Once More for 2010

Just under six hours remain in the year 2010 as I write these words. Let me get in one more blog post before 2011 arrives.
On Friday 17 December, two IPMS Gateway clubmates and I came to Gravois Bluffs Shopping Center in Fenton, Missouri. Y98 radio was hosting a marathon broadcast that day, and this was the opportunity for our club to donate our $451 raised in the past year to the US Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots. I presented the check to the USMCR on our behalf and the Marines were very pleased to receive the money. Thanks to the generosity of club members and Gateway Invitational attendees (due to the club's 50/50 raffles, silent auctions of kits, and the big raffle at the Invitational), some Metro St. Louis children had a Merry Christmas with a toy under the tree. (Tom Bogacki took the photo you see here of me holding the check with two of the Marines.)
That night, I went to Stress Free Fridays at Palomino Lounge on Delmar in west St. Louis. Had a fine time with the gang.
The next day (18 Dec.), I refereed futsal at Omni in St. Peters, Missouri that afternoon, then went home to change and then to DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, Missouri for the IPMS Gateway banquet. It was a fine event, with good food and company. I was master of ceremonies and didn't do too bad, I think. In that capacity, I presented our Ron Foulks (Modeler of the Year) and Bob Stroup (Outstanding Achievement) awards. Tom Bogacki won the former and Tony Kirk the latter, although Tony could not be present, due to the funeral of his stepson earlier that day. The banquet's featured speaker was Sgt. Clarence Cherry, a B-17 Flying Fortress waist gunner who flew 29 missions over Europe in World War II. He served in the 100th Bomb Wing (Heavy), 8th Air Force in England. It was fascinating to hear Sgt. Cherry's tales of the missions over German-held Europe and the stateside training that came before and after his combat tour.
IPMS Gateway's meeting on 21 Dec. was memorable for me on two counts. One, I was reelected president by acclamation for 2011 (no other candidate stepped up). Two, I won a raffle prize in our big kit raffle held at the December meeting. I selected a two-ship kit.
The good health slipped from me Christmas Eve morning, when I woke up to vomiting. I caught stomach flu and was bed ridden for almost all that Friday and much of Christmas day. Not the best of time to be sick, for sure. I had to back out of a luncheon date with my good friend from high school Tim Popp, who was in town for the holiday. I was well enough to open presents Christmas morning with my parents. Among the gifts I got was a new day planner binder (the one I had dated back to 1994 and showed it), and a new watch I can use for my soccer refereeing. It was a nice Christmas, otherwise.
On a sad note, my sister in-law Linnea Hauge died Saturday morning after battling breast cancer. She was 46 years old and was a sister of my brother Brian's wife, Gretchen. I met Linnea at Brian and Gretchen's wedding in 2000 and she came across to me as a bright and nice person. So sad to see someone like her taken away well before her time. RIP, Linnea, and my deepest condolences to everyone near and dear to her.
Having recovered from the stomach flu, I ran the IPMS Gateway business meeting Tuesday night (28 Dec.) at Mike George's house in Florissant, Missouri. We planned our January meeting (the annual Swap & Sell and Kit Auction), plus determined the special categories for our 2011 contests towards Modeler of the Year. Check out the club at http://ipms-gateway.com.
The last two nights, I was at the Immacolata Catholic Church's gymnasium in Richmond Heights, Missouri. The 2nd Annual Mary McDermott 3rd Grade Basketball Tournament was held this week, with girls and boys teams from Immacolata and other Catholic parishes playing. Mary McDermott was the daughter of my friend, Bill McDermott, graphic designer and St. Louis' Mr. Soccer. Mary died from a heart ailment in 2008, aged only 24. All proceeds from this event benefit the Hybrid Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis. It felt good to show up and support this most worthy cause.
Anyway, that's it for 2010. See you in 2011! Let's all hope it a very good year for all of us.
Later.

