Into August 2013

July ended with a happy hour a week ago Wednesday (31 July) at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, Missouri. It was the first event of a new Meetup group, SoCo Social Club (as in South St. Louis County). It was quite nice, just getting to know each other a bit, and hopefully I can go to more such Meetups with them. Also had a good glass of beer brewed on the premises.

I worked the first two and a half days of August at the car rental branch. (I traded shifts with a colleague to work that Thursday 1 August). Last Friday, I added a black bow tie (clip-on type) to my work attire, to go with the men at the branch who were starting to wear bow ties with their suits on Fridays. It got a good response and I wanted to do so today, but forgot about it with other things on my mind early this morning. Overall, work has been good of late.

A week ago Thursday night (1 Aug.), I was at the Northwest Branch of the Jefferson County Library in High Ridge, Missouri. There, I placed a few of my scale models in the display case in the lobby for a display IPMS/Gateway is doing this month. I also had some club flyers and brochures and flyers for the Invitational next month put up in the display case. We have about 30 models in the display. Looks good.

Speaking of models, I ran the IPMS/St. Louis meeting last Tuesday night (6 August) at Thornhill Branch, St. Louis County Library. A snafu at the library meant we weren't in our regular meeting room, but we did use the auditorium, so the night wasn't a total loss.

Yesterday (8 Aug.) found me at the Missouri History Museum for the monthly News at Noon program presented by the St. Louis Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists. This month's panel discussion was about covering the Great Flood of 1993, with a reporter and two photographers who covered this disaster for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I found the discussion of how and why this story was covered, and how it would be handled today, very fascinating.

Tomorrow, I'm at the Edward Jones Dome for the Real Madrid-Inter friendly. A report on that match in my next post.

Later.

A Night (at Someone's House) at the Movies

Work continues to go well at the auto rental branch. Plenty of business coming our way--vacationers, business customers, people with vehicles in the shop needing a loaner. I've been working hard to help our branch fulfill these customers by getting vehicles cleaned and ready to rent, and to pick up and drop off customers between their pick up points (homes, businesses, repair shops) and the branch. No complaints about my performing these duties, really.

I'm really liking my work with this firm and want to move up in the organization towards a career position in corporate communications. I received a few tips on that last night while attending a networking event at Webster University. One of my fellow job seekers made a couple of suggestions for me, and I started putting that to practice this afternoon. We'll see how this goes.

Last Saturday night (27 July), I want to a house in the Overland area of St. Louis County. It was for the STL Screeners Meetup group and about 10 of us were there to watch a movie being screen by our host in her backyard. (She had a large screen set up and projected the movie via a BluRay player. There were five movies for us to select from, and the majority vote went to "Phantom," a 2013 thriller starring Ed Harris and David Duchovny. The movie was pretty good and we all seemed to enjoy each other's company on a pleasant night.

After work on Monday (29 July), I attended the monthly soccer referee in-service clinic. We heard about the law change for this coming season (a clarification on the offisde law), and took in a video quiz on offside situations. Also, we heard about the new assignment setup for our youth leagues this season (which begins on 17 August). Looking forward to getting back onto the pitch and officiating matches.

I'm off to a happy hour tonight in Maplewood. I'll let you know how that goes in my next post here.

Later.

A Slight, Welcome Chill, and Chiling Out With Make & Take

This week has been good in the weather department, I think. After having highs in the 90s F over the weekend, we've been down to the 80s for the highs the past few days. I could get used to this.

One week ago tonight (18 July) found me at Creve Coeur Airport for the Missouri Aviation Historical Society's monthly meeting. The program this month was celebrating the 65th anniversary of the first fight of the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin, a parasite fighter that did not enter production. A slide presentation, film, and a wind tunnel model of the XF-85 were featured, along with a look back from a McDonnell engineer involved in the program.

