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.
