Fun in the Lou with Doug and Matteo

Last Thursday (24 March), my brother Doug and his son Matteo came to town. They flew in from Los Angeles to spend a few days here with my mom and I. It was great seeing Doug, and meeting Matteo for the first time. Matteo's twin brother Luca was home with his mother (Doug's wife) Helen. My Mom went with Doug and Matteo to visit parts of the St. Louis area while I was at work on Friday.

Saturday (26 March), after some work around the house, the four of us went to St. Louis Union Station. We began with a trip to The St. Louis Wheel, a 200-foot (61 m) tall ferris wheel. This was the first time for any of us at this attraction. We got into a gondola and went on four circuits. We really enjoyed the view from the large gondola windows.

From the St. Louis Wheel, we got views of the Enterprise Center, Stifel Theatre, Gateway Arch, and the under construction Centene Stadium.

After riding on the St. Louis Wheel, the four of us walked inside Union Station to tour the St. Louis Aquarium--another new place we were visiting. After waiting in line (it was rather crowded that day), we got inside the Aquarium. Many aquatic creatures were on display, ranging from fish and otters from the rivers in our region to sharks and rays of the seas. It was very interesting to see these animals in something approaching their natural habitat and there were also interpretive displays on these creatures, their habitat, and the need to preserve them for the planet's health.

Matteo wanted to try the Rope Course, but it was sold out for the day. Doug, Matteo, and I returned to Union Station the next morning (27 March) to try the Rope Course. We were each fitted with a harness, connected to a bungee cord mounted on a rail above our heads, and began to navigate the course. It included rope bridges, tightropes, and two zip lines. I felt confident doing the course, knowing that the bungee cord gave me a secure lifeline in case I slipped on the footpaths. 

The zip lines were a new experience for me. I stepped off the platform on the first line, a fairly short straight line, after assuring myself that I had this. Then, I traveled on a longer and curved zip line. It was a thrill to be sure and I felt more confident than ever going on the rest of the rope course.

Matteo also did the zip lines, but Doug didn't. (Doug told me I was a braver man than he.) We had about one hour of fun before calling it a day.

We then returned home for a light lunch, then Doug and Matteo packed up to fly back to Los Angeles. They got an Uber ride share to St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

Last night, I officiated two under-15 girls St. Louis Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA) matches at Sportport International in Maryland Heights. After running as assistant referee in the first match, I took charge of the second one. Both went very well.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

St. Louis Union Station: St. Louis Union Station | St. Louis, MO (stlouisunionstation.com)

The St. Louis Wheel: The Wheel at St. Louis Union Station | St. Louis Attractions (thestlouiswheel.com)

St. Louis Aquarium: St Louis Aquarium at Union Station | Missouri's New Family Destination

Rope Course: Rope Course | Union Station - St. Louis, MO (stlouisunionstation.com)

Uber: Explore the Uber Platform | Uber United States

St. Louis Youth Soccer Association: Home - St Louis Youth Soccer (slysa.org)

  

Smashing Debut for St. Louis CITY SC2

Last night (25 March), I came straight from work to Robert R. Hermann Stadium on the Saint Louis University campus. I was there to witness the opening regular season match for St. Louis CITY SC2, the reserve team of St. Louis CITY SC, which begins play in Major League Soccer (MLS) next year.

This night saw St. Louis CITY SC2 host Rochester New York FC in the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro match. A sellout crowd of just over 6000 were on hand. Fortunately, I had bought my ticket last month and it was on my phone when I came to the gate.

I arrived at the stadium about 10 minutes before kickoff, and soon headed to the supporter section where my fellow St. Louligans were there in force. They had a tailgate party at the parking garage earlier that night before marching into the stadium, but I was on my way from work in Ellisville when this occurred. I was still able to find a standing place among my fellow supporters.

The St. Louligans were in good form with our chanting and drumming. The crowd as a whole was in good spirits. Our efforts were rewarded in the 19th minute, when Wan Kuzain scored off a loose ball in front of the Rochester goal. CITY2 took this 1-0 lead into the halftime interval.

I stepped away from the grandstand late in the first half to get into a concession stand line for a light meal, but the line was much too long. Instead, I used my CITY app to get a badge on my profile there, signifying my attending my first match. I also chatted with another CITY fan for a bit before returning to the supporter section for the second half.

CITY2 dominated play throughout the match. A successful penalty kick by Vitor Dias in the 60th minute--after he was brought down by the Rochester goalkeeper in the penalty area--made it 2-0. Six minutes late, CITY2 was down a man after Ezra Armstrong got his second yellow card of the match. Rochester made an effort to get back into the match but could not score. CITY2 ran out 2-0 winners.

After the match, CITY2 players came towards the supporter section to acknowledge the St. Louligans and their efforts. We then walked back to the garage for a post-game party. I stayed around for a bit before going home. It was a long day for me.

It was a great night for St. Louis soccer. I am looking forward to more in the MLS NEXT pro season. After a couple of road matches, CITY2 hosts Tacoma on 10 April, also at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

Later.

Websites of Entities Referenced in this Post:

Saint Louis University Athletics: Saint Louis University - Official Athletics Website (slubillikens.com)

St. Louis CITY SC 2: CITY 2 (stlcitysc.com)

MLS NEXT Pro: The Official Home of MLS NEXT Pro | MLSNEXTPro.com

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

 

Saturday in Kansas City: 2022 KC CON and a Beer

Early yesterday morning (12 March), I drove to Kansas City, Missouri. This trip to was attend KC CON, a scale modeling contest co-hosted by IPMS/Great Plains and IPMS/KC AMPS. After driving for nearly 4 hours (including a fuel stop, a stop to stretch out, and a traffic slowdown in Independence, Missouri), I arrived at the show venue, the First Church of the Nazarene.

