2020 St. Louligans Saint Louis FC Town Hall

Last Tuesday night (14 January), I drove straight from work to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park for the annual St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/) Town Hall with the leadership of Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/). The latter consisted of: Chief Executive Officer Jim Kavanaugh, Chief Financial Officer Tom Strunk, President Patrick Barry, Head Coach Steve Trittschuh, and St. Louis Scott Gallagher (http://www.slsgsoccer.com/) Missouri Club Director Steve Pecher.

After opening remarks by the panel, Bradley DeMunbrun of the St. Louligans spoke to the panel, before turning his microphone over to St. Louligans members who asked questions of the panel regarding last year's experience, expectations for this season, and other related matters. The whole town hall was recorded for the St. Louligans' podcast, "This is SiLLy! with the Louligans" (https://stlouligans.com/archives/29085).

It was a fine time and before I left I chatted with both Kavanaugh and Trittschuh, introducing myself to the latter.

Yes, I am looking forward to the new season for Saint Louis FC--its sixth--and to the St. Louligans' 10th anniversary this year.

Later.

Games For a Cause

The Saturday after Christmas (28 December), I drove to the Immacolata Catholic Church (https://www.immacolata.org/index.cfm) in Richmond Heights, for the 11th Annual Mary McDermott 3rd Grade Basketball Tournament. This tournament for Catholic Youth Council (https://playcyc.org/) boys and girls teams is a fundraiser for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital (https://www.ssmhealth.com/locations/cardinal-glennon-childrens-hospital). Specifically, for a hybrid cardiac catheterization suite named in memory of Mary McDermott, an Immacolata parish member who died at age 24 in 2008.

After paying my admission, I entered the gymnasium to watch some of the games that day. I also met with my friend, graphic designer and soccer commentator Bill McDermott--Mary's father. I gave him my Season's Greetings and best wishes for this tournament. Bill served as the public address announcer for the event, which ran for three days and included eight boys and eight girls teams playing in a double-elimination format.

I got lunch from the concession stand--a hot dog and a soda--and watched three games during my time there. Before leaving the gymnasium, I looked over the silent auction items in the lobby, which included autographed sports jerseys and tickets to sporting events. I didn't bid for them--the cost was too high for my budget--but was glad for the parties who donated to this effort.

Yesterday (4 January), I was at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton to join with my fellow St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/). We were playing the St. Louis Chapter of American Outlaws (https://www.theamericanoutlaws.com/chapters/missouri) in our annual game. It was a fun game, played at West Technology Stadium--home ground of Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/). Urban Chestnut Brewing Company (http://urbanchestnut.com/) donated cans of its Zwickel and American Underdog lagers to the event, and I took advantage of this to get two cans during the day.

Before the game, we took in the club's introduction of Steve Trittschuh as its new head coach. He replaces Anthony Pulis, who is now assistant coach of the Miami club in Major League Soccer. After this announcement, we got to the pitch and played. It had free substitutions during the match, and I came in and out a few times for St. Louligans. I did get a few touches of the ball playing as a defender and midfielder. American Outlaws won by a big amount, but the real winner on the day was the St. Louis Area Foodbank (https://stlfoodbank.org/), which will get much food donated by the game's players and spectators.

I hadn't run like that for quite a while and I was concerned about how my recently sore knees would hold up, but I came off the pitch with no ill effects.

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.

A Happy Hour and Some Soccer

One week ago tonight (5 October) found me at Double D Lounge (https://www.facebook.com/doubledstl/?rf=163570467015377) in Brentwood, where our company's area had a happy hour. It was nice to chat with colleagues, drink some beer, and play a bit of pool--something I haven't done in some years. The latter was a fun match, as Cory from Creve Coeur and I played Miranda of Ellisville and Melissa of Creve Coeur. It was a nice match, but the ladies just beat Cory and I.

It was a full day of work Friday at the rental branch in Ellisville, plus a good Saturday morning there. That night, I drove to Smugala's Pizza Pub (http://www.smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills) in Sunset Hills to catch the Pub2Park bus to Worldwide Technology Soccer Park and the final Saint Louis FC (http://www.saintlouisfc.com/) home match of the season. After partying with the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) in the parking lot, I marched into Toyota Stadium for the match against Richmond Kickers. The home side was playing for pride, having been eliminated from a post-season berth; however, an early second half goal by Richmond was the difference in a 1-0 loss for Saint Louis FC. They end the season at Bethlehem Steel this Sunday.

I was back at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park late Sunday afternoon (8 October) to referee youth soccer games. Originally scheduled for three 9v9 under 12 matches, my crew ended up doing four matches--I had two middles. They went well.

Back at work Monday morning, it was a usual busy start of the work week. Although two of our staff were out on vacation then, with a temporary addition we got through Monday just fine. More work on Tuesday and Wednesday, including making some trips yesterday to ferry some vehicles to our branch.

