"I Love SM" (Santa Monica)

Last Saturday (11 Aug.), after doing some preliminary packing for my vacation, I worked the Mehlville-Oakville Alumni Association (MOAA) table at the Mehlville High Class of 2002 reunion, which was held at Kirkwood Station Brewing Co. Myself and another volunteer had MOAA activities info and we persuaded many of the alumni attending to fill out contact information forms for the association's database. It was a nice time for volunteer work, before returning home that night.

The next morning, with my bags packed, Mom drove me to Lambert-St. Louis International airport (STL) for the flight to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It was a nearly four-hour flight, but I occupied most of that time reading an ebook on my laptop. The book I started was "Let's Get Trollied (The Return Legs)" by Liz & Julie, two British stewardesses with their second work on their adventures and misadventures. I had read their previous book, "You f'Coffee Sir," and have become quite a Liz & Julie fan.

Doug was waiting at LAX to pick me up and we drove us to his home in Santa Monica, where his fiancee Helen and their dog Sake were waiting. That night, we went to The Home Depot Center in Carson to watch the SuperClassico between CD Chivas USA and LA Galaxy. The Galaxy won, by 4 goals to nil, with Landon Donovan assisting on all four goals. It was a blast for me to watch a match at this venue, and Doug and Helen also liked it a lot.

Monday afternoon (13 Aug.), while Doug was at Work, Helen took me to the Santa Monica Pier. On a gorgeous sunny day, we strolled along the pier, road the ferris wheel, and I played the arcade games while Helen watched. I won quite a few tickets from those, which I redeemed at the arcade for a toy jet fighter and two plastic bling rings. A fun time for sure.

Midday Tuesday, I drove to the University of Southern California (USC) campus in Los Angeles, borrowing Doug'a GPS-equipped car. After getting lost because I did not set the GPS properly and making my way through traffic, I arrived at USC. After parking in the public garage, I walked to the Accounting building for a meeting with Dr. Lars Perner, an assistant professor of clinical marketing at USC's Marshall School of Business. Like me, Dr. Perner also has Asperger's syndrome, so it was a great meeting of like-minded people. He said he could put me in touch with publishers for which I could do part-time editing and fact checking work, and said I was interested. Dr. Perner also gave me an autographed copy of his book "Delightful Reflections: Quips, Conjectures, and Pontifications." Perner gave me a guided tour of the USC campus, including showing me the Film Studies Center.

After my visit at USC, I drove to the nearby California ScienCenter, where I browsed among its exhibits. These included a few aircraft displayed outdoors (including a DC-8 jetliner and an SR-71 spyplane), and three American manned spacecraft (Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo). The space shuttle Endeavor will be displayed at that center starting this fall.

Before visiting the ScienCenter, I walked by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Los Angeles Sports Arena, both of which are near the ScienCenter. The Coliseum hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, and is home to USC Trojans football. (The only other Olympics stadium I've visited is Washington University's Francis Field, from the 1904 games.)The Sports Arena is used for USC men's basketball.

Yesterday morning (15 Aug.) Helen took me to Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades for a bit of beach time. Unfortunately, it was not sun time, as it was cloudy while we were there. We mostly relaxed and read, but I got towards the waterline and dipped my toes into the Pacific Ocean. It's been a long time since I've been on a beach.

I've eaten well so far, including some fine dishes Helen cooked up, plus we dined out the last two nights. Last night, it was seafood at Fish Commerce Co. in Santa Monica. Doug and I jogged yesterday morning and early this morning, going from the house to the beach and back--a distance of about 2.6 miles (4.2 km).

Doug and Helen gave me two shirts they recently bought on a trip to Italy. One's a replica Italian national soccer team jersey, the other's a German national soccer team polo shirt. Both fit me well, in more ways than one.

Last night, I was watching the Mexico-USA friendly on TV, from the Estadio Axteca. I was over the moon seeing the US win 1-0, their first victory over Mexico in Mexico. U-S-A!

Off to more adventures before I fly back to St. Louis Sunday. Later.

Victories at the Polls and the Olympics

Last Saturday afternoon (4 August) started with my co-hosting this month's episode of "Writer's Block," a program on writing from Naturally Autistic Radio. Tim Pylypiuk and I read samples of our writings as we discussed how reading such works aloud is affected by the words on the paper or screen. A fine program, as usual, and we'll be back with another episode on Sat., 1 Sept. at 12 pm Central Time (10 am Pacific Time). Show info at www.naturallyautistic.com/radio-show/

Before that show, my parents and I welcomed my cousin Bertice Brown and her husband Ed, who were traveling from their home in Alabama. We had a nice few hours with them before the Browns resumed their travels.