After going through registration, I placed my sole contest entry--a 1:720 scale USS Alabama--in the Naval category. I then began to make the rounds, admiring and photographing the contest models, chatting with people I know, browsing among the vendors, and buying raffle tickets.

At Noon, I attended a pizza lunch with the other contest judges, where we had a briefing from the chief judge and received our category assignments. Our judges worked all categories except Armor That category is judged by Armor Modeling and Preservation Society (AMPS) rules, which evaluates each entry by set criteria, rather than against the competition as is the case with IPMS contests. My two teammates and I judged Mecha, Space, Science-Fiction. My model did not place in Naval.

I did buy one small kit from a vendor, won a kit and a book from the raffles, and got two kits and two magazines from the free giveaway table. I don't have any figures on attendees and entries, but it looked good in both areas to me.

After saying my goodbyes, I drove to The Blue Line, a hockey themed bar by the Kansas City Public Market just north of Downtown Kansas City. It was recommended to me by my Enterprise colleague Hannah Adams, whose fiancée's family owns the place. I had a beer at the bar--Boulevard's Unfiltered Wheat--while admiring the scene. It was crowded, but everyone was in good spirits. Several college basketball conference tournament games were on the televisions, a cover band was playing, and there was hockey memorabilia decorating the place. After the beer, I paid for it and began going home. I stopped in a Kansas City area McDonald's for dinner to go, then ate it in the car as I drove home, arriving later than night. I covered 539.9 miles (868.9 km) on the trip.

I slept well last night, despite losing one hour due to the changeover to Daylight Saving Time overnight. Today, I got my hair cut at Great Clips near South County Center, then died my hair with Just For Men. Back to work tomorrow morning.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

IPMS/Great Plains: Untitled Page (ipmsgreatplains.org)

IPMS/KC AMPS: KCAMPS

First Church of the Nazarene: KC First Church of the Nazarene | Welcome (kcfc.org)

Armor Modeling and Preservation Society: Home - Armor Modeling & Preservation Society (amps-armor.org)

International Plastic Modelers' Society/USA: IPMS/USA Home Page | By Modelers... For Modelers (ipmsusa.org)

The Blue Line: Hockey Bar | Kansas City, MO | The Blue Line (thebluelinekc.com)

Great Clips: Haircuts for Men, Women, & Kids | Great Clips Hair Salons

Just For Men: Just For Men: Hair Color For Men | Beard Dye | Gray Reduction

Snow and Cold in Town

Last Tuesday night (1 February), it started to sleet here in Metro St. Louis. It was followed the next day by slight snow fall at first. By early Thursday morning (3 February), it got heavier. Snowfall here got to around 6 inches (0.15 m), while temperatures went down to 10 degrees F (-12 degrees C). 

I was able to shovel snow off half of the driveway, but my manager advised me not to drive to work on Thursday with the rough road conditions. Thus, I stayed home that day. This gave me time to work on finishing a ship model for this month's IPMS/Gateway meeting.

Friday morning, I made it to work, where I helped my colleagues to dig our vehicles out of the snow. Business was understandably light, but things went well.

Yesterday, I finished clearing snow off our driveway and the walkway in front of our house. After those chores, I stayed inside, watching the NHL All Star Game on TV and working some more on my ship model.

This morning, the roads were good as I drove to Olympia Athletics & Events Centre in St. Charles to referee SLYSA futsal games. Today was the last day of the 2021-22 season. I worked four girls matches as scheduled, but then stayed to do a boys game that I didn't know was added to my schedule until that morning. Fortunately, all the matches went well.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Enterprise Rent-a-Car: Rental Cars at Low, Affordable Rates | Enterprise Rent-A-Car

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

National Hockey League:Official Site of the National Hockey League | NHL.com

Olympia Athletics & Events Centre: Olympia Athletics Events

St. Louis Youth Soccer Association: Home - St Louis Youth Soccer (slysa.org)

 

Hosting Two Brothers

Last Sunday (23 January), my mother and I welcomed my brothers Rick and Brian for a few days. Brian arrived at St. Louis Lambert International Airport first late Sunday morning, flying in from New York. Rick arrived a few minutes later from Charleston, South Carolina, via Chicago. I picked them up from the airport and drove them home.

They mostly spent time at home while I was away at work Monday and Tuesday. Rick and Brian helped mom around the house and visited with friends in town. Last night, Rick and mom went to AT&T to get hardware for DirecTV Streaming, with intent to replace Spectrum for TV and internet service. My brothers helped set up the TVs in the house. While the upstairs TVs (family room and mom's bedroom) worked fine, mine in the basement bedroom didn't. 

This morning, AT&T service came to work on the internet service. They tweaked the wiring going into the house and installed a new 5G modem. With this in place, my TV worked better and our wireless internet (for laptops and smart phones) went much smoother. (For me, this also meant I could send items from my laptop to the printer without having to get offline to use the printer's Wi-Fi connection, as had been the case in recent weeks.) Our landline phones should be transferred from Spectrum to AT&T in the coming two weeks.

After posing for pictures, Brian took Rick to the airport to fly back to Charleston. After lunch with a friend, Brian came back here. Late this afternoon, I drove Brian to the airport for him to fly back to New York. It was good for my mom and I having my brothers home, if only for a few days.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

St. Louis Lambert International Airport: St. Louis Lambert International Airport (flystl.com)

AT&T: AT&T Official Site - Unlimited Data Plans, Internet Service, & TV (att.com)

DirecTV: TV (directv.com)

Spectrum: Charter Spectrum® Official - Internet, Cable TV, and Phone Service