After flexing out yesterday afternoon, I browsed at some stores before going home. Today was rather quiet, mostly doing my laundry and watching some history documentaries on home video. Back to work tomorrow morning, where a new vehicle service agent is expected to report to Ellisville branch. I'll be helping that person learn the ropes.

Later.

Plenty of Work and Some Soccer as October Begins

I was at the rental branch Saturday morning (30 September) for work. We had a fine morning of business, and I stayed to help clean up the rest of the branch's vehicles to get them ready for Monday morning. After that, it was lunch, then chilling out at home.

I was at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park the next afternoon to referee some youth soccer matches. I had four scheduled, according to my assignment, but there was no match for the first slot of my assignment. Thus, my crewmates and I waited around until the next match time. The three matches I worked--two as referee, one as assistant referee--went well.

Back at work Monday morning, it was quite a busy week for us. Things did go well, overall. I did flex out Tuesday afternoon, as I am working this Saturday morning. After flexing out, I came home to relax.

Tuesday night found me at Mark Twain Hobby Center (http://www.hobby1.com/) for this month's Mark Twain Model Club meeting. We had a show and tell--I told of the JH-7A model I was working on and asked for decal advice--and there was a demo on opening car doors and trunks, including how to make hinges for these items. It was quite interesting.

Yesterday was a full day of work, but things went very well for us. After coming home, I opened a package of souvenirs I had ordered the previous weekend from the Experimental Aircraft Association (https://www.eaa.org/eaa). These were related to the Ford Tri-Motor flight I had undertaken in Mt. Vernon, Illinois a week ago. I ordered a t-shirt, pin, postcard, and a fact sheet. Very nice items.

Off work today, I bought some doughnuts at Krispy Kreme (http://krispykreme.com/) in Mehlville and drove to the Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) branch in Festus. There, I gave the doughnuts to Meggie, the branch manager, which she really appreciated. We chatted briefly and I also gave her a card to wish her and her husband-to-be all the best when they get married in a month from now.

Going to a happy hour with colleagues tonight. More on that in my next post.

Later.

Warm and Dry For a Change

Last Saturday afternoon (6 May), I co-hosted this month's edition of Writer's Block (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-/2017/05/06/connected--writers-block-10am-pstradio-drama-11am-pst), the Naturally Autistic ANCA Radio show, with Tim Pylypiuk. We discussed the history and role of libraries, and on the role of the written word in the digital age. It was a fine discussion, and you can replay the program and download it for podcast now.

Later that afternoon, I drove to Queeny County Park in Ballwin to help out at the Greater St. Louis Book Fair (http://www.stlouisbookfair.org/), held in the park's Greenfelder Recreation Complex. This is an annual used book sale, with proceeds going to St. Louis area literacy and education programs. After doing a bit of shopping, I helped count books at the check out counter, giving the totals for each customer's purchases to the cashier. It got hectic at times, but having done this a few times in the past, it was nothing I could not handle. I was very happy to help out this event and the causes it supports.

Due to the overflowing Meramec River flooding World Wide Technology Soccer Park, last Saturday night's Saint Louis FC match vs. Rochester Rhinos was postponed until a later date. My soccer games at the Park for Sunday morning were cancelled.

At least the weather was warm and dry this week, and the flooding was ending in the area. Work Monday morning (8 May) was most busy, with many customers in the lobby at times. However, we got everyone taken care of by the end of business that day.

Since I'm working this Saturday morning, I flexed out Tuesday afternoon. I came home to relax catch up on some needed rest. I worked a full day yesterday, which went well.

Off work today, I did my part for Give St. Louis Day (https://www.givestlday.org/index.php?action=homePage), an annual campaign for St. Louis area non-profit organizations. I gave my money to several groups I am most interested in, such as Viva Brasil STL, Circus Flora, and Cinema St. Louis. I also worked on a small armor vehicle kit for this Tuesday's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) meeting.

Later.

Thanksgiving 2016

One week ago last night (19 November) found me at Yemanja Brasil Restaurante (http://www.brazildining.com/) in St. Louis' Benton Park neighborhood. I came for a delicious Brazilian dinner and a concert by Brazilian musician and movie director Gustavo "Buda" Acioli (https://soundcloud.com/budasongs; http://www.ouvirtopmusicas.com/musicas/gustavo-acioli.html). This evening was presented by the Viva Brasil Association of St. Louis (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/home), and a few people I know from that group were also there. It was a wonderful show--even though I did not understand most of the words, I understood the passion and feeling "Buda" put into his music. (He played an electric guitar.) For my meal, I had an entrada (appetizer) of torradinhas, followed by the prato principal (main course), piscado miranda, which features cod. I washed those courses down with two caipirinhas. Overall, a very good night.

Up early the next morning, I was at World Wide Technology Soccer Park (http://saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) in Fenton, where I officiated three youth soccer (football) matches. These were all under 12 boys, 9v9 matches, on the final day of the Premier League fall season. My matches went well, including my middle in the second match.

