Subj : cell service was: To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Wed May 13 2020 08:47:00 Hi Nancy! BM>>> I'm thinking that's what may have happened to the Village Inn that BM>>> closed down the hill from us. Village Inn (in general) used to have BM>>> decent food but over the years has been declining. We more or less BM>>> swore off late last year because of the over-salted gravy, gristly BM>>> steak (my cut wasn't as bad but a super-cheap cut), and a salad that BM>>> had more rust on the lettuce than a junkyard car. NB>>> Then perhaps it wasn't just the bridge construction and the pandemic NB>>> that did them in... maybe just gave the push to finish them off... BM>> Quite possible. Did a quick check to see if any reason was given BM>> eventually -- no -- but was reminded a few other nearby locations have BM>> also closed (Davenport, Clinton...). NB>> Also Village Inns...? so a sort of chain....? BM> Yes -- I thought they were national. Sort of a Denny's instead of BM> being known for the Grand Slam Breakfast it's their pies. NB> Haven't seen any around here, so apparently it's a regional chain NB> instead of national... Apparently -- now that I think of it I don't recall any when I was growing up. NB>> The mini-strip malls do have the benefits of easier parking and NB>> access to the individual stores... There's one near-ish us that has 6 NB>> different restaurants in it... 3 of which are on our list of NB>> regulars... :) I think there are 10 (maybe 11 or 12 max) stores total NB>> there... BM> I kind of did a 'wow!' on your one strip mall having six restaurants; NB> It is a bit of a mind-boggle... ;) The mini-mall is within NB> fairly easy walking distance from Strong Hospital, so there are NB> often hospital personnel as well as students that walk over there NB> for lunch... There's a Country Sweet ribs (local chain, I think), NB> a chain pizza place, and a takeout Chinese place holding down one NB> end of the mall, and in the middle is SEA (SouthEast Asia) NB> Restaurant (Thai and Vietnamese), and holding down the end are NB> Abyssinia (Ethiopian) and Sultan Restaurant (Lebanese).... the NB> latter three are the ones we eat at.... :) Being within walking distance of the hospial is a good location! Quite sure the staff gets tired of the good but naturally limited selection of food fomr the hospital's restaurant. so quick walk offers a variety of choices. ...Wonder how many times the rib place has seem the med student and surgeons 'dissecting' their meal?! BM> I'm recalling usually only two, maybe three around here. Could get to BM> the six with adjacent mini-malls. :) NB> The six is unusual for here, as well... :) There's another strip NB> mall not too far from us that has I think 5 in it, but it's a NB> larger one to begin with... That one has two Vietnamese NB> restaurants that we frequent (right next door to each other), NB> plus a diner, a Chinese takeout and maybe something else... Odd the two Vietnamese restaurants are adjacent. OTOH could be handy: run next dorr for something like the housewife does for a cup of sugar. BM> (Great! The restarant chat is BM> making me hungry and I had breakfast a little over an hour ago!) NB> That happens to me all the time when I'm reading/answering NB> messages in the Fido COOKING echo... ;) It all looked so good until I started reading those recipies!! BM>>> Bridge construction has restarted and the Iowa-bound span's arch is BM>>> almost completed: need the keystone piece at the top and as of earlier BM>>> this week they're calculating and rechecking to be certain it fits BM>>> properly. With that piece installed they can start the deck for the BM>>> cars -- and pedestrians? Not sure where the trail is to be -- the BM>>> elevator is on the Illinois-bound lane but they were also talking BM>>> about the bridge trail to continue to connect with the rest of the BM>>> trail system. NB>>> Maybe the trail will be two-way traffic on just the one span...? BM>> Possibly. I've looked in the past but not found anything, which seems BM>> odd as the plans have been presented to the public since before BM>> construction started. Just not looking in the right place. And it'll BM>> be a surprise to me when I do find out! NB>> Eventually... maybe it'll turn up in the news releases when the bridge NB>> is ready to be opened to traffic... :) BM> Quite sure that will occur! Kind of a big splurge this morning as BM> they will be putting the keystone piece in some time today to finish BM> the arch of first span. With that installed they can start building BM> the decking. BM> ...Just checked the live view: nothing going. I didn't see any BM> activity -- had to like at the water ripples on the Mississippi to make BM> sure it was working! NB> Maybe it was done in the afternoon...? Under normal NB> circumstances there probably would have been some sort of fanfare NB> and ceremony with the keystone going in... but not now, with no NB> crowds/gatherings allowed.... The keystone piece was installed later than morning. They said there were over a thousand bolts to hold it in place, and the other sections also had an equivalent number. They also said now the span is assembled they have to go back and tighten all the bolts -- probably left "finger tight" to allow for shifting. Now to start the other span! BM>>> There was a somewhat noisy helicopter flying last night from probably BM>>> the Illinois side to possibly Davenport so maybe a hospital transfer BM>>> but I didn't hear anything about a major accident. NB>>> Might have been from a hospital filled up with COVID-19 patients NB>>> or something.... BM>> So that's how Illinois is keeping their numbers down: transfer BM>> patients to Iowa!! BM>> There are numerous smaller hospitals on both sides of the River and BM>> not unusual for a transfer to a larger hospital here in the Quad BM>> Cities. And the hospitals here have transferred patients to the BM>> even-larger hospitals: University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City (IA), BM>> the one in Peoria (IL).... NB>> Probably evens out... ;) With yours being a multiple city complex, NB>> there'd be more of that crossing borders and all... ;) There's NB>> transfers here among the local hospitals as necessary, and there are NB>> a number of smaller hospitals in surrounding communities as well... NB>> And in an emergency, with no beds available here, patients have been NB>> airlifted to other cities... I know Pittsburgh PA has taken our NB>> patients on occasion... BM> Yes; I haven't heard of an out-of-beds issue locally but I was BM> originally to be taken to Genesis East when I fractured my femur and BM> due to I'm thinking it was a car accident they had me on hold for a bit BM> (we were sitting in the store's parking lot for a while) while the BM> decision was made where to take me -- ended up to Genesis West. Not a BM> bed situation but more to keep from overwhelming the emergency staff. NB> Similar thing happened when I broke my ankle... closest hospitals NB> were too busy, so I was taken to a different one... all four of NB> our city hospitals are close enough to where we live that any of NB> them would have been ok for us... :) Yes, all three here are easy enough to get to. The one I was originally supposed to go to has a bit of a preference because we're more familiar with it that the other two. 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