, Jeremy Rutherford--Blues beat writer for The Athletic (https://theathletic.com/stlouis/)--were on stage for a discussion about the book, with Rutherford asking Federko about stories from his life and career. They then fielded questions from the audience before going into the lobby to sign copies of "My Blues Note."

It was quite a wait in line, but it was worth it to meet Federko--who I greatly admired as a player--as he signed my copy of his book. After signing the book, Federko and I posed for a picture. (I wore a replica of the Blues home sweater circa 1986. It was worn by Federko and his teammates when they came from behind the defeat the Calgary Flames in Game 6 of the 1986 Conference Finals--known to Blues fans as "the Monday Night Miracle.") I also got Rutherford's signature on the book, and I let him know how much I admire his work. As I left, I thanked the people from Left Bank Books for this program.

Last night after work, I headed to the Auditorium at Maryville University (https://www.maryville.edu/) for a Maryville Talks Books program. Acclaimed author Ron Chernow (https://ronchernow.com/) spoke about his most recent book, "Grant," which came out last year. It is his biography of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), Union Army General during the American Civil War and 18th President of the United States (in office 1869-1877). In approximately 40 minutes, Chernow spoke about his approach to writing Grant's story--wanting to clear up misconceptions about Grant (a butcher of a commander, a drunkard, a scandal-plagued President), and summarizing Grant's life. His scholarship shows Grant as a brilliant, but flawed man who showed generosity towards the defeated Confederates at the Civil War's end and did much to advance civil rights for African-Americans prior to and while President. It was a most informative, and at times witty presentation. Chernow then fielded questions from the audience for about 15 minutes before having to leave for an engagement in Chicago the next morning.

Going into the Auditorium, I and the other attendees received a paperback copy of "Grant," which Chernow signed before the event. (I have been reading a hard back copy of "Grant" that my brothers gave me for Christmas.) It was too bad he had to leave right away--Chernow said he would have if he could--because he is a most interesting speaker and talented author. His earlier works include biographies of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton--the latter being the bases for "Hamilton: An American Musical." (Chernow joked about "Hamilton" early in his talk.)

Later

TigerCon, SLIFF, and Scott Kelly in Town

Last Friday morning (3 November), per usual, I stopped by Krispy Kreme (http://krispykreme.com/) to buy some doughnuts for my colleagues on the way to work. The day went well at work and all hands were able to get our vehicles cleaned and positioned on the lot before calling it a day.

My IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) colleague Bill Wagner came by my house the next morning to pick me up, then drove to Hazelwood to pick up our mate Nick Elliot before before heading to Columbia, Missouri. We--and others from the club--were there for TigerCon, the annual scale model contest presented by IPMS/Central Missouri Scale Modelers (CMSM) (http://www.cmsm-ipms.org/). After a pretty good drive, we three arrived at Hickman High School, the show venue, and checked in our contest models. (I had four entries.) We touched base with others there, including our fellow club members, admired the models in the contest room, and shopped among the vendors. I bought one aircraft kit and two tools from vendors there.

I also helped to judge automotive entries in the contest, which went rather well. IPMS/CMSM said this was the most number of attendees and contest entries for TigerCon, which was in its 7th year. I did not win for any of my entries, but a few of my club mates won awards. I also won an aircraft kit in the raffle. Overall, a nice day in Columbia for us. We got back to town early that night.

Sunday morning (5 November) found me at Kolping Fields in south St. Louis County, officiating youth soccer matches. I refereed the first match and ran lines on the other two. They went well, and the warm and humid weather for this time of year meant I wore my short sleeve uniform shirt.

That night, I was at .ZACK (http://www.kranzbergartsfoundation.org/zack/) for my first volunteer assignment at this year's St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) (http://www.cinemastlouis.org/about-festival). I scanned tickets for attendees before they entered the theater to watch the documentary feature "Working in Protest." (My friend Kim Althage was among those who attended the screening.) Myself and the other volunteer were in the lobby during the screening, and right afterward took fan ballots and demographic surveys from the attendees. The ballots were counted and the venue captain then reported the results to SLIFF organizers. It was a pleasant night to be out at the movies.

Back to work on Monday morning, and we had one very busy morning with many customers coming in to pick up or drop off vehicles. I was sure kept on my toes. We got through the day just fine, though.

After work on Tuesday, I went to St. Louis University High School (SLUH) (http://www.sluh.org/) in west St. Louis. I attended a talk by former astronaut Scott Kelly (http://www.scottkelly.com/), who spent 340 days aboard the International Space Station in 2015-16. The event was presented by Left Bank Books (http://www.left-bank.com/), and my ticket to the event included a signed copy of Kelly's book, "Endurance." Ramanath Cowsik, James S. McDonnell Professor of Space Sciences at Washington University of St. Louis, interviewed Kelly about how he became an astronaut and his experiences in space. Then, Kelly took a few questions from the audience. It was a most interesting talk--informative throughout, with a bit of wit. I am very much looking forward to reading "Endurance."

Work yesterday was well--after a calm late morning and early afternoon, we had a most busy late afternoon. We still got it done, though, exceeding customer expectations.

