If City Council doesn't get its budget priorities straight, this may be the closest thing to fire fighting equipment left in Peoria.A rather dull weekend. Just the way I like 'em. Slept in both days. Glorious. Never got around to doing laundry, cleaning my house, or disassembling the Christmas tree. Even better.
My Significant Other (S.O.) and I did get out last night. We had dinner at Bud's, coffee at Starbucks, and then saw Fun with Dick and Jane at the Rave. Dinner at Bud's was just okay. We had an appetizer of calamari, shared a porterhouse steak, and ordered a side of sauteed mushrooms. Our tab, with tax and tip came to $90.00. We had two beers as well, and our steak came with a house salad and some very good bread. Nonetheless, the decor, ambiance and quality of food doesn't come close to F. Scott's or some of the other numerous steakhouses in town. Some of them significantly less expensive. There was a decent crowd, but no where near what V.O.P.s used to draw in.
A little over a year ago Peoria didn't have a single Starbucks - unless you count the snack bar at Barnes and Noble. Now we have two, both with drive thrus, and another is on the way. S.O. and I had some time to burn before our movie so we slurped down a decaf latte at the Starbucks by the Shoppes at Grand Prairie. I was surprised to learn that Starbucks has wi-fi access, but expects people to pay extra for it. Gosh, you would think my purchase of a $4.00 cup of coffee would kind of cover it... Panera Bread has free wi-fi access and decent overpriced coffee, so if I ever decide to leave the house with my laptop again, I'll just go there. They have a fireplace and everything.
Fun with Dick and Jane started strong. The first two thirds of the movie was funny. The last third was spent watching Jim Carey spaz out for no good reason. The ending was particularly unsatisfying. I think the producers had a strong idea- consumer driven yuppies lose life savings and jobs at a Enron type corporation. It had beginnings of a good plot/script/story, but around the middle everyone just got lazy. It is worth seeing, but wait until it comes out on cable or DVD. Definitely NOT worth owning.
This morning's Word on the Street column in the the Journal Star was particularly gratifying. Jeff Lickiss, AMT employee/paramedic discovered the hard way that the Peoria Fire Department doesn't have the equipment necessary to provide adequate emergency services. Lickiss' daughter was involving in a serious car crash, and had to wait for over 15 minutes to be extracted as different trucks with various needed equipment had to be dispatched from all over town. The accident occurred within spitting distance of Station 11. However, Station 11 lost the truck that carries the "Jaws of Life." On top of it all, Lickiss admits that AMT did a lousy job of dispatching enough ambulances and personnel to treat victims on the scene. His daughter had to wait in dire pain for over fifteen minutes. Sucks to live in a town where the hospitals own the ambulance service, doesn't it Jeff? I attended a city council meeting, a year or so ago, where former OSF E.R. physician and creator of the Haitian Hearts program, Dr. John Carroll reported that AMTs critical care statistics are not reported (despite a FOI request) unlike most ambulance service providers in other areas. Gee, the hospitals wouldn't short staff calls to save money would they? No! That would be irresponsible, dirty and cruel.
Unfortunately, despite his promise to give Council an earful tomorrow night, Lickiss is not high enough up the political ladder to make a difference. We won't get Station 11 fully operational again until some really big wig loses someone near and dear to them for no reason other than the Fire Department's water truck and ladder truck are located in opposite areas of town.
In the meantime, drive very carefully, install a smoke detector on every floor, no, in every room, and strap a fire extinguisher to your belt in order to up your odds of survival.
Anyone reading this in the outer regions, being served by volunteer fire departments, keep in mind Peoria is your back up should anything really awful happen (tornado, factory fire, semi jack knifes on the interstate, etc.) Since a Peorian car crash victim a few blocks away from a fire station had to suffer in god awful pain until everyone could get their ducks in a row, lets just say you all are screwed.... Squared.
