There is no denying the restaurant industry has been hard hit during the pandemic. One Jersey City eatery saw their neighbors step in when they were dealt with another blow. Würstbar had a staff member exposed to the virus and rather than running risk of spreading the disease, the management decided the best course of action was to shut down—at least temporarily. But their neighbors at Virile Barber Shop swooped in to help after seeing their post about the temporary close.
They posted on their Instagram page “No, we are not randomly closed for ‘renovations!’ We unfortunately, had an exposure to COVID-19 at Würstbar. Würstbar is a small team run by an extremely hardworking and loyal staff. Running the restaurant with only non-exposed employees isn’t an option for us at the moment. We decided as a team that we would close until every employee exposed or not has been tested and can return to work confident in their safety, and equally as important, our guests’ safety. Thank you to @hdsid_jc and Prestige Health Mobile for getting the entire staff tested so quickly. We look forward to serving you soon.”
Word of Würstbar’s crew quarantine quickly made the rounds of the tight-knit community and in less than 24 hours, workers from Virile Barber Shop just up the street stepped up, offering to lend a hand by taking shifts to keep Würstbar open for business until the impacted staff members could all be tested and cleared.
“The weather is too nice out to let our neighbors at Würstbar stay closed!” Virile Barber Shop owner Andre Fersa posted. “I’ve taken over the bar and am selling PRETZELS, beer, wine and cider for outdoor seating only. Come on by and support this great staff.”
As expected, the grateful Würstbar staff was soon singing the praises of the generous community volunteers who’d pitched in to keep their doors open. “A big thank you to the crew at @virile for taking over Würstbar yesterday, that was a blast! We love this community and couldn’t ask for better neighbors. Let’s not forget barbershops and salons were hit just as hard as restaurants during the shutdown. With so many people home from the office and big events not happening it’s easy to skip a cut here and there. If you have the means, please get that extra cut and look your best for your Zoom call or socially distanced gathering.”
Fersa and his friend, Joe Mercurio, got a quick crash course and soon enough Wurstbar was open for business. There were no tables inside, no cocktails, and their typically large menu of brats, sausages, hot dogs and poutine was pared down to just hot pretzels. But from noon until around 6 p.m. on Saturday, Fersa and Mercurio ran the show with Kahn supervising. Neighborhood locals got word that Virile was taking over Wurstbar for the day and came out to support the business, with outdoor tables packed throughout the day. The Kitchen Step, another Jersey Avenue restaurant, offered to send help if they needed it and bought a bunch of hot pretzels to feed their staff.
Kahn has tried to be optimistic as possible throughout the pandemic, but admits the positive COVID-19 test knocked him down. The bar was closed from Nov. 8 until Nov. 12, until all the employees tested negative. But Fersa stepping up to help out, even for just one day, rejuvenated him. “I didn’t feel that feeling of defeat anymore. I felt like, ‘I’ve got this.’ It kind of revived me, like we’ll get through this closure. I felt like I needed that,” Kahn said. “Andre stepping in and helping me out really just brought me back.”
Read more
Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel has retired from the NFL just before the first full-team practice of training camp. His decision came two days after a medical study indicated that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was found in nearly 99 percent of deceased NFL players’ brains that were donated to scientific research. A team source said that the findings weighed heavy on Urschel’s decision to retire.
The study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that of the 111 NFL players whose brains were studied, 110 of them had signs of CTE, which can lead to memory loss, depression and dementia—often years or even decades after players retire. Several top names in the game- including Junior Seau, Frank Gifford, John Mackey and Kenny Stabler — were diagnosed with the disease after their deaths.
Coach John Harbaugh said he was surprised when Urschel called him 90 minutes before practice to inform him of his retirement. “He said he’s going to retire from football, that it was something that’s been on his mind for quite a while and throughout the offseason.”
In August 2015, Urschel suffered a concussion in a helmet-to-helmet collision, which he said “I think it hurt my ability to think well mathematically,” Urschel said. “It took me about three weeks before I was football-ready. It took me a little bit longer before my high-level visualizations ability came back.”
Urschel will now pursue his PhD in Mathematics fulltime at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, focusing on spectral graph theory, numerical linear algebra and machine learning. He had been pursuing it in the offseason prior to his retirement. Urschel was recently named to Forbes’ “30 under 30” in the field of science. He has published six peer-reviewed mathematics papers to date and has three more ready for review. According to the Ravens website, Urschel is an expert mathematician who gets straight A’s while also grinding away in the NFL trenches.
