Into March with Soccer, Work, and Basketball

I was at the new Creve Coeur Park Soccer Complex (http://www.slysa.org/creve-coeur) last Sunday afternoon (25 February) to officiate three under 14 girls matches. It was my first time at the facility, which opened up earlier that month. My three matches went well--including my middle in the first match. I think this complex will do very nicely for the St. Louis area youth soccer community.

Back at work Monday morning, and it was real busy. Many vehicles and customers passed through our branch that day, but my colleagues and I were able to keep things going well. It was much of the same the next day.

After work Tuesday night (27 February), it was off to Chaifetz Arena (http://www.thechaifetzarena.com/) for the first round Atlantic 10 Conference (http://www.atlantic10.com/) women's basketball game between Saint Louis University (http://www.slubillikens.com/) and the University of Massachusetts. I arrived just before the opening tip, and helped cheer on the Billikens to a 70-64 come from behind win over the visiting Minutewomen. This enabled SLU to advance to the A10 quarterfinals in Richmond, Virginia against Duquesne. They won that game last night; however, they lost the semifinal today to St. Joseph's. It was an up-and-town season for the Billikens, but I think overall their program is on the right track. After the game, I patted the belly of the Billiken outside of Chaifetz Arena.

I had a rather busy (much of the time) Wednesday at work, then it was my off day on Thursday. On the latter day, I did my laundry, and I put together a public relations work samples portfolio onto a PowerPoint presentation. I plan to look it over and make adjustments as necessary to it, before finalizing it and getting ready for sending it to prospective employers. I also plan to do similar portfolios for my writing and editing work by the end of March.

Friday (2 March) at work, I found our from our assistant manager Miranda (who ran the branch this week while manager Cory was off) that our branch's customer service score in February was very high. Just a small notch below next month, but still good enough for us to have breakfast bought for us in the coming month by our area management. It was rather busy that day, but we got done earlier that night than usual.

I ran some errands this morning before coming home for lunch and to watch the SLU vs St. Joseph's women's basketball game on TV. Then, I drove to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) for a pre-season match between Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) and FC Denver (http://fcdenver.org/). I joined in the tailgate with the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) before the match, then marched into Toyota Stadium with them to watch the match. Our group had a lot of fun, especially as Saint Louis FC won the match, 8-0. Both teams play again tomorrow (Sunday) morning.

Relaxing at home now.

Later.

Soccer, Scale Modeling, and Rain

I refereed soccer and futsal last Sunday (18 February). First, I didn't realize I had soccer games that day, and I need a reminder call to tell me. I quickly got dressed and arrived at the Lou Fusz Soccer Complex (https://loufuszsoccer.com/facilities/) in Maryland Heights, where I was in the middle for a under 14 match. It was a bit challenging, but it ended well. I was supposed to have worked another match after that, but neither team showed up and it wasn't on the league's schedule. That meant I was able to get to C4 (http://www.c4stl.com/) in Town and Country for the final night of the futsal season. My first match of four--all high school boys--was not held, as neither team showed up. My partner and I waited until the next game time arrived, and then we did the three other matches. They were all tense at times, bur all of them ended up well.

Back at work Monday morning, it was busy as usual, but nothing the branch staff could not handle. Home after work, I finished work on a car model for the next night's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting.

After work on Tuesday (20 February), I was off to Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) for the IPMS/Gateway (https://www.facebook.com/IPMSGateway/) meeting. It was raining a lot that day and night, and that cut into the meeting's attendance. Our first contest for Modeler of the Year was held; per tradition, it was an Out of the Box Contest (no modifications to the kit, and kit instructions to accompany the entry). My car model--a 1:32 scale 1957 Chevrolet convertible--was one of 27 entries in this contest. (This was a lower number of entries, due as I said to the rain-reduced attendance.) I didn't place in the Automotive category, but at least I earned 2 points--one for entering in the category, and one for entering in the Special Category (Out of the Box).

We also had a vote on the revised Constitution and By-Laws (C&BL) for the club, which passed overwhelmingly. Overall, a good night.

It rained off and on Wednesday, as my branch mates and I kept busy with our duties.

Off on Thursday, UI went to the Oakville License Office (http://dor.mo.gov/offloc/index.php?category=&locationString=63129) to renew my Corolla's state registration. My documentation was in order, and I received a two-year renewal in return for my money. After that, I chilled out at home. I split my TV time that day and in the past few days between the Winter Olympics, which end this weekend, and old movies and TV shows.

Another Friday at work was busy towards the end, but we all pitched in and got it done.