Staying Warm and Busy

It's a cold day here in St. Louis, with the temperature at 18 degrees F right now. We got a bit of snow (about 2 inches) late last Saturday night/Sunday morning, and the snow is still on the ground. It looks like a bit of sleet is on the way for tomorrow.
Back on 2 December, I went to a happy hour in Ferguson with the StraightUp HookUps MeetUp group. We had a fine time at the Cork Wine Bar. Then, it was on to the Tivoli Theater in the Delmar Loop to see the documentary "Pelada," on two Americans finding and playing pickup soccer around the world. Very interesting film and I definitely recommend it.
The next night, after a brief visit to Stress Free Fridays, I was in University City for a birthday dinner honoring soccer great Harry Keough. It was a nice dinner and I got to chat with a coach who runs a youth soccer program in St. Louis, New Dimentions, which helps immigrant children bond with local kids. A worthy cause, I think. On Saturday the 4th, I refereed the first futsal matches of the new season. My partner and I made sure the coaches were up to speed with some rule changes for this season, and generally the games went well. I also worked some games last Saturday night.
Last Wednesday afternoon, I finished a project I started late last month for a friend, Tom Doll, an aviation historian and author. He asked me to type up the manuscript (text and photo captions) of his latest book and to save it on CD, so he can then them to the publisher. (Tom doesn't have a computer.) I got the job done and when I saw him in Clayton that night he was most appreciative of my efforts. The book should come out in the latter half of 2011; I'll withhold the details of what it's about until then.
Lately, I've been proofreading documents for a friend. He asked me to proof a report from his work place. I have done the first tranche of pages, and just received the next bunch yesterday for me to work on. Will get going on those later today.
A week ago, I ran the IPMS St. Louis meeting, in which we continued to add models to the display we have this month at our meeting site, the Thornhill Branch of the St. Louis County Library. It looks quite nice and I made sure to include club flyers in the case so people know who put this display on. You can find out more at http://www.ipms-stlouis.org.
That's it for now. I'm trying to stay warm. Later.

Seeing Family & Being Thankful

This past week, my brothers Rick and Doug came to town for Thanksgiving. Doug and his girlfriend Helen flew in from Los Angeles last Wednesday. It was the first time I met Helen, and she's a very nice young woman. Rick, his wife Melissa and their son Alex drove up from Charleston, South Carolina and arrived later on Wednesday. Brian, my third brother, could not make it, as his sister-in-law is very ill and instead went to her parents in law in Wisconsin for the holiday.
We had a nice time, with Mom preparing turkey & company for us. We also got to see some friends and relatives of Rick, Melissa, and Doug for a while. Both brothers headed back home yesterday. It was real good seeing them, and for them seeing my parents and I.
Also last week, I received two copies of the inaugural issue of Naturally Autistic magazine. This is the publication of ANCA Consulting, Inc. for which I edited and fact checked articles earlier this year. The magazine looks real nice and I am proud and happy to see my work in print for others to see. ANCA's working on the next issue already, and should have some items for me to edit from mid-December.
Wrapped up the fall outdoor season a week ago today. Games in the final weeks went well. Last week, took in the futsal recertification clinic. Quite a few changes in the laws to know. I'll take the online test this week to get recertified. The new futsal season gets underway this coming weekend. I'll also have some outdoor winter league games starting next month.
Scale modeling activities are fine. Haven't been back to working on my latest project in awhile, due to other things happening. Ran the IPMS Gateway general and business meetings the past two weeks. Elections for 2011 officers are on tap for next month. I'm willing to run again for president.
With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror, Christmas is on its way. My brothers and I agreed to a gift exchange, so we only have to buy for one brother instead of all three. My wish list is already made out. This week, I need to get my Christmas card list finalized and my Christmas newsletter done.
Also, I need to get moving on finishing to type up and save on disc the manuscript and photo captions for a new book a friend is writing. I hope to get this all done by the end of next week at the latest.
That's it for now. Take care. Later.

A Successful Campaign Ends and Other Matters

It's been a week and two days since the election. The last few days saw me helping get out the vote for Charlie Dooley -- right up to about 4 hours before the polls closed on Election Day. I went to the watch party in Westport that night, where some of my fellow campaign workers were present. We were a bit downcast early on as the results showed Dooley trailing Bill Corrigan, but Dooley and his campaign chief assured us the Democratic-leaning North County precincts were yet to be heard. Those precincts were heard about quarter past 11 pm and they put Dooley over the top. We were so happy and in a very celebratory mood. I was so gratified that my efforts were a success. I even shook Dooley's hand later that night, just before I left the hotel to go home. (First time I met him, by the way.)
Besides that, I've been refereeing some more games. Well into the fall season, and besides some league matches I also worked two games last Saturday in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), a girls' traveling league. Some good competition. Sunday morning (early -- as in a 7 pm kickoff!), I worked games of a college showcase girls' tournament in St. Charles. They went fine.
Went to a breakfast time networking event in Ballwin last Tuesday morning. Met a few people to follow up with. Going to a networking event in Richmond Heights tomorrow. Hope that is worth my time. Yesterday morning, I visited a dentist for the first time in about 5 years. Taking advantage of a major discount offer online, I got my teeth X-rayed and cleaned. They found a couple of slight cavities, but nothing that had to be done right away. I made an appointment for six months from now and hopefully I'll have full time work then to better afford this care. Last night, I was at a MeetUp of local singles. We discussed online dating, and I brought out printouts of my singles site profiles for them to critique. Their feedback was most appreciated. I just joined one this afternoon and laready have some interest.
That's it for now. Sorry it took awhile since my last post, but I've for some reason found it hard to get myself to do this. Hopefully, it won't be quite as long until my next post here.
Later.

