Having Cabin Fever and Liking It

Yesterday (11 January), I drove to the Schlafly Bottleworks (https://www.schlafly.com/bottleworks-brewpub/) in Maplewood for their annual Cabin Fever festival. I arrived just before it opened at Noon. After a hiccup regarding my ticket purchased online (the scanner didn't pick it up at first), I received my wristband and sampler glass, then headed to the beer tent.

The tent had taps with 30 Schlafly beers to choose from. I would ask the server for a particular beer, which they would pour into the glass for me. They were all good, with beer styles that included lagers, pilsners, ales, stouts, and meads. I tracked my samples on the Untappd app (https://untappd.com/) on my phone. By the end of the day, I had sampled 15 of the available beers.

My friend and Enterprise colleague Melissa Maciorowski was there. She moonlights for Schlafly as a beer server for their special events, and she helped with a merchandise booth. We chatted for a bit and posed for a selfie.

Early on in the event, I did eat a bowl of chili mac, which helped me to better accept the beer. Later, I had an order of chorizo nachos.

In the store inside the Bottleworks, I did purchase a Schlafly/Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) keychain. (Schlafly is an official sponsor of the team.)

Hung over from all the beer, I walked about two blocks to the lot where I parked. I turned on the motor to have the heater going while I waited to sober up. However, the car's battery soon ran out and I needed a jump start. I was able to call AAA Emergency Road Service (https://www.autoclubmo.aaa.com/automotive/roadside-assistance.html), but had to wait for over an hour for the service person to come to my location. He did come, and after checking my driver's license and AAA membership card, he got my car jump started. I drove through the snow coming down that night home safe and sound, though I felt a bit uneasy in my gut.

I did sleep pretty well. This afternoon, I turned on the car's motor for a couple of minutes to test the battery, and it worked fine.

Later.

Last Weekend: A New Computer, Soccer, and Beer

I finally pulled the trigger on a new laptop computer last weekend. A week before, I visited Micro Center (https://www.microcenter.com/) in Brentwood, where I browsed among its extensive selection of laptops. There was one particular model I was most interested in, an Aspire 5 from Acer (https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/home), which has greater capabilities than the older Acer Aspire I have had for the last eight years. During my lunch break on Friday (26 July), I went onto Micro Center's website and reserved an Aspire 5. It was waiting for me when I came to the store after work. After paying for the computer, I took it home and began to set it up. It is still a work in progress, but I really like this new laptop so far. Not only is it more capable than my old one (particularly in having twice the memory and a solid state hard drive), but also that it's slightly smaller and lighter. I will appreciate that when I have to lug it around.

I spent much of Saturday at home getting my files (documents and images especially) transferred from my old laptop to my new one, via my external hard drive.

That night, I was at World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) to cheer on Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) in USL Championship (https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-championship) play against Bethlehem Steel FC. As usual, it began at the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate in the parking lot. They had a nachos buffet bar for dinner, which was good. I selected both pork rinds and nacho chips, which I topped with ground beef and sour cream. All washed down with Schlafly (http://www.schlafly.com/) Ale d'Or from the tailgate trailer tap.

We then marched into the stadium for the match. It was a good night for the home side, as Saint Louis FC won, 3-nil, their first win in league play in three months. Hopefully, this will be the start of a comeback effort for our club.

Yesterday (28 July) afternoon was spent in downtown Clayton. I met with others from Single in the City Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/STLSingleInTheCity/) for Beer Geek Fest at Craft Beer Cellar (https://clayton.craftbeercellar.com/), a tasting event with beers from 28 breweries around the country. We first met next door at The Posh Nosh Deli (http://www.poshnoshdeli.com/), where I had lunch: The Rebecca sandwich with chips and soda. Then, we began to sample away. It was most interesting to try out different beers from craft breweries located around the St. Louis area and from around the country. I had samples from 23 beers in about 2.5 hours there, all of which I logged onto the Untappd (https://untappd.com/) app on my smartphone. It was fun chatting with the others in the group while we talked about the beers we sampled or wanted to sample.

