For the most recent reports from the BVI see this page.
- - - 2008 Hurricane Season - - -
- Slap Happy Holidaze from the Caribbean
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:56:41 EST
Day temps in the low 80's (sea level) and night temps in the
high 70's. Mountain areas around here are often 5-8 degrees cooler than
sea level. Strong winds make it seem even cooler. Today we have moderate winds,
but offshore seas are expected to buildd up, causing small craft advisories.
Isolated showers may dot the landscape, like a bit of drool from the
blue vault of heaven. Montserrat is still regurgitating, but
the ash is scheduled to blow south of us, as I look south, I see a thickish haze
*cough* cough*.
Last chance to shop for Christmas is soon come! I hope you were
nice and not naughty!
At Serendipity Book Shop on Main Street in Road
Town, you can get some unique toys for children and adults as well
as fantastic books. Of course my book "Hurricanes & Hangovers" is for
sale there too. If you need a unique one
of a kind gift, check them out, and be pleasantly surprised they offer more than
just books.
A big THANK YOU to all who bought my book through Amazon and
those lately who have shopped at Serendipity Book Shop. The owner tells me
several people have mentioned seeing my book on StormCarib.Com and
actually bought it! YIPPEE!
So consider this a BIG hug and kiss from me!
xoxoxoxoxo!
*************
"She enjoyed traveling, including sailing trips in the Caribbean, where
her favorite spot was Cane Garden Bay in the British Virgin Islands."
We need more beautiful fences, we have some real
ugly excuses for fencing around here, a big round of applause to this owner for
making his fence outstanding!
Now that's something new to consider, a fence
contest for the islands. We could have several categories such as most
beautiful, most unique, most natural, most eco friendly, most functional etc.
A beautiful glorious day. I saw the orange sunrise, but I was too tired to
get up and photograph it, shame on me.
Back up to 84 degrees, rather warm for December! Ho ho ho! We
had some hard rains last night, the islands are green and we are expecting our
Christmas crowds to make things merry!
Sandy Claus made a TOP SECRET early visit to the BVI,
he wanted to thaw out and work on his tan before going back to the North Pole to
load up hi sleigh.He asked if I was interested in elf
employment...things are no doubt very busy at his workshop.
Speaking of foolishness, I was reading a
local article that read:
"...of the Dominican Republic and Neverlands
Antilles..."
Heck, another new country on the horizon, and I'm the last to
hear of it...
CARIBBEAN EGGNOG FOG
1/4 cup of honey
6 eggs
1 liter (or quart) of milk
2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 fifth (or liter )of dark Rum
fresh ground nutmeg for garnish
In blender, toss in honey and eggs, give it a whir to mix thoroughly, add
vanilla and half the milk, buzz again to mix, add rest of milk to blender and
blend again, pour into large punch bowl or pitcher, whisk in bottle of rum and
serve well chilled with grated nutmeg over the top. Alternatively, fill cups or
mugs half full with blended mix, then top with rum, stir thoroughly and
grate nutmeg over the top.
Nothing but beautiful fair weather with the occasional spit from heaven
above and we are good to go here. Peace in paradise. A fantastic day for the
beach or boating.
Another gorgeous day in paradise. The swells on the north shore have
subsided some, but still enough for the surfers to have loads of fun. It's 80
degrees with moderate winds.
My crystal balls predicts scattered showers with cooling trade winds and
good surfing for the weekend. I can't get on the internet yet, to check
things like satellites and forecast and reported wind conditions
elsewhere. *sigh* I dialed in 10 times and still no luck. But eventually
it will kick in and I will whisk this out to cyber-space.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(\_(\_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Years back, I was lifting the anchor by hand on my sailboat. Well,
leather gloved hand (mama didn't raise any fools). I stowed it away, took
off my wet gloves, hung them up to dry, then walked back to the helm and
proceeded at a sedate speed out of the harbor. I had gone maybe a boat length
when I realized I seemed not to be moving anymore. I goosed the throttle a
little and stared at a tree off my starboard side on shore and sure enough, I
wasn't going anywhere at all!
I was quite puzzled by this. A gentle wind wafted by and the boat
stayed put. Now this is odd! I went forward, yep, both anchors were up,
one was locked down on the bow rollers and the other stowed in the anchor
locker. OK, my memory was good. I had done the right thing.
I scratched my head and looked all around me. I was turned 180 degrees
from the rest of the boats and the winds did nothing to move my boat.
I went back to the helm, and turned the engine off. I put my snorkel
mask on top of my head and launched the aft ladder. I opened up the port locker,
pulled out a length of rope and cleated that off. Then I descended the ladder,
while carrying the bitter end of the rope. This was in case my boat suddenly
took off without me, I could use the rope to pull myself back to her. (Don't cha
just HATE that when your boat takes off without you?)
I shoved the snorkel mask down over my face, took a long slow deep
breath and swam under the boat. Well, what do I see? But a
mermaid caught in my rudder! Incredible! I must be
seeing things. I made a mental note to stop smoking the local herbs and surfaced
back at the ladder.
I stared hard at the tree off to starboard. Nope. The boat wasn't
moving an inch, in spite of the winds. Something was preventing me from moving.
I took a few deep breaths to clear my head. I swam back under the boat one more
time.
Yep, there was a mermaid caught in my rudder, stuck between the rudder
pin and the hull. I kid you not! I resurfaced at the ladder.
No one is ever going to believe me. I wished I had an underwater
camera, it would have made such a great shot, a mermaid, stuck under my boat,
pretty as you please. No camera, no witnesses. No one was even around as
to come over and question my curious maneuverings.
I had seen mermaids before. Some boating company came out with
small white
boat fenders in the shape of a mermaid. I had seen them used on
dinghies to tie up alongside mother ships and docks. This one was
apparently attached to the painter of a semi-submerged mooring ball.
I had not seen the little mermaid, nor the submerged mooring ball, when
I took off through the harbor. Somehow, as I passed by, the mermaid, had managed
to wedge herself between my rudder and hull.
I climbed back aboard, turned the wheel to port, went back underwater,
and wrestled the little mermaid out of my rudder. She bobbed up to the
surface and I followed her. She was attached to a tiny bit of line, which was
knotted to a submerged mooring ball that had so much underwater growth all over
it, that it looked like a frightening monster. First a mermaid, then a monster.
I've been in the sun too long!
I climbed back aboard and let the wind push me away from the little
mermaid, while I started the engine and left her in neutral. After I had gently
blown safely away, I engaged forward gear and sedately motored out of the harbor
to set sail. I gave a quick glance, and there was the tiny mermaid, bobbing on
the water, far behind me.
As I exited the harbor, I put the boat back in neutral, pointed my bow
upwind, then ran to the mast and pulled up the mainsail, followed by the
jib. I ran back for the wheel, and pulled the jib in for a nice
broad reach. I turned the boat and headed for Jost Van Dyke, adjusting my
mainsail until all was happy. I sat down at the wheel and
laughed. Imagine that! I snagged a mermaid with my sailboat.
About an hour or so later, I doused the sails, turned on the motor and
anchored in my secret spot in Great Harbour at Jost Van Dyke. I was lucky to
have shoal keel and only draw a bit less than 4 feet. If I lined up with
the quaint little church to the north, and Albert's house to the west, I would
be in a nice sandy spot, about 6-7 feet deep, depending on the tide. No one
could anchor near me and I could enjoy some freedom of not worrying about
bareboats banging into me in the wee hours of the morning when they seem to drag
anchor most often.
The brief engine time, had warmed up my hot water tank, so I went
below, showered off the sea salt and sweat, dressed in a fresh sarong and went
ashore in my little rubber dinghy at a full clip with a 2 horse Yamaha engine.
That equates about the speed of hearty rowing.
At happy hour I was telling folks at the bar, about getting stuck and
finding a mermaid caught in my rudder. Before I could explain she was
merely made out of white rubber, one of the island boyz at the bar spoke up
rather loudly "Miss? You be smoking too much of this local herb if you
think you be seeing mermaids under your boat!"
Everyone burst out laughing and the joke was on me. I never did get to
explain she was just a rubber mermaid. Everyone already thought I was crazy for
sailing around alone on a sailboat I had rebuilt on my own. Now I
was sounding certifiably crazy.
Well, heck, let 'em think what they want to. For the next few days, no
one remembered my name, I was referred to as "the lady who saw a mermaid under
her boat", followed by snickers and laughter. I just smiled. Let 'em wonder.
84 degrees at 1pm, it was 76 last night and very windy, I had to
sleep under my fluffy afghan just to stay warm. Middle of the night, my kitty
showered in the rain, then curled up in part of the afghan and began doing the
kneading thing, he likes to do with the afghan. I guess it reminds him of mama
or something, he kneads it like he is nursing again and purrs to himself with a
faraway look in his eyes.
So in my dim brain, all asleep, I feel something COLD wiggle against me,
then his outstretched paw accidentally touched my leg and his little claw poked
me, and I flew out of the bed screaming, turning on all the lights,
thinking that snake had found his way back into my house and bed and bit
my leg!
Poor cat looked very frightened, and I had to calm him (and me) down again.
He gave me that "Are you losing it?" look as I petted and reassured him
"Yes, I am losing it!"
Dat elec-tricky company done mash up the internet equipment, so I rarely
have internet and when I do, it cuts off every few minutes, kinda like the cable
TV does too. Ah, life in the islands, mon! One day they will repair it,
soon come, soon come.
According to my crystal ball (I can't cruise the web) we are going to
have scattered showers for today and this afternoon. The weekend should be fair
with good swells for the surfers.
This will mail out, whenever that internet comes back on, could be in 10
minutes or 10 hours. I don't wear a watch anymore, why bother?
You just might get your December storm and if I
see what I think I see you ain't gonna like it!
grrr
I'm gonna just set and watch for another couple of
days ....
My suspicion, 60 W 25 N. What is it?
Nothing, yet.... Movement, yet to be determined, that's my
concern?
Let me know when/if the winds on your
end of the island start to prevail from the Northwest ....
Signed, Mad Max
Yeah, Max, I been noting that too, and the boyz in Miami aren't
saying a word about it. Hmmm...
79 degrees at 8am today, now that is cooler! No winds yet,
just birds chirping happily! Wind speeds are predicted to be at
14mph from the North, but not much here YET. We had our usual early
morning rains.
At about 3am I got up to sleep walk to the bathroom and I had this
uncanny urge to turn the light on and I did. There in my bedroom, outside the
bathroom door, is a FOUR FOOT SNAKE!
I screamed!
No one came. I was home alone. I screamed again, the snake
moved closer to an electric cord, as if I might not notice it. I called all the
cats to come home. I ran for the broom and long handled dustpan.
The snake was still. I poked him with the broom and he wiggled. I
screamed.
All the cats showed up and stared at the snake. I implored them to
kill it They just sat down and watched.
I ran and opened the front door, then ran back and the snake was
headed for my closet! I screamed. The cats scattered. I swept the snake up
into the long handled dustpan, held him in place with the broom and galloped at
break neck speed for the patio where I threw him down and ran back inside.
Now the cats gathered around the snake and began poking him and
watching him. The snake played dead. They guarded him. I watched from
safety of the closed front door, through the window slats.
I returned to my bedroom, by now I had all the lights on in the
house, as I searched for more snakes. I have no idea where this one came from.
Must have snuck in through the cat door. I don't think the cats brought him
home, as when they do that, the snake is already dead.
I tore my bed apart and remade it, to make sure nothing was in my
bed. I swept under the bed and found dust bunnies. I tried to sit
down, and then worried about my feet on the floor, so I put them on the bed. I
am of course, WIDE AWAKE by now. I searched the house one more time, checked on
the cats, who were now attacking the snake on the patio, but he was still
ALIVE.
I went back to bed and turned a movie on. I curled
up with a flashlight. Every time I heard a strange noise, I turned on the
flashlight and searched the bedroom, then turned it back off again.
Finally I fell asleep from exhaustion.
This morning I checked the patio and no sign of the snake. i was so
hoping to find a nice DEAD snake, but no luck. Grrrrr.......
***************
Now for the GOOD NEWS!!!!
My book:
Hurricanes and Hangovers
(and other tall tales and loose lies from the coconut
telegraph)
is available for SALE on Tortola at the
Located on Main Street in Road Town!
While you are there, you can go upstairs for coffee, snacks
and lunch.
Hardly any winds on the south shore today. It's a cool 80.0F degrees.
In the wee hours of the mornings we get these nice rains, now my kitty has silky
fur, he's had so many rain showers lately. He actually looks like a real cat
these days instead of some scruffy ragamuffin.
High surf advisory in effect until 11am, that should make the surfers VERY
happy! Winds are
scheduled to increase, but we're still waiting...
We can expect some tiny small scattered showers and the typical passing
clouds.
Shopping in the BVI can be such an adventure! Yesterday I
went to the store to buy a few things. They had 2 left of what I wanted, so I
attempted to purchase them. The clerk informed me if she sold me BOTH items, she
would not have ANY left to sell anyone else.
I smiled. I knew the owner of the store, who of course has a job
with someone else full time during the day. I said, "Well call the owner
,and suggest he bring some more tonight when he comes to the store!"
She didn't like this and said I should wait until they could
order more, as if I bought both items now, she wouldn't have any left to
sell.
I said, "Well, the owner knows me, and likes me, and lets me buy
whatever I want to out of this store. If you are running out of something, you
just order MORE!"
She shook her head and told me I just did not understand.
I was a tad miffed. I've been through this before. Like the time
I tried to buy a rug that was on display in a store. It was a beautiful
handwoven grass rug of an uncommon size, perfect for a foyer,in a house I
was hired to decorate.
"No, you can not have that rug, it's on DISPLAY."
"Well, sell me this rug and you can order another rug and put it
on display."
"No, you can't buy it, it's on display. It might be
dirty."
"That's OK, I will buy the dirt too, I can clean it, it's the
exact type and size of rug I want, perfect for what I am decorating."
"Sorry, we can't sell you that rug, it's on display."
For weeks and months, whenever I was near that store, I would go
in, and try to buy the rug. It became a personal feud. I would try to
cajole the clerk on duty to sell me the rug on display and they would think up
reasons why I couldn't buy it.
It was a game I never won.
One day I went to go shopping and the store had bankrupted.
Through the window, of the closed shop, I could still see my rug on display. I
wonder what ever happened to it. I've never seen a rug like it since to
this day.
So, now, I have this clerk before me, who is adamant that I not
buy both items, until more comes in on order. I finally said, "Look, I am going
to ask the owner why he doesn't want me to shop here anymore! I live and
work near here, and he has known me for years and he has always sold me what
ever I wanted to buy in his store and when he runs out, he just ORDERS
MORE!"
She sighed, she sputtered, she looked to the heavens for help.
I smiled, I pulled out my money and reached for a grocery bag.
She shook her head, rang up the items, BOTH of them, and took my
money and let me leave. She looked extremely sad and I wasn't sure whether I was
supposed to feel bad or not.
Just the other day, I found the perfect 1.5-Quart Crock
Pot , identical to the crockpot I mashed up while sleepwalking. I
call it my "bean pot" because it's the perfect size for dried beans. I love to
make all manner of dried bean recipes, such as split pea soup, 19 Bean Burritos,
Chili beans, Hummus Dip, Black bean Dip, lentil burgers, Calico beans, Cowboy
beans, BarbQ beans, Creole Beans, Bean Salad and so on.
When I tried to buy it, I was informed it was $75! I was
aghast, this item should sell for $10-$30 max. A small little slow cooker,
nothing fancy. Ah, but the clerk explained, it came with an electric
grill!
I told him I didn't need an electric grill, we had already
fetched a charcoal grill out of the dump that we were more than happy with, and
all I needed was the little 1.5 quart slow cooker and I could be on my way.
Perhaps another customer would like to buy the electric grill without the bean
pot and we would both be happy.
I talked to three different people in that store, and all
insisted, if I wanted the little 1.5 quart crock pot, I MUST buy the electric
grill with it. I pointed out, they don't match, they aren't even the same brand,
and I didn't need nor want an electric grill. One clerk suggested I try to
resell the electric grill I did not want.
What? Me open an appliance store with ONE grill in it and
nothing else?
How about you sell me the crock pot, and you keep the electric
grill and you sell it to somebody who wants an electric grill without the
crockpot. Afterall, you have 100's of appliances here on sell. Surely people
don't demand that electric grills come with crockpots too. The two items
aren't even boxed together! Nobody would know, it would be our little
secret. Honest. I wouldn't tell a soul.
My pleas fell upon deaf ears. I had a few small items in my
hands, I set those down on the counter and headed for the door. The clerk
hollered "Wait! Don't you want to buy these things?" I sadly shook my
head. It just wasn't meant for me to shop!
As I left the store, I could hear the clerk behind me, "You want
the crockpot? It's $75 and you get an electric grill with it!"
Life be good here, no matter what. Some clerks can save you A
LOT of money by refusing to sell stuff to you.
Funny but true! Buyer beware, want but don't buy...
76 F degrees and windy, with 15-25 knots. That's more like it!
Christmas Winds, yahoo! We had scattered showers in the wee hours of the
morning, and more are expected. Nothing heavy, just light
scattering or smattering.
I am so c-c-c-cold that I am wearing my fuzzy slippers and a heavy robe
over my sarong this morning.
We still have a haze on the horizon, probably from the volcano ash as well
as the Sahara dust. Yep, I just checked the Sahara
satellite, and it's HERE. I figured as much, I am going through rewetting
eye drops like I am in the desert!
Here you can see Montserrat at the top and the
current ash plume trailing south.
Sadly, I can't get any clear answers on
whether the Flying Cloud is coming back to the BVI as a permanent reef. As
many of you know, she was a Windjammer passenger ship plying the BVI waters
since the 60's.
Because new international rules
(SOLAS) in 2010 would put Flying Cloud and all the tall ships out of
business, (gee I wonder whose idea this was, given that certain creuise liners
have overbuilt their new ship fleet...) many like Windjammer faced tough
decisions on upcoming repairs. How do you repair a ship when you know in a
few short years you will be forced out of business? I am so sad to see
Windjammer go. Fortunately a great book about the history of her fleet with many
fantastic pictures was written before the company's collapse. See Barefoot
Pirate: The Tall Ships and Tales of Windjammeran excellent well done book. It's coffee table
size, not something you sit down and read in one evening. It makes you want to
run away to sea!
Another gorgeous day in paradise on Tortola in the BVI. Winds are moderate
at 15mph, still waiting on those Christmas winds to cool us down. Life is
good. It should cool off over the next few
days but today at 1240pm we are at 83.3 degrees.
My Internet is intermittent, so no idea when I get to post these days. I
don't care. I loaned out my watch, why worry. I never wear it anyhow, I was
using it to hang on the wall in the bathroom, so I wouldn't be late while
primping for an engagement.
Christmas is in the air, but I haven't found any lights to my liking. I
want some of those tube lights in white. Maybe tonight I will drag out my
Christmas tree. It's a small but lovely homemade tree my mother made a few
years before her death and I have treausred it every since. With Christmas only
10 days away, I should decorate by now.
Last year, I was busy moving and working and couldn't find anything anyhow.
I can't even remember what I did on Christmas day. Shame on me. I think I just
stayed home and relaxed myself.
Are you lonesome for the Caribbean? There is still time (3 days)
to get mail-order before Christmas, of :
Here it is! The famous Rum Cake Recipe! Now this will warm
you up!
RUM CAKE
A Tried and True Recipe
Cake: 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts or both 1 18-1/2
ounce yellow cake mix 1 1-3/4 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix 4
eggs 1/2 cup cold milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup Caribbean
dark rum
Glaze: 1 stick butter (1/4 pound) 1/4 cup water 1 cup
sugar 1/2 cup Caribbean dark rum
Cake Recipe: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt
pan. Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan. Combine all cake ingredients. Beat for 2
minutes on high with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour.
Cool in pan. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with fork. Drizzle glaze over
top of cake. Use brush or spoon to put extra dripping back on cake.
Glaze Recipe: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5
minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Note: The rum
will cause steam. Be careful not to burn yourself.
The longer this cakes sits, the better the taste,
the Rum preserves it well. *hiccup*
If you want to print this out, click here for the plain page
version.
This picture was submitted by Drew last year, when he made his
Rum Cake. So if you make one, send me the pic (or better yet, just send me
the entire cake to Dear Miss Mermaid at PO Box 1533, St John VI
00831-1533)
I will be happy to photograph your cake for you.....
Yeah, I know that is a different island (US Virgins) but I get
my mail over there, and live over here.
Gorgeous weather all day. About 100 people at Smugglers Cove beach
frolicking in the crystal clear Caribbean waters, cooling off and sunning
themselves.
83 degrees at 540pm and sunset is not far behind as we approach our
shortest day of the year, well actually shortest by daylight time. It will still
be 24 hours...
Rolled up on the seashore in a French wine bottle:
'Not
every full moon is the same. Since
the moon orbits in an elliptical path around the earth, the distance between the
Earth and moon can vary considerably from one week to the
next.
At apogee (the moon's farthest point from
Earth), it is 50,000 km farther from Earth than it is when the moon is at
perigee (the closest point to earth). And that change in distance means
that the full moons that we see each month vary in size, depending on whether
the time of full moon is closer to apogee, perigee, or some point in
between.
Because the lunar perigee occurs
Friday, at the same time that the moon reaches its full phase, we will see the
biggest, brightest full moon of 2008. In fact, tonight, we will see the
biggest full moon since 1993. The moon will be 14 percent larger and
30 percent brighter than a full moon that occurs near apogee'.
Not from my pen but some geek
at NASA!
'Luv
Frenchie
Ahhhhhhhhh, now we know why it is so bright
around here at night! So sorry I missed the Full Moon Parties as both were
super busy, a big night since Christmas is near, many folks only go in
December.
Surf was up yesterday and the sun was out and
surfers were in force, though it wasn't the least bit crowded. Some of our
seasonal surfers haven't come down this season, so not near as busy. Wonder
where they went?
Beautiful weather is predicted all
week but I am still waiting on the Christmas Winds...
A friend of mine came off a boat
from sailing around, all the guests left and she called me up to come help cart
off the leftovers.... Ah, liquors, exotic cheeses, loads of basics like
flour, sugar, marinades, hot sauces, and a few surprises like chocolate,
champagne and charcoal plus a few cases of soft drinks. I'm not proud, my
medical bills have dug a chunk out of my budget, and I feed a lot of friends, so
heck, I went and picked it all up.
She had packed up the groceries in
jumbo garbage bags weighing about 80-100 pounds each. We had a dock
cart, to get it all to the jeep, so all seemed well and easy. I gave her a
ride to town, then drove home wondering HOW I was going to carry these big
heavy bags of groceries, so, I stopped to see a friend of mine who bartends
by the ocean, and she said what are you up to? And I jokingly said, well I
am looking for someone to help me unload the jeep and we laughed about it.
Well, I ended up chatting to some
nice people, when this guy asks how to get to West End, he has to catch the
ferry back to St Thomas and bartend the next day. I said well, I am headed
that way, I could give you a ride, turns out he has a surfboard to go on the
roof and his friend, an airline pilot, asked for a ride too, and I said,
well there is no back seat, and you would have to crowd in with a load of
groceries, but if we stop by my house we can unload them. (AH HA!)
Turns out, the rope I usually
carry, was not in the jeep, I could see it clearly at home in my head, so
nothing to tie the surfboard down with.
My surfer friend rides in the front
with his arm out the window, holding onto the surfboard laying on the roof,
while I drive sedately, and the other guy, with his luggage, has managed to fold
up in the back with all the groceries, and we must have looked very islandy, I
don't think we could have put one more canned soda in that
overloaded jeep. We had great fun, passing a hitchhiker, and slowed down
long enough to tell him, sorry, no room left, and left him giggling.
Of course at Zion Hill, I had to floor it to get up the
hill, praying the surf board didn't sail away, or the back door fly open and
send my friend, his luggage and my groceries down the hill (I did lock him in
for safety's sake!) and somehow we made it without losing a thing. My little
jeep is a tough character.
At my house, they unloaded all the
groceries in record time, 80-100 pound bags didn't scare these two, then they
sampled some of the gifted rum (to make sure it was pure!) and we dashed
out again for the ferry, which somehow the bartender missed. So we ate out
together, and finally got him stashed on a special late ferry, so all ended
well.