More of the Same of Late

In the past three weeks, not much for me to write about for you. Been busy with canvassing for Charlie Dooley's camapign three days a week (two weeknights, one weekend daytime), plus phone banking one night a week. Been going well. Saturday, we shifted into get out the vote mode, reminding our likely supporters to vote on 2 November -- just eight days from now. www.charliedooley.com
Been out on Fridays with Stress Free Fridays. The past three Fridays have been me joining the group at the Ice Kitchen in Westport Plaza, the Avenue Lounge in north St. Louis, and the In Spot in west St. Louis. Been having a fine time, including dancing and chatting with some of the gals.
Soccer refereeing has been going well on Sundays. Well into the fall season now, with about a month left in that. Futsal starts the beginning of December.
It's been confirmed that all three of my brothers, with their significant others and kids, will be in town for Thanksgiving. This should be great.
That's it for now. Later.

Taking to the Streets and the Pitch

I've been continuing my political canvassing work lately. It's going well, and things are picking up with the election just under one month away. Should be real interesting.
On 21 Sept., I ran the IPMS Gateway meeting, which had a wrap up of the Invitational held 10 days before. We had three people at our meeting for the first time, and it appears all three decided to join our club. Great to hear!
A weekend of contrasts followed this meeting. Friday night the 24th, I was in the audience at Forest Park Community College for the forum of 3rd Congressional District candidates. I and others lent our support to incumbent Russ Carnahan, while others supported opponent Ed Martin. At least it was rather peaceful.
The next night, I went to a party on the terrace of Pointe 400, the former Pet building in downtown St. Louis. It was a nice time, and I got in some dancing until the rains came, when we had to move the party indoors. A couple asked me early on to hang with them, and I did, even to a brief after party at a west St. Louis nightspot. I felt hung over from the alcolol (plus some congestion in my sinus area), but otherwise got home OK. A feww hours later, I was refereeing soccer at St. Louis U. High. My three games included a middle on an under-14 boys' Midwest Regional League match. They went well.
I hosted the IPMS Gateway business meeting on Tue., 28 September, where we planned the October meeting and discussed other club business. The Invitational was discussed at some length with suggestions offered to improve on it, successful as it was.
Friday night, I went to the Mehlville High Homecoming football game, for the first half. (The Panthers were losing big at that point.) When I got home, I had a message about two brief editorials for a new magazine that needed an edit right away. I got those done within 15 minutes and send them back. Looking forward to this new magazine that comes out later this month.
Sunday morning, I took the annual soccer referee fitness test at Parkway Northeast Middle School. I passed all three components: covered about 2100 meters in the 12-minute run; ran the 50-meter dash in about 7 seconds; and, ran the 200-meter dash in about 37 seconds. A bit sore afterward, but satisfied to get this done and to be one step closer to recertification for another year.
That's it for now. Off to canvass again tonight. Later.

A Successful Show, and Other Recent Happenings

One week ago, IPMS Gateway held its Invitational in Eureka. It was a success. I don't have attendance figures, but it seems it was about 25 to 33 percent higher than a year ago. Contest entries were approximately 180, about 30 more than a year ago. There were 43 vendor tables sold, when 40 was the original limit, and the vendors reported good business. Overall, a successful show and I was very happy and proud to be involved in it, ranging from helping set up the night before to helping tear down right after the show. We'll be back at Hitter's Choice Cages in Eureka on 10 September 2011 (09/10/11) -- save the date!'
I had a busy Sunday afternoon -- four soccer games I officiated, with two middles. Three of these games were under 14s (two boys, and a girls to end the session), plus a under 16 girls game next to last. They generally went well, although I did git a major blister on my one little toe, which continues to bother me as I write this. Hopefully, it won't be a big bother tomorrow, when I officiate two games.
I did some canvassing this past week (Monday and Wednesday nights, and Saturday mid-days) for Charlie Dooley's reelection campaign. It's been going well. I also worked a Dooley phone bank for two hours Thursday night. I'm cautiously optimistic about Dooley's chances in November.
Back to modeling: I have been working on an Italian ship model for Tuesday's IPMS Gateway meeting. The model contest features an "Anything Italian" special category, and I hope to get this ship done by then.
That's it for now. Later.