After spending time at the event, I walked to World News Ltd (https://newsstands.cmac.ws/world-news-ltd-clayton/1800/), where I bought two magazines, then walked to the nearby Starbucks (https://www.starbucks.com/) for an iced coffee while I read the magazines. After that, I walked to my car and drove home.

Later.

Party Times and a Job Interview

I joined with four others from the Single in the City Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/STLSingleInTheCity/) at Craft Beer Cellar in Clayton (https://craftbeercellar.com/) for the Beer Geek Fest last Sunday (29 July). This event was part of St. Louis Craft Beer Week (https://stlbeerweek.com/). I arrived early for this event, so I got lunch at The Posh Nosh (http://www.poshnoshdeli.com/) next door. The Claytonian sandwich I had--corned beef, pastrami, swiss cheese, creamy slaw, and homemade Russian dressing, all served warm on rye bread--was most satisfying.

At the Beer Geek Fest, approximately 30 breweries from around the Midwest were present with samples of their beers in and just in front of the store. I took full advantage of it, sampling 28 beers in about three hours. Yes, I felt a bit woozy from that, but I was otherwise fine. I kept track of the beers I sampled using the Untappd (https://untappd.com/) app on my phone.

Then, I walked west to the Barnes & Noble (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/) in Ladue to browse, and to enjoy a pastry and iced coffee drink in the Cafe. Recovered after that stop, I walked back east to the garage where I parked my car, about one block from Craft Beer Cellar, and drove home after a wonderful afternoon.

It was a rather busy, but good week at work this past week. This included my last week working with our intern, Lucas, who leaves us next week to head back to college. I will be gone on vacation most of next week, so I said my goodbye to him yesterday. Despite the return of high heat late this past week, we did our part to exceed customer expectations.

After work Tuesday night (31 August), I changed into a suit and drove to The Caramel Room at Bissinger's (https://www.caramelroom.com/) just north of downtown St. Louis. Group 01 of Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html), which includes the St. Louis Metropolitan area, held a fiscal New Year's Eve party there. It was an occasion to celebrate our group's success in the past fiscal year, and to aim for more success in the fiscal year that began on 1 August. I saw a few colleagues there, enjoyed a couple of beers, and walked around the complex. There was a countdown to 9:00 pm, complete with champagne toasts. A very nice time at this venue, which is connected to Bissinger's chocolate factory.

Off work Wednesday, I helped my mom and the handyman who was working to have our washer and dryer set up next to her bedroom. I helped to move the appliances up from the basement, where they have always been.

That night, I was at the Kathryn Linnemann Branch of the St. Charles City-County Library (http://www.youranswerplace.org/home) for this month's Mark Twain Model Club meeting. It was my first time at this venue; the club previously met at Mark Twain Hobby Center (https://www.hobby1.com/), but had outgrown the meeting room there. I brought in a ship model I was working on, and had flyers for next month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) Invitational contest and swap meet on 8 September. A demo on adding carpeting to model car interiors was delivered, and was quite interesting.

Back at work Thursday, I checked my company email during a break and found out that Enterprise Holdings, Inc. (https://www.enterpriseholdings.com/en/index.html) received my application for its Channel Marketing Specialist opening and wished to interview me for it. I contacted the Talent Acquisition (TA) person and we had a brief phone conversation before setting up a phone interview for the next day. She called me yesterday--I had arranged with my supervisors to have 20 minutes free for it--and we had a pleasant interview. I was asked some general questions to help the TA person sense what I could bring to this job. She told me that I had a great resume and great enthusiasm for the organization, but felt I was not a good match for this specific position. However, she told me I should have a place in the organization in some capacity and to persist with following the in-house job boards. I thanked her for her time and her candor, which I told her was nothing I had received from any other organization I had applied to in the past. I had let some of my colleagues know about this, and they said that although disappointed I would not get this job, they felt I would do better in future interviews from the experience.

Later.