Off work today, I spent time helping Mom out in trimming some shrubbery, doing my laundry, and starting work on this month's issue of IPMS/Gateway's newsletter, The Arch Scaler News. (I'm now editing this publication.) This afternoon, I headed to the Plaza Frontenac Cinema (https://www.landmarktheatres.com/st-louis/plaza-frontenac-cinema) to watch a SLIFF film. Going in free thanks to the voucher I received for Sunday's volunteer shift, I saw the Belgian/French comedy "Lost in Paris," which I and the audience found very funny. Tonight, I'm at the Tivoli Theatre (https://www.landmarktheatres.com/st-louis/tivoli-theatre) for a SLIFF volunteer shift. Hope to see you there!

I also have SLIFF volunteer shifts Saturday at the Missouri History Museum (10:30 am to 3 pm) and at Webster University's Moore Auditorium (6:45 to 10:30 pm), and Sunday at Washington University's Brown Hall (7 to 10 pm). Maybe I'll see you there.

Later.

A Terrific Scale Modeling Show

A week ago Saturday (5 Sept.), I co-hosted "Writer's Block," from Autistic People. Host Tim Pylypiuk and I discussed the unique languages of some literature, including works of William Shakespeare and Anthony Burgess' novel "A Clockwork Orange." You can listen to the archived program (and download it for podcast) here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-/2015/09/05/writers-block-loose-lips--10am-pstradio-drama-grooming-hour-11am-pst. The next edition of "Writer's Block" is Saturday, 3 October, at 10 am Pacific Time (Noon, Central Time; 1800 hours GMT).

After the show, I went to an ATM to get some cash for the weekend, and I picked up several copies of the South County Times. That newspaper had a piece on International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS)/Gateway Chapter and the Regional Contest we're hosting a week later. The newspaper interviewed me and others from the club for the story, which was prompted by show information I shared with the paper's calendar section. It was a very nice article and the club members who saw it agreed. Here's the online article: http://www.southcountytimes.com/Articles-Features-c-2015-09-03-196405.114137-sub-Plastic-Modelers-Share-OldSchool-Art-Form.html.

I went to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in St. Louis' Central West End (CWE) for its 98th annual Greek Festival. It's a great ethnic festival, with food, music, dance, crafts for sale, and church tours. I have gone the past few years and have enjoyed it every time. After spending time at the Festival, I walked up Euclid Avenue to Left Bank Books (http://www.left-bank.com/), an independent book store, where I browsed for a while before walking back down Euclid. After having a ginger ale at Coffee Cartel (http://thecoffeecartel.com/), I walked back to my car and drove home.

I chilled out at home that Sunday and enjoyed some more of the Labor Day holiday on that Monday (7 Sept.). (The rental car branch was closed that day.) Late that morning, I joined members of the St. Louigans at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton to help them paint two banners for Saint Louis FC's final regular season matches this month.

Back to work the next day, it was VERY busy, with much traffic coming in (mostly renters back from the holiday weekend), plus renters getting vehicles for the start of the short week. We got through it, though, and the rest of the week was much calmer by comparison.

On my off day Thursday, I went to Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield (http://spiritairport.com/spiritairport/index.jsp) to see aircraft from the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) on display this past week. The three World War II-era aircraft I saw were a Beech C-45 Expeditor transport, a General Motors (Grumman) TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, and the star attraction, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress named "Fifi." I saw these aircraft on the ramp and took a good number of pictures. I also entered the B-29's cockpit and admired the view. It was a great time for the aircraft buff. More on the CAF's aircraft on tour here: http://www.airpowersquadron.org/.

Yesterday (12 Sept.), I was at the Holiday Inn St. Louis SW--Route 66 in Sunset Hills, Missouri (http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/st-louis/stlsw/hoteldetail?qAdlt=1&qBrs=6c.hi.ex.rs.ic.cp.in.sb.cw.cv.ul.vn&qChld=0&qFRA=1&qGRM=0&qPSt=0&qRRSrt=rt&qRef=df&qRms=1&qRpn=1&qRpp=12&qSHp=1&qSmP=3&qSrt=sBR&qWch=0&srb_u=1&icdv=99504440&siclientid=9948&sitrackingid=733967223&glat=SEAR&dp=true&icdv=99504440). This was for the International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS) Region 5 Convention, hosted by IPMS/Gateway. (Region 5 was made up of IPMS/USA chapters in the Midwestern US.) It was a terrific show all around. I took money from attendees at one of the two entrances, and later helped judge the model contest. I don't have figures for how many people attended, but it was a lot for a show of this sort. People came from as far away as Minnesota and Kentucky for this event. We did have nearly 400 contest entries, including four of mine. My 1:48 scale Jupiter C rocket took second place in the Real Space category (within Space and Science Fiction)--my first regional IPMS contest award since a second back in 1995, also in St. Louis. No complaints from attendees and we all had a great time. We can't do much better than that.

After the show, I had dinner at Smugala's Pizza Pub in Sunset Hills (http://smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills) before boarding the shuttle bus for Worldwide Technology Soccer Park. There, I cheered on Saint Louis FC as they defeated Charlotte Independence 2-0 in the next to last match of the season. They had a record crowd of over 5,600 for the match. Yes, the St. Louigans were there in full force. Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) finishes the season this Saturday night at home against Louisville City FC. By the way, this past week I renewed my season ticket for 2016.

Several of us in IPMS/Gateway were at the club's annual picnic, hosted by Brad and Julie Vaughn in House Springs. We enjoyed a barbecue lunch and good company. Our club's next meeting is this Tuesday night at 7:30 pm at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Mehlville. More on the club here: http://www.ipms-gateway.com/index.html.

Later.