08 April 2017

Soccer and Voting--No Fooling

After working at the rental branch last Saturday morning (1 April), I came home to relax. Late that afternoon, I headed to Smugala's Pizza Pub (http://smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills). There, I had a beer before catching the Pub2Park shuttle bus to World Wide Technology Soccer Park and that night's Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) home opener against Ottawa Fury FC. After arriving at the Park, I joined in the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate party in the parking lot.

We marched into Toyota Stadium as a group for the match, which Saint Louis FC won 3-2. The home side scored two early goals to take the lead, then Ottawa pulled one back, then leveled it late in the match. Saint Louis FC won it two minutes from full time. We St. Louligans were one most happy bunch. Saint Louis FC hosts defending USL Champions New York Red Bulls II tonight. Should be a dandy match.

The next day (2 April), I went to Fox High School to officiate three youth soccer matches. My middle came in the second match, in under 14 boys. The matches all went well.

Back at work on Monday, this past week has gone well at our branch. We kept busy and kept our customers satisfied.

After work Tuesday (4 April), I drove to ROC Ministries (http://rocmin.com/) in Mehlville to cast my vote in the St. Louis County election. I voted for Proposition P, a sales tax increase to help police forces in the county. (It passed.) I also cast votes for the Mehlville school board and Mehlville Fire Protection District directors. I was disappointed that City of St. Louis voters defeated Proposition 2, which would have provided sales tax money for a soccer stadium. I'm afraid this will end the ope of St. Louis getting an MLS franchise.

It was movie night right after work on Wednesday. I headed to the Marcus Wehrenberg Des Peres 14 Cine (http://www.marcustheatres.com/theatre-locations/marcus-des-peres-14-cine) to watch a revival screening of the 1959 classic "North by Northwest." This was part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series, presented by Fathom Events (https://www.fathomevents.com/series/tcm-big-screen-classics), which brings classic movies back to cinemas--the way they were meant to be seen. There were about 30 to 35 people in the theater with me. It was the first time I saw "North by Northwest" in this way (the previous times were on TV or DVD), and it was great to watch. There are more Big Screen Classics coming this year--"The Graduate" is later this month--and I look forward to seeing them.

Relaxing at home this afternoon, apart from helping some family friends remove some of my late father's woodworking supplies from our basement. I did some shopping and errands this morning.

Later.