Wednesday morning update

I came home to find my Gmail inbox filled with blessings from the planet Zambodia. Prince Mongo wrote to compliment me on a recent Facebook post I made about forgiveness. He also asked me to put the word out that he has an apartment coming up for rent at the Mongominiums near Main and Butler. It’s a one bedroom, one bath, fully furnished, all utilities included, for $950 a month. Email me at paul@paulryburn.com if interested and I will give you Mongo’s number.

The Hungry Memphis blog posted a copy of Catherine & Mary’s menu. I agree with what Hungry Memphis posted, it’s pretty fancy. Lots of words I am not sure I know how to pronounce.

Bike Walk Memphis has started an ioby campaign to raise funds for public bicycle repair stands for Cooper-Young. These are stands on which you hang your bike to make it easy to work on. The stands will have an air pump and tools that will allow you to fix most minor problems, along with step-by-step instructions. The plan is to install two such stands, one near Memphis Made Brewing Co. and one near First Congregational Church.

To help raise money for the project, Memphis Made is hosting Get Your Fix in C-Y Saturday night at 6:00 on its patio. Nick Oyler, the city’s new bike and pedestrian program manager, will be on hand, as will Bike Walk Memphis. A portion of beer sales that evening will go toward purchase of the racks.

Just over a year ago I posted how a woman had fallen on the Main Street Mall and it took a ridiculously long time to get 911 on the line. I’m pleased to hear that Mayor Strickland is working hard on that issue. From July 2015 to 2016 the average wait time for 911 dropped from a hideously bad 98.5 seconds to 39.9 seconds, the mayor reported. That’s better but he realizes it is still not good – 20 seconds or less is the number to shoot for. The city is paying MFD and Shelby County dispatchers overtime to assist, is streamlining the hiring and training process, and is focusing on retaining seasoned staff. Kudos Mr. Mayor for addressing this very important matter!

Mayor Strickland also reported that city pavers are finishing up a project this week and will next turn their attention to The Edge. He said in particular Monroe Avenue can expect some improvements in paving. Good news for my readers who live on that street.

Thought on The Giant Hole MLGW has been digging on a different part of Monroe, outside of Bardog: Wait a minute, where is Aldo going to park the hearse? Every year, Bardog raffles off a hearse, with the drawing happening at 11:59 PM on October 31. Aldo always buys a hearse around the first of October and pays the parking meter for the month so it can sit outside his bar. Trouble is, The Giant Hole is blocking the hearse’s traditional parking spot.

Yesterday I was telling the day bartender, who is relatively new, that I remember the hole being there as far back as December 4 of last year. It’s getting close to turning one year old. Shall we throw it a birthday party?

The season finale of MyHQ Sunset Yoga is today at 6:30 in Memphis Park at Front and Jefferson. This free all-levels yoga class is followed by free wine provided by The Corkscrew, and you are welcome to bring a picnic basket. They have extra yoga mats but if you own one they ask that you bring it. Follow @DowntownMemphis to stay aware of weather cancellation, although I don’t think that will be a problem today. This may be the first Sunset Yoga class all year when they have had really nice weather.

The weather has been so miserably hot most of this month that Loflin Yard has created a Facebook event for First Friday that Feels Like Fall Lunch. 2-for-1 po-boy specials and acoustic music on the deck.

MATA is hiring 40 new bus operators and 6 new diesel mechanics.

Now that he no longer has to face the voters in a presidential election, Barack Obama has a little more freedom to speak his mind on the important issues. This weekend he sat down with Anthony Bourdain and tackled one of the most important issues of all: hot dog condiments. According to the president, ketchup isn’t an acceptable hot dog condiment past the age of 8. I could not agree more. Thanks, Obama!

Off to work. Possibly another post later today.