A Birthday Amidst Fluctuating Weather

Last Sunday (4 February) was spent at home. Rather quiet. Did work a bit on a couple of scale models I'm looking finish so I can enter them in the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) contest on 20 February.

Back to work Monday morning and we had lots of vehicles to clean up and ready for the many customers that passed through our door that day. The same was the case the next day, with the added concern for freezing weather. I had some snow to clear off windows that morning, but easily handled. Concern with the weather did force postponement that Tuesday night of this month's Mark Twain Model Club in St. Charles. That meeting has been rescheduled for this Tuesday night.

My birthday in Wednesday (7 February) passed rather quietly. No mention of it at work. After work, I came home to dinner with mom, along with cake and presents. The latter included three casual shirts, which were most appreciated, along with a motivational book mom found, and a movie on DVD I had ordered, "Russian Ark." That night, I chilled out at home watching on DVD one of my all-time favorite movies, and one that was the top movie at the box office the day I was born: "Dr. Strangelove; Or, How I Learned to to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

Off work Thursday, I went to Jiffy Lube (https://www.jiffylube.com/) to get my Corolla's safety and emissions inspections, as its state registration was due at the end of this month. After finding that my usual location in Mehlville was closing in three weeks, I headed a Jiffy Lube in Concord Village. They were able to do the safety inspection--it passed--but computer problems prevented them from doing the emissions inspection, even after rebooting the computer a few times. They folks there apologized for that, and promised they would get this fixed in the next day or two. I told them I would return in a week to try to get the emissions inspection done.

Home after that, I worked on my 2017 federal and state income taxed. Using TurboTax online (https://turbotax.intuit.com/), I followed the step-by-step instructions to work out my taxes. I ended up getting a nice refund from the federal government, and paying just a bit for the state. I successfully filed my taxes electronically, and printed off copies for my files and to mail to both the IRS and Missouri Department of Revenue--the latter with my payment. This was done during my lunch break the next day.

After getting my taxes done, mom took me out to Red Lobster (https://www.redlobster.com/) in Concord Village for my birthday dinner. I had a nice dinner featuring stuffed tilapia with langostino lobster. Yum. I washed that down with lobster lovers punch, a cocktail of Captain Morgan, Bacardi, and Malibu rum, shaken with berry and pineapple juice and served in a Red Lobster 50th Anniversary glass that I could keep. Very nice.

Back at work Friday--after buying doughnuts from Krispy Kreme (http://krispykreme.com/) for my colleagues--and we had a day that started off rather warm for this time of the year, only to get much colder later that day. Assistant manager Miranda got a big decorated cookie for my birthday, and I had a bit of that after getting lunch from Penn Station (http://www.penn-station.com/) in Ballwin. I helped get it all done by the time we closed up Friday night.

Yesterday, I was home during the day, doing a bit of work on my models and getting some preliminary work done for the IPMS/Gateway newsletter, The Arch Scaler News, which I need to get out this week. I also relaxed at home, mindful of the worsening weather coming that night. A wintry mix--ice and a bit of snow--was coming our way. That night, I learned by email that two soccer games I was to have officiated the next morning were cancelled, due to weather concerns.

Thus, I slept in a bit this morning, relaxed at home, then headed at midday to C4 at Creve Coeur Racquet Club (http://www.c4stl.com/) for boys futsal matches. I was scheduled to work four high school age matches; however, this past week, I was asked to yield my place in the third match of the set so a colleague could be assessed for upgrade. I agreed to this and so I watched that match from near the scorer's table. I trust my colleague passed his assessment. My three other matches went well, though they were a challenge at times and I had to pull out my yellow card a couple of times in these matches. Overall, though,they were fine and all was well at the end.

Watching the Winter Olympics (https://www.olympic.org/) from PyeongChang on TV tonight. I always enjoy the great smorgasbord of sports that is the Olympic games, and these games are wonderful to watch so far.

Later.

Meetup, Picnic, and Work

Last Saturday afternoon (6 August), I was at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters in Ladue (http://www.slcl.org/content/headquarters) for the STL Aspies Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/STL-Aspies/). I ran the meeting, in which the six attendees talked about themselves, how they are coping with having Asperger's Syndrome, and how they are moving forward. After this meetup, most of us headed to Saint Louis Bread Company (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html) at Plaza Frontenac for a snack and talk.

The next day found me at Greentree Park (http://www.kirkwoodmo.org/content/City-Departments/1830/greentree-park.aspx) in Kirkwood for a picnic thrown by Viva Brasil St. Louis (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/home) for those who volunteered at their Festa Junina in June. It was a pot luck supper, including some Brazilian cuisine, along with beer, soda, and water. I got to meet others in the organization, and I was presented with a thank you letter for my help at the Festa Junina. They were very pleased to hear I have a friend in Cuiaba, Brazil who has stirred my interest in Brazil, and that I will take a introductory Portuguese language course starting later this month at St. Louis Community College at Meramec (http://www.stlcc.edu/mc/). Viva Brasil St. Louis provides the instructors for this and other Portuguese language classes offered by the college. This is a wonderful group and I look forward to working more with them at future events.