This past week at the car rental branch was rather busy through Wednesday night, as quite a few customers were renting out for Thanksgiving Day weekend travels. Our branches were closed on Thanksgiving Day itself, and I was back the next day (25 November) for a rather quiet day, especially in the late afternoon. Same for yesterday morning, when I worked. Tomorrow will be a different story, for sure.

I flexed out of work on Tuesday afternoon (22 November), and came home. That night, I was at Brad and Julie Vaughn's house in House Springs for this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting. After enjoying a supper of red beans and rice, prepared by the Vaughns, the club executive board (eboard) planned the December general and business meetings, and discussed some other club business.

Thanksgiving morning found me at home, watching parades on TV: The Ameren Thanksgiving Day Parade in St. Louis, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Mom and I had a nice, if low-key, dinner with turkey breast and trimmings. That afternoon, I camped in front of my computer, watching the annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) Turkey Day Marathon on MST3K's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/mst3kofficial). It was fun watching these classic episodes of the show, especially "Manos: The Hands of Fate," one of my (and many other show fans') all-time favorites.

I skipped shopping on Black Friday (as I was working), and Small Business Saturday (working, and not having my shopping lists in yet). Maybe something will happen tomorrow, Cyber Monday.

Later.

The Balloon Goes Up on Thanksgiving 2015

Work at the car rental branch has been going well, with the increased traffic going out for the Thanksgiving holiday. We said goodbye to Alex as he left our branch to become assistant branch at the Lambert Airport location, and we welcomed Liz back to our branch as our new manager. (She had been assistant manager in Ellisville before going to the Airport earlier this year.)

The weather last weekend did cause some concern. Enough for the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (http://moavhist.org/) to cancel a member's holiday lunch last Saturday afternoon (21 November) at Creve Coeur Airport. I did make the most of the day, though, going to lunch at Noodles & Company in Chesterfield (http://www.noodles.com/Chesterfield) and getting a coffee and dessert at The Wolf Public House in Ballwin (https://www.facebook.com/TheWolfPublicHouse).

That night found me at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park (http://saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) in Fenton for a town hall meeting bringing together the management of Saint Louis FC (http://saintlouisfc.com/landing/index) with members of the St. Louigans (http://stlouligans.com/), the supporter group. It was a very nice program, with the STL FC management talking about this past season and looking ahead to 2016, plus taking questions regarding the club and the game experience. I asked about the Pub2Park shuttle bus service, and was told there were no changes anticipated to it in the coming season. It was especially nice chatting with two of STL FC's management team, Chief Executive Officer Jim Kavanaugh and Chief Financial Officer Tom Strunk, who I both knew from Saint Louis University when they played for the Billikens. Kavanaugh and Strunk also hold those titles with Worldwide Technology, Inc. (https://www2.wwt.com/), an information technology integrator.

I was back at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park the next morning to referee soccer games. It was the last Sunday of the Fall youth season and I worked three small-sided (8v8) matches. Yours truly was in the middle for the first and third matches of the set--my first this fall. It was fine, despite a bit of concern over not having done any games in several months. Futsal will start next month.

My mom left town on Monday to spent the week with my brother Rick in Charleston, South Carolina. I carried on at home. After flexing out of work Tuesday afternoon (24 November), I took care of some personal business, then was at Del Miller's house in Sappington for the IPMS/Gateway business meeting. That went well and we got the December meetings planned.

After work Wednesday night, I was along Cherokee Street in south St. Louis volunteering at the Condom Crawl, a program put on by Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri (https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-st-louis-region-southwest-missouri). Along with a few other volunteers, I passed out safe sex kits to people in the bars and shops along Cherokee Street. It was a nice thing to do and it was appreciated by those we met.

The next morning found me in downtown St. Louis for the Ameren Thanksgiving Day Parade (http://www.christmasinstlouis.org/thanksgiving-day-parade/). I was there as a balloon handler, invited by our family friend Kit Weis (nee Maxwell), a 1985 Mehlville High graduate. She's a financial advisor with Edward Jones (https://www.edwardjones.com/index.html?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=edward+jones&utm_campaign=Brand_Exact), who sponsored the Kermit the Frog balloon in this parade. I and others handled Kermit, while Kit and some others took charge of the balloon depicting Animal of the Muppets. It was a challenge with the wind kicking up at times, but we got through the parade route very well.

That night, Kit and her husband Dan invited me to their house in Oakville for Thanksgiving dinner. I happy accepted, as I would have otherwise been alone that day and night. It was a very nice dinner with turkey and the trimmings. I joined Kit, Dan, their three children, Kit's mother and step-father, Dan's mom, and Kit's brother Rob, who got along famously with me. It was a very nice time and I greatly appreciated the time I spent with them.

Back at work yesterday and this morning, and things are doing well. I stopped by CRM Hobbies (http://www.crmhobbies.com/) in south St. Louis this afternoon to pick up an airbrush hose and regulator I ordered. I got them hooked up tonight, although with some connection difficulties that necessitated a return visit to CRM for a connector. Now I look to resume working on some scale models soon.

Later.