Quiet Independence Day For Me

Friday morning (30 June) was payday, so it was off to Krispy Kreme (http://krispykreme.com/) in Fenton for a dozen doughnuts to take to the branch. It was quite busy that day for us, with the holiday weekend upon us, but we got things taken care of very well.

This past weekend was rather quiet for me. I did not feel like going out at all, but I did work on a model I have on my workbench now. It's Trumpeter's 1:72 scale JH-7A Flying Leopard. It's coming along well and I hope to have this done in time to take to Omaha for the IPMS/USA National Convention (http://www.ipmsusa2017.com/) later this month.

I watched some movies and other programs on TV during the weekend, including a few videos I had.

Back to work Monday, we had a rather busy morning, though not quite as hectic as most Mondays. I guess with Independence Day the next day, not as many people wanted or needed to run before then, or had done so the previous weekend. Still, there was plenty of work for me to take care of during that day.

Off on Tuesday (4 July), I spent it at home, mostly watching TV. That night, my mother and I saw my brother Brian drum for Melissa Etheridge (https://melissaetheridge.com/) when she played with the Boston Pops Orchestra (https://www.bso.org/) on their annual 4th of July concert on Boston's Esplanade. Brian had texted me early that night that the show would be telecast on Bloomberg, so I was able to record it on the DVR and for Mom and I to watch Etheridge's three-song set live. That was quite a show, in front of about 500,000 people that night.

Back to Work the next day, it was rather busy. Not easy working with the high humidity of the place, but frequent sips of Gatorade--which I bought at QuikTrip (https://www.quiktrip.com/) on the way to work--and short breaks in the lobby helped.

Right after work, I was off to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park for the match between Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) and Rochester Rhinos. This was the match that was scheduled for 6 May, but postponed due to flooding at the Soccer Park that time. I joined up with the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) just before kick off and joined in the chanting. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, as Saint Louis FC had few chances against a good Rochester club. Fortunately, Saint Louis' goalkeeper kept them in the match.

Just after getting home from the match, I proofread Leonora Gregory-Collura's column for the new issue of Naturally Autistic magazine (https://www.naturallyautistic.com/) and sent it back to her. That--and a piece her husband Charlie Collura sent me to proofread the day before--were the last items for this new issue, which is out soon.

Off work today, I did my laundry and some personal matters. This included checking on messages I sent out Tuesday night to some of my contacts on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/). I asked them to look over my profile and make some suggestions on improving it as I seek a full time position in public relations or publishing. I gave them until the end of July, taking into account vacations they may take, but already got a few bits of feedback. A few items I am already putting into practice. I will await hearing back from others before making further improvements to my LinkedIn profile.

Tonight, my mom and I went to Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken (https://www.leesfamousrecipe.com/) in Arnold for dinner. Today, I'm told, is National Fried Chicken Day, and the chicken we had was delicious. We then shopped at a couple of places in Arnold before coming home.

Later.

Helping Bring Brazil to St. Louis

Last Friday morning (26 August)--as usual on payday Fridays--I bought some doughnuts for my colleagues at the car rental branch. They appreciate my gesture, helping brighten their mornings. Work went well and we were kept busy late in the day.

Late Saturday morning, I headed to Tower Grove Park (http://www.towergrovepark.org/) for the International Institute's Festival of Nations (http://www.festivalofnationsstl.org/), an annual multicultural festival. I browsed among the various craft, information, and food booths, before getting lunch from the Brazilian food booth from Brasilia Restaurant. I chose Vatapa de Frango, a grilled chicken breast in a cashew nut gravy, served with rice and collard greens. Additionally, I had a vanilla flan desert and drank mango juice. Very tasty. I also chatted with my friend Dayna O'Brien, who was volunteering at the St. Louis Sister Cities booth.

After lunch, I made my way to the Viva Brasil Association in St. Louis (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/home) information booth at the Festival. I spent about two hours in the booth, talking with visitors about our group and Brazil in general. It was great helping out the group, and others in the group--including Mauricio Gobbo, his wife Susan, and Sandra Schulte--were very happy that I helped them out. Priscila Borba, my instructor in the Portuguese course I'm taking, also stopped by the booth.