That night, I went to the Scott Sifton for State Senate campaign office in Affton to make some Get Out The Vote (GOTV) calls on Sifton's behalf. I made more such calls on Monday afternoon (6 August) and Election Day afternoon (7 Aug.). Early that Tuesday, I cast my votes at the polling place. Sifton won the Democratic nomination by just over 1000 votes and will go for the senate seat this November at the general election.

Also on Tuesday morning, I was at the GO! Network workshop at St. Patrick Center, where I participated in some speed networking with fellow attendees. I got some good feedback on my elevator speech and a couple of leads, plus I was able to help others with my feedback and leads. Additionally, we received a part-time job posting for a marketing job, which I applied for. I should hear back in the next week or two on that one.

I ran the IPMS./St. Louis meeting Tuesday night at Thornhill Branch Library. A light turnout (only four members), but at least we got in a bit of discussion. I brought in my two more recent completed models (the Bf 109G-6 for the Same Kit Contest and the MG from Slam Fest, both at the July IPMS/Gateway meeting). Additionally, I brought in my current project, a 1:72 scale J-10 fighter, which is coming along OK.

Like many of us, I've been following the Olympics in London the past two weeks. I've been camped in front of the TV and computer following the events and enjoying the great variety of sport on offer. That's a big draw of the Olympics for me. As you may expect, I did most avidly follow the soccer competition, including the women's gold medal match won by the US yesterday. These games have plenty for us referees to discuss, good and bad.

Last night (9 Aug.), I joined with some other Barack Obama supporters in Affton to meet and discuss how to help him win re-election in November. I'll likely start with helping register voters in this area, before moving on to phone bank and canvassing.

After a last blast of 100 degrees F (40 degree C) high temperatures early this week, the highs have dropped to the low 90s F this week. Finally, after two months of searing heat and virtually no rain, some relief.

This Sunday morning, I'm off to visit my brother Doug and his fiancee Helen in Santa Monica, California. They invited me to come visit them and to be a tourist in the Los Angeles area. I'll be there for a week and I'll blog from there next week. Looking forward to this trip.

Later.

A Bit of Rain, Then More Sun and Heat

I had a nice weekend, while inside. Temperatures stayed around 100 degrees F (40 degrees C) throughout the preceding week. Last Saturday afternoon (28 July) found me at the Scott Sifton campaign office working the phone bank for three hours. The other volunteers and I found the usual mix of undecided voters, a few going towards either primary candidate, and a few not wanting to participate. Overall, the campaign is feeling good heading into the primary election this Tuesday (7 August). More info at www.scottsifton.com.

It was sunny that Saturday; however, it was rainy the next day. Mind you, the rain was welcome after having gone about two months without it. however, it did cause difficulties while I was out canvassing for Senator Claire McCaskill's reelection campaign. The rain caused my canvass sheets to get wet and to stick together, making it difficult to separate the sheets and keep them dry while recording voter info on them. I had to call this off early, after visiting 20 houses (the goal was 50). The campaign staff was appreciative of the effort, though, and hope to have me back during the general election campaign. (The rain also caused cancellation of the sand volleyball outing the St. Louis Friends Meetup was to have had at New Ballwin Park that afternoon.)

The brief respite of Sunday gave way to a return of sunshine and heat on Monday 30 July). That night found me at the referee in-service clinic at Grand Glaize Branch, St. Louis County Library. It featured a video program from England on the right and wrong ways for referees to approach pre-game and post-game duties. The videos were rather entertaining and gave us plenty of food for thought. It won't be long until the fall season gets underway.

Tuesday morning was spent at the GO! Network workshop at St. Patrick Center, where we had a presentation on elevator speeches. That's those brief (up to 60 seconds) personal pitches you'd give to prospective employers and others who may be able to help your job search. I used this to fine-tune my elevator speech. After the general workshop, those of us on the communications committee had a meeting to discuss using social media to spread the word about GO! Network.

I was back at Sifton's headquarters Wednesday night (1 August) to work the phone bank again. I confirmed my availability for get out the vote efforts up to and on election day.

At home, I worked on a scale model that I should have ready by the September IPMS/Gateway meeting. It's a 1:72 model of the J-10, a new fighter plane for China's Peoples Liberation Army Air Force. I have the fuselage and wings joined together just now.

Also during the past few days, I touched base with my brother Doug about my visit to see him and his fiancee in Los Angeles later this month. I'm looking forward to this trip, as I'll visit some sights in LA and perhaps do a bit of networking while I'm there.

