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.

Highs and Lows This Week

A week ago tonight (26 March) found me at the International Tap House in Soulard (http://www.internationaltaphouse.com/#!locations/c5ob), where I joined with other St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) in cheering on Saint Louis FC's (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) season opening match. Saint Louis FC opened the season at Real Monarchs SLC, which we witnessed via YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/). Real Monarchs won 1-0 with a 90th minute goal. A disappointment for sure, but it was fun with the large crowd (about 180) of St. Louligans in the house. (Saint Louis FC lost its second match, 3-0, at LA Galaxy II Wednesday night; they are at Orange County Blues tonight.)

Work this past week has been good, with some busy stretches. A particularly interesting time was had yesterday (1 April), and that wasn't an April Fool's joke. I was detached with a colleague to deliver vehicles to the Kirkwood branch, which was very busy. I ended up cleaning up a vehicle there, helping keep the counter going well, and going to our Creve Coeur branch to get another vehicle for Kirkwood. I was returned to Ellisville some three hours later. It was real calm back at Ellisville while I was gone, but picked up before closing time. I worked this morning there and it was quite busy, but our customers were taken care of in good order, as usual.

After flexing out Tuesday afternoon (29 March), I stopped by HobbyTown USA in Ballwin, which is going out of business. The cashier told me the store owner was retiring. I bout a model kit and a die-cast aircraft model, both at 40 percent off list price. That night, I was at the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting, held at Marion Morris' house in Maplewood. We planned the April meetings and discussed other club business.

My off day Thursday (31 March) was full. I got my hair cut at Great Clips (http://www.greatclips.com/) at Tenholder Plaza in Mehlville. After starting my laundry, I headed to the Enterprise branch at Lambert Airport to drop off a card for my friend and colleague Kerry, who gave birth to a baby girl earlier in the week. Then, I drove to the Saint Louis Science Center (http://www.slsc.org). I went there to tour the exhibit "Above and Beyond," which looks at aerospace technology today and in the future. Very nice, with many hands-on exhibits. The exhibit runs until 8 May.

After grabbing lunch in one of the Center's cafes, I took in the Omnimax film "Living in the Age of Airplanes." It's a movie about the role of aircraft in connecting the world through tourism and business. I was very impressed with this movie. I then browsed at the Center's James S. McDonnell Planetarium, where Mercury and Gemini spacecraft were on display. I also viewed an F/A-18B Hornet fighter in Blue Angels colors and markings displayed just outside the Planetarium. Overall, a very nice day. I needed that, after feeling rather down the day before as I wondered if I really was somebody with a future. My colleagues assured me I did.

After work today, I grabbed lunch at Steak 'n Shake (http://www.steaknshake.com/), then drove to the St. Louis County Library Headquarters in Ladue (http://www.slcl.org/content/headquarters). The STL Aspies Meetup group (http://www.meetup.com/STL-Aspies/) met for the first time in about a year. About eight of us got together to tell ourselves how we're doing. It was a nice discussion and then we retired to St. Louis Bread Company (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html) at nearby Plaza Frontenac (http://www.plazafrontenac.com/en.html) for refreshments and discussion. A good time, and we'll meet again in August.

Later.