Back to work Monday (8 August) at the rental branch, and plenty to keep us busy. I flexed out Tuesday afternoon, as I will be working this Saturday morning. The weather is heating up some this week, with temperatures approaching 95 degrees F (35 degrees C) and heat indices topping 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Good thing the fans are up and running in the wash bay; they make it much more tolerable in there on hot days.

I've been following the Olympics from Rio (https://www.rio2016.com/en) and find myself not only cheering on the USA athletes and teams, but also those from Brazil. It might be quite tough on me when USA and Brazil teams meet up in these games. In that case, may the better teams win.

Later.

Plenty of Alcohol and Soccer

A week ago this afternoon (30 July), I was at Sugar Creek Winery (http://www.sugarcreekwines.com/) in Defiance, Missouri. This was for a 30th birthday party for my friend and former Enterprise Rent-A-Car (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) colleague Sarah Dixon. She's now working for Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits (http://www.southernglazers.com/), a drinks wholesaler. I was very happy to see Sarah and to meet some of her party guests (Southern Glazer's colleagues, friends, relatives). It was a nice time and I sampled several wines from Sugar Creek. There was also snacks--cheese, crackers, salami, chips--to munch on. Sarah and I got caught up on things. It was a very nice time.

After coming home late that afternoon, I drove to Smugala's Pizza Pub (http://smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills) in Sunset Hills for a beer before catching the Pub2Park shuttle bus for Worldwide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton and that night's Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) match against OKC Energy FC. The match ended 0-0, although Saint Louis FC had some good chances to score. It was fun, cheering along with the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) and consuming another beer there.

Late the next morning (31 July), I drove to Craft Beer Cellar Clayton (http://clayton.craftbeercellar.com/) for a beer tasting party, part of St. Louis Craft Beer Week. I went to this event as part of the Single in the City Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/STLSingleInTheCity/), and there were about eight of us there. Many craft breweries from Metro St. Louis and elsewhere set up tables inside and in front of the shop and offered samples of their beers. About eight breweries would be present for a two-hour shift, then they would be replaced by others, so attendees could try out many beers. I sampled 20 beers during my time there--by far the most different beers I tasted in one place at one time. (Our group organizer, Britt, suggested downloading the Untapped app to my phone, which I did and used to track and rate the beers I tasted.) In between tasting sessions, I chatted with other group members gathered just outside Craft Beer Cellar, and also grabbed lunch at the neighboring Posh Nosh Delicatessen (http://poshnoshdeli.com/). (It was a Reuben and it was very good!)

Back to work Monday and business kept me plenty busy at the rental branch. Our assistant manager Cayla returned to work Monday after over a month due to a recent car accident. She was doing fine, though with one wrist still in a cast. Our new branch manager, Justin, reported in on Wednesday (3 August) and we all got used to him and his management style. It should work out very well, though. Yesterday marked our intern Collin's last day, as he is headed back to Saint Louis University for his senior year.

After work Wednesday, I dashed over to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park for Saint Louis FC's match against Swope Park Rangers. Heading from the parking lot, I was in a panic when I realized I had lost my ticket, which I had in my one pocket all day. I ended up getting a general reserve ticket, which was in the far corner from where I usually sit, but I did get to see the match. After giving up a first half goal due to a defensive lapse, Saint Louis FC leveled it from the penalty spot in the second half and the match ended up drawn at 1.

Off work Thursday, I interviewed with The Creative Group (https://www.roberthalf.com/st-louis/creative-marketing), a marketing and creative staffing agency in downtown St. Louis. A recruiter there found out more on my background and what I'm seeking and said she'd keep me posted on any job openings I would be suited for in that field. I wore coat and tie for that interview and for some time after that, to get me used to this professional attire. (I dress much more casually in my current work!) That afternoon, I delivered some IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) club and show flyers at CRM Hobbies (http://www.crmhobbies.com/), which had run out on these flyers.

After work yesterday, I drove home for dinner with mom and watching the Opening Ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (https://www.olympic.org/). It was quite a spectacle. Chatting the other day on WhatsApp with my friend Eliana Roversi in Cuiaba, Brazil, she wished we were in Rio taking in the games. I told Eliana I would love that.

Speaking of friends, I recently touched base with my friend from Saint Louis University, Alison Madden, who I knew from The University News (student newspaper) and from her being in Kappa Phi Beta sorority that held switches with my Delta Sigma Phi brothers. Alison's now living in the San Francisco Bay area of California, where she performs legal work. I am very happy for her and--judging from her photos on Facebook--she still looks great.

I help run the STL Aspies Meetup later today. More on that in my next post.

Later.