Strange Weather of Late

A week ago, it was above 70 degrees F here in St. Louis; however, by Sunday morning, it was freezing with 3 inches of snow on the ground. What gives here? Strange spring weather.
It was a rather quiet week. I did work on a car model I'm aiming to complete for the May IPMS/Gateway contest. I've got the body painted and gloss coated for decals to apply on it tomorrow. I ran the IPMS/Gateway business meeting last Tuesday night, in which we got the April meeting planned and discussed a bit of other club business. Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, I worked a phone bank for Jake Zimmerman's campaign for St. Louis County Assessor in the April 5 election. I'm working for the Zimmerman campaign now, and will be doing phone bank and other get out the vote efforts between now and next Tuesday's vote.
Friday night, I was at Level 2 in University City for Stress Free Fridays. They had a raffle to help someone with his medical bills. I got lucky and won a T-shirt and a bottle opener. Not big prizes, of course, but it's the thought that counts.
Got in a bit of shopping at CRM Hobbies last Saturday afternoon, as well as dropping off flyers for the IPMS/Gateway Invitational, which were most welcome by the shop.
Hope we have some improved weather this week, especially with the Cardinals' home opener Thursday afternoon.
Later.
(The self-taken photo was of me on the front porch Saturday afternoon.)

A Restless Couple of Weeks

The weekend prior to St. Patrick's Day was rather interesting. On Friday the 11th, I went to a dinner at Malone's in Bridgeton with a Meetup group. Had a nice time there. That Saturday and Sunday, I was refereeing in a youth soccer tournament at Sportport. I actually missed my first game assignment on Saturday, due to a communications mix-up, but after that, things went well for that weekend.
On Tue., 15 March, I ran the IPMS/Gateway meeting. That went well, with a decal demonstration and a "beauty contest" (with a strong turnout of models).
On the mornings of Thu. the 17th and Fri. the 18th, I was at a job search workshop in Webster Groves. I sat through programs on career resources, resumes, networking, and interviews. Much of these info I had heard before, but some was rather new to me. There were quite a few people there (about 70, I estimate), which should tell you about the times we're in now.
Thu. night, I worked a phone back on behalf of Jake Zimmerman, Democrat for St. Louis County Assessor in the 5 April election. I'll be doing some more such calls for Zimmerman's campaign between now and the election.
Saturday morning, I was at Mueller Field in St. Charles officiating Midwest Regional League u-14 girls games, which went well. I had a couple of GSLS u-12 girls games at the Soccer Park yesterday morning. No problems with either contest.
Now, on to another week. Take care. Later.

Sorry It's Been Awhile,...

The trivia night on Fri., 25 Feb. at Andre's was a good night. Especially, because the team I was on repeated as champion, getting 75 of 100 questions correct. Some of these were more challenging than last year, but I was able to help as much as I could with my tablemates. The big winners, though, were the Disabled Athlete Sports Association (DASA), which receives the proceeds from this event.
Wrapped up my season of refereeing futsal on Sat. night, 26 February. That was OK. Worked the start of the spring outdoor season the next day, and did more games the following weekend (5-6 March). Going fine so far, although the weather has been on a major up-and-down trip the past two weeks.
Ran the IPMS/St. Louis meeting on 1 March at Thornhill Branch Library. We showed off a few models completed or in the works. I have three models in various stages of construction, all aimed at the May IPMS/Gateway meeting's contest. More on those in future posts.
Last week, I proofread some more pages for my one friend's workplace. I went through the batch over three days. No major glitches were found; just a few minor grammar and punctuation issues.
Last night, I was at Amini's Rugs & Game Room in Chesterfield for the monthly Yellow Tie networking event. It was nice, meeting a few people there for the first time and (hopefully) getting a step closer to finding a job. Then, I went to the Barnes & Noble store in Chesterfield that I worked at just over four years ago to browse and enjoy cheesecake and coffee in the cafe. Also chatted with a colleague from when I worked there, who's still there. She told me she's one of the few people left from when that store opened back in mid-2006.
That's it for now. Later.

What's Happening with the Weather?

This morning, I woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground and freezing temperatures. This only five days after temperatures touched 70 degrees F.
Go figure.
Had some futsal games last weekend. Season's ending this weekend -- I have games tomorrow night. It's been pretty good, considering I (and my colleagues) had to learn a few new laws of futsal and it took a while to get used to them. It will be glad to be outside, though, and I have some games Sunday. (I had some scheduled for tomorrow, but they were called off. Perhaps concern over the weather.)
Tuesday, I can the IPMS/Gateway business meeting, hosted by Marion Morris. It was fine, as we planned out the March meeting and discussed some other business. Wednesday, I bought a car kit to do for the May contest and its Anything Yellow special category. Should be interesting. Already been gathering reference info on this subject.
I'm off to a trivia night in Oakville tonight. My referee assocation is hosting the event, which benefits the Disabled Athlete Sports Association (DASA). I'll let you know how it goes in my next post here.
Later.