After my volunteer shift, I headed back home to get ready for Saint Louis FC's (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) match against San Antonio FC. After taking the Pub2Park shuttle bus from Smugala's Pizza Pub in Sunset Hills (http://smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills), I walked over to the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate for a while before walking into Marshall Wireless Stadium. Unfortunately, two first-half goals for the visitors were the difference as San Antonio FC won 2-nil, dimming Saint Louis FC's post-season hopes.

I spent Sunday morning (28 August) editing some articles for the Fall 2016 issue of Naturally Autistic magazine (http://www.naturallyautistic.com/). I also edited a few items late last week. Then, I headed back to the Festival of Nations, where I hung out with the Viva Brasil booth and chatted with others from the group who were staffing the booth, and with visitors. We had many visitors at the booth that weekend, which was great. I then reported for a volunteer shift helping staff one of the Festival's drinks booths. I was originally to help out at the beer tasting booth on the west end of the Festival grounds, but it had just ran out of beer and was closing up early. I was then reassigned to a drinks booth in the eastern end of the grounds. I helped with beverage sales for the last hour before the festival closed, then helped to tear down the booth. It was great to help out this Festival for the third year.

Back to work Monday, it was a rather busy first part of the week at the branch. I edited a couple more pieces for Naturally Autistic magazine after work on Monday. I flexed out Tuesday afternoon (30 August), as I am working this Saturday morning. Early Tuesday night, I drove to Three Kings Public House in Des Peres (http://threekingspub.com/) for a Happy Hour with my branch colleagues. Hannah, our former branch colleague now at the Brentwood branch, also came and we enjoyed appetizers and beers while talking about this and that. I was able to take some leftover appetizers home with me.

After work Wednesday, I was off to St. Louis Community College at Meramec (http://www.stlcc.edu/MC/) for the second night of Portuguese Language: Beginning I. Instructor Priscila Borba led us in more instruction on the language, including how to use the proper prepositions and correct pronunciations. The class is coming along very nicely.

My off day today started with getting blood withdrawn at a lab for routine tests my doctor ordered for me, followed by breakfast at St. Louis Bread Co. (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html). Late today, I got a call from Weiss Toyota telling me they had the replacement part for the recalled airbag on my Corolla, and we scheduled a service appointment on Thursday of next week. It will be free of charge, due to this being a recall.

Back to work tomorrow and Saturday morning, then I can enjoy the Labor Day Weekend.

Later.

Primary (Election) Matter, and Cheering from the Berm

This past week has been well. Work at the car rental branch has been going well. Plenty of business for us and that's great all around. Morale seems to be very good at the branch.

Before work this past Tuesday (15 March), I drove to Andre's Banquet and Catering (http://www.andresbanquet.com/andres_southlocation.html) in Oakville to cast my vote in the Missouri Presidential Primary. There were about 20 people ahead of me just after 6 am, when polls opened, but it all went rather quickly, as the only issue was the race for President of the United States. I cast my ballot for Bernie Sanders (https://go.berniesanders.com/page/content/splash) in the Democratic race; however, he narrowly lost to Hillary Clinton in Missouri, and that was only called for her the following Friday. Due to Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) being one of the other polling places, the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting scheduled for that night was postponed to this Tuesday (22 March).

During this past week, I completed editing work on the Spring issue of Naturally Autistic Magazine, published by Naturally Autistic ANCA (http://www.naturallyautistic.com/). This issue will come out in a few weeks, and I am looking forward to it.

Thursday night (17 March), after a corned beef and cabbage dinner at home with mom for St. Patrick's Day, I went to Creve Coeur Airport (http://www.crevecoeurairport.com/) for this month's meeting of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (http://moavhist.org/). The meeting celebrated the 60th anniversary of the McDonnell F3H Demon's initial squadron deployment, with a presentation on the Demon's (often troubled) development and operational service. Quite a nice presentation, I thought. Also, I recently stepped down as editor of the Society's Journal, Middle Marker, due to time constraints on my part. I will still be contributing to the journal, though.

After work the next night, I traveled to Restituo Coffee Shop (http://restituo-stl.com/index.html) in St. Louis' Shaw neighborhood for the first gathering of the STL Tea Club Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/StL-Tea-Club-Meetup/). Six of us got together to discuss our group and what we want it to be. It was very nice, and I look forward to our next meetup next month.

