Book Fair and Refereeing, Plus an Eye Exam

Last Saturday night (26 April) found me at West County Center in Town and Country, Missouri helping out at the 65th Annual Greater St. Louis Book Fair. It's a charity book sale benefitting local education and literacy programs. I volunteered as a cashier--the third year in a row I've been a Book Fair volunteer--and I really enjoyed doing my part to help patrons at this event. I came back the following Sunday afternoon to buy a few books for myself, taking advantage of the 1/2 price on all items that day. I may have a few items to donate to next year's event.

Before that bit of shopping Sunday, I was at the Soccer Park in Fenton refereeing girls under-11 soccer matches. My assignor called late that morning asking me to replace a referee who had a family situation. I worked the two small sided (8v8) matches as referee with two young assistant referees. Both matches went well and the pay was appreciated. (The sore heel, due to the persistent tendonitis, was not.)

Kept busy at work this week, especially as I was the only car prep person at our branch. One of the other preps was on vacation and the other's recovering from recent wrist surgery. All of us at the branch pitched in and we got things taken care of in good fashion.

On my off day today, I got my eyes examined by a optometrist at Crown Vision Center. She found that my left eye had gotten a bit worse from my previous exam a year ago, but the right eye was fine. After that, I had a new pair of glasses ordered, which should be ready in seven to ten business days. Thanks to my workplace's vision plan, I won't have to pay so much for the glasses and the exam. Most appreciated.

Later.

Easter with Doug in Town

My brother Doug flew in from Los Angeles on Friday afternoon (18 April). It was good seeing him in town and he was very helpful to my parents and I. Doug cleaned the gutters and fixed my parents' computer, and he also worked out some kinks on my computer. He flew out on Monday, after enjoying church and dinner with my parents and I on Easter Sunday.

I worked Saturday morning at the car rental branch, and through the week, although I was detached to our Chesterfield branch yesterday morning. Been keeping busy with work, and soliciting ideas from colleagues on improving my chances of landing a better job.

I had meeting right after work on Monday (21 April; soccer referee clinic) and Tuesday (IPMS/Gateway business meeting). Last night after work, I slept well to catch up on that lost sleep.

Today, I proofread an e-book for a client (after loading new word processing software) and have been trying to reload some financial software, but with much trouble. Grrr!

I'm working as a volunteer at the Greater St. Louis Book Fair this weekend at West County Center, a used book sale to benefit local charities. I'm serving as a bagger on Saturday night. Hope to see you there! www.stlouisbookfair.org

Later.

Dealing with Rain and Gremlins

I put in a shift Saturday morning (12 April) at work, filling in for a colleague who recently had a hand operation. It was plenty busy, but we got our customers taken care of with no problems. I'm working my regularly scheduled shift this Saturday. Work has been going well.

We got some rain here on Sunday morning. It was enough to cancel the soccer games I was to have refereed that afternoon. We're off this Sunday due to Easter, but have some next Sunday.

Right after work Tuesday (15 April), I helped get the meeting room set up at Calvary Presbyterian Church for the IPMS/Gateway meeting. This meeting had the monthly beauty contest (a good turnout; 23 models entered), plus a tutorial on car modeling. Good time there, although I was rather tired afterward!

Today, I had to deal with some gremlins in my computer. I received in the mail yesterday the replacement disc for my Windows software, to replace that on my computer that was corrupted. I installed the replacement Windows on my computer; however, it wiped out my files there and I had to download a network adapter to access the Internet. I started to access the cloud backup, but it was very slow going to download that onto my computer! Now, I can scan and that was what I really wanted done. Now, I just have to make sure I can get all my e-mail contacts, website favorites, etc. on my computer.

My brother Doug is coming to town tomorrow for a few days. He may be able to help me with my computer issues.

Later.

Walking for Coffee, and Refereeing

After work on Friday (4 April), I went to Il Bel Lago, an Italian restaurant and bar in Creve Coeur, for Stress Free Fridays--my first in several months. I had a good time there, especially in chatting with a gentleman who does legal research for lawyers. He told me he was impressed by my background and had a few ideas I might try on my search for a job in my field. I thanked him for that.

The next morning found me in downtown Maplewood, Missouri for their Coffee Crawl. I went with some fellow members of the St. Louis Singles (40+) Meetup group, but soon got separated from them. It was a nice time, sampling coffees and teas from area roasters set up at 12 local businesses. I had a mug that I received when I got my ticket for this event the previous weekend that I used for this crawl. I really had a fine time at this event, getting around and visiting several places I have seldom or never visited before.