Late at night, my housemate comes
home, and thinks he missed a HUGE party, because when he had left early that
morning, all had been tidy and nice in the kitchen. That afternoon, we only
tossed the perishables in the fridge, and there covering the counters, is
drinks, liquors and other food stuffs everywhere. I had come home exhausted and
gone straight to bed, leaving the mess to put away later.
This morning several people stopped by, as if they
knew I had a load of food, and soon we are cooking and eating and
yacking away. What a life.
83.F degrees. Never seen that on my
thermometer, it always has a point something on it, making it 3 digits instead
of 2, but today, just 2. It's 28C and my weather clock shows smiley faces on
rain drops, so that means we will have light scattered rains. Unhappy smiley
faces mean heavy long rains. Go figure. Who designs this stuff?
My sailing friend arrived on island with treats from
the modern world including organic catnip for the kitties, who are just
ecstatic. Little do they know, the stuff isn't sold on Tortola, and I rely on
the goodness of others to import it for them. Also, I like the
entertainment! They decorate themselves in catnip, then roll in it and
dance a type of cat ballet. They look goofy, give me loving looks while purring
up a storm. It often puts them to sleep after vigorous play or requires
them to demand a snack from the kitchen.
Last night was the full moon and it seemed bright as day in
the middle of the night. We also had the fool moon parties and I bet they were
busy. I was sorry not to go, as usually in December everyone goes, kind of like
an island wide Christmas party.
WeatherBVI.com predicts
no storm activity for the next 48 hours, well that sure is comforting!
Temps should start to cool and the tradewinds pick up.
My internet crashes every few minutes, so no idea when this
will get out to you .I started writing it at 5am, and by 930am, I am still
fighting to get the internet going.
Well, the elec-tricky done mash up my microwave. It now
works randomly, just like a true islander now. It only works when it wants
to or feels like it. Sometimes it gets tired of
cooking/working half way through, and just stops cooking, but keeps the timer
counting down, like it's on the time clock, wasting payroll, but not doing a bit
of work.
I open and shut the door and sometimes it restarts and
sometimes not. Sometimes I leave the door open for a few minutes, then
it MIGHT feel like cooking again. Maybe not. I guess it's been
zapped by so many power surges that it's tiny computer went bonkers.
I don't heat any fast foods in it. I like to reheat my
made-from-scratch meals and to cook certain things in it from scratch, that do
quite well.
I like it to poach my eggs in this
nifty
2- Egg Poacher that does magic. Sometimes I sprinkle bacon bits and a small
slice of cheese on top, then poach and serve on an English Muffin. Yummy!
That's a hearty breakfast in under a minute, made from scratch. Bacon Bits now come made from Soya Mince, as well as the
real t'ing made from pork or bacon. I like the real ones best, but
last time I bought some, I got home and realized they were vegetarian bacon bits
and they are all right too.
When I get in a pancake mood, I like to
make up a huge stack of pancakes, enough for an Army. Then I sort them into
threes, separate them with little bits of wax paper and then wrap them or Ziploc
them and toss in the freezer. One morning when you feel like pancakes, just
bring a thee-stack out of the freezer (single serving) and microwave with a bit
of real Maple Syrup on top and once again, you have
breakfast in under a minute. If you use REAL Maple
Syrup , you will find that you need very little for a tasty treat, as
opposed to the imitation stuff, which seems to require a lot to get a tiny bit
of flavor.
I love to steam my veggies, sprinkled with herbs, in the
microwave. They require just a tiny teaspoon of water in most cases and the
veggies retain their beautiful color and more nutrients this way. I like cabbage
and it steams really nice in the microwave, and if you use lavender,
or Herbs de Provence (with lavender), it never smells like cabbage or stinks
up the place and gives cabbage dishes a heavenly flavor.
Seafood does surprisingly well in a microwave, fresh shrimp
can be steamed in 1-3 minutes per serving. Fish will poach or steam quickly and
taste wonderfully fresh. If your microwave is big enough, you can often
stick your fresh conch in the shell in there for a few minutes, then the
meat pops right out of the shell. You now have a beautiful conch shell with no
holes in it.
Corn on the cob, still in the husk,(trim ends to make it
fit right!) cooked in the microwave will peel easily (the strings won't
stick) and the husk gives it this incredible sweet flavor that can not be
duplicated with boiling or grilling.
I have a griddle for the microwave that I mainly use for
frozen hamburger patties. First I heat the griddle for 5 minutes in the
microwave, then toss the frozen burgers on for a minute, flip them over and cook
another minute and they are well done and tasty. During the five minutes the
griddle is heating, I put my condiments on the bun and my side dish, if I am
having one and then cook the burger and you have lunch in just a few quick
minutes
Wax paper does wonder for any frozen bread products. Bread in
the tropics can turn green rather quickly, but not so if you freeze it, tightly
wrapped (no air). Usually you can just pop it in the toaster frozen, and then
have toasted bread for sandwiches. But I find you can also wrap frozen burger
buns or any bread in wax paper and briefly microwave it and it comes out steamy
like it's just fresh from the bakery.
A hot dog bun with a weenie and chili and onions on top, can
be wrapped in wax paper and cooked for 1 minute in a microwave and there you
have a speedy meal.
So, being that I have my main office at home and work there
most days, I often eat at home, so I end up cooking something fast or
reheating leftovers. The microwave, which has been around for 50 years, simply
does magic. I guess I will have to replace mine at some point soon, as it is
downright cantankerous about when it will and won't cook. I might get a
convection microwave as they truly do magic, combining hot air cooking with the
speed of microwaving.
The 10 or so years, I lived on my boat, I didn't have a
microwave, and I really missed it. When I moved ashore with just a sea bag and a
laptop, I splurged and bought one for my home.
When I was chartering, we often did have a microwave on the
boat. I liked to slice up assorted veggies, arrange them artfully into
individual servings, sprinkle with complimenting herbs and steam in the
microwave. They would come out perfectly and look very colorful. Then with a
spatula, I could transfer each individual serving to the guests' plates and they
always admired the colorful veggies. Colors are lost in traditional cooking of
veggies, but not so in the microwave. This also saved time and pots and the
veggies are healthier this way.
Sometimes I had grumpy captains who would hire me for a
freelance charter than announce I could not use the microwave because they
didn't "Believe" in it. So I learned to retaliate. On one boat, the captain was
standing on the button to run his electric windlass and bring up the anchor. I
went below and switched it off. He came to see what was the matter.
I insisted he could NOT use it around me because I didn't "Believe" in it.
If he wanted me to ruin my beautiful veggies by cooking them on the propane
stove, then he could ruin his beautiful hands and pick up the chain and anchor.
Fair enough?
When people tell me they are scared of microwaves or don't
"believe" in them, I wonder if they think the world is flat too. After 50 years,
we haven't heard of any spectacular side effects from cooking with a microwave,
so perhaps it's time to "believe" in them.
- FRIED DAZE
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:52:39 EST
Another gorgeous day in heaven, ooops, the BVI. Winds around 20 mph, scattered
showers, big baby blue skies with cotton balls wafting by, disguised as
clouds. Small craft advisory for the northern waters due to a east northeast
swell.
Surf is up! If you have surfers on your payroll, expect them to take
some sick time (too sick to work, but not too sick to surf) you know the drill
by now.
Some businesses claim to be busy as usual, others claim to be in a slump.
Smaller businesses seems busier than larger ones, according to managers and
owners, I've spoken with. (Gosh, should government sit up and take notice
of this???)
My sailing buddy flew in and miraculously found that most of the work he
had requested to be done on his sailboat, had actually been done in his absence.
WOW! What a country, what a life! Today he takes a shakedown cruise
down to my neck of the woods. He thought he was getting out yesterday, but
forgot how the Caribbean warmth can have it's toll on you, first 24 hours.
Once he remembered to slow down, take it easy, all was well.
We instead treated ourselves last night to Chef Vaughan's exquisite
cooking at the Boat House at the new marina at Manual Reef. That is in Sea Cow's
Bay, on the south shore. If coming from Road Town, head West, go
past the big Island Department store, then in the next big curve, you will see
the marina on the left, before the start of the 7 speed bumps of Sea
Cows Bay.
We both had fresh blackened tuna (cooked to perfection, I might add)
dressed with a light wasabi sauce over a bed of scalloped potatoes that even
your mama can't duplicate, they were so heavenly, served with assorted greens
tossed in a chef's vinaigrette along with some steamed pumpkin (a type of
squash that is green on the outside but orange on the inside, and sweeter
than jack-o-lantern pumpkin, plus it's not stringy). Needless to say,
there was very little washing needed of our plates when we were done. Poor
kitties didn't get one scrap of leftover tuna.
I would love nothing better to drop it all and go sailing for a few
days. But alas, my
book sales and unique calendar
sales, haven't been near as much as I had hoped (ooops!) so I must slave
away at other projects, to make sure the rent gets paid. At least, thus
far, no one is calling me to be on Oprah or Howard Stern, and the NY Times
hasn't discovered me yet, and so it goes. There's still time for
folks to order books or calendars and get them before Christmas. You can even
order the book gift wrapped with a card or just with a card alone.
Now, I'm trying my hand at pastels:
Pink Oleander
Tortola, British Virgin Islands, December 11, 2008
– This
holiday season, DISH Magazine (www.dishvi) steps away from the
traditional Christmas eats to cook with coconut, cranberries and seafood.
We list the top five locations for brunch in the BVI and our holiday issue
introduces the “Art of Cooking” with renowned chef Davide Pugliese of
BrandywineBay. You won’t want
to miss this read as he shares his recipe for the Italian rendition of an
island favorite: Baccalà and Polenta, a.k.a Saltfish and Fungi and award
Winning Yacht Chef Martha Cabada gives us three of her winning
recipes.
Surf's up!
Winds are here at around 20mph, not quite breezy enough to qualify for Christmas
winds, but soon come...
My buddy flew in last night and is sailing his yacht down my way to see me,
and I bet he is thoroughly smitten with the terrific
Sun is out and it all feels great. 84F degrees (29C) at 11am here in the
BVI. We can expect surf all week and scattered rains to keep us green.
All utilities except for cable TV are working just fine so far
today! (shhhhhhhhh!)
My housemate, like me, often sleep-walks late in the night, during the wee
hours, for a cold drink or a trip to the restroom. If the other one
is still up, we tend to ignore each other, at these times, so as not to
"wake" the sleep-walker. It's easier to go back to a deep sleep that way.
We've seen each other with the slow feet shuffle, the eyes barely open a slit,
go about these automatic actions, then back to bed, seemingly unaware of what
we've done or that anyone else is around.
So early this morning, long before daybreak, I found myself
tossing and turning, and finally I just got up and decided to start work, and
get a head jump on the day. After all, we had water, power, Internet, I could
easily knock out a few hours of work before sunrise.
Sadly, I come across the destruction of my favorite appliance, my little 3
quart Crock
Pot I use for making exotic dishes out of dried beans. I
remember, ah yes, I was sleep walking last night, in search of cold water, when
somehow, I tangled with the cord to the crock pot on the counter, and
it lept to the floor, shattering the crockery. Thank goodness, I had
forgotten to put the beans in, I was too tired when I went to bed, to start a
new recipe as I often let my dried beans slow cook all night. Now
that would have been a huge mess to send me into tears, no doubt. But I was
mightily tired when it shattered, and I simply went back to bed. Now I am up,
looking at the huge mess and wishing 1,000 times it had not broken.
A few minutes later, I hear the familiar slow shuffle of my sleep-walking
housemate, and I didn't bother to speak to him, assuming in that dreamlike
state, he is searching for temporary refuge in the bathroom. Next he shuffled
back out and I THOUGHT, back to his bed.
A few minutes later I hear strange hissing noises and that's when I realize
he is wielding a steaming hot iron in the hallway, while slowly
attacking his uniform on the ironing board. His sleepy eyes were
barely open a tiny sliver. Fearing he might burn himself badly in this
sleep-walking, dream-like state, I spoke to him to wake him up and get his
attention before the touch of a hot iron did so.
His eyes now raise up to half mast, as he slowly brings me into focus and
digests my words, his iron hissing in mid-air. He mumbles "I have to iron while
da current is on, don't want to go to work all wrinkled."
I burst out laughing, these frequent power outages have made our lives
upside down. He steams away with his iron, getting his work clothes pressed so
he will look sharp for work. He methodically puts away the board and iron, then
announces rather sleepily "Dat elec-tricky corporation can have d'eir current
for dem-selves now, I done with it" then he collapses back into his bed
with a soft thud, and resumes a deep slumber.
I shake my head and notice the cats are now fully awake and looking at me
eagerly to see if I will make them an early breakfast. I feed them, they scamper
outdoors, and I too, go back to bed to the gentle sounds of the pre-morning
rains.
The winds are blowing, we have intermittent showers for today and the rest
of the week, but they will be short lasting, so no flooding or anything
untoward.
We never made it out to sea yesterday, as by 8am, it was very dark, very
gray and very wet. The island we were headed for, we had planned to do a lot of
walking, so we just gave up and stayed ashore.
Hard to believe that Christmas will be here in two weeks!
The government announced in the newspapers locally that half of our
electrical bills would be paid for December. YIPPEEE!!! So my neighbor
went down there, was shocked to find out she had a huge electrical bill and
asked them what about this newspaper article that said half our bills would be
paid by the government. The clerk told her they had no official word on
that, and she would have to pay the entire bill herself.
Poor thing.
I hope dem government folks keep their word...
However, I just found an article written 21 hours ago, that says we will
get this 50% relief in January. YAHOO!!!
Dark thirty an drizzling rain. Sun won't be up for another hour, so it
could be construed as heavy dew. I can hear the ocean roaring though, most
unusual for the south shore. Could just be heavy rain out there, pounding
on the ocean, that hasn't reached me yet. I hope the seas
aren't too rough, I am going off island for the day or so.
A cool 77 degrees here, makes me want to curl back up and go to
sleep. Wind and waves are picking up and a small craft advisory may be
possible soon. I guess the Christmas winds are almost here.
Well, I just had to rewrite this all over again, the cat came in, walked
all over my keyboard and sent my email off into never never land.
Gee, thanks, kitty.
I am going to post my letter off to Santa Claus today, ask him for a
stocking full of chocolate for me and catnip for the kitties. We've been good this
year (well, most of the time).
Simply marvelous. The Christmas tradewinds are on the way and should arrive
tonight. We have slight wind today and baby blue skies with puffy conttony
clouds across the BVI skies. It is 82.5F or 28C temperature.
My car radio plays reggae Christmas songs
whenever I drive somewhere. It gives me the giggles to hear
traditional songs done island style. I like it! Puts you in the mood, even
though we don't expect any snow this year. However it will be a white
Christmas here with white sand beaches, pasty white tourists to grace them and
white sailboats on the seas.
Beware driving around at night, we seem to have a new epidemic of big pot
holes in the road, many man-made intentionally, then NOT patched up at all or
patched up 3-6 inches below the rest of the road. I hit a new one last night in
the dark that had me spewing out words that would have made my mother gasp and
faint. I thought my axle was going to break.
On the rest of the way home, I noticed I drove like a drunken sailor!
Many of the potholes have been there so long, memorized in my addled brain,
that I now mindlessly drive around them, playing chicken with the oncoming
cars who are very often, doing likewise.
I am not sure which would be a smoother ride, galloping on my donkey
or driving my heap of a jeep banging through potholes.
It just proves my point:
GO SAILING!
Ah, but the BEAUTY here is awesome. What a treasure to live in such a
gorgeous place, bad roads and all. At least there are no ten lane grid locked
traffic jams to deal with and YIPPEE I am so excited my jeep is
finally legal now and got the sticker to prove it too!
Breezy and sunny, supposed to be dry for a few days then the daily
rains should start back next week. Up to 85 degrees, unusual temperature for
December! Some nights are getting cooler, at least I have to cover my
tail in the wee hours to keep it cozy.
The Christmas tradewinds are due to arrive about Tuesday and bring more
showers. Won't that be fun! So don't be bashful about reefing the
mainsail. It's going to be a real sleighride next week (though no snow is
predicted for our lattitudes!)
Da current done mash up t'ree times yesterday and once today already. It's
certainly the topic of conversation everywhere you go! My whole "business
life" now revolves around da current. I find myself working in the middle
of the night, simply because I have da current and may not have it again
when I wake up in the morning.
Today I would rather be at the beach, but since I have da current, might as
well work until it mash up, then I will run for the beach.
As a tourist, I sure wouldn't worry about da current mash up, cause you can
go sight seeing or beach hopping or sailing or boating and do loads of things
that don't involve da current. I think about 98% of the restaurants cook
with propane mostly, so even they stay open without da current. The bars have
long since learned to deal with current outages and stay open no matter what.
Needless to say, candles and batteries are BIG sellers this season. If you are
shopping for BVI friends, and unsure what to buy them, just buy battery
operated lights, and candles.
I sure miss my generator. It made my life so
comfy. I could work whenever I wanted to!
**************
MESSAGE in a bottle:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
As a result of LIAT "mis-placing" about 20 passenger's
luggage on their evening flight from Barbados to St Vincent on Tuesday i/c
my wife's - checked through from London to St Vincent) I tossed a
large Green Bottle in the sea asking for your help...
Am pleased to say all the missing luggage turned up the following
morning and was re-united with the worried passengers - who had to return
to the airport to collect them.
To be fair LIAT rang my wife in St Vincent to say the suitcase
had arrived.
Something for your readers...
Virgin Atlantic are operating a very useful "twighlight" check-in
at Gatwick South Terminal from 1200 to 2100 where passengers can "check
in" the evening before their flight. This i/c boarding passes (if you
havn't got one from the "on line" check in) and saves taking heavy bags
to/from the hotel or leaving them in "Left Luggage" overnight.
Regards
Bob S.
Chelmsford UK
PS : Keep up the good work on "StormCarib"
Thank you Bob! Glad to be of assistance, and thank you
for reading StormCarib.com!
82F degrees at 10am and getting some winds finally. Sunshine is
raining all around us. A great day to go sailing or to the beach.
So why am I at home cleaning house? (Note to self: make the
cats hire a maid.) They make most of the
mess anyhow, spilt food that falls out of their mouth, toys, cat nip, bits of
fur here and there, dry food dish, wet food dish, water dish, more dishes to
wash. Thank goodness they don't wear clothes, but my washer has a cat fur
catcher, and let me tell you, it catches A LOT of cat fur every time I wash
t'ings. Then they hide bones around the house (oh now that's attractive... when
you have company.) They don't always wipe or wash their paws before
tracking in a mess, sometimes after a rain, there is a trail of cat paw prints
from the cat door to the feed station and so on. Plus the dang feathers, there
is a pile of feathers in the corner and nothing else. No body parts, just
feathers. No one is saying a thing about it, but it's left for me, to deal with
the pile of feathers...
Violent emissions continue from the Soufriere
Hills volcano on Montserrat ... but ash cloud is expected to remain well
south of us. (I still see a thick southerly haze though.) The pre-dawn
blast on Friday followed three explosions earlier in the week, which released
blistering gases and steam from inside a hardened lava dome topping the
Soufriere Hills volcano. No one was injured (thank goodness.)
The first explosion on Tuesday at the cloud-shrouded volcano — the first in
nearly six months — occurred without any seismic activity. Subsequent
explosions sent glowing streaks of red from pyroclastic flows down the
mountain's western side.
Ironically, on December 11th, ferry service resumes between Antigua and
Montserrat for the first time in three years. Roundtrip fares will
be around $135.
Just found it, in the cabinet on the charger. (Gosh, WHO put it
there???) I have so many wires, cords, cables and chargers, that
they occupy an entire cabinet next to my desk, which has a huge hole drilled in
the back so the wires can snake around to puters, printers, elec-tricky outlets
and so on. I can close the cabinet and thus hide the tangled mess, that would
easily terrify a fire inspector.
My new old home of one year, is old, and built at a time when elec-tricky
outlets were still considered a luxury. I have to run a heavy duty extension
cord just to plug in the refrigerator. Nearly every outlet has surge protectors
and a 5 or 10 outlet extension. They used to have the refrigerator
near the outlet, but it blocked off two cabinets and I needed the storage, plus
once I moved the refrigerator, I could put the washing machine under the
once-blocked cabinets. So I gained in the move, but then discovered there
was no where to plug the fridge in. *sigh*. So I had to buy a heavy duty cord
and make do.
Hey! I have HOT water again! Yippee! Wonder how long this
time? A day? A week? Haven't had it much in the last year. But
I have it TODAY, so I better go wash my long hair and scaly tail...
Cooler temps and a few rain showers, but no winds. No hurricanes
either, so that's really nice. Sun has just made an appearance at 11:20am.
Winds and seas are expected to increase and a small craft advisory may be issued
for offshore this afternoon. So head back into port and enjoy a good book...
I now organize my life entirely around the elec-tricky corporation. Not the
way I would normally like to have it, but mainly, I get up early and work as
fast as I can until da current done mash up. Then I drop what I am doing, leave
home and go run errands or see appointments, which are made on the fly.
My laptop battery which is lost in shipping was supposed to be a
super duper 6-9 hour battery, with that I can foil da elec-tricky boyz and
keep on working. I hope one day it magically appears, it's rare that the
Post Office has ever lost anything for me.
By the way, I got my car tag inspection sticker so I am 100% legal
now! Actually, my dear friend had to go to town to get his hair braided,
so he took my jeep and ran by the inspection lane and finally got me
legal! Yahoo! There was nothing wrong with the jeep, just that for
some reason, the guy working there, kept making up excuses not to pass me. One
week he said the jeep was too dirty, another time he said my tag was crooked,
and I have never had this kind of weird problem before, so I was a tad
bewildered and miffed, as I have been going by there since September to get my
sticker. I try to play by all the rules but was beginning to feel a tad
harassed.
This time my friend apparently got the same guy who now said my muffler
needed replacing which it DOES NOT. My car is as quiet as can be and there is
nothing wrong with my muffler. Some how, my friend cajoled him into getting the
sticker, with promises of a new muffler coming soon. I hear and see all sorts of
LOUD trucks with NO mufflers roaming our roads, and my car is quiet as can be,
so I just don't get it. But I am legal again! YIPPEE!!!
So yesterday, da current mash up, I make a few calls, get some last minute
appointments, then set off for town. For once, I could sigh with relief, as
before I was always a nervous wreck driving around with an old inspection
sticker. There wasn't parking anywhere, so I had to just make do, but most of my
stops were quick, so I was able to keep moving.
My last stop, I actually found a nice neat parking space next to a building
being painted. They were using white, my heap of jeep is white, so I figured I
was safe. However, when my appointment was over and I went out, the paint
crew had set up scaffolding and firmly blocked my driver's door. I
laughed, and emptied out my front passenger seat, which was full of toilet
paper, batteries, juice, water bottles, my mail, cat food, coffee cans, Apple
Cider Vinegar, Crackers, Peas, NIDO, Tuna and so on. Transferred all that
to the rear of the jeep, climbed through the seats and over the gear shift and
brake and finally settled into my driver's seat to go home. Whew, I was glad I
had on a longish dress, as it wasn't that easy to maneuver around the
front of a small 2 door jeep from the wrong side. But such is life.
I drove home and to my delight the elec-tricky was working. But the
handyman still hasn't fixed the latest hot water problem. I was thinking I could
survive an icy cold shower, what with town heat and all. But then da current
mash up and that means no water. *Sigh*
I took a whole slew of nice pictures yesterday and soon as I find my camera
I will post some for you. I seem to have laid it around somewhere strange.
Maybe the cat has it.
We are basically ... in a normal weather pattern for this
time of the year.
In other words, just another GREAT day
in paradise! 81 degrees (28C) at 830am, it was 78 when I got up at dark thirty.
Ah, those cool nights of wrapping up in my handmade afghan and curling up with a
purring kitty.
Nothing on the horizon to scare us
yet.
I woke up bright and early and wrote a
nice long report for you. Then my Internet hung up, ate my email and crashed.
Grrrrrrr...
Dear Miss Mermaid was very unhappy and
suddenly feeling a tad grumpy! Grrr...
I was so mad. I decided to go make
breakfast then try again. I haven't been shopping in awhile, so the pickings are
pretty slim. Finally I had to dig into the hurricane and himmacane
stash and make tuna melts on leftover garlic bread. Yummy!
Driving and shopping are my two least favorite things to do.