At Last, Warmer Weather

The weather did pick up this week, and the last of the snow and ice was just about melted today. It certainly feels much better being out and about.
I was getting used to the new TV in my room. It's working out real well. Now I can watch HD programs on an HD TV. I just have to remember to call up the HD channels when I go to a station. The DVR/VCR is hooked up and working well.
Last weekend, I refereed futsal games on Sat. night at Omni in St. Peters and Sun. night at Christian Academy in Maryland Heights. They went well, although the last game I was scheduled for on Saturday was a washout, as neither team showed up. It would have been nice to have been told in advance it would be the case, but at least I'd get paid for being there. The season's almost done, and I have games this weekend. Then, it's looking forward to outdoor season.
Tuesday, I joined my Dad at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis for the Engineers Week luncheon. My Dad's a former equipment engineer and is a life member of the national and missouri societies of professional engineers. The luncheon's speaker was NASA astronaut Mike Foreman, who flew on two Space Shuttle missions. He showed video of the most recent of those, STS-129 last year, and talked about his background and how he became an astronaut. It was quite an interesting speech.
That night, I ran the IPMS/Gateway meeting at Calvary Presbyterian Church. Our first contest towards Modeler of the Year drew a good crowd of entries: 31 models, by my count, incluidng 10 in the Out of the Box special catetory for this month. My 1:72 scale Tupolev I-4 (Nakotne kit) was entered in the special category, but did not place. I was glad to have finished that kit that afternoon; it was a bear to assemble. I entered the 1:700 scale submarine USS Dallas (Dragon kit) in the Ships category and it took first place. I can't recall the last time I took first in a club contest, but I'm happy with the result. (Photos of those two models are attached.) At the meeting, we also firmed up the Same Kit Contest rules and distributed kits (1:48 scale P-51D Mustang by Revell) to the 21 members taking part. (I'm one of them.) The plan is for these kits to be completed and entered at the June meeting. Should be no problem for me.
Last night, I was at Van Goghz, a restaurant and bar in south St. Louis, for a meet up dinner. It was my first time at that establishment, and I liked it a lot. Their filet mignon dinner was only $6.99 that night. Very good value for the money, and the conversation among our group was very nice. I definitely recomment Van Goghz.
Later.

Another Year Older, and -- What?

I celebrated my birthday two days ago. Yes, I'm another year older, although my friend Beth McSpadden continues to insist I'm still a young chicken. It was a low-key day for me, although my parents took me out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse that night. That was nice, and we had cake when we came back home. Yes, I did blow out some candles on the cake before it was cut.
The day before, my Dad and I shopped by Best Buy. My parents decided to give me a TV set as a birthday gift, so we picked out a nice 22 inch LCD set. Not that the 19 inch tube set I've had for the past about 9 years was terrible, but it was nice to be able to upgrade to a set that would show HD programs to full effect. I used it to watch the Super Bowl and some old movies on Sunday night. The next morning, I turned on the TV, only it did not get the channel. We called the cable company and they sent a technician the next morning. Strangly, he found it was a matter of the output setting on the TV's remote control. D'oh! So obviously simple, yet under the radar for me. I noted down which setting to use for TV viewing and for playing and recording DVDs. Additionally, I bought an HDMI cable to hook up the TV to the cable box, for better HD reception.
Before all that, I got through another week of cold and snow-covered ground. Got some scale modeling done, with two models nearing completion for the IPMS/Gateway contest next week. Friday night, I enjoyed Stress Free Fridays at Ginger Bistro in the Delmar Loop. The next afternoon, I made a brief stop at Webster University to watch the first half of the men's basketball game vs. MacMurray and to take in the halftime ceremony, in which four former student-athletes were inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame. I chatted with two of the inductees, who I knew when I worked there 20 years ago, and with several other former student-athletes and student managers that I knew from then. I got back home, changed, and refereed youth futsal in St. Peters that night.
Sunday morning last, I was at church -- this time as an usher. I had never done this in a long time, but my parents and a few others said I did well. I may do more such ushering in the future, my schedule permitting.
Later.

Sleet and Snow and Cold Today

After having gotten out from the snow that fell here on 20 January, last night we got some sleet, followed today by some snow. Some more snow and sleet to come tonight and early tomorrow. Roads were real slick, and I had no place to go. (The IPMS/St. Louis meeting tonight was called all this morning, by the Thornhill Branch Library, which was closed today.) Hope I can get out a bit tomorrow.
Since my last blog post, I went to a dinner in University City on 20 Jan. put on my St. Louis United FC, a soccer supporters group (www.stlunitedfc.net). They screened the documentary Pelada for us. They'll meet again later this month. Two days later, I went to a Meetup of singles in Crestwood that discussed online dating web sites, with their pros and cons. I also got some praise for my profile on one of those sites. I refereed some futsal the next night in Maryland Heights.
I had my monthly referee clinic in west St. Louis County on 24 Jan., in which offside was discussed at length, with the help of an audio/visual program. The next night was the IPMS/Gateway business meeting, held here at my parents' house. We (the club's executive board) planned the February meeting (Tue., 15 Feb.) and discussed some other club business. I was at Renee's Bar & Grill in University City for Stress Free Fridays on the 28th, and refereed futsal in St. Peters the next night. I was back in U. City on Sunday, the 30th for an informal meeting of the Meetup group that met in Crestwood just over a week before.
Hope the weather's nicer by my next post, and by my birthday next week. Later.