After working Friday among the cars at the car rental firm, I was having fun around cars at Fun Ford Weekend last Saturday and Sunday at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois. It was a promotion for Ford's current vehicles as well as a showcase for people displaying their customized Ford vehicles. I was with other Gateway Chapter International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS) members both days running a make and take for the kids. For two hours each day, youngsters were able to assemble a car model (a 2010 Mustang GT Convertible was the kit), which snapped together (no glue needed). I and other IPMS/Gateway members there assisted the young modelers and their parents as needed, and the kids got to take their completed models home when done. It was a lot of fun and we had about 100 kids over the weekend taking part in this.

After Saturday's make and take, I bought a new cable for my cell phone charger (the one that came with it had shorted out), and went to the Delmar Loop. There, I joined with five others in the Midtown Minglers Meetup group to see the movie "Girl Most Likely" at the Tivoli. It was an OK movie, I thought. After the show, we walked to Thai Country Kitchen, a restaurant near the Tivoli, for dinner. My first time there, and I had a nice meal.

Last night, I was at Doug Barton's home in Foristell, Missouri for the monthly IPMS/Gateway business meeting. We planned out the August meeting and discussed other club business, including our Invitational contest and swap meet on Sat., 14 September. Details at http://ipms-gateway.com.

Later.

Hot Times

It's still plenty hot here in St. Louis of late. Temperatures were hitting the mid-90s F with heat indices topping 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Best to stay in an air-conditioned space as much as possible.

Work is still going well at the car rental firm, although the hot weather does make me sweat a lot (and make me drink plenty of water). I did work last Saturday morning (13 July) and that was fine. That afternoon, I was at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters in Frontenac for the STL Aspies Meetup group meeting. We had about 12 people there, including at least two first-time visitors. We discussed how our lives were going and touched about the group's direction in the near future. Several of us then went to nearby Panera Bread for supper.

The previous night (12 July), I was to have met up with people from another Meetup group in Maplewood, during the town's Let Them Eat Art festival. However, I could not find my group at the appointed time and place and I left that place about about 30 minutes. Then, I cruised the festival for awhile before going home. A real letdown.

Last night (16 July), right after work, I was at Calvary Presbyterian Church for the IPMS/Gateway meeting. This meeting featured the annual Slam Fest, where participants had two hours to assemble and finish a model. I and nine others did so and our works were judged by the attendees, with the top three vote getters earning gift certificates. I didn't place with my entry--a 1:72 scale F4F-3 Wildcat--but I gave it a good shot. I'll be with the club this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park for Fun Ford Weekend. We're doing a Make & Take there. More on that in my next post here.

This afternoon, I got the two front tires on my Corolla replaced, as both had badly worn treads. I had the tires replaced, along with balancing and alignment, all done within an hour at a reasonable price. That's one less thing for me to worry about.

Later.

Answering the Summons (to Jury Duty)

Last Friday (5 July) found me back to work after the Independence Day holiday of the day before. Work is still going well, although being outside when it feels like 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) is no fun.

On Saturday (6 July), I co-hosted Writer's Block, a monthly program of Naturally Autistic Radio. On the show, host Tim Pylypiuk and I discussed religious writings, and issues of trust among writers. The show went rather well, I thought. Back with a new episode on Sat., 3 August.

I hit the sand on Sunday afternoon, playing sand volleyball at New Ballwin Park in Ballwin, Missouri. It was a meetup of the St. Louis Friends Meetup Group. There were 12 of us there and we all played on the sand court, although the sand was rather hot (I had socklets on, which helped). Despite the heat and the attention of some Canada Geese who briefly interrupted a game, we had a wonderful time and will get together later this month in Arnold, Mo. to play.

Monday morning (8 July), I answered a summons to jury duty at the St. Louis County Circuit Court in Clayton. Arriving by 8:30 am, I checked in and sat in the room with about 300 others. During the morning, three groups of about 48 people each were called by name to be prospective jurors in a case being heard that day. However, my name was not on any of those call ups. We broke for lunch at noon, I walking to Chipotle for my meal and World News for a couple of magazines to read over lunch. Arriving back at the courthouse by 1:30, I and the others were there for about an hour when a court official told us we would not be needed that day or the next. With that, we left the courthouse, with myself heading into work for the rest of that day. At least I did my duty as a citizen of the county.