I'm not sure which scares me more, the drivers around here or the food
prices.
You'll be thrilled to know I got my
spell heckler fixed. The last few days have probably been torture for you to
read my mis-typing's. Sorry about that. I don't know what happened, I finally
had to uninstall AOL and reinstall AOL and that fixed a lot of problems. I
hope.At least the spell heckler is working again.
Now my Internet is flaky again but
we've had elec-tricky pretty often lately.
Amazing!
A message in a bottle surfaced on a beach in NJ
recently. The message was dated from August 1969 and encased in a Schaefer beer
bottle. That's one sturdy bottle!
If anyone is missing a reply from Miss
Mermaid, after tossing bottle in the sea for me to read, simply check your spam
or junk folder, for my reply, in case it got lost in there. If it's not in
there, then write me again. I try to answer everyone that writes, but sometimes
I might miss one and not realize it. Can't be perfect all the
time...
My hot water t'ing broke again. 36
hours of pure bliss then POOF. I heard strange noises outside, went to
check, and the pump room was flooding. I could hear water spraying and
stuck my head inside and was splashed in the face with hot water.
I ran for the electrical box to shut
the pump off and nothing is labeled in it. *sigh*. The pump cycled off again but
I could still hear the water spraying everywhere.
When the pump came on again, I
frantically switched the electrical breakers on and off, one by one, until
one stopped the pump, then I got a crayon and labeled it. I called the caretaker
who was none to happy to hear from me. He thought with putting in that new hot
water tank, he was DONE with me. Not so.
He eventually came over and we had a
good laugh.
Yeah, this is getting real funny.
Ha ha. I laugh every time I take my
c-c-c-cold shower.
There is a broken Jacuzzi on the
property, I think I will fix that next. Maybe the hot water in it will
work then. A mermaid could use a Jacuzzi to keep her tail in shape.
The Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat had ejected ash clouds and
steam earlier this morning ... however the ashs continue to drift south and
southwest and should not affect the Virgin Islands and surrounding
waters based on the present and expected wind flow.
However, my naked eye can see a southerly haze.
The volcano on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat has burst into
action, hurling hot rocks that set buildings ablaze in the island's abandoned
capital.
The director of the island's volcano observatory says no one was injured or
evacuated. Roderick Stewart says the Soufriere Hills volcano spewed material
more than half a mile (1 kilometer) into the air.
He said Wednesday that buildings burned for several hours in Plymouth, the
capital city that was abandoned when volcano erupted in 1997 and killed 19
people.
Stewart says the explosion was smaller than when the volcano's dome
partially collapsed in late July and spewed ash some 40,000 feet (12 kilometers)
into the air.
In the BVI, a slightly sstrmy day with intermittant rains and peek a boo
sunshine. Not much wind, nothing on the horizon to scare us yet...
************
To those of you that bought my book, Hurricanes & Hangovers
(and other tall tales and loose lies from the coconut telegraph, I
wish to THANK YOU from my heart, soul and pocketbook. (My creditors wish to
thank you too.) There is a certain nervousness upon launching a new book,
that what if; what if nobody buys it?
Unfortunatley, I have no way of knowing who buys it, except from
those who wrote to tell me, you had bought one and those that wrote to say they
had generously bought several for Christmas Gifs. I thank you all! I
haven't hit the top 250 on Amazon, a list they update hourly, however I
went from a ranking of around 20,000 (with zero sales) to a ranking of 7,995 the
first day. What that means is that the day before when I sold Zero, Amazon
had over 20,000 titles sell 1 or more copies. Day 2 when my sales began
trickling in, my ranking hit 7,995, that meant that 7,995 titles had
sold as much or more than I had, the same day. So THAT made me feel great.
A gorgeous day in paradise. It's barely 80 degrees. I finally finsihed
testing my refrigerator, so when my thermometer warms up, I will have accurate
weather readings again. Apparently my freezer works at -7.2F degrees and
the fridge at 36.1F. That's after 12 hours of continuous current
(Shhhh...)
Typically a good fridge will run at minimum, -0- in the freezer and
40 in the fridge, so I feel great, (though I still HATE these rolling
no-notice da current done mash up again, surprises...)
Surf might be up by Wendesday and good surf is forecast for Friday. Check
out Cruzin Bar &
Grille in Carrot Bay, get a cold one, some lunch, shop for island
art, store your surf board there & have it conveniently
located when you have the urge to surf or sip a cold one under a shade tree. No
shirt, no shoes, no problem, they even have heap of a jeep parking plus that
fancy racy car, the little convertible is often there.
Back to the weather...
It's still pretty hazy lazy here, with cool nights, and this morning,
dark clouds are rolling up from the south, a dark overcast is fighting with the
sun. I go out and water the potted plants and some planted flowers. That
will make it rain for sure. I need to wash the heap of a jeep and me, now that I
think of it. I come inside and do a bunch of housework, then I start sneezing
uncontrolably (boy I must really be behind in dusting and sweeping).
Such is the life with all the windows and doors thrown open all day and critters
running inside and out.
My kitties have neglected to sweep up their chicken and fish bones
scattered on the patio (tsk tsk tsk). When I give
them treats outside, very neatly on a dish or on tin foil, they each
grab a bone and go 3 different ways. After they've wittled the bone down to a
large toothpick, they simply drop it where they may and fetch the next bone.
I guess yours truly will have to sweep up after them; again.
My cat has a surfboard. Here he is, on his little step stool,
washing and waxing his surfboard, getting ready for Wednesday. He'a a cool
cat. We call him Dude. (Hey Dude, you be surfin' mon?)
Getting da surf board ready...
I asked dem Elec-tricky boyz if they can give us notice of
scheduled outages? (Absolutely! when we turn da current off,
that's your notice, we be on scheulde now!)
And it'd be nice if you were honest 'bout when dat current coming back so
we can plan our work and schedule. (When da current come back, we done
with our schedule, you consider yourself be notified now.)
Why does our nearly new elec-tricky equipment break down daily and my
current mash up? (It be da islands, mon, t'ings happenin'...)
Or perhaps it's just a reminder, we need to spend MORE time on
the ocean or in the sea, doing t'ings dat don't require that elec-tricky
and forget about work. Now we jammin'...We go limin'...
Sounds like a plan to me! (And ah money be growin' in
da bush too...)
I asked dem elec-tricky boyz what ever happened to good old fashioned
maintenance on dem joker-ators dat s'pose supply dat current?? (We
boyz need limin', too mon, we be relaxin' ourselves like
you...)
And so it goes, I have to be ready to change my schedule on a momen'ts
notice, if da current mash up and da internet crash. Forget work, go play.
What a life...
But, I am so LUCKY! As of this morning, I now have a
brand spanking new tiny 6 gallon hot water heater. Just in time for
winter! Only problem is, it's 60 feet from my shower. Oh well. I
have a bucket in my shower, fill that with "waiting for hot water" then shower
when the warm shows up, dump the bucket in the toilet next time it needs a
flush... and we be savin' water too. Ah, da crazy t'ings you do
in da island mon, to save a few gallons of precious fresh water.
I haven't had hot water much at all in the past year. Every element they
stuck in that 15 gallon antique rust bucket just shorts itself right out in a
few days. Then we have months of cold again. This hot water tank was to be
replaced last year. But t'ings happen. T'ings happen. Soon come,
mon.
*****
By the way, many folks in the Caribbean use Skype.com to make long distance
calls all over creation for free or for pennies. We in the BVI now have 4
telephone companies and they are all still charging us by the minute, some by
the second. At least gone are the days we were cahrged in 4 minute increments
and a 3 minute call to the US could cost more than $15!
So, now, if you live in the BVI and have internet, then you MUST get
Skype.com and save yourself on local cell and land line bills. How?
Calling from your Skype to anyone else with Skype is always free. So if
everyone in the BVI that has internet, also had Skype, then bye-bye per minute
charges for land lines and cell phones. You can call down the streeet with Skype
as well as overseas. Skype to Skype is free, whether you are calling next dooor,
across the island or over the ocean. Slice your cell and land phone bills
down to minimum. Eventually phone will be free worldwide. Get your
skype today and punch a hole in your phone bills.
80 something degrees, my thermometer is in the refrigerator, testing
it. Da current done mash up again. Grrrrrr. I want to find out how
much the temperature changes in the fridge during these outages.
We have a tropical wave passing south of us, which laready dumped a quick
rain shower on us mid morning with lots of wind. Winds are moderate now and it's
raining sunshine now.
is available mail-order from Amazon
(ships worldwide!). Order 2 or more and shipping if FREE in the 48 states.
This books makes an excellent Christmas Gift for those you aren't sure what to
shop for. 16 stories of madness and mayhem, the comedy of living on the edge in
the Caribbean.
It will soon be on sale on Tortola at Serendipity Book Shop on Main Street
in Road Town. I will let you know the day they arrive on island! Their
website is under construction but can be found at http://bvibooks.com/. Soon you will be
able to peruse their books in stock on Tortola, online and send them an email to
"hold" books until you can get there in person. Pretty nifty eh?
Upstairs, their new Coffee Shop has opened that also sells homemade
pastries and economical lunches.
Dear Miss Mermaid is not available today, so da Rasta Mon wrote this for
her.
The winds are up, the sun is out with scattered white cotton ball clouds
wafting by. Seas are kicking up and there is a mess east of us to watch, but
it's so far east, I don't think it will bother us at all. At least not until
late next week, if it forms into anything. That could be the December storm my
crystal ball mentions to me now and then.
I now have 5 unique 2009 Calendars available
for sale with one more coming on line later today (the mermaid one!).
Take a peek and buy some for Christmas gifts!
At last I am on the internet, it works intermittently these days, when it
works at all. I have new equipment, but apparently that's not the
problem. 84.5 F degrees or 29 C for you metric types.
Warm, sunny, breezy! It's just like being in the Caribbean, a great
day for scuba diving or snorkeling or sailing or beaching.
The mess in the Atlantic is no threat to us, if you want the technical
report it's a low pressure system merging with a frontal zone about 600 miles
west of the western Azores.
The caretaker called and said sometime this weekend we are getting a NEW
hot water tank. I wonder if I can sell the old one as an incredible authentic
antique on E-Bay. Oh my goodness. The thought of hot water
again! Clean dishes, warm water for my hair. I don't mind cold showers but
sticking my head under that icy c-c-c-cold water worries me. Our cistern
is buried inside a mountain of dirt and this apparently keeps it VERY cool.
I used to hike with my boyfriend who had super long legs and was always
many strides ahead of me, no matter how fast I went. Sometimes he would stop to
wait for me and then when I caught up, he would take off again. Grrrr....
One day he had a bottle of semi-frozen cold water with him and I
hollered at him to wait on me, I was thirsty. I showed up at the top of the
hill, where he was waiting, with rivers of sweat pouring down my face, soaking
my shirt. He had just dumped some cold water on a sweaty bandana and wiped his
face and chest with it. As I walked up, I took my straw hat off to fan
myself. I was trying to catch my breath before gulping down water,
when he poured icy cold water on my head.
I fainted dead away narrowly missing a big rock when I collapsed. I came to
on the ground a bit confused. He looked shocked and we surmised that pouring icy
cold water on top of your hot head was not a good thing to do. Later on a doctor
explained the technical aspects to this. So you can imagine I am a tad shy in
the icy cold shower, and just wish to wash from the neck down and avoid knocking
myself out. But I have hair, and I'm afraid if I don't wash it SOON, I may find
a bird's nest living in it, or another lost kitten.
I once did find a lost kitten in my hair. No kidding! Years ago when
I lived in a cold land, I had a heated water bed and a mama cat who
gave birth in the back of my closet in a box I had stuck in there for her to
"find". At the time I had boxes stuck all over the house, for her to
choose from when the time was right. At night the house heat was set
pretty low, to conserve fuel, but the water bed was always toasty warm.
One chilly morning, when the kittens were only two or three days old, mama
cat moved her litter into my warm water bed, finding it more comfy than her
towel lined cold box in the dark closet. I woke up alarmed, as I often
tossed and turned in my sleep, and feared smothering a kitten. Seeing we
were short a kitty, her eyes grew wide with panic and I jumped out of bed,
in case it was beneath me. That's when I noticed my long hair seemed heavier
than usual and sure enough, there was a tiny kitten hiding in my
hair! The mother was very relieved when I handed her the missing baby
which she frantically washed and groomed while he mewed out, unable to
understand why this sudden aggressive cleaning. I think she wanted to make
sure he was well marked with her scent and wouldn't get lost again.
I tossed my bathroom and found an electric heating pad. I made her a new
box, set the heating pad on low, topped it with a fluffy towel and we
relocated her family to this new and improved safer home. I remember how
mightily she purred with contentment when she realized her nursery was
preheated.
Another great day in paradise. The Sir Francis Drake channel is pretty flat
with little wind, but the surf is up on the north
shore. It's 81 F degrees or 28 C degrees, take your pick. There is an area of disturbed weather in the mid Atlantic, north
east of us, so hopefully no threat at all to our beautiful Virgin Islands.
Whew.
Winter is slowly creeping up on us. My hot water tank has been broken for
weeks now.
Again.
I think I've now had more days with cold water than with hot water, in the
year I've been in this home. All I get is promises and no final repair that
works more than a few days.
Now when I want a shower, I have to go outside and work up a nasty sweat
and heat myself up, then run in and take a c-c-c-cold shower.
So this morning I called the handyman. Again. He knew why I was
calling, but I did the "How are you today?" bit then said "SOMEONE put a load of
ice cubes in our cistern last night and it's too c-c-c-cold to shower
now."
Well, that got a lot of laughter and more promises it would be fixed.
Soon.
I think they are going to cave in and rip out the 50 year old rusty one and
put a new tank in. WOW. They've bought five or six heating elements for it
in 10 months, and they never last more than a few days, so ya think there's a
problem?
Speaking of problems...
I ran into a distraught young lady yesterday. She was trying to get
credit at the bar, to calm her nerves. She had just paid cash for a car and
managed to lock it up with both sets of keys and her purse inside and nary a
crack in the window. Many folks leave their window down a half inch to equalize
the heat and save wear and tear on the vinyl dash and upholstery.
She had her cell phone in her pocket and was calling someone she knew that
supposedly knew how to pick locks. I suggested she call the former owner, on the
off chance they still had a spare key to it. She said, "Well they gave me
two keys, and both are locked in the car, but you're right, might as well call
and ask, make sure everyone knows I'm stupid!" We laughed and I told
her I knew just how she felt, it happened to me once, after buying my new
used heap of a jeep, sort of.
I once looked at a jeep for sale and the dash was melted and the upholstery
ruined yet it had very low mileage. I said to the owner, "Let me guess; you
always closed it up tightly without leaving the window open a bit." He
said he was actually the owner's house and car caretaker and the owner preferred
his car tightly locked up in his absence. Since his absences were often
lengthy, the inside of the car began to melt; literally. It took him a few
months, but he eventually found someone to buy the jeep, but it was not I.
As for me, I found my latest heap of a jeep in a parking lot early one
morning with a teeny tiny "for sale" sign on it. It was in great shape, no
dents, new paint job, original interior in good shape, low mileage, newish
tires, assuming it ran OK, what more could I ask for? I wasn't even
looking for a heap to buy, but one like this was a very rare find. It was
only 10 years old, and my heap was pushing 19 years and starting to depress me.
Little things, like you had to hold the windows while rolling them up, you had
to lift hard on the back door, to get it to shut right, on rainy
days, my feet got wet from the holes in the floorboard and so on. I could
tell the owner was reluctant to let this new baby of only 10 years old
go, with a sign that tiny. Most folks put jumbo signs on their
car to sell them. Like now, you see a lot of gas guzzlers up for sale with BIG
signs on all four sides. Anyhow, two days, later and a shoe box full
of cash, and the heap was mine. There was a tear in the former
owner's eye, he said he was in financial trouble and the jeep sale, was his
only way out. I tried not to grin like an idiot, I was THRILLED to get this
jeep.
I registered the car in my name, we shook hands and went our separate ways.
I stopped for lunch and to buy insurance, locked up the jeep, confident I had
the keys in my purse. An hour later and the key doesn't open up my beloved
purchase! I was aghast. I went back in the restaurant to use their
phone, as I had locked my phone in the jeep, not wanting to be disturbed while I
dined (silly me!).
Everyone was laughing at my tale of woe, owned the jeep for ONE hour and
now I am locked out of it with a key that doesn't work.
I called the former owner and he mumbled something like he didn't have a
key for the doors. Even so, he came over and somehow managed to get the rear
door unlocked, then he climbed inside and unlocked the doors for me. Even
though our deal was "done" I politely told him I would have NEVER bought a
jeep I couldn't lock up. After all, I had said to him "I need a hard top that
locks up" when I looked at the jeep to begin with. I figured he would shrug his
shoulders, not his problem now.
But he was a true gentleman, he took the locks out and put them back in a
day later, and now one key opened the doors and started the engine. I was
greatly relieved.
Last night, I felt sorry for the young lady and wished her well. We
all took turns looking at her new purchase, closed up tightly, keys dangling
from the ignition, her purse on the seat. Apparently she had stopped and
hopped out to speak to someone she saw, and didn't realize the car self locked.
Ooops.
*****
HATS off and a round of applause to Sir Branson! Golf or Fish?
Now I like tourists and I like golfers, but I don't see why we have to destroy
critical mangroves and our fishing in order to put in an overpriced mega golf
resort. I thought folks came here for the sailing and water sports and
beauty. Maybe they can find somewhere else on island to put their
golf course. But it's going to be up to courts now. Golf or Fish? Who will
win?
Sunrise was awesome this morning. Where in the world besides
here can you live and get both spectacular sunrises and magnificent
sunsets? We are so lucky. And to think of all the folks that sleep
right through this early morning beauty. Tsk Tsk Tsk.
80.5 F degrees today, 28 C. No storms on the horizon yet.
That mess near Central America is just hovering and not doing much of anything
to threaten us. WHEW! All in all, we are expecting fair weather for a few
days.
I forgot yesterday, to mention what happened to my Bozo nose. It helps to
know that at some point, I decided my tiny night table was always overflowing,
so I rearranged the bedroom so that my long dresser is next to the bed and can
hold a lot more junk such as books, table light, baskets, flashlight, candles,
finger nail polish, nail clippers, DVD's, videos, newspapers, magazines,
snacks, drinks, tissues, pens, paper, cats and occasionally a laptop
computer.
It was later in the day, when the night before came back to
me in little bits and pieces. What with power outages and 3 weeks of
no internet and I do freelance work that involves both, I became seriously
behind on my work. Therefore I've been keeping strange hours, working day and
night, whenever I have utilities. I think that day/night I had worked a tad too
much, and late in the night, ended up sitting on the edge of my bed, just dizzy
and tired, debating whether to go to bed or make a strong pot of coffee.
Well, I dozed off, fell forward and smashed my silly nose into the dresser top
next to the bed. I vaguely remember waking up and crying out in pain, I
think I let out a stream of unprintable words, then laid down in bed, thinking I
was very tired. I forgot all about these events when I woke up and realized my
Bozo nose was throbbing. I was puzzled (did I punch my self out in my
sleep? Did the kitty swat a big fly sitting on my nose?) As the day
wore on, I sat down on the edge of the bed, to fetch something out of the
dresser and I suddenly remembered what happened late the night before,
falling asleep and being rudely woken up when my nose made contact with
the dresser. ARGH! It just doesn't pay to eliminate naps, so yesterday,
when I got tired, I took a nap, then started over again, all fresh. After
all, we knows you only get one nose in life.
It's dark thirty and I am waiting for the sun to come up. We still have
that disturbed weather near central America
to look after, but it hasn't made a move yet.
79.9 degrees at 530 am. If it gets any colder, I am going to have to
wear my fuzzy slippers.
I am recuperating from my Bozo nose. I woke up yesterday with an extremely
swollen nose that was very tender to the touch. I couldn't figure out what
happened and tried to go about working. At some point I looked in the
mirror and jumped! It didn't look like me. I had a BIG nose.
Funny.
I don't remember any surgery, even though Tortola is famous for the Purple
Palace, aka, the private hospital that does plastic surgery at the Bougainvillea Clinic. It is
housed in an old Fort that was at one time briefly a hotel, and now the
private hospital. It's painted purple and overlooks Road Town, hence the
purple palace nickname. It is quite grand inside with a hand carved bar and
gourmet kitchen among many of the unique amenities.
All the patient rooms have sliding doors with a fantastic view of the
gardens, the pool, Road Harbor and outlying islands. A big feisty
land turtle lives there. He was hungry one day when we were wandering
around the gardens. I had appointments up there when my leg was busted and
had a driver with me. The turtle began chasing us! It was
funny. I have never seen a turtle move so fast! He would lift his heavy
shell up and then those little legs could run! The hospital chef heard our
shrieks and came out and said "Oh, he's just hungry!" Seeing her, he
chased her back to the kitchen and she fed him salad and grapes, which settled
him down. I took pictures of him that day, but they all came out blurred because
I was running from him, with camera and cane! We giggled ourselves silly
on the way home about that spirited turtle.
The American Holiday "Thanksgiving" is this Thursday. Cruzins Bar and Grille in Carrot Bay will have
Turkey and all the trimmings served in a beautiful garden setting on the
water. See their website for phone
numbers. Matter of fact, I had their Turkey dinner a few weeks back, a
sneak peek, and it was heavenly.
I caught this double rainbow in Carrot Bay on the north shore
of Tortola in the BVI. Click
here or the picture for the full size image.
I was amazed at the number of cars that sped past me, as I
stopped to take this picture. I felt so sorry for them. Here was a beautiful
treat from Mother Nature, and they were too busy to stop and enjoy it. I
took numerous pictures until it faded it away, hoping to get a good one. At the
time, I could only see the one rainbow on the right, and didn't even realize
until I downloaded the pictures to my computer, that it was a double
rainbow! What a RARE delight! (Does his mean my camera can
see better than my naked eye?)
Well, you can see that mess west of us, that could form into
something and wander into the Pacific or it could meander across the Caribbean.
Only time will tell. Maybe this is the December mess my crystal ball has been
persistent about.
I was on the North Coast of Tortola last night. The waves were
awesome, just pounding away with winds to boot. My long hair acquired
dread locks in short order which I forgot to comb out last night, so this
morning I was a bit grumpy as I tried to get the knots out. Grrr....
My internet is still iffy, though I have all new equipment
now. Hmm...
Beware of sink holes! My friend found one on the beach and
tore her leg up pretty badly falling into it. First it was sand then
suddenly POOF she was in a hole!
The channel is fairly calm on the south side and winds aren't as
brisk as I wish they were. Incredibly it's only 82.8F degrees at 1pm, so we have
had a slight reduction in temperature.
Washed up in a Cruzan Rum Bottle from St John
USVI:
Dear MM,
I hope you don't mind me being so informal, but we
have communicated a bit in the past, and are practically neighbors. I read
with amusement your past "Yesterday the power went off at 115pm. Around 315pm I
called to inquire if and when it might come back on. I was told it was a
"scheduled" outage for "one and a half hours" and that it would come back on at
2pm. I said well it's 315pm at this end of the island.
Silence on the other end of the phone.
I guess the BVI Elec-tricky corporation uses a different CLOCK from the
rest of us. Besides one and a half hours later from 115pm is 245pm (maybe
they use a different abacus from the rest of us too)."
Well, I think I have it figured out. Their clock are electric!
No elec-tricky, no time passes. I know that a few years back the lines on St
John were so bad that to get any voltage out to Coral Bay they pushed Cruz Bay
at about 135 volts, and I guess they had to crank up the generator speed to do
that because our electric clocks would gain almost an hour a day. Thank goodness
things are better now and we get mostly 120v and the clocks keep "pretty good"
time. But we depend on the windup Schatz ship's bell clock for accuracy
(and of course the system clock on the cell phone!)
Keep smilin', there's no better place to be.
J.F.
St John
So RIGHT you are! No better place to be,
whether the clocks work or not. My friend wears a watch that works erratically
and rarely has the correct time. Mostly it is off by a few hours. I asked
him why he wore it at all and he said "Well, sometimes the time is
RIGHT!"
UPS found my book and delivered it this
morning! It should be on
and other mail-order places SOON plus it will be at
Serendipity Book Shop on Main Street in Road Town, Tortola. As it appears in
other locations, I will let you know!