Tomorrow (Saturday, 4 August), I co-host this month's edition of Writer's Block from Naturally Autistic Radio, streamed through Blog Talk Radio. Tim Pylypiuk and I will discuss reading what you've written, with the two of us reading examples of our work. I hope you can tune in at 12 pm, Central Time (10 am, Pacific Time; 1800 hours GMT) for the show, or catch the archived edition. Details at www.naturallyautistic.com/radio-show/.

Later.

Still Hot Outside

For the better part of the past two weeks, temperatures here have reached 100 degrees F (40 degrees C) or higher. I've tried to stay inside as much as possible. Looks like it will get a bit cooler soon, so that's nice. We can really use some rain here--it's been real dry.

I was indoors last Saturday afternoon (21 July) at the Scott Sifton campaign office, making calls to voters for about three hours. I also did so the following Wednesday (25 July). The primary election is coming up real fast--Tuesday, 7 August. The Sifton campaign's feeling good, though, and so am I.

Sunday afternoon (22 July) found me at DeSoto Park officiating Latin American Soccer League men's matches. Both went pretty well, although the considerable bare patches on the pitch threw up quite a bit of dust. I was able to stay well hydrated throughout the day, and had no ill effects, despite the hot weather.

Early in the week, I got some editing done for Naturally Autistic magazine's next issue, which should come out this fall.

Last Tuesday morning (24 July) found me at the St. Patrick Center for the weekly GO! Network workshop, which featured a speaker who's written about people out of work in recent years. That was quite interesting. That night, I was at the IPMS/Gateway business meeting, hosted by Marion Morris, in which the August meetings were planned and other club business was discussed.

Last night, I was at the conference room at Husch Blackwell in Clayton for the Missouri Aviation Historical Society's monthly meeting. The program celebrated the 40th anniversary of the F-15 Eagle's first flight, with film, displays, and the presence of several people involved in the project, including the pilot of that first F-15 flight. Before that meeting (which had a very nice turnout), the Lambert Airport History Project met to discuss progress on this book. I had a few questions regarding my role, which I felt were answered as best as could be for now.

I was camped in front of the TV on Wednesday and Thursday watching the women's and men's soccer soccer competition at the London Olympics get underway. Looking forward to these games, which official begin today with the Opening Ceremony.

Later.

A Two Model Night

Last weekend started quietly. I worked on finishing touches on the 1:48 scale Bf 109G-6 I was building for the IPMS/Gateway Same Kit Contest this month. (More on that later.) Saturday afternoon (14 July) I was at Scott Sifton's campaign office helping work the phone bank. The campaign's going well so far. Sifton appears (to me, at least) to have more support among likely voters than his primary opponent. I also made calls for Sifton last night.

Sunday afternoon (15 July) found me at New Ballwin Park in Ballwin, Missouri for the St. Louis Friends Meetup. Nine of us came to play a bit of sand volleyball on the park's sand court. I had never played sand volleyball before and it was a long time since I played any volleyball, but it was a neat time. I got into the sand a few times trying to dig out the ball, and I needed a good toweling off when I got home.

The next day, I started a fact check job on a book manuscript my brother Rick sent me. I should have that done in the next day or two. Rick told me to just look for any obvious factual errors in the manuscript. So far, I've found none. I also made my flight reservations for my trip to Los Angeles next month. Details on that trip in due course.

After attending the GO! Network meeting Tuesday morning (17 July) in downtown St. Louis, I was home getting ready for that night's IPMS/Gateway meeting. I had the fellowship hall at Calvary Presbyterian Church ready by 6:15 pm, when the first attendees arrived. We started the meeting early, at 7:00 pm (rather than the usual 7:30), to have the annual Slam Fest. Modelers had two hours (7 to 9 pm) to build and finish a model, after which it would be judged by meeting attendees, each of whom would select the best model. I did Glencoe's 1:72 scale MG sports car, which was one of four Slam Fest models entered this year. It took third place, and I won a $5 gift certificate from CRM Hobbies for that.

This meeting also had the Same Kit Contest, in which club members built Pegasus Models' 1:48 scale Bf 109G-6 E-Z Snapz kit. There were nine models that were entered; thirteen modelers signed up for this back in February. My Bf 109G-6 used after-market decals. (This was an out-of-the-box contest.) Although mine didn't win, I was happy with the effort.

I'm off to a St. Louis Transplants Meetup tonight in the Central West End. Should be interesting.

Later.

