No Sofa
On July 28th, a Monday morning, I was finally back to my usual routine of carpooling with my childhood friend, Coco. Along with Coco was his mom, Hilary, who was driving us to work for the next few week. On this day, Hilary had ordered herself some sort of beverage (I can't remember) from a local coffee shop, Living Room Coffee & Kitchen. After a barrage of pleads from Coco and I, Hilary had agreed to purchase us some treats and coffee for a grand total of $20.18.
As boring as it sounds, I ordered a plain 16oz cold brew. However, I already had my caramel coffee creamer in my bag so I added in some. In addition to that I got a Goat Milk Orange Sugar Cookie. Not only was it a mouthful to say, it was also a mouthful, literally. Coco then ordered some sort of lemonade and peanut butter cookie.
Unlike the instant coffee I make myself at home, this coffee is actually delicious. It was smooth, rich, and paired surprisingly well with my caramel creamer. Despite my initial hesitation to eat a goat milk cookie, it was far beyond what I was hoping for. It was soft and crumbly, but not too much, and it was light compared to other cookies I've had of that size. Though I cannot exactly speak to Coco's cookie and lemonade, he seemed to enjoy it.
Although it's called Living Room, there was no sofa, or couch for that matter, in sight. Quite unfortunate, I know, but they did have amazing drinks and food. In my opinion, for the price and quality, I reccomend it to anyone with a need for coffee, a bite to eat, or just some spare time.
All American
This past Sunday I was lucky enough to score a volunteer oppurtunity at the St. Louis Zoo. Although I have volunteered there several times, I haven't had the chance to actually interact with animals and their respective enclosures before. I'd like to think that is the reason I was so excited to do to husbandry for the Zoo's endangered American Burying Beetles. In any other situation, I would not be so okay with feces on my hands. Regardless of how gross this could be, I enjoyed it.
Here is some explanation, as I'm sure not everyone knows what "husbandry" is. In short, husbandry is the act of maintaining an animals living space. It has nothing to do with actual husbands or marrying animals, much to my father's delight (somehow he was convinced I was attempting to marry some beetles...). Anyways, now that we all know what husbandry is, let's get into the nitty-gritty of it all.
Unfortunately for me, I was not able to get my beauty sleep that Sunday as the shift started at 9 a.m. sharp. No matter how hard I try to be perfectly on time, though, I can never seem to acheive it. I got to the North Entrance of the zoo at around 09:05 that day and made it into the Insectarium at 09:07. At first it was a challenge to find anyone who could open the research doors for me. Thankfully, a quite lively man, stepped out from behind the heavy door and assited me in finding where I ought to be.
Though I cannot give exact details due to the confidentiality of non-public spaces at the St. Louis Zoo, I will breifly say that directly across from this door is another door with a window into the small closet like room. Despite my intial thoughts, this small room was a bit chilly comparatively. Not only did this room house the hundreds of American Burying Beetles, but it also had a whole lot of brine shrimp, however, these shrimp are quite irrelevant to me. In this room I also met my partner for the day. I would share their name but I, regrettably, forgot to ask if they were comfortable with that.
Next I was instructed to load a tub atop a cart with dozens of said beetles and bring them out to the main room. This main room, unlike the rooms before, I can go into detail about, as the public has visual access to it. The visual access is thanks to a large window in one of the walls which features a sort of floating ant colony. The rest of the space is made up of work stations, aquariums, and insect habitats.
After bringing my beetle friends out to one of the workstations, my partner and I got the rundown. First, take out dirty papers and place your respective beetle in a cup. Next, remove any living mealworms or waxworms from the paper towels and enclosure. After that, wipe out said enclosure and restock the food. Lastly, mist down the habitat and return the beetle home.
Waxworms↓
Mealworms↓
When I say there were so many beetles, I mean there were so many beetles. Geniunely, an absurd amount of beetles. Though, I guess it makes sense, seeing as this is a zoo.
Regardless of the amount of beetles, I am so very grateful that I have been able to have this experience. Ever since I was real little, I dreamed of going to parts of the zoo visitors weren't allowed to. At first it started with tours. I would book tours of the herpetarium again and again. Then, around the end of my freshman year of high school, I heard about a volunteer program at the St. Louis Zoo specifically for teens. For a while I was hesitant to apply as it was intimidating. Eventually I did apply and I, thank God, made it to the first round of interviews. Though they didn't explictly state that there was a second round of interviews, it was clear there was. Soon enough the month long evaluation process was finished and I had been accepted. Since then it's been a lot of hard work, nearly 102 volunteer hours now.
Okay, leaving sappy Mavis behind, despite the work being centered around American Burying Beetles, we also had three Common Burying Beetles. The only major visual difference between the American Burying Beetle and the Common Burying Beetle, is that the latter lacks the large "shield" shape on the thorax.