I thumbed through my author's copy which has
PROOF in big bold letters on the last page. The type is right side up, the pics
and drawings look OK, the margins neat. So OFF TO THE PRESSES we go!
Yipppeee!!!!
Sign up
here, if you want to be notified when it is ready to buy! It says ALL
fields must be completed then gives you ONE field to fill out (your
email!). I don't need to know all that other stuff that you may or may not
want to tell me, and your email is only used to send you my "Message In a
Bottle" that the book is available for purchase and the various places you may
purchase it, locally and mail order.
It's dark thirty and we have strong
winds for a change, making it nice and cool this evening. Off to the west, is
some disturbed weather we need to keep an eye on, just in case it turns into
another Lefty Lenny for the BVI, but let's hope not.
I look forward to the cool nights
of winter coming on soon. It's been so hot lately,
my cat feels compelled to sleep with his tongue hanging out, to cool off.
WHO?
ME?
- Thirst Day at Dark Thirty
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:56:56 EST
Another fantastic day in paradise. 10pm at night and 85 degrees. Kind of
warm for late November. The tree frogs are singing. A cat is chasing
a grass hopper across the deck. It hops. He hops. It hops. He hops.
Winds are slight, the stars are out. All is well.
My internet is all fixed now with new equipment. When CCT Global
Communications called and said they were ready for me, they had new
equipment for my cellular internet, which works without elec-tricky,
I jumped up from my desk, jogged out to my heap of a jeep and drove at
break-neck speeds to town, to grab my equipment before anything else went
wrong. I left so fast, I even forgot to feed the poor wittle kitties!
In town, I was totally amazed and dazed to actually park within 100 yards
of the place. WOW, must be my lucky day. Everyone at CCT was so nice to me
and very efficient and I was out of there in practically no time at all. I even
hooked everything up to my laptop, right then and there, to make sure it all
worked fine and it did. Hurray!
Then I went to the drug store, got a parking spot IN FRONT of
the store, AND they had my Sahara Dust meds in. Again, I felt truly
blessed. "Is that ALL you need today?" asked the pharmacist, she has seen me
through a LOT of trauma and drama, sometimes I arrive with a long list of t'ings
I need from her. She has seen me with canes and cranes, with crutches and
walkers, with casts and wraps, with rashes and blotches, with fevers and aches.
I guess, of all people, she has seen me at my worst, more often than others. I
said "No! I feel fine! If we could get rid of the Sahara Dust, I
wouldn't even need these!" as I shook the bottle of pills, paid and left.
On my way out, I saw them stocking the jumbo pack of toilet paper, and
knowing they usually have a good price, I tried to buy some, but it wasn't
priced yet, fresh off the boat they said. I asked it was free and well,
you can't win them all. It wasn't free and it wasn't priced.
At the hardware store, I found the bits and pieces I needed to repair my
life and I thought WOW, life can't get any better. I got back in my heap
and realized my sunglasses were in the buggy back in the store. I went in
looking for them, the buggy long gone, asking around and finally the security
guard told me he found them and gave them back to me. What a country! What
a life! I love it!
At the wholesale place, I was able to park nearby. I thought I MUST BE
DREAMING! This never happens in Road Town. Usually I have to park and walk
miles doing errands. I only need a few things and the cashier saw me coming and
opened up to check me out. Yes! Usually they close right up, if they
see you coming with a buggy of stuff, but she actually smiled, and waved me
over! You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Seeing that I was having such good luck, I went to government to get my car
tags renewed. The man refused to inspect my heap, because he said my front
license tag was CROOKED. Everyone around him laughed uproariously at his joke. I
smiled. We were all sure he was JUST KIDDING.
He was dead serious. He turned me away as flunking my car inspection,
because my front tag does not hang perfectly level. INCREDIBLE. Well, I
knew I wasn't dreaming and my good luck had obviously run out. So I went home, a
bit crestfallen. It's only the third time in two months I have tried to get new
tags for my car. Actually, a new sticker. The tags are fine, but I need a new
sticker.
Now my sticker is out of date. Maybe by next year, I will pass
inspection or manage to get the other guy, the one who doesn't obsess over
self-made-up-laws. I mean honestly, WHERE in the BVI law
does it say your front license tag must hang perfectly straight? I've seen
folks lose their license tag, and draw one out of crayon on ripped cardboard and
stick it with duct tape, in their rearview window and drive on that for months.
(And it was crooked too!)
I've seen big mammoth trucks run me off the road and they have NO tags on
front or back of the truck. But here comes the little ol' mermaid, and her tags
must hang PERFECTLY STRAIGHT to pass inspection.
This is the same guy, who last year, was at lunch, when someone else
inspected my car, pronounced it fine (everything works on my heap, I keep it
very well maintained) and issued me a new sticker. He came back as I was driving
off, ordered me to stop, and began a long loud lecture telling me how he would
have NEVER passed me for inspection, had HE been there.
This long lengthy lecture, scared all the people waiting in line to
get inspected, and one by one they all slinked away. By the time he was
through yelling at me, he had absolutely no one left standing in line to
get their car inspected. It was so funny. I was fighting mightily hard not to
burst out laughing or to yawn for that matter at his unwarranted speech.
Well, it's 1050pm and da current done mash up again! No electric wind
tonight, dang it. Oh well, can't be lucky all the time, life would get boring I
guess...
Gorgeous day with bright blue skies. All my utilties except internet are
working. I am ussing a borrowed computer and borrowed internet. So i have
to jump drive my files around to work. What fun!
The Sir Francis Drake Channel is flat but the northerly swells should roll
in soon for fantastic surfing.
A very dark storm is on the horizon. I need the rain. But I need
elec-tricky too and water and phone and Internet.... Why whine? Even
though all my bills are paid, much of my days are spent with NO utilities. This
has disrupted my work, put me miles behind, and irritated my clients. Do I sound
a teeny bit stressed?
85.7F degrees or 30 C. Take your pick! Nothing bad headed for
us YET. Only slight winds today. Still waiting on that big black cloud to
open up!
*********
Still no Internet. I am on borrowed puter and Internet. It's
dark thirty. Even if I get Internet, we have da current mash up everyday now.
That big bad himmacane Omar with those frightening 40-50 mph
winds must have scared up dem elect-tricky boyz pretty good. We've had
so many outages, it's become a daily thing lately to have TWO lengthy
outages!
I happened to be on the US Airways site the other day and discovered they
have some really cheap air fares to come down here. Well they fly into St
Thomas (STT), and then it's just a fun ferry ride to Tortola. I
guess fuel prices have dropped. I didn't have a chance to check other
airlines, but if you are lonesome for the sunshine and the beaches, check out
those airfares and come on down.
Back in the dark ages, when I first flew into St Thomas, I was greeted with
complimentary Rum Punch, as the plane disembarked, a lady was handing out a
plastic cup to all who wanted some. It was made from Cruzan Rum
which is distilled in St Croix.
When I got on the ferry from St Thomas to come to Tortola, I was again
served with complimentary Rum Punch on the ferry. Wow! What a country, I
think I like this place. I had never had Rum before in my life and it was going
down awfully smooth with the splendid blend of fruit juices that made up the
punch
At West End, I ended up in a rickety old rusted out taxi, and we
bounced our way to Road Town, dodging monumental pot holes, donkeys, horses,
chickens, pigs, pedestrians, hitchhikers while the taxi mom asked me non- stop
questions. He offered me Rum out of a bottle he was traveling with and then
pulled out from under his seat, a wrinkled up brown paper bag with magic
s'hrooms in them and offered me one of those as well.
I got to Tortola and joined the tall ship Frying Crowd, s'cuse me, the
Flying Cloud, and was handed a complimentary Rum Punch as I boarded the ship.
*Hiccup*
We sailed to Cane Garden Bay and took the dollar tour of the Arundel Rum
Distillery. At the end of the tour, there was the complimentary Rum again. I
praised the taste and quality of it, so they gave me another complementary Rum.
I happened to be hiking with a stainless steel thermos jug (yeah, the
strange things people pack for an exotic vacation!) It was full of icy
cold water and stuffed in my backpack.
Back then the Arundel Rum was sold in recycled liquor bottles. So even
though the then, very simple label said Arundel Rum, the side of the
bottle spelled out Gordon's Gin.
Back then folks were fiercely proud of their locally made rum. I was
beginning to wander if it just flowed freely from faucets around the
islands.
I opened my backpack and took out the s/s thermos jug to chase the Rum down
with some water. The kindly old man, who gave us the tour, seemed to be
about 90-something and walked with a cane fashioned from a stick out of the
woods, offered to fill up my thermos jug with rum for the princely sum of
$1.
The Rum in the recycled bottled sold for $2-3, but if you brought your own
bottle, or jug or cup or thermos or whatever, you could have it for $1.
I passed him the thermos, he helped himself to a long slow drink of icy
cold water, then he tossed the rest on a withering bush outside the door, topped
up the one liter thermos and handed it back to me. I prayed the good
Rum would not corrode the stainless steel unbreakable interior of the
thermos.
Fortunately, over the next 2 weeks of sailing, me and my new found boat
friends, managed to empty out the thermos, before it corroded. What are
friends for, if not to help you out in your time of need?
Those were the days, when rum flowed freely and if not freely, then
cheaply. It's been ages now since I've seen cheap or even complimentary rum
ANYWHERE now. Kinda sad, as it was an instant ice-breaker (no pun
intended!)
One day my ship will come in, and I will leave on it, and no longer
worry about shore utilities...
It's 86 degrees here, rather warm for mid November. We have a thick haze
which has given us spectacular sunsets. Most mornings we have a thick dew in the
form of a light rain. Thursday should be a great day for surfing and Friday
should be fantastic!
I've been missing in action, but let me tell you. I think Tortola is having
some sort of melt down. We have had massive utility outages EVERY DAY for weeks
now. My Internet stopped 2 weeks ago, and though I have received numerous
promises that it will come back one day, it has NOT.
I am using a borrowed computer with borrowed cellular Internet
access borrowed from the generosity of one of my readers. We tried to
transfer the Internet access to my laptop, but we could not as my friend has
lost his password and he can't get it reissued without going downtown in person
and he hasn't time for such foolishness.
However I have NO current (the power is off again) so I am operating on a
battery that is rapidly depleting. I have NO water (ask the government WHY cause
I do not know). One of my cell phones refuses to work, even though my bill
is paid up in full (charged on credit card each and every month). Cable TV
is of course dead.
Yesterday the power went off at 115pm. Around 315pm I called to inquire if
and when it might come back on. I was told it was a "scheduled" outage for "one
and a half hours" and that it would come back on at 2pm. I said well it's 315pm
at this end of the island.
Silence on the other end of the phone.
I guess the BVI Elec-tricky corporation uses a different CLOCK from the
rest of us. Besides one and a half hours later from 115pm is 245pm (maybe
they use a different abacus from the rest of us too).
Well, I did get in ALOT of reading these past few days of no power, no
Internet, no laptop, no water, no cable TV. Fortuitously my mail was
delivered and there was a big heavy package from Judi Gilman. She sent me her
three latest books. I am currently absorbed in: Voyage
Of The Capricorn Lady: Lost At Sea With Daniel T. - Book I. It's a
real page turner and when our FIVE hour power outage ended, I very reluctantly
laid the book down, so I could jump up and go back to work. Of course when one
has been up since 4am trying to work around Internet and power outages, starting
back to work at 6pm at night is tiresome. Less than an hour later, I
escaped and treated myself to Ladies Night at a local watering hole, then came
home and fell asleep.
Judi also sent Voyage
Of The Capricorn Lady: The Shadow Of His Smile- Book II. I clearly
remember Capricorn Lady, she was a sleek classic Trumpy yacht that was in the
crewed charter business for many years. Early in my sailing career, I briefly
worked as a stewardess, while looking for chef work on yachts. Many charter
boats wouldn't hire me as a chef since I hadn't been to sea much, so any
stewardess or deck hand job that was advertised, I also applied for. One day
Capricorn Lady was advertising for crew, either deckhand or stewardess or both,
I forget now, and I ran down the dock to apply, but alas, there was a line
of people for the interview, and for whatever reason, I was not the chosen one.
Fortunately, though, I only did a few stewardess jobs, here and there, when I
was hired to be a chef on a 110 foot yacht, and after that gig, I had no trouble
continuing to work aboard various yachts as a charter chef.
Years later, I remember Capricorn Lady when she was home ported at Nanny
Cay. We rarely ever saw Judi and her husband, because they were so busy either
doing charters, or getting ready for a charter, or recuperating from a charter
as their yacht was very popular and they enjoyed a large repeat business.
Judi's 3rd book is fiction and I can't wait to read it, because it's about
a MERMAID! Imagine that! It's called Ohnalee,
Mermaid of Heceta Head.
Well, I better go, my battery is about dead, it's very hot without the
electric wind machine to cool me, and the current mash up and I have no water to
cool me down with....might as well go to the beach and just bankrupt my
life!
Warm and sunny with scattered showers. I am on borrowed power and
internet.
My home has seemingly gone off the grid with no backups!
Himmacane Omar, must have been one powerful storm and those 40-50mph winds
just devastating our apparenlty very fragile utilities it seems. Internet
has been down for 2 weeks, da current mash up every day, the water goes off and
neither of my cell phones work, in spite of the fact I am a faithful customer
who pays my bills on time each and every month.
Several times this week, I discovered I had NO utilities. The phones were
down (both companies), Cable TV mash up, the current go and the water
stop. Everything is paid up, but the service just ain't happening.
Thank goodness, I just laugh about it, but honestly, I do have a few people
yelling at me to do my work and I've had some frantic friends appearing at my
door, quite worried, they could not reach me by phone or email. Needless
to say, I am very flattered! I never knew anyone would miss me.
Life on my sailboat, years past was immensely BETTER! I had
solar panels, water catchment and VHF radio that always worked. Barbara at VI
Radio patched through all my ship-to-shore calls , patched my shore-to-ship
calls for business and she took messages if I didn't answer my VHF. Then she
paged me every hour if not more often, until I got my messages. She was a
jewel.
Ah, those were the days my friend. I had 24/7 utilities and sailing to
boot! I loved it!
Well, one of these days, I will get my utilities back and be able to give
yo you a bit more accurate weather forecasts, but don't hold ya breath.
Some say folks are busting up the utilities on purpose so they can "make work"
and thus not get fired. That makes no sense to me, but Tortola has always beaten
a different drum and gone against the grain of whatever the rest of the world is
doing.
If all goes well, I am going boating Sunday. Can't get any work done
anyhow, under these crazy conditions, might as well go back to sea.
Warm and Sunny. We had a torrential
downpour in the West End, but nothing in the East End. Temps are warm at 85
degrees. I am waiting for those Christmas winds to cool us down. Nights are real
comfy and very bright, as tomorrow is the official Full Moon.
We should have fair weather through the weekend, and thus far, nothing on
the horizon to worry us with. Well, there is some disturbed weather in the
Atlantic, but it is north east of us. So we are blessed, thus far.
My internet is still DEAD and no idea when it will be revived. Nothing
happens in a hurry here except hurricanes.
Paloma is now just a weak area of low pressure, along the north
coast of Cuba and not a threat to us at this time.
Temperature is 84 F degrees and winds are slight. Sunday should bring
on a fresh swell and an increase in winds (YES! We need our
tradewinds!) I prefer natural tradewinds over those elec-tricky wind
machines that burn up my elec-tricky bill. The cost of everything going up here,
though gas is now fluctuating a bit more, after lots of complaints from
consumers. I have been buying gas in tiny amounts, in case the price drops, I
can tank up on the cheap stuff. It is slowly creeping down. But I don't see the
food stores giving us any relief in fuel costs. Naturally we import tons of food
products and the grocery stores are eager to jack up their prices on a daily
basis, but trying to get them to come back down when fuel and freight costs drop
and they "forget". Shame on them.
The only way to cope with the high food costs here, is to rotate around all
the stores and study the prices carefully on your favorite things. Buy the
bargains (IF you can find any) and skip over the overpriced stuff. There
is no rhyme or reason to the pricing here. One store wanted $3.99 for a liter
of 100% Mango juice and the next store $1.92 for the IDENTICAL juice.
Now mermaids LOVE mango and papaya juice, so this sort of news is important to a
mermaid!
By the way, when you look at the enlarged photo, there
appears to be a string across the harbor. It's an illusion, it's ugly
elec-tricky lines that obscure my view from this vantage point. I've heard
there's a way to erase those with the puter, and I am using the free
(YES FREE!) Paint.Net but I haven't figured
out how to do it. If anyone knows or can shed some light (har har har) feel free
to email me. This FREE paint program is superior to the paint
program typically included with Windows. You won't be disappointed if you
download it. It's always nice to find something free that really works.
My publisher called yesterday. Loads of apologies, first copy of
the book should arrive in a day or so and then if that is OK, I will
finally be in print!
Weather is gorgeous, I've been using my crystal ball to predict weather. I
just wish I could use it to send emails out too! This week will bring us
fair weather with moderate swells, so those surfers will be able to get in some
surf time.
I discovered a place that is not so far away, that has free
internet access. So I went over there to do my internet thingy. Well, the
problem is, I am bit known. Folks keep stopping by to chit chat, others want me
to look something up for them on the internet and pretty soon, it seems I am
getting nothing done. Ah, life in a friendly place. Then my laptop battery
dies. It has a short life these days. I looked all over and
couldn't find an electric plug to recharge with, so I gave up and went home.
I mail-ordered a new super battery that is suppose to last 6-9
hours. Of course the mail-order company refused to ship here, even though I
have a USVI post office box. So I had to ship it to a friend as a gift in
the US, and then get them to remail it to me. Sounds complicated, but sometimes
it's the only way to get something. Pay to ship it twice. So it should be here
eventually and that reminds me, I need to send my friend a check for the postage
and handling as one of my emails informed me they had just got my battery and
was mailing it on to me yesterday. Yippee!
So the next morning, I decided to go over bright and early and get my
internet work done before the staff and others showed up. I got there at sun up
and it was nice and quiet. I still couldn't find an electric outlet, so I just
sat down and vowed to be really quick about my work. I was able to get on
the internet and had just opened up my email when POOF! Da current done
mash up.
Now I am on battery anyhow, but their wireless internet is not on a
UPS so guess what, no internet! I sat there working on battery without
internet, hoping it might come on before my battery died.
It did not.
Then a maintenance worker shows up and he has a long orange electric cord
and he plugs it into a hidden outlet, not even 5 feet from me. I was
ecstatic to learn about this secret outlet. Ah ha! But of course, as I
told him, "da current done mash up". He groaned, my laptop beeped.
A few minutes later and my battery died, so now I am dead in the water. I
pack up my laptop. It travels in a disreputable backpack, (this is so it
does not look like a laptop case.) Also, this is leftover from my boating
days when I wore a backpack with the laptop in it, in hopes that I could climb
on and off my boat and into the dinghy without getting it wet. Also, it
was to disguise the fact, I am walking around with a laptop as in those days,
the dark ages, it was rare for anyone to have a laptop computer as they were
very pricey. I was often in a port that had some theft issues, hence the
disreputable looking backpack. Just another poor boatie...
I drive back home, remembered I had a mountain of cat food in the back of
the heap of a jeep, that I bought a few days back and forgot to unload, so I
came home heavily laden and sprouting sweat. The kitties gave me a warm welcome
and insisted I pop open a can of the new stuff.
It was still early morning, so I decided to undress and slide back into bed
for a cat nap with the kitties, who by now had bulging little bellies. Just as
we get all comfy and cozy and I am drifting off into la-la land, da current come
back. Sigh.
We've had scattered rains the last few monrnings, kind of nice. I
have all my potted plants back outside now, but some need shade and the rain
water never seems to reach those in the shade.
The weeds are thicker over the septic tank, so what else is new. It's
84 degrees with gentle tradewinds. The sun is out in full force and we may
even have some surf up today. Won't that be nice?
My internet is still mashed up. Life in de islands. Soon
Come... Dat means dey going to fix my internet in 2 hours, or in 3 weeks
or never. Soon come...
Well at LAST, I found a nice little secret spot where I can travel with my
laptop very early in the morning, plug it into the elec-tricky and use the
wireless internet.
All was going well, then POOF, at 815am da current done mash up, and guess
what, the "borrowed" wireless internet needs dat elec-tricky to run t'ings, so
me not so smart after all. I guess they don't have their wireless hooked
up to a UPS (uninterupted power source). Ha! Beggars can't be
choosers.
No electricky and no internet. *sigh*
Oh well. Such is life in the islands. Might as well go sailing!
Oh no, now that I mentioned THAT, the elec-tricky and the wireless suddenly
burst to life again. Might as well work. Hmm...
The Mermaid LIVES! My internet crashed last Tuesday evening and so far it hasn't been fixed. Hopefully it will come back up one of these days. Hurricane Paloma is headed for Cuba, heaven help them, it's a powerful storm.
I will try to beg, borrow or steal internet access and report more often. it has wrecked my work, but I found time to write another book. No kidding!
Of course if the other book would ever come out in print, i would be ecstatic.
To all who wrote inquiring about my heath, I am ALIVE and mostly WELL and will do better at trying to get on the internet. I am using a borrowed connection at this time.
Instant access to the latest & most popular FREE games while you browse with the Games Toolbar - Download Now!
- Don't Get Too Comfy Yet...
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:01:31 EST
I remember just before Omar hit on Wednesday, I mentioned Omar to several
people on Monday, who thought me nuts. They had not heard of a storm, and to
hear about it by coconut telegraph seemed odd indeed. Well, as you recall, Omar
was a LEFTY, he came from the west rather than the east.
Well guess what, we got another mess west of us that looks a bit
curious.
Another disorganized mess to the east...
Can't you feel 'em
circlin', honey Can't you feel 'em swimmin' around You got fins to the
left, fins to the right And you're the only bait in town
I sound like a broken record: the Internet done mash up
again... I called customer service, did my "good morning" and "how
are you's" and went on to mention the internet was down, where upon the customer
service rep got into a big fight with me telling me it was NOT.
I explained it had been working, but had crashed again, and I had called my
neighbors, who are on the same internet system as me, and theirs was down too,
so it was down, in our neighborhood at least. Customer service barked at me
"What's your user name? What's your password?" and I explained I didn't feel
comfortable giving out my password. What's the use of having a password if I am
forced to give it out? So he hung up on me!
I didn't bother to call back. They should call themselves "Customer
Dis-Service!". They could have a new logo: We aim to anger!
85 degrees and breezythough I am still using those electric wind
machines to aid to the breeze. I am ready for winter! I want to be chilly,
well just a little bit, enough to not need the electric wind machines.
My toaster and I are fighting again.The button you push down to
make it toast, simply flies back up, to mock me without toasting a thing. Since
I have to keep my bread frozen, to keep it from going green and blue with mold,
it would be nice to at least thaw it out for a sandwich.
The toaster has fought me since day one. I tried to take it back to the
store, the next day, but they don't take things back here. You buy it, you are
stuck with it. I've tried to fix the toaster, and it actually worked for a few
days, rather jubilantly. As soon as the toast was done, it would fly up high in
the air, landing on the counter or floor or plate or sometimes just smacking me
in my silly face.
To mock me.
Some days it requires me to very gently sneak the button down, a sneak
attack and it will stay down until the toast goes flying. Lately, though it
won't stay down, no matter what. You ever tried to assemble a sandwich
while holding the toaster button down with one hand? It doesn't work very
well.
Finally, I commandeered my 8 pound dumbbell weight. I can use that to
force the button down and make the toaster toast. Of course I have to be
careful, as I seem to burn a lot more bread this way. But, the rooster doesn't
care. He will eat moldy bread, frozen bread, burnt bread, whatever is tossed his
way, he will eat. Toasters aren't cheap here. I'm saving up for a new one.
Ha. Something else to mock me.
I have a burning question.... WHY do toasters come with a burn
setting?
Here it is dark thirty, and the Internet has frustrated me all day, its up
, it's down, it's up, it's down.
Weather was/is gorgeous, very warm, breezy and lots of gentle rains this
morning. A friend and I sat in the gazebo, gazing at the view, sharing a pot of
coffee. Now that is a nice way to spend a morning. My cats think they are
supposed to sit at the table with us, and they did, making friends with my
friend. I mentioned the "B" word and one certain cat KNOWS that word
now.