Surviving the July Heat Wave

Last Saturday (7 July), I co-hosted the monthly edition of "Writer's Block" from Naturally Autistic Radio. Co-host Tim Pylypiuk and I discussed comedy writing, as pertaining to TV sketch comedy and situation comedy programs. I think it went pretty well. Then, I was at the Scott Sifton campaign office in Affton for my weekly Saturday afternoon phone bank for the state senate candidate.

The next morning, I was at DeSoto Park in St. Louis to run lines on two Latin American Soccer League games. Both games were rather interesting: The first was terminated in the 76th minute due to a mass confrontation between the teams; while the second went the distance, but had a player from each team sent off early in the second half for an altercation. Then, I dashed off to Sportport in Maryland Heights to referee four 3v3 games in a tournament. I was rather hot and tired by the time I got there. Fortunately, the games were shortened (7-minute halves, instead of the usual 12-minute halves), due to excessive heat wiping out the previous afternoon's matches. All of these games I worked went well and I held up OK. For the first time in over one week, the high temperature was below 100 degrees F (40 degrees C).

Monday morning (9 July) found me standing outside the Tesson Ferry Branch of the St. Louis County Library registering voters. The deadline for registration to vote for the 7 August primary election was two days away (11 July). In the nearly 2 hours I was there, I registered two voters, while volunteers with me signed up two more. A rather satisfying time for me.

The Mehlville High Class of 1982 reunion meeting scheduled for 10 July was called off at the 11th hour, due to low anticipated attendance. I did go to Crusoe's, hoping to make the Mehlville-Oakville Alumni Association meeting; however, I did not see anybody from that group. I did chat briefly with two of my classmates, who did not get word of the Mehlville '82 meeting being called off, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

Wednesday night (11 July), I was making more calls to voters for the Sifton campaign. This campaign seems to be going well for Sifton at this point. The next day, I spoke with an intake counselor from Life Skills regarding assistance in finding employment. She suggested I volunteer with a local organization (check with the United Way on those opportunities), and to meet with a vocational rehabilitation counselor with the Missouri Department of Employment Security. I hope to do those steps next week.

Last night, I was at the Regal St. Louis Mills Stadium 18 & IMAX in Hazelwood, Missouri. This cinema hosted a special 60th anniversary screening of the classic musical "Singin' in the Rain." There was a sold-out crowd at that screening (I had ordered my ticket online a couple of weeks ago) and it was a delight to watch this beloved classic with many other like-minded movie fans.

Later.

A Scorcher of a Start to July 2012

I've spent as much time as possible indoors these past few days, with temperatures outside topping 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) during that time. It has been as hot as 106 F, but it should go down to the comparatively balmy mid-90s on Sunday.

Last Saturday afternoon (30 June) found me indoors, helping staff a phone bank for state senate candidate Scott Sifton's campaign. I made about 125 calls in three hours, with many that I called hanging up when I called, but I did talk to some voters about Sifton. The primary election on 7 August is one month away, so there's plenty to do until then, but I feel confident that Sifton will win his primary. (For more on Sifton and his campaign, please visit www.scottsifton.com.)

Saturday night found me at the Pool House in Creve Coeur, Missouri for the St. Louis Transplants party. This group is for people who moved into Metro St. Louis from out of town or St. Louisans who'd like to help these transplants better know our area. There was a very nice group there--about 50 people, I'd guess--and I really enjoyed meeting and talking with several of them that night. This was my first event with St. Louis Transplants, and it won't be my last.

I got some work done on two aircraft models I'm hoping to finish in time for the IPMS/Gateway meeting on Tue., 17 July. One of them is a Pegasus 1:48 scale Bf 109G-6 that I'm building for the club's Same Kit Contest. The other is a Smer 1:72 D.520. Now, I have most of the exterior paint done, with touch ups to follow in the next day or two, followed by decals. I should have photos of those models posted here in due course.

Speaking of models, I ran the IPMS/St. Louis meeting last Tuesday night (3 July). It was a short meeting--I didn't feel like we should stay that long on such a hot night--but we did discuss options for electing club officers and for our club's web presence. To be continued.

Despite the heat, I had a fine Independence Day holiday on Wednesday (4 July). That morning, I was in Webster Groves to march with Scott Sifton at the parade through the city. There were about 15-20 of us that accompanied Sifton through the 2-mile parade route from Webster Groves High School to Memorial Park. Once we got going, it wasn't so bad getting through the heat. Afterward, I went to a party at a nearby house with Sifton and other politicians and candidates. After that, I just relaxed at home. I just wasn't in the mood for much else.

Dad's doing OK. The therapist made her final visit here to check up on him and to lead him in some exercises. Slowly but surely, Dad's making progress.

Later.