Right after the Coffee Crawl, I was in my car at Schlafly Bottleworks (one of the crawl's venues) to phone in my co-hosting of "Writer's Block," the monthly show on ANCA Radio. Host Tim Pylypiuk and I discussed how authors use visualization to place their audience in a story's setting, and Western (as in Old American West) literature. The show is archived and can be listened to or downloaded for podcast here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-/2014/04/05/writers-block--10-am-pstradio-drama-bill-boutin-grooming-hour--11-am-pst. We're back with a new "Writer's Block" on Sat., 3 May at 10 am Pacific Time (Noon, Central Time; 1700 hours GMT).

Sunday (6 April) found me at Columbia High School in Columbia, Illinois for youth soccer games--my first outdoor refereeing assignments since last October. My crew had four games scheduled, but only the first and the fourth games were played. The second and third games weren't played as neither team showed up, so we were kept waiting nearly three hours between games. Obviously a scheduling glitch. I was assistant referee both games Sunday and I felt pretty good in my legs afterward. (These were under 13 and under 12 girls' matches.) I'm back at is this Sunday afternoon.

Last Sunday also marked my parents' 51st wedding anniversary. They had a low-key celebration at home, due to my dad's health problems.

Work has been going well this week. After pressing on through a rainy Monday with many vehicles to be prepped, we enjoyed warm, sunny days on Tuesday and yesterday. I am off work today, and hope to get a computer software issue fixed today.

Before work Tuesday, I voted in the election for the Mehlville School Board and the St. Louis Community College Subdistrict Trustee. All the candidates I voted for were elected, so I was happy. (I was also happy to hear that my Mehlville 1982 classmate Debbie (Fiedler) Hopper won election to the Parkway School Board.)

Later.

Meetings, a Party, and Plenty of Work

One week ago tonight (27 March) found me at Creve Airport for the monthly meeting of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (MAHS). This meeting saluted the life and career of St. Louis native, World War II US Navy air ace, and Medal of Honor winner Edward "Butch" O'Hare. A 2007 documentary on O'Hare produced by KETC Channel 9 in 2007 was screened, and one of O'Hare's nieces attended to speak about "Butch." A rather fascinating program on this aviation hero. More info on MAHS at http://moavhist.org.

Work has been good, even if I have to dodge raindrops at times. I worked all day Friday, then last Saturday morning. (Plenty to do, with getting all those vehicles on our lot cleaned up and ready to rent.) Yesterday, I was sent from Ellisville to our Chesterfield branch on a temporary assignment. We got socked by a lot of rain that day, and I did my best to stay dry.

Last Sunday afternoon (30 March), I was at Bruno's American Grill and Pub in south St. Louis for a going-away party thrown by the Friends from Around the World Meetup. One of the exchange students is going home in three weeks, so we saluted him at this party. It was fun, as I got to chat with the students and some host parents, and the Meetup group's leader, Dayna. It was my first time at Bruno's and it was nice.

Early this week, it was meetings right after work. Monday night found me at the Grand Glaize Library in west St. Louis County for the monthly soccer referee clinic. Just a few of us showed up--mostly likely due to many of my colleagues doing late afternoon high school matches that day--but those of us who made it took in a nice session on Offside and on the Advantage Clause. The next night (1 April) was--no fooling--the monthly IPMS/St. Louis meeting at Mark Twain Hobby Center in St. Charles. Six of us (including me) attended, a new high for this location, including one first-time attendee for our club. We chatted bout our recent model projects and shared news about upcoming events and kit releases.

I had to deal with some computer issues this afternoon, being on the line with customer support on my scanner that wasn't working, and then Microsoft to deal with the underlying software issue. Someone from the latter is supposed to call me in a little while to work on this further, so I hope this works.

This Saturday, I co-host April's edition of "Writer's Block" from Naturally Autistic ANCA Radio. Tim Pylypiuk and I will discuss visualization and the Western on this month's show, so I hope you can tune in at Noon, Central Time (10 am, Pacific Time; 1700 hours GMT). More info on the show and the organization at www.naturallyautistic.com.

Later.