It's (SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH) belly-rub! My
friend went to pick up the cat and I said "Well, here comes the 30 second
test..." Generally my cats refuse to be held for more than 30 seconds and
will do any manner of extreme acrobatics to avoid being held, one second longer.
But I said the "B" word.
I said he likes belly rubs.
Next thing I know, he is laying upside down in my friend's lap, awaiting
the expected belly-rub. I was aghast! He never sits in MY lap... He
sits next to me, like he was previously in his own chair with us at the table
before he wandered over to "talk" to my friend and see what he could get...
Sneaky little devil! He is a smart cat, I think he knows at least 50
English words by now plus one German word and two Spanish words.
He also has his own meow language. Different tones, pitches, lengths and so
on. I can TELL by the way he meows, what he expects from me. He has a
me-ouwt (open the door) he has a me-ow, me-ow, me-ow (Ow! Belly hurts, the
food bowl is dangerously low on provisions) and a real high pitched me-owie!
(thank you, I got what I wanted!)
If he is in a hurry and has no time for me, I get a quick abbreviated
meep! as he scampers off, like someone has called him urgently back to
work.
When he is bored, and wants catnip to play with, he says me-wow,
me-wow. So, I put some catnip outside for him and his brother. A few
seconds later, he is at my side, with his ears folded back, looking very mad and
upset, just glaring at me. He let's out a very sad mee-ouch that sounds so
pathetic.
I get up and realize, his naughty brother, has stolen both piles of catnip
and is frolicking at his achievement. This has made his brother very upset and
he lets out another long low mee-ouch, with his ears still folded back in
disgust.
I put out some more catnip in a secret location, and his ears rotate back
to normal and he gleefully rolls around in his secret catnip, looking at me with
pure love in his eyes.
Who is training who here?
Meanwhile, my cell phones also have been playing games with me. They are up
to their old tricks of only letting it ring TWICE then it goes into never never
land and when I answer nobody is there, because they are listening to a
non-voice-mail message that says something idiotic like " choose a box number"
when I have no box number.
As I explained to the cell company, the reason I got a cell phone was so I
wouldn't have to deal with voice mail. What if people called me and I just
TALKED to them? What a concept.
So after many many MANY phone calls and numerous visits to the phone
company, I got them to take the voice mail off my account, but they
replaced it with the ridiculous message.
Two rings is NOT enough for me to answer the phone if I am more than 30
feet away. Do they want me to break another limb?
I have called them repeatedly and they CLAIM I am up to ten rings and yeah,
that lasts about a week, then suddenly I am forced yes FORCED back to 2 rings or
forget it!
Am I supposed to wear the cell phone around my neck 24/7? Is it too
much to ask that if I leave it in the bedroom and if am in the kitchen, I need
more than 3 seconds to sprint for the phone? Grrrrrrrr...
My OTHER cell phone with the other company, simply stopped working 2 weeks
ago. The signal is never around even though I live very close to the tower they
broadcast from. I bet I am not even 500 yards away from the tower! Do I
have to go climb the tower to use my phone?
And why is the good powder milk $8.50 in one store and the identical size
and brand is $3.99 in another? Why is lemon juice $10.50 in one store and
$2.50 in another store 1/8th mile away? Is it just me, or do these seem
like LARGE price swings? Why was a teeny tiny jar of Cayenne Pepper
$4.59 in one store but I could buy the jumbo restaurant size at another
store (and refill that tiny bottle 200-300 times) for only $3.90?
What I hate MOST is that many stores have gone to MYSTERY pricing. They
refuse to tell you what you are paying until you are at the register. Then while
you are bent over unloading your cart, the cashier is rushing to ring things up
before you can SEE what you are paying. I like to put the overpriced stuff back.
I know this irritates the cashiers, but as I explain with a smile, well if you
didn't have MYSTERY pricing, this wouldn't be necessary. They always tell me
about the ONE scanner in the aisle (which I never can find) where I am supposed
to check my stuff and not irritate them.
ONE scanner? Why not one at the end of each and EVERY aisle? Are they
afraid for us to know what the cost of items really are?
Why is the small catsup bottle cheaper per ounce than the jumbo size per
ounce? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?
One employee told me they hid the scanner, because the kids had
figured out how to play Internet games on the scanners. Another store has
put out only ONE scanner (heavily disguised) for the entire store, and it
is very high up. You need a #10 can to step on, just to REACH
it!
One store even hid theirs in a wooden box, so it resembles nothing like a
scanner at all. Looks like a wooden box on a pole and I've no idea WHAT it is.
I have never seen anyone playing Internet games on a grocery store
scanner, but this is what I was told by an employee.
And WHY does the only cashier on duty, close up her aisle as soon as I show
up with my buggy? Is there a union in force, that you can only check out
customers if there are none to check out?
Why was I directed to another counter and after I had emptied 2/3's of my
buggy was told I was at the WRONG counter and had to reload and start all over
again?
And why are quite a few items in the wholesale store on sale for MORE than
in the retail store? Am I the only one that has noticed this?
I've also noticed that certain small neighborhood stores are able to offer
far better prices on staples than the big stores. Now how dey do
dat?
I love patronizing the little stores and saving money, not sure why it
works that way, but it does.
Pretty strange if you ask me.
I think I will go on a diet and just stop eating all together. Of
course my social life will collapse, as mostly it consists of cooking for my
friends. I've discovered that taking myself out for a night alone on the town,
at my expense, costs about the same as entertaining 4-6 guests at my home, at my
expense.
Our BVI economy is topsy turvy, and anyone's guess. Two months in a
row, my electrical bill doubles even though I was super frugal and
the third month, it is slashed 40% and I am still super frugal. Do they
just guesstimate my meter readings, then occasionally show up to get an accurate
one? Are they the banana thieves? Though, this TIME, we guarded our
bananas and disguised them, and no one stole them. Whew!
Yeah, I painted the banana trees to look like poison ivy! Har har
har!
I think if I get a webcam, I will aim it at the fruit trees so I can
see who is thieving what when. Tee hee hee!
I love it here. Not sure why, but I do.
The morning after all that Halloween
candy!!!
- Trick or Treat!!!
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:53:23 EDT
84.4 F degrees at 830am in Tortola. Sun is playing peek a boo and winds are
moderate but could be more cooling. Why are we so warm when I hear much of the
US is way below normal in temperatures?
South Carolina is down to 37 degrees, probably a record breaker for that
area. I heard NY got 25 inches of snow. Then someone reported that Fort
Worth, Texas had an earthquake! Brrrrrrrr, even a friend in
Florida writes to me how cold he is this morning.
Rumor is air tickets are dropping, so it's a good time to
plan your vacation to the Caribbean!
This Kitty wants to be a BOX for Halloween
(But me thinks he needs a bigger box or a
smaller body!)
FOUND IN A BOTTLE WITH SNOW FLAKES
INSIDE:
Good Morning
We have had the coolest weather yet this fall.
It was -6 this morning and snow flurries all over the place. in Ottawa which is
an hours flight away they have had 15 cms of snow this morning. They can have it
as it will help to cool all the hot air the the politicos in
Parliment
Have a great Carribean
day
Patrick
FOUND ONSHORE IN A BOTTLE:
I have been enjoying your LIAT stories.
Over the years we have had many experiences traveling on LIAT between St. Lucia
and Barbados. My favourite acronym is Leave
Island Any Time. Thank you for keeping updated on Island
Life. Although each of the Islands have their own flavour it appears
that Island Style is the same through the Caribbean. You help keep us warm
up here in The Great White North -- London,
Ontario, Canada
Warmer Regards,
Solucian
Have you seen this dog?
Lost
Dog By Frank Barnako He has
tried to contact everyone possible on Jost; it was also mentioned on the local
ham radio net, which has participants from Tortola as well as the USVIs.
Following the swamping, the dog took off swimming towards Jost.
...
From
caribbeanracing.com Caribbeanracing.com
- USA VI Raceweek, a natural combination of the St. Thomas
International Rolex Regatta, BVI Sailing Festival and BVI Spring
Regatta, is back by popular demand. ...
Project
Lifestyles Health Month to Focus on Wellness Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands The Department of Education in collaboration with the
BVI Diabetes Association and the Elmore Stoutt High School will focus on
the physical, mental, ...
Author:
Rotary Club of Tortola Platinum
News Online - Tortola,British Virgin Islands The Rotary Club of
Tortola has announced that the much anticipated annual Fun Car Rally will
be held on November 22 at the Festival Village Grounds, ...
My 3rd kitty is resting up and
planning to wear his doggy mask to freak out the
neighbors!
1200 miles away is a disorganized mess, nothing to worry about yet.
Today it is 84.9 degrees and breezy. Sun is out, skies are blue. MaxWeather correctly predicted
that storm that hit late afternoon yesterday, but thanks to my Internet being
down, I didn't see the report until today.
Trivia:
In over 100 years of hurricane recording, himmacane OMAR was only the 3rd
lefty, (moving west to east) the other two being Lefty Lenny in 1999 and Santa
Klaus in 1984.
As for my new book, Hurricanes &
Hangovers, coming out in print, it has been a comedy of errors,
mostly on the publishers side and not mine, but ONE day, it will be in print, no
idea when, but soon come...
I thought people in the USA (where my publisher is located) were better
organized than us limin' islanders, but now, I am beginning to wonder. If
they don't lay on the beach all day drinking rum, then WHAT are they
doing? Cause my book has been shuffled from department to department to
department, like they are playing soccer with it. I guess ONE day it will turn
up in print, but I sure can't get a date out of them. So far every date,
they have given me as to when it will be ready was ages ago!
Grrrrrrr....
So it pays to be patient... The stories are going to read more like
history than current events... which many of them are from OOOOPS! I don't
want to give away the book, then no one will buy it...
Now this could cause a riot... already we have this fuel surcharge
which is out of control, my fuel surcharge exceeds my actual electricity
bill. The local merchants are NOT cooperating. Every time I look at
appliances I look for the energy star rating, which indicates the appliance
draws the minimum possible current, and they never carry any of that stuff
here. Sad, but true.
Since about 4pm it has been very dark and stormy here. Even my
shower-in-the-rain cat was a bit miffed. First he ran out to enjoy the shower,
then when it came down in buckets, he took cover under the heap of a jeep, as it
was closer than the open front door.
I was hanging out half the laundry, under cover, but now I have the other
half to hang. The load was so heavy, I only carried half out the door. After
hanging it all up, I got good and soaked coming back inside and it felt
WONDERFUL!
My plants and cistern are happy, with all the company coming and going
lately, and the washer machine with it's never ending loads from the "spring
cleaning" after himmacane Omar, well, it was GOOD to hear that trickle of water
topping it up again.
- Beautiful Blues Day, Blue Sky, Blue Water
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:21:16 EDT
I never knew the world possessed so many hues of blues until I set foot in
the Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea is the most beautiful in the world. Even on TV
or Video, the unmistakable trademark color of this sea is unmistakable.
Even Hollywood can't fool us. Recently I was watching a movie with local
friends, and Hollywood had chose a Pacific island to film a movie based in the
Caribbean. When the scenery unfolded and the caption said "On an island some
where in the Caribbean" we all said "That's NOT the Caribbean!" No way can
the Pacific Ocean ever hope to even come close to the incredible color of the
Caribbean Sea. Why Hollow-Wood thought they could fool us was preposterous. Now
don't ask me the name of the movie, cause we started watching it late and missed
the title, but I will eventually find out.
Warm, Sunny, Blue Skies, looks just like the Caribbean around here!
That mess midway in the Atlantic, is still there to annoy us, but nothing to
report about it yet...
I hear they are getting that white powdery stuff up North, will that cool
things down here for us? My landlord's local agent promised me an overhead
fan 10 months ago...
I wonder how much longer I must wait...
Another Bottle of Gin Washes up with a Note
Inside:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
A few years ago I went to see my Inlaws (and wife - who had gone
before me - and came back after me) in St Vincent.
At the airport on my return I checked in for the flight to Barbados
and went into the departure lounge when requested by the tannoy system
- "LIAT welcomes you to join LIxxx flight to Barbados"
On entering the departure lounge I couldn't see any aircraft on the
tarmac so asked where it was. (Apparently still in Barbados)
Couldn't get a drink in the terminal as a) nowhere to buy a drink b)
handed my EC dollars to my wife before departure.
Eventually staff let me and other passengers back into the terminal
and found my wife who bought me a drink and something to eat (and
asked what was going on).
Was advised another plane would pick us up. Shortly
afterwards one arrived and the tannoy said it was for Air Canada
and another airline (can't remember name) only- I was traveling on
Virgin from Barbados.
After a further wait - my plane arrived and took me and several
others to Barbados.
On arrival some of us found we had no luggage. It was still on the
tarmac in St Vincent.
There was no Virgin rep. in the arrivals terminal at Barbados and
time was getting short. The staff let us out of the terminal to see the
Virgin staff on their check in desk. They were great and gave us the
latest time we could check in.
Problems then getting back into the arrivals area to get out cases
which arrived "just in time" except...
Customs decided to search our cases and found 4 mango's in mine which
I had to take to the Ministry of Agriculture desk. They OK'd them and so
quickly got luggage to Virgin's check-in desk and made it, dripping wet
(in & out of aircon building), to the plane. Luckily I was able to
change my clothes on the plane prior to departure.
I wrote to the weekly St Vincent paper and they published it;
also complained to LIAT - after 6 months LIAT replied saying... They
didn't have the best team on duty at St Vincent that afternoon.
Regards
B.S.
Chelmsford UK
PS : When in St Vincent the "locals" were saying LIAT =
"Lost in Antigua and
Trinidad"
Tug
Boat Sinks At Leverick Bay Platinum
News Online - Tortola,British Virgin Islands (Submerged tug before it
was lifted by a crane and towed to Tortola.) BVI Platinum News
understands that diesel oil was released from the vessel into the
...
Tuesday,
October 28th 2008 Virgin Islands Daily
News - U.S. Virgin Islands The first hurricane we have knowledge of
striking the Virgin Islands was on Oct. 14, 1526. On Oct. 9-10, 1713, a
dangerous hurricane hit the Virgin Islands. ...
Wreck
Week By Webmaster(Webmaster)
This week the British Virgin Islands celebrate Wreck Week.
Organized by the BVI Scuba Organization, Wreck Week coincides with the
anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Rhone, one of the island's most famous
wrecks. ...
Pardon me, I forgot to use the spell heckler to correct my booboo's.
- Two's Days Reports
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:31:10 EDT
I just emailed this report to myself! Clever aren't I? Well,
now I am posting it!
85 Degrees on Tortola at 11am. 87 degrees at 3 pm. Yes, the internet
has been cranky with me today.
Daybreak brought light showers and gray skies which quickly turned into
sunshine against a blue backdrop. Midway in the Atlnatic ocean is another area
of distrubed weather, possibly headed our way but nothing to worry about for
now.
Winds are slight and I sure wish our winter winds would kick in and cool
things down. It seems unusual to be this warm in late October.
I am going to HURRY and email this before the internet powers change
their mind and cut me off again!
Bert Kilbride, a treasure hunter who came to the Virgin Islands in 1958 and
created one of its first diving operations. A frequent customer was Jean-Michel
Cousteau, son of the renowned ocean explorer. The two dove together for 13
years, and Cousteau made a movie about Kilbride.
Road Town was
destroyed by hurricane in 1819, by fire in 1853, (following an uprising over an
increase in the cattle tax), and again by hurricane in
1924.
Don't worry, be
happy!
Acting
Premier Presents Bouquet to 102 Year Old BVI
Resident Platinum News Online
- Tortola,British Virgin Islands Acting Premier Honourable Dancia
Penn, OBE, QC today presented a bouquet of flowers to Mr. Cecil Georges who
celebrated his 102nd birthday yesterday. ...
So THAT's how long you gotta live to get noticed around
here...
I hope the mermaid doesn't mind that I did a bit of
shopping online...
- Big Dark Holes....
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:55:05 EDT
It's a bit overcast and grayish today, but the islands are still this
incredible emerald green rivaling the hues of a rainforest. It's 84
degrees and the surf is up. Nothing on the horizon to bother us, my
crystal ball still says wait until next December...
If I look frazzled, it's that monumental hole I hit around Pockwood Pond.
It wasn't marked (are they ever?) and someone had dug up half the road and
poorly filled it back in about a foot lower than the surrounding pavement. The
hole took up my entire lane and was about 6 by 6 feet and located on a curve.
I was driving westward late in the day, something I often try to avoid, the
sun was glaring in my eyes, despite washing the windshield, pulling down the
visor and wearing cheap Polarized sunglasses (my expensive prescription
sunglasses were recently stolen in a public place and I haven't replaced them
yet.)
There I was zipping along at the ridiculous rate of 32 miles per hour
when I saw the road change color and then there was this huge noise of metal
crunching and cracking. It was a good thing I had my seatbelt on, as I
would have surely exited through the roof, like a jet pilot, moments before he
realizes the jet is about to crash, with or without him.
I had a load of groceries in the back and some other stuff, which all flew
up in the air, and landed down hard again, making it's own cacophonous
noise. I bounced out of the hole equally hard. Matter of fact my
gallon jug of plain white vinegar, the one I use for all purpose cleaning, burst
when it landed. Of course I didn't know this until I got
home. If both my axles had broken, I would not have been a bit
surprised. Miraculously, my heap of a jeep made it home, but I think it
took quite a few years off it's little life, and that saddened me. I just
don't like to spend much on my transportation needs, matter of fact, I don't
even like to drive! I just do so, because I am forced to because the
politicians here refuse to let us have a park and ride bus system.
I feel sorry for anyone else that hit that incredible hole in the road. I
am sure that within a few days, we will see somebody parked nearby with a broken
axle or CV joint or something horrendous. Later, when I unloaded my groceries to
put away, I noticed that nearly ALL my canned goods, mostly cat foods, were
dented. At first, I was thinking, funny, I don't remember buying dented
goods, I never do unless they are on sale and nothing is on sale these days,
food has shot up, even dried beans were pricier this week. But that hard landing
of the groceries was so bad, it dented up 80% of my canned good, now THAT gives
you an idea of what a rough hole in the road it was.
Recently some friends and I had a fantasy conversation of what we would do
if we won a zillion dollar jackpot. When it came by turn to fantasize, I said I
would hire a super safe driving chauffeur with a comfy car and never drive
again.
Everyone laughed!
About the dang sunglasses, I am peeved about that too. I was invited
to meet friends at a well known watering hole and restaurant. I was prompt and
they were not, so I was standing at the bar, sipping a cold drink, awaiting
their arrival. There were 2 bartenders and several customers. I had laid my
prescription sunglasses next to my drink as I had forgot my case for them (shame
on me!) and someone behind me spoke to me.
I whipped around chatted with them a few minutes, then turned back to get
my drink. We chatted some more, then they wandered off. My friend came and
I looked around frantically for my sunglasses. I asked both the bartenders and
everyone around, but mind you people had come and gone and apparently somebody
on one side of the bar or the other, took a fancy to my eyewear and made off
with them. I surely wish they would return them, as by now, they have probably
figured out they are prescription driving glasses and unless they are half
blind, they can't use them.
Incredibly, about a week later, I was at the same spot and now I had my
expensive non-prescription sunglasses with me, the ones I used to wear when I
wore contacts. Guess what. Same thing. They just VANISHED. Talking with
management has gotten me nowhere as they claim that lately there have been
numerous complaints of cell phones and sunglasses vanishing. Well duh...
you would think they would do something about it!
At least my cell phone is decorated quite liberally with assorted
finger nail polish colors, this is in fact, to discourage anyone from taking it
or mistaking it as their own.
It reminds me of the shoe thief, we had a few years back. People at several
beaches were reporting their shoes being stolen while they swam. I wrote
about that at some point, because I took a friend with me to the beach and I
told her to leave her shoes locked in my heap of a jeep as there was a shoe
thief. She laughed at me and mumbled something like I was smoking too much local
herb.
Well, guess what. When we got ready to leave the beach, she did this
frantic search of the beach, and never did find her shoes. All the way home she
lamented over and over that they were a $90 pair of sandals. Eventually the shoe
thieving stopped and I don't know that anyone was ever caught. But
honestly, isn't that pretty darn desperate; to steal used shoes?
Life in the islands, a mystery a day!
Bananas from the garden (this is over HALF of the bunch!)
Hot, bright, sunshiny today! Surf was up yesterday at Apple Bay, with
only a few surfers out there. Surfing should be good
through Wednesday, with Sunday being an optimum time for experienced
surfers.
The moon is still out as sunrise threatens to break the darkness.
- T.G.I.F.
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:29:42 EDT
83.9 F degrees. My thermometer reads more like a radio station than a
temperature. Lately it has been hitting the mid to late 80's which is kind of
unusual for this time of the year. Sunshine is out and the water is glistening,
winking bits of sunshine back at us. Nothing on the horizon YET to bother us,
but keep an eye on December, that's what my crystal ball reads.
Washed up in a California Wine Bottle, I found this note from Gert, the
Webmaster of StormCarib.Com:
More LIAT: Late In, Always Trouble.
Luggage In Another Terminal.
:-)
The beach was busy today, I found yet another Bottle!
Our names for LIAT: Lost in a
tissy Late
inconvienient and terrible
I remember one day we were arriving in the BVI by AA and our six human-sized
bags, (we stay for two months so we need a lot of stuff), did not arrive. Not
one. All we had were the carry-on bags we had with their insides as well as the
clothes on our backs. Naturally after about half an hour of waiting and watching
others from our flight pcik up their bags and leave, we figured something was
up. So we went to the desk and wanted to know where our bags went. They informed
us that they had travelled to another island...and probably waiting for us
there. We had them call to send the bags back, but it would take at least
3 days (it's da islands mon we don't move ting's fast aound here) for our bags
to arrive. We spent those 3 (possiblely the 3 hottest) days in the same clothes
(yech) waiting for our bags to arrive. We couldn't be happier to see them when
they did. I guess our bags wanted to take a little vacation of their
own.
Awesome directions dude! I don't make this stuff up! But I
about fell out of my chair laughing, with those expert directions to
Tortola.
Here we go again! Another beautiful day in
paradise. 86 degrees, a bit warm for October, but we don't care, just don't send
us any more himmacane Omars.
And a roudn of applause to:
BVI
Philatelists Bring Home Best in Show & Two Gold Medals Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands With two gold medals and a Best in Show Award, Americas 08 was
a truly resounding success for the British Virgin Islands. Philatelists
from North, South and ...
BUT, could you bring home some SAND with those
medals too?
Sand-snatchers
shrink Caribbean beaches AZ
Central.com - AZ,USA No one knows how much sand in all has been carted
away, but the islands of Tortola, Anguilla and St. Vincent are now
vulnerable to flooding, said Gillian ...
FOUND on the seashore in a Gin Bottle:
DMM, Overheard on a flight from Antigua to Beef
Island.... LIAT......Luggage In Another Town.
Martin (wishing he
was on Anegada right now instead of in London. )
Dear Martin
I too wish I were on Anegada right now instead of
Tortola.
And Another Bottle Rolled up:
Another name for LIAT is Leave island Any Time.
I worked for Pan Am in Barbados in the 60'S and that was the name
then
Another boringly wonderful day in paradise of tropical winds, summer temps,
bright sunshine and awesomely GREEN islands to gaze at.
I, like so many in the islands, are busy un-hurricaning. However,
I've suddenly had a burst of energy, so I am taking advantage of it and doing a
major spring cleanup. Out with the garbage, (the MORE the better!)
plus donating useful stuff that I don't need that is still usable, plus
organizing and cleaning what remains. It's both fun and frustrating!
However, the problem with making numerous trips to the dump is that others
seem to be parking useful stuff by the dump too... I found a nice
slightly used Weber
Charcoal Grill parked 5 feet from the dumpster. I was dismayed
that I couldn't figure out how to squeeze it into my hardtop heap of
a jeep, however that didn't stop me from hiding it in the bushes, then
asking my neighbor with a pickup truck to go grab it for me (he eats here often
anyhow). So now my patio sports a charcoal grill (now, all I need is charcoal
and food!)
However, I managed to load up a beautiful wicker headboard. It fit in the heap of a jeep but I hadn't
quite figured out where I would fit. Sadly, someone else beat me to the matching
night stand (shame on me for not grabbing that first!)
