Happy Hour Before a Most Frigid Night

Right after work last night (29 January), I drive to The Monocle (https://www.themonoclestl.com/) a lounge in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis. This hosted a happy hour for the Sex Positive St. Louis Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/Sex-Positive-St-Louis/). The lounge was pretty full when I arrived, but I was able to get a beer--the Single Speed blonde ale from 4 Hands Brewing Company (http://4handsbrewery.com/)--and some free popcorn. I also was able to chat with a few people there, including Kendra, one of Sex Positive St. Louis' organizers, and with Brian, who I saw the previous Saturday on the tour of the nearby Urban Chestnut Brewing Company Brewery.

After spending about one hour there, I began to head home. On the way, I stopped by a QuikTrip (https://www.quiktrip.com/) to get two taquitos from the roller grill to eat when I came home.

I bundled up in bed overnight and woke up to a very cold day here. We had a low temperature of -6 degrees F (-21 degrees C), with a wind chill of -28 degrees F (-33 degrees C). It was the coldest day here in years. Apart from renewing by driver's license at the license bureau in Oakville this morning, I stayed inside all day. Tomorrow morning, though, I am back at work and back to the cold.

Later.

Presenting IPMS/Gateway Before MOAHS

Sunday afternoon (27 January) was when the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) held its annual Kickoff Meeting at Creve Coeur Airport (http://crevecoeurairport.com/). (This was one week later than scheduled, due to weather issues the previous Sunday.) I arrived early for lunch there--chicken wings and corn.

I was there to speak for the Gateway Chapter of the International Plastic Modelers' Society (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home), on the invitation of MOAHS President Dan O'Hara. I brought some models for display, and club member Jim Triola also brought some models. These were placed on a table at the front of the hall. I also brought some flyers for the club and its Invitational contest, which I had placed on the tables. Additionally, a binder I developed--containing a copy of the club newsletter and screenshots of our website and social media pages--was placed on the MOAHS table in the room. Club member Caleb Duttlinger was also there, with his parents.

Approximately 80 people attended the meeting, with IPMS/Gateway and 15 other organizations presenting information about their organizations and how they can interact with MOAHS and each other.

I spoke for approximately 10 minutes, using talking points on the club that I had written down in the previous days. In my talk, I invited everyone present to come to one of our meetings, and for the other organizations to work with us. (For example, these groups making presentations at our meetings, and IPMS/Gateway doing a model display for these groups.) My talk was very well received, and the model display also earned some praise from attendees.

After the meeting, representatives from two of the other groups there talked with me and were interested in working with us. I mentioned this in an email to the IPMS/Gateway executive board later that day.

I was very pleased with my efforts for IPMS/Gateway that day, and hope this marks the beginning of collaborations with other historical and aerospace organizations in Metro St. Louis for our mutual benefit.

Later.

A Saturday of Beer and Trivia

Saturday morning (26 January) found me at the Urban Chestnut Brewing Company's (http://urbanchestnut.com/) Brewery and Bierhall in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis. This was a get together with the gtpwtw Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/gtpwtw/). Eleven of us toured the brewery, which we found most interesting. Larry, our tour guide, was most informative.

After touring the brewery, we were treated to four samples of Urban Chestnut's variety of beers. I enjoyed this very much.

Then, many of us stayed around to have lunch in the Bierhall. I had pork & apple sausage on a bun, with sauerkraut and potato salad, washed down with Urban Chestnut's Oxnbrau beer. Very tasty.

I shopped in the merchandise store, buying two beer glasses before going home. It was a great time.

That night, I drove to Creve Coeur Airport (http://crevecoeurairport.com/) to meet up with three fellow Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) members. We then carpooled to Heritage Hall in Bonne Terre, Missouri for a trivia night benefitting The Space Museum (https://www.space-mo.org/) there.

We four joined with one of the tables of fellow players and took part in the contest: ten sets of ten questions per set. I saw some others I knew at some of the other tables. I was able to help them out on some questions. Out group finished sixth best of 18 tables there.

After the contest, we toured the Grissom Center next door to Heritage Hall. This is a new wing of The Space Museum, named for early American astronaut Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom. It's a small museum, but most interesting for spaceflight enthusiasts. I sat in a leather chair used by Space Shuttle astronauts during suiting up procedures prior to launch.

Later.

Town Hall with Saint Louis FC and the St. Louligans

Last Thursday (24 January), I went after work to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) for a town hall meeting organized by the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/). We hosted members of the management team of Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/): Chief Executive Officer Jim Kavanaugh, Head Coach Anthony Pulis, President Pat Barry, General Manager Jeremy Alumbaugh, and Chief Financial Officer Tom Strunk. They spoke to us about the the club and their expectations for the 2019 season, and fielded questions from the floor.

The event was recorded for a special edition of the St. Louligans' podcast, This is SiLLy (http://stlouligans.com/archives/category/podcast). I enjoyed coming out to this event to see the people and am very much looking forward to the coming season.

Later.