Working Away and Getting About Town Some

Last Saturday morning (22 March) found me at the Chesterfield branch of the car rental firm. I was asked that week to fill in for a car prep person there, so I did work the three hour shift there. I didn't do any pickups and drop offs of customers, but I did get a few vehicles ready to rent and took a vehicle to the O'Fallon branch to trade it for another one for Chesterfield. A good morning overall, and I was glad to help.

Late on Sunday morning, I drove to the St. Louis Artists' Guild at Oak Knoll Park in Clayton. The Midtown Mingles Meetup group met there to take in the Young Artists Showcase, which presented works by area high school students. There were two others with me at this event and we were impressed by these works of art. After spending about 30 minutes there, the three of us went to Brasserie by niche in the Central West End for brunch. We had a good meal--I ordered eggs Benedict--and we had a nice conversation on a variety of things. I only wish we had more people there; this was a nice event to take in.

The next night (24 March), after work, I drove right away to the Tivoli Theatre in the Delmar Loop to join the Monday Indie Movie Club Meetup group. About 30 of us saw "The Grand Budapest Hotel," a new movie by Wes Anderson, a comedy-drama we all agreed was most entertaining. Because of the time before the show, my dinner that night was a large bag of popcorn, a box of Rasinettes, and a large soda.

After work on Tuesday, I was able to get a roast beef and cheese sandwich from Arby's before driving to Mike George's house in Florissant for the IPMS/Gateway business meeting. I took down the minutes as the board planned next month's general and business meetings and discussed some other club business.

Yesterday, I was let off work four hours early, since I am working this Saturday morning and this would keep me at 40 hours for the week. I took advantage of the time to browse at West County Center, especially at the Barnes and Noble store. There, I enjoyed a cupcake and coffee drink at the cafe, and bought a magazine and a display shield for my Nook HD. Early that night, I headed to Senor Pique, a Mexican restaurant and bar in Ballwin, for a happy hour. It was in honor of one of my colleagues, who is leaving our branch early next week for a position at our commercial truck rental division in Earth City. I told her I'd stop by for a bit, and I was there for about 45 minutes. Loud crowds and I don't mix very well, and I wasn't in much of a mood. (I just had a glass of ice water.) I didn't want to spoil the night for everyone, so I just chatted a bit with my colleagues before I called it a night.

I've felt a lot of stress lately. Part of it was adjusting to my age and a feeling increasing mortality, part of it was the scare of my dad's recent illness and hospitalization, and part was a concern about my future. I feel so frustrated I cannot find more social success, and to feel happier and more confident about myself.

I'm at the Missouri Aviation Historical Society's meeting tonight at Creve Coeur Airport, and work Saturday morning at the Ellisville branch. Next Saturday (5 April), I'll be co-hosting "Writer's Block" from Naturally Autistic Radio. The show airs at noon, Central Time (10 am, Pacific Time; 1700 GMT). More info at: http://www.naturallyautistic.com/radiotv-oline/

Later.

Frantic Days

I had a pretty nice weekend. Nothing much going on. Just as well, since I was coming off a busy week at work. Saturday afternoon (15 March), I did make the trip to Duchesne Bar and Grill in St. Charles, Missouri for a couple of beers. That, and seeing the bartender that afternoon, my high school classmate and friend Debbie Allred (nee Bond), who I have not seen since graduating from Mehlville High. We got caught up on each other's lives and I admired her superb work behind the bar. Debbie and I may touch base soon.

A lot of business at the car rental branch this past week, and that meant a lot of work for me. Monday (17 March) was particularly busy, especially in the morning, with many vehicles to clean up and get ready for rental at our branch or satellite locations. (One of my fellow car preps was out sick, so we were a bit shorthanded.) However, we got through this and this week has been real good overall.

Right after work Tuesday night, it was off to Calvary Presbyterian Church for the IPMS/Gateway meeting. We had a nice meeting, with a demo on seam filling (getting into scale modeling's seamier side), and our monthly Beauty Contest. After opening up the meeting room and getting it set up, I took notes as club secretary for the minutes.

Off work today, I took my Corolla in for a maintenance check at Weiss Toyota. They rotated the tires and gave my car a once over. It's running great, with no urgent maintenance needs.

Earlier this past week, I was really feeling down. I wondered if things were really going to work out for me in my life--particularly my career and my non-existent love life. Several friends assured me I am still on the right track, that things will pick up for me in those areas soon. I sure hope so.

Later.