I donated, to the dumpster, well beside it actually, a lovely brass
touch lamp that just drives me crazy. It used to be that you could merely
touch it anywhere and it came on dim, touch it again and it lit up
to medium, touch it again and it lit up to bright. I loved that
little lamp, especially the 3 settings.
But then it died.
You had to plug it in, plug it out, plug it in, plug it out and it only
worked on one light setting. I took it apart and still couldn't repair it. So I
dangled it on the edge of the dumpster, in case someone was desperate for a
lamp. I was about to climb in my jeep with my wicker headboard, when a
young man in an old beat up rusty sedan, slammed on brakes, making a
horrific noise and giving me quite a fright, as he stopped in front of me,
inches away. He hopped out and asked me if the lamp worked. I said
"It does but..." and he was back in his car with the lamp and rapidly driving
away as my sentence trailed off "But you have to plug it in and out..."
Well, I guess by now, he has figured that out...
I squeezed into the heap of a jeep, and drove home with my head and arm
hanging out the window, due to the wicker headboard. I can just hear my mother
now, I am 4 years old and she is saying "Don't hang your arm out the
window, a car could come by and knock it off! I know a little girl who
hung her arm out the window and now she has only one arm!"
My mother knew the most tragic of children and often used them to
illustrate her point, such as "Don't cross the street until you have looked both
ways, twice! Why I know a child who didn't do this, and she was run over
and ended up flat as a pancake!"
One day, my mother trusted my older sister and I to cross a busy street to
go to the library. I waited and watched in horror, as my older sister dashed out
in the road, leaving me on the sidewalk and BAM! She was hit by a car
who managed to slam on brakes, so the impact merely threw her up on the hood of
the car. She climbed off and assured the pale shaky shocked driver she was
fine and shooed him away. She was more horrified that my mother should find out,
than worried about her injury. I finally crossed the road and caught up to her
and she made me promise over and over not to tell our mother. Secretly, I was
let down, that I didn't get to see what my sister would look like; flat as
a pancake.
So I shudder to think, what my mother would say, if she could see me with
my arm AND my head hanging out the car window, as I drove home. I know if
I was lazy and having trouble with my homework, or if I had done something
particularly stupid that took her notice, she would say "Use your head for
something besides a hat rack!"
Getting home, I unloaded the wicker headboard and realized I had forgotten
to stop by the store. So back in the heap of a jeep, I dashed to the store. I
had to pass a different dump, on my way to the store and OOPS what
did I see? But 2 perfectly good, but used folding
beach chairs! Well, actually, it was 4 beach chairs, but 2 were
beyond help and the other 2 were just fine, but used. One was a regular sized
chair and the other was the low model, ironically, both matched and into the
back of my heap of a jeep they fit.
So I don't know how well this spring cleaning is going, I seem to be
trading my trash for treasure...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Washed Up Ashore In a Cruzan Rum Bottle...
DMM,
Been so busy un-hurricaning that I just got around
to reading your post regards LIAT. Yes, they're an adventure. We sat for
seven hours at the airport in Antigua (their "hub"/headquarters) looking at 5 or
6 of their planes sitting on the tarmac, watching planes arrive and depart for
other destinations, WAITING FOR A CREW! Incredible. My call on LIAT is
"Late Is A Tradition!" Although, flying LIAT often
beats the Eagle which has to return to San Juan between every island. If travel
weren't so quirky it just wouldn't be Caribbean, and Caribbean is one of the
reasons we are here.
J.
St John
Dear J,
I LOVE IT!
Late Is A Tradition for LIAT! Good one!
On another note, if da current elec-tricky corporation can't
keep up with our current needs (ha-ha another pun...) then WHY are they issuing
building permits left and right like there is no tomorrow? WHO is going to
fulfill their current elec-tricky needs? Ha! One wonders...
Another fantastic day in paradise! 80 something degrees, gentle trade
winds, bright sunshine, a few scattered clouds for decor. A fantastic day
to be off work for St
Ursula's Day. Nothing much aiming at us these days, a little mess
rolling off Africa and one in the western Caribbean.
Last night company came over, it had been a hot windless humid day. I
was still unhurricaning the house and covered head to toe in grimy sweat at the
time company was to arrive, they called; going to be late and I dove into a cold
shower that just didn't seem cold enough. I made sure all the electric wind
machines were working and used copious amounts of WD40 to coax all the jalousie
windows to horizontal to partake of the most winds, of which there were none.
I had chopped, sliced, diced, and julienned a stack of veggies for stir
fry. When they arrived, I lit the stove and tossed in the cabbage and POOF
BANG. Da current done mash up! *sigh* We were left in complete
darkness while I fumbled around for battery lamp, candles, lighter.
Turns out a utility pole in Carrot Bay said enough was enough and toppled
down bringing darkness to the majority of the Tortola plus Jost
Van Dyke for hours. Scary that ONE pole can cause so much drama and
trauma. But if you pay attention to the poles around the islands, you will see
they lean at various precarious angles, no two alike, some are actually vertical
and looking to stay that way but others were planted willy-nilly and left to
their own devices to choose a lean.
23 candles later, we resumed cooking, as by now my guests' son had taken
over cooking while I fetched every candle I owned. We wanted a lit path to
the bath, plus light the kitchen and dining area etc. It was so oppressively
hot, without the electric wind machines, we ended up outside star gazing trying to
remember all the constellations we forgot.
These tiny delicate flowers in my garden survived Omar, but
some of our utility poles did not???
Is that a HOOT or what? Tee hee hee!
Life is FUNNY here!
Sometimes I think we are a few elephants short of a
circus...
I woke up groggily, stumbled to the fridge for some herbal iced tea and
noticed it was pink and red outside. I struggled to wake up, find the
camera and snap this incredible picture of daybreak unfolding in the BVI. It was
so lovely, I just decided to stay up for awhile. The beauty here can take your
breath away. The colors this morning were just plain
Note that the street lights on Frenchmans Cay are still on
in the larger version.
85 degrees and humid, the channel was flat calm this morning, as it is now
at 11am. Winds are gentle. Tomorrow is a holiday! Yippee!
Right now there is NOTHING in the Atlantic to bother us. Yahoo!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are lonesome for the Caribbean, you can also check out
the newly updated webcam page. New webcams have been
added! If you know of any Caribbean webcams missing from the page, by
all means let me or the webmaster know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
St Croix didn't fare as well as we did during himmacane
Omar.
USVI
warns of oil spills after storm damages boats The Associated Press CHRISTIANSTED, US Virgin
Islands (AP) — St. Croix authorities were trying to contain oil spills after
more than 40 boats sank or washed ashore during ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heaven help you when you fly LIAT, it's always an adventure! LIAT
stands for "Leaves Island Any Time" due to their erraticness. They
throw the clock out the window, and you go when the plane shows up, if it shows
up. LIAT can also mean "Luggage In Another Terminal" another problem
that plagues the beleaguered airline. My favorite is "Lost In A Timewarp".
LIAT once flew me to 5 islands before they delivered me to the island I was
going to. At one point, when the plane disembarked, they asked us WHERE we were
going, then had spread us around the tarmac and counted heads for each island.
The island with the most passengers, got to get back on the plane and go to
their chosen island! The rest of us had to wait...
LIAT
Strikes Again Platinum News Online -
Tortola,British Virgin Islands ... I can't help but
believe that after a plane leaves TB Lettsome Airport late for a run to San Juan
to return to the BVI before going on to Antigua,
...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you seen this man?
Police
Suspends Search For Missing Man But Family Refuses to Give Up Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands The Officer told BVI Platinum News that it’s difficult
for the Police to follow any leads since no information is coming forward and
they are yet to make ...
Internet done mash up again, no idea when this will get out. One of two
cell phones is working, Cable TV done mash up too. I can only get
sound and picture simultaneously on 2 channels. But da current be
going strong on much of the island. I fired up my boom box and have one of the
numerous CD's playing that Herby, a gentle DMM reader, recently sent me.
Man it is heaven on earth to have some tunes to listen to!
The mystery ladies slippers (faded chartreuse flip-plops
with sequins) that were parked outside my front door have VANISHED!
Yet, not a female has been by here in awhile. So I still ponder, where did they
come from? Where did they go? Did a ghost in slippers take refuge here
during the storm? I kick off my sandals at the door and go foot-nude
indoors. But these weren't mine. Did a ghost wear them here, park them
politely at the door, take refuge during the storm, then don the slippers
and leave again? Very strange...because I felt I was not alone during the
storm, I kept seeing something move in the shadows of the candlelight, and the
cats did too, but nothing was really there, or was there? That's pretty much how
ghosts act. I know, I sailed with one for years on my boat that could be a
real chatter box at times. I can say that now, now that the boat is
sold. More on that later. At the time of Omar passing, I
tried to reason, the presence I felt, was really all you
wonderful readers, sending me good wishes. But what did the cats see?
This little angel guards my humble abode.
He's not mine, though I'm quite fond of
him.
He's taken up temporary sanctuary here, while
his owner builds.
85 degrees, moderate winds, bright sunshine, scattered clouds, another
typical day in the Caribbean. After the Omar scare, folks rushed to make things
appear normal again. This has always been true of Tortola. We wait for no
one. Even if Omar had been a strike on us, this hearty lot would have
already cleaned up the mess and moved forward. In past strikes, I saw this
phenomenon unique to the BVI.
Of course we still have that mess in the Atlantic, unnamed and unnumbered,
seemingly aiming for us.
Thursday, the powers to be pleaded for folks stay home so the road
crews could have a chance to scrape up the mess and make all roads passable,
but some did go to work (or sight seeing) anyhow, while others
stayed put. However, in the afternoon, those with power, opened
up some of the bars and restaurants for post hurricane parties since we had
no chance for pre-hurricane parties.
Dodger (cute name) alerted me to check out the latest and greatest which is
the new tropical wave #3 on the heels of #1.
#2 is not likely to cause us problems unless it decides to head east. The
red thingy, is of course Himmacane Omar who skirted by us.
Sooooooo... we get more cardio exercise; Put the shutters
up, take the shutters down, put the shutters up, take the shutters
down...
WASHED UP ON SHORE IN A BOTTLE:
Hey
Dearie,
Glad to hear you
survived. We had a friend down there for the week on his
honeymoon. Can't remember who he chartered with, and he's a new sailor,
so it should have been a honeymoon to remember. I think they're due back
tomorrow. Anyway, question: In those recent photos of Soper's
Hole, including the one with the two freighters, there appears to be something
extending from the marina over towards the ferry docks, floating on the
water. At first I thought it was the wake from a boat but, it's in three
different photos that you posted. What is that?
Patti
It's the power lines (t'ose t'ings da
elec-tricky corporation be stringing up everywhere to make t'ings uglified
around here).
It's an illusion! I took it from
up above Sopers hole and the dang power lines are in the way, I don't know how
to move them or I would. They are actually lines strung across my vantage
point on the hill, but it appears (erroneously) that they are running across
the harbor or something in the water.
AOL compressed my pics for speedy loading, I should (in the future)
give you a link to a full size pic, then you could see more clearly.
Sun is out, southern seas are flat, it is 83 degrees with slight
winds. Hard to tell a storm went by at all! We had some road
flooding, on the south shore, where the roads drain towards the land
rather than the sea. Not sure why they were engineered that
way...
A few brush trees are leaning, I think they are just water laden.
It's certainly going to be a very green season around here and everyone
should be enjoying a full cistern.
I tried to post this picture yesterday, but the internet Gods were not
with me... This is Sopers Hole in West End Tortola, after the storm.
The freighters there earlier, pulled out the moment the winds subsided.
There is a tropical wave off of South America, but hopefully it will bore
itself out and not cause us any trauma.
Himmacane Omar is out to sea, in the Atlantic, threatening any
hapless boats in his way.
Electrical Power problems were still plaguing parts of the Tortola as
of last night, a real shame considering winds never seemed to get past 50 or so.
Makes you wonder about our electrical plant being prepared.
Internet was flaky from both suppliers (we only have two choices) but then
again, that's par for the course on good weeks. Ditto for TV Cable, it came back
in many areas eventually, but most of the channels were garbled for some reason.
Typically we always have a few channels malfunctioning, I am not sure if I have
ever seen all the channels work on the same day.
I think I had more phone calls inquiring about my power-internet-tv cable
than I had about my personal post hurricane condition. *Giggle* But I can see
too, with many off work yesterday, why not kick back and enjoy the internet or
movies.
Thank you for the numerous emails I received inquiring about me and the
islands. Your well wishes were welcomed. There is a common local
belief that all our prayers pushed this storm out to sea and away from us. Well,
more power to prayer!
Himmacane Omar came up on us so sudden, and it was already pouring rains,
that I hear the fool moon parties were a bust. So we had very few hurricane
parties, but many post-hurricane parties. Many folks did report to work in order
to get paid, even if sent home again. Others decided not to go at all and
"unhurricane" their homes. We are just so LUCKY!
I read an article where a writer said Omar "threaded the needle" by heading
out through the Anegada (Oh-my-God-dah) passage not making a direct hit on any
major islands. I liked that term "thread the needle" seems I went white
water rafting and did the same thing in a few treacherous areas.
I still have to haul the plants back outside and do some more sweeping up.
I was behind on laundry before the storm, so I have that to catch up. I am still
washing moldy clothes I found in my moldy chest of drawers from last week,
before the storm. Argh!
I've also discovered plain white vinegar does more to kill mold than bleach
does.
It's just life in paradise. Some things work, some of the time, and many
things don't much of the time...
Monday is a public holiday here! Oh sure, we need another day
off!
Max from Florida sent me the St Kitts pics, so I assumed (how foolish of
me!) that they weren't on StormCarib.com but they are! On the St Kitts
page, of course!
A part time resident of Tortola, managed to catch and save this radar pic
of Omar skirting by us!
That was actually the BEST path we could have wished for and certainly
minimalist chances for damages. WHAT LUCK!!!
I just had some people drop in on me and one began laughing at my hurricane
shutters and went on this whole spiel about how foolish I was to get ready for a
hurricane and HE THE ALMIGHTY SOURCE standing here before me KNEW it was going
to miss us.
I retorted with well it's so EASY to be an expert after the fact! Why
weren't you broadcasting that all over the BVI before the storm? Everyone
is an expert when the storm has come and gone, but to predict it in advance, of
exactly where the landfall will be? Well now that is HARD and was
certainly proven here once again. I never heard anyone broadcasting to ignore
this storm and to fail to prepare, after all it wasn't
coming. He said he didn't get involved with local politics. I said this has
nothing to do with the politicians, this is mother nature!
Which brings to mind, if we sent all the hot aired politicians out to sea
every time we had a hurricane scare, then maybe that hurricane would follow that
hot water and leave us alone...
It was a super dumb conversation all around, one that I wished to avoid.
But now that we had a near miss, I still WONDER why my crystal ball says
beware of December...
The garden hardly looks like a storm passed. Dead leaves and bits of
debris blown around and that's it. Banana trees which are notorious for falling
as their root system is very shallow, were all standing and the baby bananas in
progress, still hanging up where we left them. Flowers in bloom are still in
bloom.
My laptop bat-tree (battery) done mash up and is in need of replacement.
*sigh*.
That's why you haven't heard from me in awhile. It died several hours
sooner than it should have, in spite of me using the minimal settings. I tried
to plug the 12 volt thingy into the heap of a jeep and run the laptop that way,
but it wouldn't stay plugged in unless I held it in place, so I gave up, as I
can't hardly type with two hands, much less one, cramped up in a small jeep to
boot!
We are so LUCKY! Those that didn't prepare at all are feeling real
smitten, and those of us that did, well better safe than sorry (mama didn't
raise me to be a fool.)
It just goes to show once again, NOBODY knows where these storms are headed
for sure until the last moment.
I spoke with dem elec-tricky boyz and they alluded they had some problems
and da current be coming back here and there at some
point today. I thought to my self lawdy mercy, if dem elec-tricky
boyz can't handle 50-60mph winds, we in big trouble.
Just goes to show, they should require all this new building going on
everywhere to put all utilities underground, besides it makes for a more
beautiful island. So many vistas where I try to take pictures, I have these ugly
lines in the way. But that's life, ya can't have every t'ing!
Just so HAPPPY that all well. I still have a ton of un-storm work to do. My
living room is crammed full of so many potted plants that you can't even sit or
move, except to get to the door.
At day break, the cats and I all wandered outside, they were greatly
RELIEVED to have their freedom back. This business of having their cat door
locked and their butler requests (let me out!) refused was not to their liking
at all. At some point, they did settle down in bed with me and quit pestering me
to let them out.
I already received a long distance call, so phone lines are working, though
I operate with 2 cell phones and no land phone. One cell phone has been
out since yesterday, but other one works fine.
Cable TV is out, but it goes out several times a month as a norm, so why
worry, be happy.
Last night Road Town and the easter part of the island received heavy rain and some winds. The western part of Tortola had little rain and little wind. Due to the over saturation of the ground, there were mud slides along the Sir Francis Drake Highway and flooding in some low lying areas as well. Electricity did not go off until early this morning and it is back up since about 9:30 AM and earlier in some places.
Water that had gone off late yesterday is back on.
Little damage is reported in Virgin Gorda and Anegada,
Rudy reported from Jost Van Dyke that some large boulders have cone loose and had rolled unto some roads.
H/W repport for the last twelve hours 151800 hrs to
160800 hrs from weather station at Hodges Creek (18.25657N
64.34202W)
Rainfall 3.17 inches.
Wind highest gust 36 MPH, at 0117
Hrs today.
John M. Cope, BEM. AMS
- Is it Over?
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:19:47 EDT
314am as I type this, not sure how quick I can post it.
It's eerily QUIET and pretty bright outside, thanks to the full moon.
No rains, no winds, no dripping...
Two and a half hours until daybreak.
Either the brunt of the storm has missed us or the eye is over us. Last
report from hurricane center said Omar had sped up to 20mph so I was thinking
GREAT that sure is better than creeping by at 2mph!
When I upload this, I can download latest email too, maybe that will give
me a clue.
I now hear a lot of strange noises like a loud generator in the distance or
maybe the freighters are warming up to go somewhere.
Well, since I woke up at 1130pm, delighted to find the power on, only to
have da current mash up 10 minutes later...well I've been wide awake ever
since.
I have my computer at minimal settings to preserve the battery, including
havin the screen lit at barely-can-see light. Pardon me if I dont waste time
with the spell heckler and just send out my ramblings.
I think the winds are coming from the south, but hard to tell. I opened up
the west facing window in the front door (alumnium jalouise) and also the east
facing window in the bathroom, but just barely. Nothing blowing in, either
direction! Hmm...
Lots of candles are scattered around, so I can just pace back and forth,
wondering around and see where I amble next. Already had 2 cats with a slight
disagreement. I fed them salami (tee hee hee). They aren't sure they like
it, (they'll learn!) and I am drinking the last carafe of herbal iced tea.
Earlier at happyhour, I had a few stiff drinks when I realized nothing else
was getting done, I was wore out and sore and only so much one can do.
The winds speed up and slow down and I hear the foliage slapping itself
silly. I took pictures of the garden before the storm with a tear in my
eye...
Much of the living room is full of potted plants. I saw one cat inspecting
them for kitty needs and shooed him away.
It seems every hurricane I have been through arrived at night. THere was
one that arrived by day, but I can't think which one at this point.
1250am
I think ahhhhh, sunrise is 5 or so hours away. THe moonlight is somehow
showing through. I press my face to the open window in the front door. I debate
about parking my bar stool there and keeping vigil, for what I do not know,
except I am WIDE awake and wish I could sleep.
Everytime I go near the cat door, I am flanked by pleading kitties who want
to sneak out and NO WAY am I letting them out.
It;s 78 degrees, winds seem to be about 50mph with gusts much higher. I
hear things dripping and dripping, unable to tell if the drips are inside or
out.
ANother cat meows at the door to be let out, puzzled as to why I am not
complying. If the truth be known, I am SELFISH and want them here with ME.
Besides, I don't want them stuck out in the storm with mud up to their ears.
Not sure when or if this will get emailed and posted. Forgive me as I wont
be using the spell heckler either, to save time!
My ears hurt like I am flying. Well, my throat hurts too. Things seem
stuffy so I opened up the jalousie aluminum shutters on the front door. The
fridge is off and in the bottom drawer is all that salami bought on sale before
this storm scare.
I lit a few candles. Cats are walking around cross-legged eyeballing the
litter box. Soon, they will understand why I won't let them out and will have to
deal with it. It's a nice clean litter box with fresh litter, not sure why all
the panic.
I can hear winds have picked up substantially. I want to just go SLEEP but
I am wide awake and soon I will be back in the dark. I would rather stay on the
internet. I can hear angry winds and the sea sounds pretty cloppy choppy
sloppy out there.
I dont dare open the door for fear of losing a kitty.
Power is off at 1144pm! Winds are getting aggressive, coming and
going, wish I could see the ocean, can only hear a roar out there, like planes
or trains in the distance.
Heard a car drive by recently, can't imagine what they are doing out at
this hour.
Going to save my laptop battery, and pray. If internet is working
when I wake up next, I will post a report. I can't sleep more than an hour or so
at a time.
Cats aren't happy, but one has been cuddling with me, so that is nice.
REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT
INDICATE THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 115
MPH... 185 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. OMAR IS NOW A
CATEGORYTHREE HURRICANE ON THE
SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.
Winds are at 30-40 knots, steady rains. Electricity is still on. I
can hear the winds come and go, with some howling.
- 105 mile per hour winds
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:04:12 EDT
Omar is a category 2 hurricane now that may very well pass over us tonight
and tomorrow.
The alpha cat just spent a good 5 minutes lecturing me on why they should
all go out, and if not all of them, then him. He especially detests the litter
box.
Now that I see Omar is packing 105 mile per hour winds, I say NO. We are
off to bed kitties, where I will rub your bellies and tell you sweet wittle
stories!
It's calm outside and not even raining, the frogs are singing. It's eerie.
Very eerie, like OK, we are ready for.......... the calm before the
storm...it's 80 degrees and very dark outside.
- 7pm and all is well
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:00:17 EDT
Hugs and kisses to the caretaker and his buddy who showed
back up and made last minute wooden storm shutters for a door and a window
that were missing shutter frames. Some sort of confusion, they were supposed to
be made awhile back and weren't. The rest of the house has aluminum frames and
aluminum shutters. But they are kind of fussy to put up. They aren't air tight,
which means they aren't water tight, but heck, I got to breath too!
He fashioned temporary ones out of wood for the window and door to my
housemate's area. Since my housemate hasn't made an appearance, (and therefore
missed out on all the FUN work today....) I could have some real fun with
him by spray painting "EVICTED!" on the wooden shutter over his door, that is
now blocking his entry.
Tee hee hee.
The caretaker and his assistant got a real giggle out of that one!
OOOPS!
The Bananas!
He was leaving when I yelled "The Bananas!" and he came right back as they
weighed well over a 100 pounds and no way I could have hauled that in without
damaging a lot of them.
We've been waiting until the last minute to chop down the fat green
bananas. He wanted me to have them all, and good grief, I am sure he could
use half of them easily, so we split the bunch. By last minute, we were waiting
for them to start to ripen and then grab them before the birds did. Not that we
meant to wait until the last minute before the storm!
We left the baby bunch of bananas on another tree, they aren't ready to
eat, even green and boiled, so maybe they will survive, maybe not.
There is much more to do, but I couldn't bare to ask them, I know they have
to get home and take care of their own life and property. Whst isn't done now,
isn't getting done, for shame.
I rounded up the cats, and they are now locked inside, so out comes the
dreaded litter box they hate. But I am not taking chances and having them caught
outside. I've blocked off the kitty door and I think they know, cause they
protested when I closed the front door and locked it.
They have eaten TRIPLE their normal food intake, so they KNOW it's coming,
but they want to sit in the gazebo and watch and I don't want to be alone, so
sorry boyz, ya STUCK inside with the human.
My friend called me long distance and I told her it's the FIRST time I have
been alone for a hurricane! Usually I have a small crowd so we can play
cards and cook and freak out together!
I'm not as prepared as I wanted to be, but I did all I could. I am AMAZED
at the number of houses I can see without shutters up! Lawdy mercy. We all
take our chances.
Rain is barely drizzly and winds are very slight. Guess I will go set up
the kitty litter box and face those "Oh no we are not...." stares from my fury
friends.