Once my partner and I had finished the husbandry of the American and Common Burying Beetles, we were both gifted a book. Interestingly, I am, for some reason, expected to study said book. Sadly for the entemology crew, I will not be studying that book, I have better things to do.
Finally, to finish my day at the zoo, I supposed I should get some food. To settle my stomach I decided to go to the St. Louis Zoo's Lakeside Cafe. Although I spent several minutes looking at the menu, I ultimately chose the cheese fries like usual. In addition to that, I also got a diet coke. Unlike Six Flags, this diet coke actually was diet coke. Furthermore, the zoo's souvenir refillable cup was not only redeemable throughout the whole season, but it was also only $11.99 + tax. This is, put lightly, astoundingly better than Six Flags.
Six Flags aside, I quite enjoyed my food, actually. In this case, I full knew that the fries and cheese would be mediorce. In fact, I was honestly looking forward to the taste of them. In addition to wonderful cheese fries, as a volunteer I am able to redeem a 50% discount on all food. This means that I paid, I think, $6.12 in total.
Personally, I would rate the beetles 10/10, the book 7/10, and the cheese fries 8/10. I strongly recomend these cheese fries, to be honest.
Hello, Six Flags
Today I took off work and ventured to Six Flags, St. Louis with my friend Paisley. Although I have not had the most positive experience with Six Flags in the past, I was excited to feel what the human body was never made for nonetheless.
Despite having been to six flags several times before, my friend had never rode the iconic "Batman." So we accordingly chose to ride it first.
Unlike my friend, I have rode this ride several times before. Each and every time that I have rode it, however, I have passed out for some portion of it. Surprisingly, this time I did not lose consciousness. Thankfully, this trend continued throughout my time at Six Flags (though I lost my vision quite a few times).
Regardless of how aware of my surroundings I was, Paisley and I continued to get in lines and enjoy what Six Flags has to offer. If I remember correctly, the list of the rides we went on are as follows:
Out off all of the rides I went on today, Catwoman Whip has to have been my favorite for a few reasons. For some background, Catwoman Whip is a ride where two rows of four people facing back-to-back rotate simultaneously with a larger double-sided arm. Overall, the movement of this ride was actually surprisingly calming. In a weird way I felt like I was floating but not exactly flying. Even more so, the style of restraint used made it possible to for the rider to just sit back and let the ride move them without being too violent. As silly as it sounds, it sort of felt like I was a baby being rocked.
Other than Catwoman Whip, I have enjoyed Boomerang for many years. The thrill of going upside down and backwards all within a few seconds is probably why it's so high in my books. Additionally, Ninja was quite enjoyable. The line was practically nonexistent and the ride itself was smooth and fast.
We would have continued on different rides, but unfortunately, the park shut down all rides due to isolated thunderstorms. Admittedly, I did feel a few drops of rain while on my third run of the Ninja and felt slightly uneasy. I am grateful that we made the most of our time at Six Flags while the weather was decent, though. Lines weren't too long and we chatted with many nice folk. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't all positive.
After the first portion of riding coasters, Paisley and I decided to grab something to drink, as it was becoming rather hot outside. Earlier on we had spotted a restaurant, called Johnny Rocket's, that didn't look too totally awful and stopped by to grab some drinks. While inside I fell victim to the never-ceasing bout of advertisements promoting a cup with free refils all day. In addition to that I also bought a regular cup of Diet Coke.
If you look closely, you'll see that this receipt says I spent $27.93 on two drinks. Looking back, that is outrageous. I understand that theme parks are exspensive as all hell but $19.99 + tax for a cup to use all day is absolutely insane. In the moment, I reasoned with myself that I would fill it up over and over again for free, and thus save money. I should have just brought a waterbottle in all honesty, though I'm not sure if that's aligned with the park's rules.
Inside of the cup (waterbottle??) that Paisley is drinking from is supposedly Sprite. In my opinion, the beverage inside was more similar to an offbrand Sprite trying really hard and failing to taste like Sprite. It was carbonated, yes, but it was more sweet than tangy and yet all too sour at the same time.
Not only did I spend an unreasonable amount of money on these drinks, neither Paisley or I had good soda. When I received my cup of Diet Coke I was quite excited. However, when I took the first sip I was confused. This soda tasted nothing like Coke or Diet Coke, for that matter. Firstly, I highly doubt that it was a diet soda, as it didn't have the signature after taste. Secondly, it lacked all carbonation. While I am not all too concerned on the carbonation level of my soda, I do concern myself with my daily sugar intake. Personally, I don't like the heavy feeling and headache that I get after drinking sugary drinks, so I opt for diet. I only worry what could happen if someone with a more serious health condition dined there and is served the wrong soda.