Last night, I was at the Dorsett Inn, a restaurant and bar in Maryland Heights, Mo. for the Firstsite STL Meetup. It's a new Meetup group of singles. We were there for karaoke night. I and a couple of others in the group had the courage to sing. For me, I did two songs: the Frank Sinatra classic "Summer Wind" and Billy Joel's hit "Big Shot." I had not done karaoke in a decade, but it was fine.

This afternoon, I was the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis' Forest Park for this month's News at Noon discussion, presented by the St. Louis Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Today's program was a discussion of legal issues involving news organizations and social media, with two media law attorneys and a newspaper writer on the panel. I briefly chatted afterward with one acquaintance, Janette Lonsdale, an editor for whom I've done some proofreading of content. I also ran into Lucy Knapp, who I worked with four years ago on a temp proofreading assignment. She's now publisher of Women's Journals in St. Louis.

Later.

Rather Pleasant This Fourth of July 2013

I'm at home now, writing to this blog, on this Independence Day. My parents and I chilled out at home today. None of us were in the mood to take in a parade or festival. Besides, I have to go to work early tomorrow morning.

Speaking of work, things are going well at the car rental branch. When I left work this past Tuesday (2 July), we had plenty of vehicles available for rental, which is good timing due to the holiday weekend. Our productivity was perhaps helped by the rather cooler weather this past week, compared to the week before. I'll take it.

A week ago last last Wednesday night (26 June) found me at Brad and Julie Vaughn's house for the IPMS/Gateway business meeting. Our July meeting and other business was planned and discussed. I hope to get some flyers for our 14 September show out to some area hobby shops in the coming days. I ran the IPMS/St. Louis meeting last Tuesday night (2 July), and solicited ideas from the membership on how to improve our meetings. Hope to get some good ideas soon.

I'm back on the internet radio this Saturday at 12:00 pm Central Time (10 am Pacific Time; 1700 hrs GMT). That's right, it's a new edition of Writer's Block from Naturally Autistic Radio. This month, host Tim Pylypiuk and I will discuss religious storytelling in the first half, and trust in the second. You can join in the show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-. The show will be archived for download soon after airing, in case you missed it live or want to hear it again. Hope you can tune in.

Later.

Hot, Stormy, and Busy

Work at the car rental firm has been going well of late. Been rather busy, with some extra efforts necessary to cover customer traffic at our location, but we've gotten through this stage and our heads stay high. Bit of a challenge with the weather lately--yesterday, the temperature hit 90 degrees F (32 degrees C), with the heat index (temperature plus humidity) hitting 100 degrees F (38 degrees F). I made sure to drink plenty of water and to stay inside as much as possible.

The last two Saturdays have been stormy for me in the weather department. On Saturday 15 June, I was at Creve Coeur Lake Park in Maryland Heights for a singles beach party. It was OK until the rain came (hard), crowding everyone into the shelter. That made it real hard for me to find someone to talk with (not that it was easy to start with), so I left the party when the rain eased up.

Last Saturday (22 June), I was at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois for the Super Chevy Show, a car show. I was there with others from IPMS/Gateway to put on the Make & Take modeling event for youngsters. We had about 100 kids over the two days (Saturday and Sunday), and I really had fun with that. After our shift on Saturday, the rains came down hard with strong winds and a bit of hail to boot. (The latter must have been fun for those entering their cars in the display contest!) The heavy rain flooded some road I was to have passed through on the way home, so I had to find an alternate route to get back home that day.

Speaking of IPMS/Gateway, I had finished my 1964 1/2 Mustang Convertible early last week in time to enter it in the Same Kit Contest at our meeting one week ago (18 June). Mine was one of eight entries in the contest, which was judged by vote of the meeting attendees. Mine didn't win, but I was happy with getting this done. The club is going well of late.

I can mention this now, but my brother Doug got married in Hawaii earlier this month. He and Helen tied the knot on the beach on one of the islands. That means my three younger brothers are all married now. I wonder when my time to walk down the aisle will come?

Later.