It's kind of claustrophobic having all the shutters up. I do have one
window in the bath that is not shuttered. I think the caretaker overlooked it
and I wanted it as an emergency escape! It's at the opposite end of the house
from the front door. So if that door got blocked, I could possibly make it out
the bathroom window. No way can I break out of the aluminum shutters from the
inside! It's like prison. Yikes!
The bathroom has sliding doors on the shower, so I can shut the window,
shut the shower doors and shut the bathroom door and hope that's enough.
It's a fairly protected side of the house, facing an overgrown lot.
Now pitchforks to the neighbor down below me with the HUGE pile of wood on
his roof! He threw a tiny string over it, like that would keep it in
place. I see those as dangerous missiles waiting to happen! YIKES! His
house isn't finished, he could have thrown all the wood inside the house, the
floors aren't even done yet.
Right now I have nearly all the lights and fans on as once da current done
mash up, no more luxuries.
- 6pm 2 freighters in Sopers Hole West End Tortola BVI
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:22:48 EDT
Sir Francis Drake Channel 6pm, you
can barely see St John in background, that is Frenchmans Cay in foreground,
Norman Island is obliterated.
- Sopers Hole West End Tortola 4pm
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:22:12 EDT
- Sopers Hole West End Tortola 4pm
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:58:29 EDT
- Rains have stopped at 5pm, one more hour of light
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:08:22 EDT
5pm no rains. I am at the house alone. Finally got the shutters up. Dark
and oppressive inside! Two plants are too heavy for me to move indoors. I
think of how long it took me to get them so big and lovely and well they may not
survive. Maybe someone will show up to move them, but doubtful.
No idea WHEN this will get posted. I've set up AOL to run every half hour
Internet permitting, which goes in and out a BUNCH.
Harbor emptied out moorings then amazingly some boats snuck in! Will
try to post a pic when I can.
- Calm and Gloomy
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:01:39 EDT
415pm, the rains stopped about 330pm. Our Internet is on and off, same for
cell phones. I am here all alone. Usually I have a crowd at my place, but
not yet. I've never been through a hurricane alone. Yikes!
If you don't hear from me every 2 hours or so, you will know that Internet
has died completely. If you send me any email, please DO NOT send
attachments. I am using AOL's auto feature and attachments will slow it down and
use up precious battery time.
All is calm, no rains, only slight winds and its very gloomy outside.
Internet died again, this will go out with next "auto AOL" email.
- Rain Rain Rain
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:16:38 EDT
At noon the rains started in earnest. It is very dark. I ran out to the
store a mile away, and already a tree down 100 feet from my driveway. Got out
and moved enough to get around it, got back in heap of a jeep, soaking wet.
Store was emptying out shelves fast, their battery delivery did not show up but
the liquor did, so guess what, we are going to have a bunch of drunks in the
dark...
Lots of folks just hanging out at the store, not shopping, just chit
chatting and holding the wall up. Everyone real friendly. Folks parked all in
the road in front of store while parking lot was nearly empty. I couldn't carry
all my stuff, still some trouble with my flaky arm, and other people just
pitched in and loaded up my heap! Everyone wishing you well, heck I felt
like hanging out at the store too, seemed a lot of fun! Watched someone
buy 70 pounds of rice and nothing else.
Listened to a couple fret over whether to buy 1 or 2 candles, I suggested
they buy at least a dozen, to be able to SEE around their place. They said, oh
they didn't live here, were flying out Friday, 2 candles would be enough.
Came home and now there is a pair of female slippers parked at my door,
they are not mine. I have no idea where they came from. Have looked around for a
female hiding somewhere but found no one yet. Very odd. Did she park her sandals
and just walk away barefoot?
On way back home, took me a half hour to go the ENTIRE MILE! Some
"smart person" had his truck, trailer and boat STUCK in middle of
road, crossways, forcing traffic snarl to detour through swamp with 4 wheel
drive. What fun! I can't make this stuff up, it's just too wild! I
wanted to get pictures but my car insides were steamed up (from my heavy
breathing?)
I think maybe he was moving the boat, slammed on brakes and jack knifed and
had no idea how to un-jack-knife and then got his wheels stuck in the ditch. He
had his kid out trying to direct traffic through the swamp. Only the 4wd cars
were trying it. Whew. I made it in 4wd.
Close to home that same pesky tree had commandeered the road again with yet
another tree! Got out in soaking rains and fought with it for awhile,
managed to clear enough to get my skinny heap of a jeep through. Met guys in a
big truck on other side, trying to make a 14 point turn. I guess they didn't
want to get out and deal with tree either. Waited for them to finally get turned
around. Pulled into driveway, still 60 feet from door and SOMEBODY upstairs
pulled the plug on the bathtub in the sky! My eyelashes were dripping, my
home is tracked up with wet cat paws, wet people paws and wet mermaid slushing
around.
I know you are all wondering WHY I didn't get ready yesterday and truth is
I had an emergency I can't talk about, basically someone else's problem dumped
in my lap by mistake, and I was left to deal with it.
We really need street names and house numbers but after the hurricane, could be
a mute point...
Caretaker promised to put up shutters, haven't seen him since and can't
figure out how they go up, still moving potted plants and
outdoor furniture between downpours. Trying to warm up, soaked to the bone
and very c-c-c-cold! Maybe I will get it all done, maybe I won't.
2pm, steady rains, can't see more than 1/2 mile in any direction. I am dead
tired and so much more to do!
Omar could be 100 mile per hour winds! Not a pretty thought, the
rains are likely to do more damage. We are over soaked. Saw many waterfalls and
rivers on my short drive. I don't dare go sight seeing as planned, so no pics
for you, sorry!
- Yikes, Omar is plowing along with his eyes us in the BVI
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:53:36 EDT
Himmacane Omar is at 85mph winds and expected to increase before he hits
the BVI. With my generator broke, I am not sure how many reports I can put out
once da current done mash up.
It's cloudy and gloomy here, the channel is thick and visibility is low, no
rains yet. 80 degrees.
A lying mechanic kept my generator for MONTHS and then returned it broken.
What a deal! Pirates in paradise! *SIGH*
Incredibly, the houses below me are still under construction, the crews
working like nothing going to happen, their building supplies scattered
everywhere, so we will have "missiles" during the storm. Some folks believe the
hurricane will miss us and are not taking precautions.
I gotta run and do a zillion things!
Before a hurricane we have a handful of atheists, afterwards, none!
Another gloomy day with only slight winds, and still flat seas. Sopers Hole
has emptied out the anchorage, but about a dozen boats remain at the far end
tied up to docks. I bet they will come to regret that choice.
Himmacane Omar, is about 265 southwest of St Croix and San Juan, forming a
triangle between the 3 points. He has picked up speed to 7 miles per hour, and
at that rate he will hit us this evening, give or take. Winds are up to 80mph
per the aircraft reconnaissance report. He could easily be a category 2 by the
time he hits us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cryptic post below, was a note to self, that was supposed to be
filed under notes but I emailed it off like a lunatic... What the heck is sushi
in the gift store?
It was Christmas after hurricanes Luis and Marilyn. I was
temporarily working on the North Pacific Coast in Northern California. I was out
walking around and stopped in for some sushi for lunch. Knowing it was
going to be a lonely Christmas, I decided to order extra sushi to take home and
have for dinner that evening in my hotel suite. The sushi arrived in a
beautiful white box, as if ready for gift wrapping.
I was carrying this sushi and walking in the bitter cold back to my hotel.
A curio shop caught my eye and I found myself wandering through a maze of
endless shelves of unique novelties. Something caught my eye, and I set
the nice white box of sushi down on the shelf, then picked up the object to
inspect it closer. Deciding to buy the object d'art as a gift, I paid for the
item and left.
Back at the hotel, I hung out in the lobby for awhile, where a blazing fire
attempted to warm up my icy cold bones while cheery Christmas music played in
the background. Later I went up to my hotel room for a nap. When I
woke up, all I could think about was that wonderful sushi awaiting me in my
fridge for dinner. But alas, when I opened my fridge, there was no sushi
box! I remembered now, I had left it sitting on a shelf in the curio shop.
It was still daylight, so I bundled up and walked back to the curio shop,
shame all over my face, as I rehearsed my apologies in my head. But when I got
there, the shop was closed, as were all the rest. After all it was
Christmas Eve. I noted the sign on the shop stated it would be closed for 4
days. Christmas Eve came and went and I ate no sushi.
After the holidays, I was back working full time. At lunch time, a
colleague showed up to take me out. We drove rapidly passed the curio shop,
which I noted had both their front doors propped open against the bitter cold
with summer fans blowing in the doorways, and a big sign tacked up "Temporarily
Closed."
I've often wondered, whatever happened to my sushi, sitting innocently on
the curio shelf in a nice plain white box, seemingly ready for gift
wrapping.
Omar is a category one hurricane but could hit here at a category two or
three. At 4am, all is quiet, with slight to no winds, no rains and tree frogs
merrily singing away. With the generator still mash up, I am not looking forward
to this mess at all. (Who is?)
Hurricane Warnings have been issued! Tomorrow morning will be BUSY
BUSY BUSY as everyone rushes to get ready for this surprise himmacane!
At 1130pm all is quiet, no winds on the south shore, flat seas, no
rains.
The calm before the storm.
AT 1100 PM AST...0300Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE OMAR WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 14.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 68.1 WEST OR ABOUT 315
MILES... 505 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO.
OMAR IS MOVING TOWARD
THE NORTHEAST NEAR 6 MPH...9 KM/HR...AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
WITH A GRADUAL INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED OVER THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. ON THE
FORECAST TRACK...OMAR WOULD MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS
WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
Look how BIG Ominous Omar is and how teeny tiny we are, to the
right of Puerto Rico. Unless this baby turns due North, we are in for some
kind of hurricane or storm by tomorrow night!
8pm and the rains started. That's because the caretaker showed up 10
minutes earlier to start on the shutters... Needless to say, no shutters
up yet. Well, actually the upstairs is done, but I live downstairs and much of
the upstairs was done awhile back. Perhaps in the morning, they'll return and
put up the shutters, no doubt when many are going up around the island.
The rains came down in earnest, long enough for me to get soaking wet
relocating many of the potted plants indoors. More of those to move
tomorrow, then the outdoor furniture and where it's going to be stored, I
haven't figured out yet.
It's now 920am and the winds just aren't happening. The calm before the
storm. The rains have stopped, the tree frogs are singing.
The cats have bulked up on food but not hit the panic button yet. I need to
make up some catnip toys for them, they can become bored and cranky when their
outdoor freedom becomes a soggy mess. I just take cloth remnants, some
wire ties I save from bread wrappers, put a tablespoon of organic catnip on the
cloth then tie it up tight with the wire tie, trim off the excess material and
they have these catnip hobo wads they love to chew on, rub on, fight with,
play with, and try their best to either rip the material open or untwist the
ties. This makes for a bigger mess, of course. However, I've pretty much learned
how to outsmart them with a crafty way of doing up the wire ties.
About a week later, I find these drool laden packets of catnip, ready for
the dust bin, no longer catching their fancy, then we start anew with more
toys. Oh to have a cat's life. If the sun is out, I just chase them outdoors and
deposit a spoon full of catnip in 3 corners and let them go at it.
Stay tuned for more reports, internet and power permitting!
Tropical Storm Omar is packing up strength and near hurricane force winds.
He is on a path headed our way and could be much stronger when he lands
here. See the full official
report here.
He is bringing high seas, and loads of rains. The BVI is under a tropical
storm warning and a hurricane watch. Incredibly, Soper's Hole, which is open to
the west, is still full of boats. Omar is coming from the south west and
it ain't going to be pretty...
I wanted to go out and take care of some pre-storm things today and see how
the rest of the island is preparing for this, but I didn't get out, due to an
emergency being dropped in my lap, and the few I have talked to, wre clueless
there was anything out there to worry about. YIKES!
In all the excitement over Ominous Omar Omen... I failed to mention
this is the Hunter's Full Moon
tonight.
The Hunter's Moon (also known as Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon) is the first
full moon after the harvest moon, which is the full moon nearest the autumnal
equinox. The evening light is supposed to be good for the hunters and not
so good for the hunted.
Since there isn't much to hunt on Tortola (except criminals) and guns arent'
allowed (except for criminals) then most would-be hunters, will be out at
either end of the island at the Fool Moon parties, hunting down dates and
mischief!
Reconnaissance aircraft sent to investigate Tropical Storm Omar, so it may
be 5pm, before we know anything further. Currently winds are estimated
at 50mph and he is creeping along at 2mph, not good because that gives him time
to pack a punch and strengthen before possbily hitting us in the BVI.
Currently he is headed southeast, but expected to turn east, then northeast,
which puts him on target for the BVI. YIKES!
The last lefty I recall bothering us was Lefty Lenny in November 1999 with
100mph gusts.
Ominous Omar... what will you do next?
Tropical Depression 16 has formed near Honduras, headed west north-west and
not a threat to us in the BVI at this time.
The construction workers below me were going full tilt boogie until they
heard the 2pm weather and Ominous Omar, they've decided to go make storm
preparations and all construction has been abandoned. Oh how I LOVE that peace
and quiet!
I took this picture Sunday from Manchioneel Bay, Cooper
Island, BVI during a rain squall in the background. If you look very carefully,
you can just barely make out the outline of Tortola in the background.
- PAY ATTENTION TO OMAR!
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:24:31 EDT
Better take OMAR seriously!
This proposed track shows him headed for us in the BVI!
- Tropical Storm Omar is now named, no more innocent 15
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:15:03 EDT
Tropical Storm Omar is coming from the left, most unusual, haven't seen
that since Lefty Lenny.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for the BVI, Puerto Rico and the USVI.
So, it's high time to get READY this thing could pounce on us quite suddenly
with torrential rains, high seas and blustery winds of 40mph.
TS Omar is believed to be Latitude 14 north and Longitude 69 west.
Using Gert's StormCarib.com "How Close Is It?" and we
could be feeling the storm TONIGHT AT 9pm!
Results for Tortola (18.45N, 64.53W): The eye of
the storm is about 426 miles (686 km) away. If the system keeps
moving at its current speed of 2 mph and directly towards you, it will take
around 213.2 hours (Thursday, October 23 at 8:12AM AST) to reach you. Given the
current windfield (70 miles from the center), tropical storm winds will be felt
in 178.2 hours (Tuesday, 9:12PM AST).
IF you are in the BVI, I would take
some time off work TODAY and get ready for a storm! 40mph winds aren't
life threatening by any means, but if this thing builds up any stronger, we
could be in for a BIG SURPRISE!
Get your rum, candles, rum, canned
foods, rum, water, rum, batteries etc. in order TODAY. Better SAFE
than sorry!
- Meet Me On Dock Three!
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:17:37 EDT
It was
gloomy all day Monday, but in the night we had some rains and a bit of a tiny
storm. Still overcast today with no winds. It was a tad chilly, I had to find my
fuzzy slippers to keep my tootsies warm. For the first time in a long
time, the afghan was put to good use keeping me and kitties warm and
dry.
The BVI is under a
tropical storm watch as TD 15 meanders around, threatening to come closer to
us.
The final advisory
has been issued on TD Nana, so no more worries from Granny. We hope.
Ha!
Locally, we have a
prisoner who cut a hole in the prison fence and is running loose plus two more
murders. Our 2nd double murder in 3 months, and just 3 days since the last
murder! Gosh, it doesn't pay to keep bad company. We are in a bit of shock,
8 murders for the year, that is ALOT for us. Used to be we would get one murder
every 10 years or so. The powers to be are holding press conferences and making
all sorts of promises. All 8 murders are unsolved and our
Governor says "No Need To Panic!" (see the
article)
What planet is he
living on?
In 2007 we had six
murders of which 3 were amazingly solved.
I've had a long talk
with my kitties who are notorious for staying out late at night and told them,
to stay away from bad company, stay away from bad drugs and stay away from
late night clubs. Just stick close to home with familiar faces cause
I can't imagine the grief these families are going through losing loved ones to
unsolved murders.
Guns are illegal to
own in the BVI but apparently that doesn't deter their ownership and use. Rumors
abound about gangs and drug wars, I just hope they aren't true. We must work
hard to bring back our peace in paradise. To simply say our
crime rate is far lower than everywhere else, just isn't good enough.
Salt Island,
BVI
If your boat is in the US
and you wish it were in the BVI, sign up with this group and sail down with a
flotilla. Over 45 boats have already signed up.
Where
rich Americans holiday The Australian -
Sydney,Australia John Glynn, vice president of North American sales
for Bitter End, believes the BVI attract many of theses wealthy sailors
“because there are many ...
The public advisory issued at `11am says TD15 has 35mph winds, but where I
am in the BVI (teeny tiny red dot east of Puerto Rico) we had ZERO winds. Bands
of heavy rains are predicted for the islands today, but so far we've just had a
sprinkle, like the heavens merely sneezed on us.
- 6.1 Earthquake
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:18:38 EDT
MEMO
FELT
QUAKE
DATE:
October 11, 2008
LOCAL TIME:
06 H 40 M 11 S
GMT DATE:
20081011
GMT TIME:
10 H 40 M 11 S
LATITUDE:
19.282 N
LONGITUDE:
64.832 W
LOCATION:
137 km al NE of Fajardo, Puerto Rico
DEPTH:
26 km
MAGNITUDE:
6.1 Mw
MAXIMUM INTENSITY:
VI in Las Piedras, PR, Modified Mercalli
Scale (MM)
COMMENTS:
The Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN) received reports
that this strong earthquake was reported as felt throughout Puerto Rico
and in the Virgin Islands. The maximum intensity reported was VI (Las
Piedras, PR) in the Modified Mercalli Scale (MM). At the moment of
generating this bulletin damage has been reported, an minor damage can be
expected considering the size and location of the earthquake.
640am and I am chased out of my bed to the outdoors. An earthquake was
shaking my 2 story duplex with a deep menacing grumble. It rumbled for
what seemed like a long time but was probably just 30-45 seconds. It sure sent
my heart racing, as I struggled to get the cantankerous lock of the front door
open. I didn't want to be found at the bottom of a pile of concrete rubble. I
was amazed to stand there and watch the entire structure rattle.
If you felt this earthquake in the Caribbean, report it here:
I am going to go file my report now, though my heart is still racing, I
think adrenalin surged through my body, fight or flight!
- Nana being conceived?
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:33:15 EDT
We have a tropical wave almost on top of us and a tropical depression
forming midway in the Atlantic, which could be Nana in the makings...
Today the south shore was flat calm and nearly windless, yet I drove over
to the north shore and the surf was up, the winds were brisk and the surfers
were having a blast!
I have pirated MaxWeather's forecast:
Caribbean Sea:
The Leeward and Windward Islands can expect explosive
convection resulting in strong winds, heavy rains and severe isolated
storms. Conditions are such that rapid intensification can occur
seemingly out of nowhere? Please take nothing for
granted. Opposing winds, surface vs aloft are colliding over the
Lessor Antilles. grrr
As if that is not bad enough, here comes the rest of the train,
The NHC has finally put their finger on the tropical wave in
mid-Atlantic ITCZ as Invest 97.
Who t'ief out wind? Every morning I see flat sea lately. Wha'
happenin' here? I dunno...
84 degrees with partly cloudy skies today. Notihng much on the horizon to
worry about...yet...
However, a large area of disturbed weather is located midway between
Africa and the Leeward Islands. Well, that
gives us something to look forwards to!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Someone recently suggested I write a gossip column for the islands in the
newspaper. I said "WHAT??? You want me to get killed???
Besides, I am the last to know good gossip, so what good would old gossip
do anyhow and since one of the main past times of islanders, is spreading
gossip, why would anyone need an article detailing old gossip??? No thanks.
I must admit, I once lived close to someone who generously handed out
copious amounts of daily island gossip, which over time appeared to be
about 1/3 true, so not very good odds there. Then there are folks who say if you
hear the same gossip 3 times in one day, then it's true, or if you hear the same
gossip in east as in west in same day, then it's true. (Usually, only time
will really tell if it's really and truly true.)
Of course in my opinion, we already have gossip mongers in print. I pointed
out that every year the
newspapers print this glowing article that the BVI Electricity woes are
finally over. Ha! They aren't. They should tell us the truth, that our
electricity woes are likely to never be over, there is just something
here that has never clicked right ever since they installed electricity to start
with.
If I had my dreams come true, every building in the islands would sport solar
panels on their sunny roofs and that these would be allowed to feed back
into the system with the customer getting a rebate on their electricity bill.
This is done in many parts of the world. So if you have solar panels up and
aren't using all you are putting out, then it feeds back into the system and
your neighbors can draw upon it. Meters measure electricity coming from
you building as well as going to it.
This I believe would substantially reduce the pollution in the BVI as the
electricity corporation wouldn't have to work so hard to provide electricity
once we have all these solar
panels in place.
Ha ha ha! Tee hee hee. Who is going to listen to a little ol' Mermaid
preaching about the silent wonders of modern solar electricity? Basically
the government would have to make zero investment initially, just perhaps make
all solar panels completely duty free to give us all a chance to afford them. We
have frightful duty on imports here, it's the reason many stores are too scared
to fully stock their stores, the duty has to be paid at the time of import,
forcing local businesses to be cash starved before they've even had a chance to
unpack and sell their wares.
Visit St Martin, which has NO duty, and you see the stores are just
overflowing with merchandise, making them more competitive and also encouraging
locals to keep their money home rather than dashing off island to shop
elsewhere. Last time I went to St Martin, I packed only a teeny amount of stuff,
showing up with a near empty suitcase, because I planned to shop for clothes and
toiletries. I wasn't disappointed either and I found many bargains, things at
reduced cost, a rarity in the BVI.
Life ain't perfect, but I do love the BVI for it's beauty, laid back lifestyle,
and popularity of watersports including boating. I meet folks from all
over the world who have managed to garner a spouse or work permit or business or
both here, making it an interesting international crossroads. The fashion
statement here is very interesting as folks develop their own sense of style,
often disdaining what's hot on the designer's runway.
The one style I am not fond of, is grown men dressing like toddlers,
waiting to "grow into" their clothes. Many smart mothers will outfit their
toddlers and kids in bigger clothes, (unless they have ready access to
hand-me-downs), so the kids get double milage, as then he/she has room to grow
into his clothes. Growing up, our father insisted our mother buy our shoes
with an extra "thumb's width" in the toe, so we flapped around in our new shoes,
waiting to grow into them... Our father thought, this way, it cut our shoe
costs in half.
Luckily (for him and me) I grew up in the southern US, where at that time
in life, kids kicked off their shoes after school let out for the summer and
didn't bother to put any back on, until school started, other than occasionally
donning a cheap pair of rubber flip-plops. (And you better NOT lose your only
pair of those!) So I grew up with toughened feet and ran all over beaches,
sand dunes, mountains, streams and rivers barefoot.
I once astonished a Captain I was working with, because we arrived at
Bitter End to go hiking and I had forgotten my shoes. Everyone else was wearing
very expensive athletic shoes and socks for the hike. I shrugged my shoulders
and said I would just hike barefoot and I did without any trouble much to
everyone's surprise. Sadly, since injuring both my feet and legs (should have
just stuck to the mermaid tail!!!) I am now a tad tender footed, and end
up wearing sandals (slippers, as they are locally referred to) rather than run
wild barefoot, as much as I used to. My French friend could never grasp the word
"barefoot" in her memory and always referred to it as going "foot nude".
Some men here wear these ridiculously oversized pants that perch
precariously around their crotch, are cut super wide, as if at any moment their
legs may sprout 4 times their width, with hem lines for shorts falling somewhere
between their knees and ankles. They often top this with a shirt they could
easily stash their oversized twin in and still have room to spare, and to
me, the overall look resembles a giant toddler, waiting to grow into his
clothes! Tee hee hee. (And some of these men act like giant toddlers too, helpless at
every turn it seems...
I can certainly identify with the author who wrote " I guess I have
taken off my tourism hat here, but I think we could do so much more for our
tourism if we only PICKED up the garbage."
AMEN TO THAT! Pick up some garbage, even if it
ain't yours! A little here and there and we could really make our islands
spotless.
- Can you take a hurricane named TEDDY seriously???
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 11:57:53 EDT
Da current done mash up again! ONLY 5th time this
week.
ONLY.
Life in paradise.
Ha!