Today, I went to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park (http://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) in Fenton for Saint Louis FC's (http://www.saintlouisfc.com/) pre-season match against SIU-Edwardsville. I first joined the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) for their tailgate in the parking lot before we marched into Toyota Stadium for the match. About 30 minutes before the match, rain started pouring down and it never let up the whole afternoon. I was with some of the St. Louligans in our usual spot in Section 8 for the first half, but retired to the covered plaza near the west stand for the rest of the match. Saint Louis FC won the first of the 75-mionute matches 4-1; after that, I left to get warm and dry. (With the second mini-match included, Saint Louis FC won 7-1.)

After the match, I went to Starbucks in Valley Park (https://www.starbucks.com/store-locator/store/17458/hwy-141-i-44-922-south-meramec-station-rd-valley-park-mo-630882) to get a nice hot coffee drink and to relax before heading home. There, I got out of my wet clothes.

Later.

Another Newsletter to Press; Passing Inspection

Monday mornings at our branch are most busy, and last Monday (12 February) was no exception. There were quite a lot of vehicles to clean up and some customers to pick up and drop off. At least the weather was nice for this time of year and everything worked out for the best.

Early this past week, I was busy putting together this month's issue of The Arch Scaler News, newsletter of IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/). Despite a few slight glitches regarding illustrations while assembling the newsletter, it all came together by Thursday morning (15 February). I printed out the handful of newsletters to our members who only get it by US Mail, then sent the remainder via email. (For the latter, I also sent the proposed revision to the Constitution and By-Laws, which is up for vote at the meeting.)

Valentine's Day on Wednesday was just another day for me. I did wish my female friends a Happy Valentine's Day, and wished everyone a happy day, whether they had a loved one or not.

The work week went well. Friday afternoon, I spent about 90 minutes at our Ballwin branch. I was filling in for their vehicle service agent, who was ill. I cleaned a few cars and picked up a customer until one of their agents arrived to do the rest of the day. I then went back to Ellisville for the remainder of the day.

I was back on the workbench late in the week, trying to finish a model or two for this Tuesday's Out of the Box Contest at the IPMS/Gateway meeting. One of them has been more problematic and I won't get that one done in time, but the other should be ready for Tuesday night.

Thursday morning, I took my car back to Jiffy Lube (https://www.jiffylube.com/) in Concord Village to get the state emissions inspection done. This time, their system was working perfectly well and tested my Corolla, which passed. The manager there did not charge me for both the safety and emissions inspections, due to their computer glitch, which was very generous of them. I'll be able to renew the Corolla's registration later this coming week.

Yesterday, I woke up to light snow falling on the ground. It melted later that day, as it warmed up. Yes, the weather has been up and down a lot in recent days, which does not do my sinuses any favors.

I'm off to referee futsal at C4 tonight.

Later.

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.

Good Days at Work and at Home

Since a week ago yesterday (26 January) was pay day, naturally I stopped by Krispy Kreme (http://krispykreme.com/) in Fenton to buy a dozen doughnuts for my co-workers. It was a good day at the branch, busy as usual late in the day. I also was working the next morning.

After work, I spent a bit of time at my model work bench, getting going on some models I'm hoping to finish and enter at the February IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting. I worked on two kits during the next few days. I will definitely get going on all those models later this weekend.

Back at work Monday morning (29 January), it was busy as usual that morning before leveling off. The week went well, and we had plenty of vehicles to rent out.

Off on Thursday (1 February), I got a haircut at Great Clips (https://www.greatclips.com/) in Mehlville, then treated myself to a hot beverage and a pastry at the nearby Saint Louis Bread Co. (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html). That night, with help from my mom, I applied hair coloring to cover my gray hairs.

That afternoon, I began scanning work samples onto my computer for use in a PowerPoint portfolio that could be sent to prospective employers. I started the effort with public relations items; I will do writing and edit8ing items in due course. I hope to get the public relations work samples assembled onto the PowerPoint presentation in the coming week. By month's end, I plan to start contacting current and former co-workers and other contacts to let them know I am seeking positions in those fields.

Back at the branch on Friday morning, we were visited by our new area manager, who I met. He and the overall manager for St. Louis area branches were making the rounds of our branches, touching base with branch management and seeing how we were doing things. Hopefully, we made a very good impression on our visitors. Before leaving work last night, assistant manager Miranda said they had hired a new vehicle service agent that will start with us next weekend. I was working this morning, but with the new person coming aboard, I won't be regularly working weekends after today.

I went to Pizzarelli's Pizzeria (http://www.pizzarellispizza.com/) in Ellisville after work today for lunch. Two good sized slices of pizza--spicy sausage on cheese--were my meal, and they really hit the spot. I came home after lunch to chill out.

Later.

State of Aviation Kickoff; Getting a Cold

One week ago tonight (18 January), I was at Creve Coeur Airport (http://crevecoeurairport.com/) for the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) meeting. This had been postponed by one week due to weather on its scheduled night. A packed house took in a "State of Aviation" event, in which local and regional aviation groups briefly addressed the membership and guests on their plans for 2018.

