City Museum then Up Down

For this second chunk of time in St. Louis I got a room at the Drury Inn & Suites Brentwood. 

It was a fine hotel but something kind of funny and notable was they had this weird happy hour free buffet thing. They also gave me some free drink tickets. It was like the dinner version of the free hotel breakfast.

I mentioned recently when I went to a Cardinals game that Molina and Wainwright are retiring soon and so go their very own Budweiser can. Lydia was jealous of my beer can collection and destroyed it, so I don't have a good home for these. She's a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

Seago and I volunteer at Strange Loop every year in exchange for free passes. I like to volunteer for the opening day party thing at City Museum and give guests their credentials. It's a fun way to do a shift and it doesn't conflict with any of the seminars.

I remember when I first started coming to this conference I didn't yet have a software job and so was incredibly intimidated by the other people at the conference. I didn't like talking to the booth workers in particular because they would ask about my job and then I'd have to reveal I was a bum. Now my badge says "Microsoft" on it and I feel like I've accomplished a lot.

After the shift we checked out Up Down in the Central West End.

I was forced to show Seago why people fear me on the Nintendo 64.

It's embarrassingly satisfying to complete an arcade game. When I was a kid I would only get a few quarters so I played the first bits of every game. Now I have infinity quarters so I can actually see how the games from my childhood end. I used to play the crap out of this X-Men game. These were fun because there are four player spots so a random person could hop in at any time to give you reinforcements.

I like this place a lot. There's always fun retro pop culture on the walls and playing on the tv sets.

Back to Strange Loop

These days it seems that other than holidays, the Strange Loop tech conference I go to every year seems to be the only occasion with the gravity to pull me back to St. Louis. It's mostly an excuse to go back and see my friends and family though so I think it's all good in the end.

Being an eternal cheapskate, I volunteer at the conference every year in exchange for free entry. The opening party event type thing is held at St. Louis' quirky City Museum every year. I think the weird randomness of the conference and the museum match up pretty nicely.

This loose Latin translation of "always wear underwear" was actually an extra credit question on a test in theology class one time in highschool. Oh, Catholic school. Where would I be without you?

When Seago and I finished handing out people's conference credentials we hit the museum's bar. In the early days beer used to be provided but it seems they've cheaped out and now it's a cash bar. Sad!

4 Hands' City Museum Pilsner is the correct beer to order when on the premises.

I can't get enough of Union Station's Grand Hall Light Show.

I'm not going to lie, putting a cool sounding or recognizable company name on my conference badge in the hope I'll see someone I used to know is a non-zero percent of the reason I like attending.

Riverfront Times Iron Fork

Today we worked at the RFT's Iron Fork event at City Museum.

"As one of the largest food events in town, Riverfront Times' 12th Annual Iron Fork offers a chance for St. Louisans to try 30 of the tastiest local eateries in one night! Tickets include unlimited samples from each restaurant and drinks including beer, wine and craft cocktails. Guests will also enjoy admission to City Museum, music, plus the marquee of the event, the heart-pounding Culinary Throwdown with a celebrity judging panel and the Mixologist exhibition."

Maybe under the "while supplies last" nature of the food and drinks it made sense to show up early, but man was it annoying. A ton of people came earlier than they were supposed to and we just made them stand outside.

VIP tickets, which as staff we effectively possessed, were $70 each.