Urschel who played on the offensive line for three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, received a $144,560 signing bonus when joining the Ravens in 2014. The bonus prorated at $36,140 per year. With one year left on the contract, Urschel owes the Ravens $36,140 upon retirement.
Urschel released a statement shortly after the announcement. “Thank you to everyone for the kind words today. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I believe it was the right one for me,” Urschel said in a statement. “There’s no big story here, and I’d appreciate the right to privacy. I’m extremely grateful to the Ravens, and blessed to have been able to play the game I love at the highest level.
It is a great game. There are some games — like the playoff game at Pittsburgh — that I will never forget. I’m excited to start working on my doctorate in mathematics full time at MIT. I’m looking forward to the chance to take courses that are only offered in the fall semester, while spending time with my fiance and preparing myself for the new challenges that will come with fatherhood. We’re expecting our first child in December.”
Read more
In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, February 12th, 2017 was:
BRITTANY MICHELLE
Archdale, NC
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans of either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift. Card
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
2/6/17
Christine Acoba
Crystal Young
Ashley Nichole Busse
Kristina Harris
Autumn Dansby
Jamie Shapiro
Sandy Nevels
Sherri Kidwell
Kristen Raia Bowman
Sheila Vives
Heather Marie Stacy
Andrea Timms
Phylicia Phillips
Erin Leigh Will
Lotorya Patrick
Alexandra Vindiola
Deborah Farris
Shawna Poole
Eva Biggs
Tiffany Banks
2/7/17
Christine Acoba
Beth Cleveland
Mya Murphy
Brandi Kerr
Tessa Davis
Lisa Puckett
Carla S-Paige Williams
Joanie Waterman
Preeti Chand
Tina Marie
Sherri Kidwell
Marcy Coull
Valerie Kuehn
Kayla Hernandez
Nai Merri
Andrea Timms
Heather Jacques
Jennifer Downing
Alisa Jones
Priscilla Shimp
2/8/17
Christine Acoba
Valerie Kuehn
Jennifer Downing
Nai Merri
Anna Nichols
Nitasha Shank
Isis Sample
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Cheyenne Shaw
Mya Murphy
Fanny Wat
Andrea Timms
Jacqlyn Gummert
Traci Anderson
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Tabitha Sinks
Deborah Farris
Cassandra Berholtz
Chelcie Malow
Alicia Dansby
2/9/17
Christy Hawkes
Valerie Kuehn
Jonnalyn Gates
Megan Rhyne
Sheila Carvell
Jade Good
Anna Ashley Pinder
Kelly Prestenbach
Katrina Worford
Kim Floyd
Preeti Chand
Geri Rus
Roberta Thomas
Lisa David Carr
Darrell Ashley Street
Becky Freeman
Karen Bondehagen
Adaria Johnson
Wendi Black
Brittany Michelle
2/10/17
Jennifer Alice Duran
Lori Capobianco
Brittany Deaver
Jennifer Ramlet
Valerie Kuehn
Megan Rhyne
Rhonda Nicholson
Sandy Nevels
Brandy Marie Williams
Poonam Gosain
Jade Good
Dean Bruss
Poonam Gosain
Samantha Brwn Ramos
Lisa David Carr
Roberta Thomas
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Tammy Alcorta
Angela Nicole
Susanne Killion
Muneca Muneca
Tessa Davis
2/11/17
Hollie Jahnke
Holly Cajigas
Nai Merri
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Tina Marie
Jodi Stevens
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Karen Bondehagen
Alexandria Fields
Phyllis Hines
Rebecca Fauteux
Amy Hopper
Sheila Carvell
Jessica Miller
Kellie Lacy
Tina Casto-Shafer
Mary Achio
Christina Radcliff
Melissa Turner Baker
Heather Jacques
2/12/17
Kendra George
Christine Acoba
Amy Chavis
Anna Nichols
Glenna Zanaglio
Mary Achio
Lotorya Patrick
Mary Ann Cody
Angela Nicole
Dale Fish
Holly Cajigas
Darbie Brown
Dean Bruss
Emily Rice Bowersock
Lori Marie Timms
Brenda Casey
Christine McKinnon
Mike Adamski
Jane Peterson
Jennifer Downing
Crystal Hazelwood
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better. You may also find that if you “Like” both of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
—————————————————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on….
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX & HI4Eshop Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!) 
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
Read more