These groups included: The Aero Experience (http://aeroexperience.blogspot.com/); the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum (http://airandspacemuseum.org/); the St. Louis Section of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (https://info.aiaa.org/Regions/MW/SL/default.aspx); the Gateway Chapter of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation (https://armyav.org/st-louis-missouri/); the Boeing Historical Council (http://www.boeing.com/history/); the Missouri Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (http://cafmo.org/); Gateway Squadron, Civil Air Patrol (https://www.facebook.com/CivilAirPatrolStLouisMoGatewaySquadron); the Defense Contract Management Agency at Boeing (http://www.dcma.mil/); Fair Saint Louis (https://www.fairsaintlouis.org/); the Greater St. Louis Business Aircraft Association (http://www.gslbaa.org/); the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum (http://www.historicaircraftrestorationmuseum.org/); the Saint Louis Science Center (https://www.slsc.org/); the Space Museum in Bonne Terre (http://www.space-mo.org/); the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show & STEM Expo (http://spirit-airshow.com/); the Association of St. Louis Area Archivists (http://stlarchivists.org/); Saint Louis Regional Historical Societies (https://stlregionalho.org/); the National Museum of Transportation (http://transportmuseumassociation.org/); the TriStar Experience in Kansas City (https://tristarexperience.org/); and, the Transportation Club at the University of Missouri at St. Louis (http://www.umsl.edu/~cts/Transportation%20Club.html).

My friend Linsey Daman (http://cacstlouis.com/index.html) and her mother Anne were there, and it was great seeing them. Linsey is in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and she got a military discount from the Society.

Work at the rental branch has gone very well the past few days. With the weather warming up after the sub-freezing temperatures earlier last week, it was great to be able to wash the vehicles' exteriors without fear of the water freezing up on them.

Saturday night (20 January), I went to the Marcus Arnold Cinema (http://www.marcustheatres.com/theatre-locations/marcus-arnold-14-cine) to see "The Post." Really good movie. I was seven years old when the Pentagon Papers case went down, and this movie brought back my memories of that period.

Over last weekend, I got my entries and supporting materials prepared for submission to the Missouri Professional Communicators (http://www.mpc-nfpw.org/cpsiteframepage.lasso?-token.lpuserref=113815.113118) Communications Contest. The entries--the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) newsletter The Arch Scaler News, press releases for IPMS/Gateway's Invitational and Toys for Tots donation, and my blog--were submitted Monday (22 January). This is one day before the deadline. Results will be known in April. Wish me luck!

Also over that weekend, I got a chest cold. I made it into work, but was slowed down by body aches and a fever I felt that afternoon. Still, I persisted during the day. I rested at home right after work, and fulled a full day Tuesday and the partial day Wednesday.

I rested at home much of the day today, but I also did my laundry and drove out to Mark Twain Hobby Center (http://www.hobby1.com/) to get paint for a car model I'm working on for the IPMS/Gateway contest next month.

Later.

Big Chill, and Scale Model Kit Dealing

It really got cold here in St. Louis, with high temperatures down to about 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) last weekend. Despite this, we at the rental branch carried on as best as possible. I worked a full day last Friday (12 January)--after bringing my mates some doughnuts from Krispy Kreme (http://krispykreme.com/)--I worked the next morning. Because of the cold weather, we weren't washing vehicle exteriors. (No need to have ice covered windows and doors locked shut.)

After work, it was chilling out at home this past weekend. Nothing special about my weekend at home.

Back to work Monday morning (15 January) in some biting cold. The temperatures started off around 0 degrees F (-17.8 degrees C), with wind chills of about -15 degrees F (-26.1 degrees C). Brrr! Despite the biting cold, my colleagues and I were able to take care of our customers.

After work on Tuesday, it was off to Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) for this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/). This was our annual Swap & Sell and Kit Auction. The former had several members selling kits and related items to fellow members (I bought one kit each from two vendors). We also had kits auctioned off, with proceeds going to club activities this year, including our Picnic in September. I won four kits and a book from my bidding efforts. Additionally, the club presented its annual Bob Stroup (Member of the Year) and Modeler of the Year awards from 2017. The night was a success.

After flexing out yesterday afternoon, I went home to rest. (I haven't had that much sleep lately.) Off work today, I did my laundry and ran some errands. Tonight, I am off to the rescheduled Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) meeting at Creve Coeur Airport (http://crevecoeurairport.com/). It's the Society's annual Kickoff meeting, with representatives from various aviation organizations talking about their plans for this year.

The weather is getting warmer. Today, it hit 46 degrees F (7.8 degrees C), and it should hit just shy of 60 degrees F (15.6 degrees C) by Saturday.

Later.