Yesterday afternoon (19 March), I journeyed to Ralph Korte Stadium on the SIU-Edwardsville campus for a friendly match between SIU-E (http://www.siuecougars.com/sports/m-soccer/index) and Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index). I joined with a bunch from the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) in cheering on Saint Louis FC from atop a berm across the field from the grandstand. The match ended in a scoreless draw, but we had fun. Saint Louis FC's season starts on the road this Saturday. Can't wait.

After a fluctuating week of weather, in which the temperature hit 80 degrees F (26.7 degrees C) on Friday, Spring arrived today with light snow this morning and a late afternoon temperature of 35 degrees F (1.7 degrees C). Oh well, that's St. Louis weather for you.

Later.

Work at the Branch and Home

Things are going well at the car rental branch in recent days. We're going at full strength to keep our customers satisfied. It has been a challenge in the past couple of days with limited parking space for our vehicles immediately by the branch, but we're working around it.

At home on my off time from the day job, I've been editing articles for the Spring issue of Naturally Autistic magazine (http://www.naturallyautistic.com/), the semiannual publication of Naturally Autistic ANCA. There are just a couple of short columns left to be edited and this issue will go to press. There are some fascinating items in this upcoming issue. I'll hold off mentioning more until the issue comes out in a few weeks.

Also this past week, I proofread some web site copy a friend was writing for one of her clients. I'll keep it confidential, but the job went very well.

Last Sunday (6 March), I was at the International Tap House (iTAP) in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis (http://www.internationaltaphouse.com/). The occasion was the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the St. Louigans (http://stlouligans.com/), a soccer supporter group. A large group of over 160 members attended the AGM, packing iTAP. The St. Louigans discussed plans for the upcoming season of Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index), including trips to selected road matches and making tifos (huge banners) for matches. Several Saint Louis FC players, along with the club's general manager Jeremy Alumbaugh and head coach Dale Schilly, also attended. Alumbaugh, Schilly, and a couple of players spoke to our group. It was quite a great get together and I am feeling pumped for the start of the Saint Louis FC season later this month. I also came away with a St. Louigans scarf, which I had pre-ordered.

After work Wednesday night (9 March), I was at PW Pizza (http://pwpizza.com/) just southwest of downtown St. Louis for dinner. It was a dinner for the Friends from Around the World Meetup group (http://www.meetup.com/Friends-from-around-the-World/). It was a large crowd there, including many foreign interns here in St. Louis, so I had to wait a few minutes to get a seat. When I did, I did chat a bit with a few of the others there and enjoyed a Magherita pizza (tomato sauce, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella & parmesan cheeses).

Daylight Savings Time starts here tomorrow at 0200 hours local time, so I'll let my clocks ahead one hour before retiring for the night. This Tuesday is the presidential primary election. I'll cast my vote after work.

Later.

Not a Bad Week

It was rather pleasant this week, with mild (for August) temperatures making the days go easier. Plenty of work so far at the car rental branch, with many vehicles to prep for rental.

Off early on Tuesday (25 August), as I'm working this Saturday morning, I chilled out at home. After supper, I traveled with two clubmates to Doug Barton's house in Foristell for this month's IPMS/Gateway business meeting. We planned the September general meeting and discussed the upcoming Region 5 Contest on 12 September. Preparations for that show are going well. I am looking forward to that event. More on the club and the regional here: http://ipms-gateway.com.

Off work today, I got my hair cut and did a bit of shopping. The latter included a nice new external hard drive for my computer. That will make it easier with all the images I have and will have. I was also put in contact with a local newspaper reporter wanting to do a story on the IPMS Regional Contest next month. It will be great to get some more publicity for this event.

I also spent some time this week editing a few more items for the Fall issue of Naturally Autistic magazine, due out in early October. I had some glitches in getting some stories downloaded from email to edit, but once that was overcome, the editing went well. More on the magazine here: http://www.naturallyautistic.com.

This weekend after work, I'll be a volunteer at the International Institute's Festival of Nations, a multi-cultural celebration in St. Louis' Tower Grove Park. I'll help staff a drinks booth on Saturday and a souvenir stand on Sunday. Hope to see you there! More at: http://www.festivalofnationsstl.org/.

Later.