Eventually Paisley and I got over the disapointment of bad soda and continued on our way. As we walked through the park, we complained quite a bit about how hot, loud, and overall overstimulating the whole place was. To our surprise, there was a guest services building which featured a "low sensory room." As someone who knows a decent amount about the workings of sensory rooms, I was interested to see the quality of this room. Thus, Paisley and I went inside. It was well air conditioned and dimly lit, both very important factors in reversing the experience of being at a theme park in the summer heat. Additionally, the room featured a small partition with a gymnastics mat on the ground for, I would assume, isolation. Furthermore, the room had a moving light projection, interactive marble wall, another gymnastics mat, a bubble tower, texture panels, and several chairs.
Please do not judge the quality of this photo compared to the others, my phone does not do well in low-light conditions.
To be completely transparent, I was quite captivated by the bubble tower for a decent amount of time. Once I felt my time was well spent at the bubble tower, I moved to the marble wall. To put it lightly, it was heavenly.
I do apologize that the rotation of this image is so that it doesn't appear as a perfect grid. It bothers me too. Other than the frustrating image above, the marble wall itself was quite amazing. In fact, Paisley remarked that she wants one of these in her room. I would have to agree with her on that one. The marbles were cool to the touch, a stark differance to the temprature outside, and the lights were slowly shifting colors.
After our calming experience, Paisley and I continued by riding some more rides. At this point, it was past the usual time that I eat lunch. Although it wasn't too late in the day, I have gotten used to a strict schedule of eating lunch around noon or so thanks to my work and school. In short, it's safe to say I was feeling a little bit agitated due to the lack of sustenance.
Earlier on in the day, my friend and I had spotted a place to eat that looked relatively new and different to what was seen in the rest of the park. It was Asian food instead of burgers, fries, and grease, or, God forbid, "world-famous" turkey legs. However, I am still uncertain how I feel about the name of this restaurant. Somehow, it was named "Chop Six." I am entirely sure, though, that this is wordplay based off of the untensil(s?), chop sticks.
In all honesty, the outside appearance of this place did it's job well and lured both my friend and I inside. When we went in, we took a moment to look at the menu, which I now wish I had photographed. Ultimately, Paisley and I settled on the "two entrées and one side" meal. In this we ordered orange chicken and teriyaki chicken as the entrées and chow mein as the side. If my memory serves me correctly, the grand total was $21.59. Ridiculous, if you ask me.
Luckily, thanks to my earlier irresponsible purchase, I could refill my cup for free. You heard that right, for FREE! Excited about my savings, I filled it up to the brim with some good ol' lemonade. It was disgusting. It tasted nothing like lemonade whatsoever. I honestly have no idea how to describe how awful it was. So, obviously, I dumped it out. Following the lemonade disgrace, I got some Powerade instead. Interestingly, it wasn't half bad.
When you order food at a restaurant, you expect to wait some time, yes, but we must have been unprepared. In the beginning we were told that they were out of teriyaki chicken and that they would have some out soon enough. Seems reasonable, or so I thought. Eventually, around ten or so minutes later they had restocked the teriyaki chicken. On the other hand, they were now out of orange chicken.
At this point, I was entirely done and just wanted something to eat, no matter the kind of food. Regardless, I continued to wait, not without having a young girl yell at me for sitting on the railing, of course. Yet again, another ten minutes have passed. I am, simply put, fed up, not to be ironic.
So, as any extroverted person would, I walked towards the counter and asked for a refund. The woman behind the counter made eye contact with me and simply said nothing. Literally just stared at me like I was saying something incomprehensible. Then she walked away and into the kitchen/back room. I was baffled and entirely speechless. A few seconds later a team lead walks out and questions why I am requesting a refund. I inform him simply that I have not received my meal after a nearly half hour wait. He responds as if this is something that has never happened and promptly begins to prepare our food.
Where was this food before? Why now are Paisley and I just getting served? SO many questions, yet not a single staff member willing to speak a single explanation.
As suspected, the food was theme park quality. That is to say, it was not good. The chow mein was dry and tough, the teriyaki chicken certainly didn't taste like teriyaki, and the orange chicken was just mediocre. Not only had enough time elapsed while waiting for my food to get another free refill (there is a cooldown period between each refill to prevent abuse), there was also enough time for the other Chop Six patrons to forget what an inside voice is. I hated dining at this establishment. I hated every damn second of it. Do not go to Chop Six at Six Flags, St. Louis.
While there are many other details of the Six Flags excursion, the only other notable ones are that I broke my hair tie and went around begging for a new one and that Paisley bought me a Batman cape. All in all, I do recommend Six Flags, St. Louis to those who don't mind shitty food and enjoy theme park induced adrenaline.