No winds, flat seas, 85 degrees, and without my electric wind, it does feel
hot. Might as well go to the beach. To heck with work. Let the credit
cards ride. I need electricity to run my office and make money.
My generator broke and I was robbed by a lying, cheating,
stealing, thieving, mechanic. So now I am double
F%$%*&!!! Grrrrrrrrr!
Every year the newspapers in the BVI say we have seen the last of our
outages, that everything be fixed and everything gonna be all right and guess
what. They lied!
For those of you asking about my book, well that's another embaressing
MESS. The final proof was
supposed to come back with all my final changes. Well, they keep sending me the
final proof without the final changes and we go round and round with the
apologies and we're sorry's, and it was overlooked and on and on and on. And yet
THEY have had 24/7 power since hurricane Hugo in 1989 as they are located in the
US. I know because I asked them WHEN was their last power outage? Thinking
maybe they have it go out five times a week like me, and I am forever telling
clients, I am sorry, I had no power for 10 hours yesterday...
Well, on a FUN note, friends and I are going back out with Captain Roy on Maxsea this weekend. If you
and your friends or family are looking for something fun to do in the BVI, go
out on Captain Roy's boat for the day.
He does snorkel trips, fishing trips, island hopping trips, Anegada trips,
whatever you want with a maximum of 6 guests, and the price is right. I
NEED a vacation, even if I have to take it one day at a time..... See Captain Roy's fun slideshow of underwater
critters at his website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLOATED up on the beach today while I was washing my
tail...
Dear Miss
Mermaid,
I come to the
islands every year for two months (I'm spoiled rotten and I know it *sheepish
grin*). I was sad to read in a post long ago that fat hog bob's has closed.
I loved to go there and look out across the lagoon. I remember one time I was
there we saw a baby white tip swimming in. I hadn't the stomach
for the hot dog I was trying to eat, and when we threw the hot dog in next to
him for him to eat, he ran away (tail between his legs if he could). (But
to the topic I ACTUALLY e-mailed about) I was reading your post today (Oct
8th) when I realized how silly some of the names are for up-and-coming
hurricanes. Personally I have only been through one in the islands (bertha) and
I have to say, I can't exactly fear a hurricane called "Teddy" it sounds
too cuddly and fluffy to be taken too seriously (perhaps I should hide my bunny
slippers?).
Just wanted to send some funny thoughts and
stories Spoiled rotten
(P.S. My mom and I LOVE reading your
posts everyday and we love your stories, thank you for sharing
them)
Dear S.R.
Thanks for writing!
I too miss Fat Hog Bob's, though why you or
anyone would order a hot dog there (or anywhere!) is beyond me, however,
otherwise, their food was wonderful, as I was particularly smitten with their
BBQ sandwiches at lunch time that were heaven on earth.
Sure, I've been known to eat hotdogs, but never
at a restaurant, it seems to me, something you whip up at home when you're too
tired to make anything else. However, on the hotdog subject, the south (in the
US) makes the absolutely best hotdogs, as they come with real meat chili (no
beans) and finely chopped onions on steamed buns. If you ordered a hotdog
without chili, they would likely toss you out of the restaurant. When I started
traveling, I was SHOCKED that everywhere else in the world, you get a weenie and
a bun and they call that a hotdog, hence why I never order a hotdog at
restaurant. Or even worse, I've had hotdogs with bean chili, and nope, it's just
not the same as the good ole southern hotdogs with the real meat chili and
onions on top.
Enough of that, if Fat Hog Bobs is closing, who
will be next? Kinda scary!
Now about those hurricane names... You
made me LAUGH!!!
I agree, how do you take a hurricane named
TEDDY seriously or Nana or Sally... At least with Bertha we had some fun
(Big Bad Bertha...)
Hurricanes and himmacanes should be named
something ferocious like
New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out!
- Paradise
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 12:38:35 EDT
Tropical Storm Marco is a has-been, tossed away like a jilted lover, never
to be seen again.
The rest of the unused storm names for 2008 are:
Nana Omar Paloma Rene Sally Teddy Vicky Wilfred
86 degrees today in the BVI, with sunshine and clouds, a glorious
day! We might get some scattered showers later today. Winds are nearly
dead. A few tropical waves are headed our way.
I am still pondering over why my crystal ball says we are safe until
December. That's an odd time for a storm! I guess we just have to wait
until then and see...
Since 1851, 10 tropical storms have formed in the Atlantic basin in
December.
Of those 10 named tropical storms, five became hurricanes.
The 2nd storm of the 1925 season, (names weren't used
then), formed on November 29 off the coast of Honduras and moved
northward. It hit near Venice, Florida on December 1 as a weak hurricane or
strong tropical storm. It moved over Florida, strengthened over the Gulf Stream
to 100mph winds, grazed the Outer Banks on December 2, and moved out to sea and
dissipated. 55 people reported missing from ship sinkings were likely killed,
and $1 million in damage is estimated for this storm
Hurricane Alice, which formed on Dec. 30, 1954, didn't
dissipate until Jan. 6, 1955.
In the 1984 season, we had Hurricane Lili, which lasted
well after the official end of the season, reaching peak winds of 80mph. It was
downgraded from a named storm on December 24, 1984.
In 1988, hurricane Nicole, a Category 1, formed in
the tropics in late November but was still raging when December came
around.
Hurricane Epsilon formed as a tropical storm on November
29, 2005 in a hostile environment in the middle of the Atlantic. It reached
hurricane strength on December 2, 2005 and defied forecasting by persisting for
over a week before dissipating.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Found in a Bottle on the Shore Today:
Hi Miss Mermaid
I read your tales with much
interest & look forward to your stories of daily life on the
islands.
I myself live in England along
with my husband who originates from Antigua where my mother-in-law still
lives.
I'm just wondering if you have any
advise on getting rid of the dreaded cockroaches, on our last visit in March of
this year we found the kitchen to be alive with them & as much as we tried
to eradicate them when we snook in there at night & switched the light on we
would see the darn things scattering around to hide in dark
corners.
Not wanting to upset my poorly
sighted mother-in-law (who already thinks I am too 'fussy' and obsessed with
cleaning) we didn't make a big issue of it by calling in the experts,
especially as she wasn't aware that she was even sharing her home with them, we
are however going back in November & the thought of meeting up with those
roaches is stressing me out.
HELP.... can we sort this
ourselves or are the experts needed?
Kindest regards from chilly
England
Miss MG
Dear MG,
I can
imagine your frustration! My cats and the odd lizard they allow to live
inside, seem to keep me mostly bug free. I say mostly because I
prop my doors open everyday and don't have screen doors. So once in awhile a bug
might wander in, only to be pursued by the lizard or the cat and killed or ate
or both, sometimes ate alive.
However, I used to store my boat in boat yards and they are
notorious for bug infestations, so we used bug
bombs or foggers before storing the boat and this worked wonders.
I once moved into an apartment with a bug infestation and also used a bug fogger
to rid myself of them. I politely mentioned it to the neighbors, as I
figured my bugs might simply move from my apartment to theirs!
Sounds
like you need to (1) obtain a bug bomb or fogger for every room in the
house (2) find a way to get granny out of the house for a full
day!
By the
way bug bombs are sold in aerosol cans, and meant to be "set off" to discharge
all their contents at once. YOU MUST MAKE SURE you have gas/propane turned
off and that NO pilot lights are lit at the stove or anywhere. Otherwise this
highly flammable stuff will go off like a BOMB and scare you into changing your
undies right away.
For
best results, empty house of all humans and pets for the day. Close up all
windows and doors. Set off a bug bomb in every room of the house and RUN like
hell for the outdoors and slam the door shut! Do not return for 8-24 hours
or more.
When
you do return, be prepared to sweep or vacuum lots of little dead bodies.
Also,
search granny's house for corrugated cardboard boxes. Bug eggs like to hide
in corrugated cardboard and they also like to eat the glue. Some will eat the
glue on hard bound books and make a mess of things. Most folks in the Caribbean,
know to get corrugated cardboard boxes OUT of their boats and homes as soon as
possible. It always irritates me that you have to keep the original
packaging of stuff to return it to the store if it is defective. I think they
want the original packaging so they can resell it!
Anyhow, I sometimes keep a box for 30 days, on new equipment,
then it hits the dumps. When I buy in bulk to save the money, the
first thing I try to do, is empty any corrugated boxes and get them down to the
dump rapidly before the bug eggs hatch. By the way most bug eggs look like DIRT
and are often impervious to bombs and foggers. So a well infested place may need
2-3 treatments, spread over several months, to kill all the newborn bug babies a
month or so later.
Many
Caribbean folks don't care for vacuum cleaners, but a HEPA
Filter vacuum cleaner will often snag all the bug eggs, (and mold spores
too!) then when you empty out the vacuum cleaner make sure the garbage goes
straight to the dump.
Well, that's
the best I can give you for "do it yourself" bug riddance. Otherwise, call
in the pros, to come by every month for 3 months. Let me know what happens
in November! Ya got me real curious now.
Local BVI Band to Perform at 2008 Annapolis Boat
Show Platinum News Online -
Tortola,British Virgin Islands Local songstress
Shereen Flax-Charles and BVI Band ‘Profile’ will be performing
at this year’s Annapolis Sail Boat Show, slated to be held October 9-13th in
...
Earthrace Eco-Boat Prepares to Make a Stop in the
BVI Platinum
News Online - Tortola,British Virgin Islands This
Friday when it arrives in Road Town, the BVI will have its
opportunity to find out what Earthrace really is. Earthrace, valued at 3 million
is a 24m ...
Update from the BVICCHA on airlift situation into
BVI By nospam at example.com
(Kerry Hucul) As you are aware, various efforts
have been made to secure lost airlift to the Territory from San Juan. As a
result of those negotiations, additional flights have been added while others
await confirmation as follows: I. AMERICAN EAGLE
...
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- Bye Fat Hog Bob
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 12:01:31 EDT
87 F degrees, the Sir Francis Drake Channel running down the south
side of Tortola and bordered by Virgin Gorda, Ginger Cooper, Salt, Peter and
Norman is flat calm. On a motor boat, you could go any where today and arrive
quite dry with some fuel savings.
We have hit the ominous 13, now named tropical storm Marco who is menacing
Mexico but no threat to us, unless of course, our islands drag anchor
and we all end up over there.
There is a tropical wave in the mid Atlantic, but I don't think he's going
to do much. Though, I am surprised at how warm the waters are for October. So
anything could really happen, but my crystal ball just doesn't see it.
Maya Cove with Buck Island in foreground, Tortola to the left
with Virgin Gorda in the background, on the right, Ginger Island in the
background.
On a sad note, Fat Hog Bob's in Maya Cove has closed down.
I had many fine late lunches there, after fetching friends from the airport.
Rumor is another local restaurateur is taking it over, sure I know a name, but
hesitate to mention it here, since it may be still under negotiation.
- Schooner, Ketch, Yawl...come back here, ya hear?
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 10:09:37 EDT
85 degrees, slight winds, mostly sunny bright skies flanked by pale blue
skies and bold white clouds. Another great day for the beach!
Nothing on the horizon of nothing bad headed out way.
Yet.
My crystal ball says we are safe until December. December???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My friend mentioned he had never been to Smugglers Cove Beach
and got lost trying to find it recently! I insisted we all go immediately,
as he has lived here about 20 years and it would be a disgrace if that kind of
rumor got started...
I was happy to plunge into the warm waters and paddle about and
try to do my scissor stroke and wiggle my mermaid tail and generally have
some great fun! Salt water is so healing and afterwards I felt very well.
Well enough for a nap!
Ah, life just can't get any better. The beach is free and it was
a perfect day to be there. I took my camera, but was too lazy to take any
pictures as it is not waterproof.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last night on the weather channel was an hour long special on the 1900
Hurricane that hit Galveston and their remarkable efforts to rebuild the island
after such mass devastation. They dug up some little known video
footage of the aftermath. Thomas Edison's assistant showed up with the
newfangled camera and seeing the Texas Rangers were acting edgy, he announced it
was surveying equipment and was permitted to enter and subsequently film, the
incredible tragedy. Only 3-4 cameras were in existence at that time. It is
believed to be the oldest moving picture account of a historical moment.
You can download the clips
here. One is particularly fascinating, the launching of a schooner,
stuck on shore, it's rather dramatic.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of Schooners, Here's a pic of the William
Thornton aka WillyT
on a busy Sunday afternoon.
What's the difference between a schooner, a ketch and a
yawl? A schooner has a taller aft mizzen mast than the foremast. (The
pointy upright stick on the left of the pic is towards the front of the
boat and the aft mizzen is the taller one in back).
A ketch has a taller foremast than the aft mizzen
mast.
A yawl is like a ketch except the mizzen mast is aft of
the rudder post. (A rudder post being d'hat t'ing that steers the
boat!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The circus came to town and we didn't even know it! Lack
of advertising is like winking in the dark: you know what you are doing,
but nobody else does!
Seyranyan’s
Family Circus Thrills BVIslanders Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands Speaking to BVI Platinum News, Lenia Smith
representative of LCJS’ Enterprises whilst thanking the persons that came out to
the show, expressed discontent ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a small child, I remember my mother dashing off to
town with me one day. We parked and walked to Main Street, which several blocks
of it and other streets had been cordoned off. The circus arrived by train, and
they had to move all the animals over to the auditorium area. It was easier to
just ride and march the elephants than to load them up in rented trucks. Other
cages of tamed wild animal acts, were on wheels that were pushed and pulled by
circus help, many dressed exotically. The elephants were even
adorned with head dresses of sequins and anklets of glitter. I remember watching
in awl, as these massive beasts obediently marched from the train station to the
auditorium. They had a baby elephant with them, and she came up in
the rear, holding onto her mommy elephant's tail with her trunk.
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- Moldy Sunshine
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 09:19:47 EDT
85 degrees, th eSir Francis Drake has tiny white caps and winds are slight,
but the sun is out!
MaxWeather sent me this weather post this morning:
ITCZ and it is a nasty looking system slowly coming along a line to the
South of 15 N at 50 W and moving West at about 10 mph like a freight train! Toot
toot! grrr Rumble rumble rumble. Oh, and by the way, this
freight train is almost 1800 miles long! grrr
Just so you don't get bored in the Lessor Antilles, there is plenty of
convection between the bad boy and you to keep you on your toes until the train
comes into the station. grrr You just might need the practice?
This season is by no means over ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dust, mold, mildew... All those lovely rains that topped
up our cisterns, turning our islands to a fairy-like emerald green oasis,
have also turned my chest of drawers into an ugly disgusting mess!
A few weeks ago, I spent a small fortune on chemical
dehumidifiers for my closet which wasn't smelling so sweetly, and that seemed to
have fixed that problem.
Now I opened up my chest of drawers to fetch some things, and to
my horror, the clothes stink and the drawers are lined in greenish-blue fuzzy
stinky moldy mildew. YUCK! What's even worse, I was at the store and
forgot to buy bleach. It will take a full day of washing all the clothes,
scrubbing the drawers with bleach and drying the whole mess outdoors, using the
natural disinfecting properties of the sunshine. UGH. I have plenty on my
plate these days, and this is one nightmare that almost brought me to tears.
When things like this happen, I get in this less is best
mentality and start seriously purging my belongings and sending things to
the dump or the charity or welcoming friends.
Less stuff = less to worry about = more freedom.
"Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to
Lose"
Music Trivia:
Lyric from "Me and Bobby
McGee" is a song written by Kris
Kristofferson and Fred
Foster, originally performed by Roger
Miller, but best remembered for Janis Joplin's cover of the song,
recorded a few days before her death in October 1970 on her 1971 Pearl
album. Joplin's version topped the charts to become her only number
one single and only the second posthumous number one single in rock & roll
history (the first was "(Sittin' on)
the Dock of the Bay" by Otis
Redding).
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- Saturday
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 07:49:35 EDT
84 degrees, sun is not quite out yet, but it's bright and willing, just
some wayward clouds playing peek a boo.
The kitties are all healthy again, relaxed and eating normally, more or
less, which indicates that no foul weather is on the horizon. They were all
seasick last week, and I never did determine the cause. One had to be spoon fed
a formula of egg yoke, honey and milk as otherwise he wouldn't eat at all, just
lay around looking half dead. But now they are all fine. At 4am, I awoke briefly
to fetch some mango
juice and they inquired about breakfast, which they gulped down and licked
the bowl for good measure, then they ran outdoors to greet the early morning and
look for unsuspecting prey.
My first apartment came with a plethora of chickens and birds, so I was
used to tossing stale crackers, old bread, leftover unpopped corn kernels from
popcorn snacks and stuff like that in the yard. It kept the chickens and
birds happy and busy, cleaning up the treats. Out of habit I was doing that at
my new place, and before I knew it, I had loads of visiting birds and chickens.
I suppose, I've inadvertently provided more hunting opportunities for my crafty
cats.
Yesterday, I came home to find a pile of feathers in the dining room and
nothing else. So somebody apparently felt well enough to have a
fresh fowl picnic, in my absence. Had they tried this while I was at home,
I would have greeted them and their bounty at the cat door with a
"Stop! Do not pass go! Make a U-turn on those wittle paws and
take dat t'ing and go dine under the lime tree!"
I have no idea if they had chicken or some other bird. This was all that
remained when I arrived with a few more feathers scattered around under the
table and chairs.
Gee thanks, kitties, I needed more housework...
I've decided if it weren't for my cats, I would have very little housework.
In an ideal world, every cat would come with a vacuum cleaner and their
own maid. This would drive the adoption fees up, but would be well worth it.
Shhhhh...we have bananas coming in again. Every day we check on them and
pray the banana thief doesn't beat us to them. Should I put up my new
sign? "Go pick your nose, NOT my fruit!"
Read the latest newsletter and help us name our roads!
US
territories defend bailout package's rum bill The Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A tax
break for rum produced in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands may
trigger a hangover for proponents of Congress' huge ...
Artisanal
Rum in Tortola, BVI Also produced are 'wines', made
from exotic local fruits: soursop, golden apple and banana. The Callwood
Distillery is found in the Cane Garden Bay area on the island of Tortola, in the
British Virgin Islands.
Fatal
wounding of man confirmed SKNVibes.com - Basseterre,St. Kitts and Nevis By Melissa
Bryant TORTOLA, BVI – LOCAL police have confirmed that Archie Todman aka
‘Basha’ died earlier today (Oct. 2) as a result of a stab wound to the
...
Fashion guru Terry Donovan named as Production Director for the
... By
vifashionweek Terry Donovan, a native of Tortola,
British Virgin Islands and currently resides in New York City, is known for the
gala events he produced in the British Virgin Islands, including the Miss World
British Virgin Islands Pageant. Mr. ...
Virgin Atlantic celebrates a decade flying to the
Caribbean Travel Counsellors -
Bolton,England,UK Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic chief
executive, commented: "Since we started flying to the Caribbean in 1998, we have
carried over four million British...
Boating
Safety and Accident News By Ike(Ike)
Activities in Observance of Boating Safety Week 2008 Platinum News
Online - Tortola,British Virgin Islands Boating Safety Week will be
observed in the Territory from October 12 – 18. The Virgin Islands Shipping
Registry has organised a ...
Celebrity Solstice
leaves shipyard TravelMole -
London,England,UK ... a series of alternating seven-night
Eastern Caribbean cruises calling at San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, and
Tortola during the autumn and winter. ...
Stellar
Lineup at BVI Performing Arts Series By Gail Hartman From stylish New York jazz
saxophonist, Steve Wilson, to young and hip classical artists, the Ahn
Trio, the BVI’s HLSCC has been bringing top-drawer jazz and
classical artists to the College for the past 14 years. The BVI may
be a small ...
BVI
Cycling Federation By
Webmaster(Webmaster) For those of you that do not know, cycling is
very big in the Caribbean and there is a very active cycling group in the
British Virgin Islands. On Sunday, October 5th, the BVI Cycling
Federation will host the Jason Bally Memorial 100k,
...
Ah, the life of a sailor in
paradise with Ginger Island in the background.
Rolled up on the seashore in a French Wine Bottle:
Simply that I thought your
post on mozzies and dengue fever were excellent! Had an attack of dengue
shortly after I married the mother of my children..........was up-country in
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and a friend told me to get into bed with my new
wife and stay there until I'd sweated out the fever.............it took all of
three days! 'Luv Frenchie
Ha ha Frenchie! That
is one way to sweat out a fever...
Found in a Florida Milk Carton on
the seashore:
RE: Mystery Pesky
Tree
I am fast
running out of bottles! That tree in Florida does not look like the one in your
photos which are exactly what I have in my garden, the pesky trees in Anguilla
do not have shiny leaves and would bleed white milk if you tried to write on
them, the sea grape leaves are the best for letter writing and you can even curl
them up and put them in a bottle, if you have one that is! I am back in Anguilla
in November and as I belong to the Keep Anguilla Beautiful Society (or some such
name) I will ask one of the esteemed botanical ladies (who know everything) what
it is called if you still haven't found out. JH
The Beach was just littered with Messages in a Bottle
today!
Dear MM,
Great reading your messages each day. Again this year you
kept KYLE too long then cast him adrift making him mad and taking it out on
us in the NE. Contrary to your recent report I think LAURA is headed
for England arriving Sunday next... Hope the financial crisis doesn't
adversley effect the Islands. I will be in St.Lucia again in December
but your pix etc. make me homesick for the BVI. If your not going to be kind to
the himmicanes in the future don't send them up here. We seem to be generating
our own (Laura)...JOHN
85 degrees with only slight winds and glistening seas. Nothing on the
horizon to bother us yet. Bright and sunny, just a
typically lovely day in paradise on Tortola in the beautiful BVI.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Washed up in a Rum Bottle on Shore from B.K.
More on the mystery tree, as pictured in past posts below:
Found In Another Rum Bottle with a few Mosquitos inside
Hello.. Hope all is well..
Looking forward to reading your book !
I have a question..... I have a cistern for my water supply. I was
wondering if you ever have any problems with mosquito's getting into
your cisterns ?
The area around our house is swarming with mosquito's.. our house
sits
on top of a hill and without any natural water supplies.. It has been
as dry as a dessert in our area this summer... but we still have thousands
of mosquitos... I can see them flying when I open my
cistern to check the level of water.
I love to sit outside on our porch area.. but it's miserable. I
have heard that having a Thai Lemon Grass plant in your yard helps..
any suggestions ? And do you have them in your cisterns too.. ?
Take care..
Signed, Mosquito Bitten
Dear MB:
YIKES! First of all, you should not have mosquitos
breeding in your cistern. Yuck! You need to run out shopping
for some fine mesh screens or mosquito
netting similar to what you use on your windows (or bed) to
keep mosquitos out. Locate all your overflow outlets from the
cistern, and cover these in screens or flap valves that only open when the
water pushes them open. If using screens or mesh, you may have to buy some
jumbo hose
clamps or plastic
wire ties to hold the screens on over the outflow pipes.
Next, you have to go up on the roof, and put screens on the inflow
pipes or downspout filters. You may need a sturdier screen
that you can cut much larger than the hole, and mold like a cup with lips,
to place over the downspouts. It helps if you already have gutter mesh or
screen to keep the leaves and debris out of the gutters (some roof rain
catchment systems don't use gutters, they often have a sloped roof with a
wall around it and downspouts at the low ends.)
Stock your cistern with tiny male fish guppies, usually 2 will do the
trick, as they will happily eat the mosquito larvae. Do not mix male and
female guppies together or else you will have a fish tank instead of a
cistern. I know in the BVI you can get these from the Agriculture and
Fisheries department.
ANY standing water can breed mosquitos in short order. Water left in
plant saucers, water in old tires laying around, water in ANYTHING laying
around, even just a tiny bit of water. So check your property for junk
that may be harboring standing water. If possible, just get rid of the
junk. Moving water doesn't breed mosquitos, and neither does salt
water. Pools utilize pumps to keep the water flowing and prevent
mosquitos. Salt water ponds do not breed mosquitos.
Finally wearing loose light colored clothes that cover lots of
skin will prevent bites as well as does of OFF and other products. Matter
of fact, I put together a product listing of "Alternative
Mosquito Repellants" .
Citronella
candles will keep mosquitos away from the immediate area. I buy these
by the dozen and use them for dining al fresco. So sit outside and burn a
few candles. Alternatively buy a mosquito
net and drape the sitting area of your porch. But mostly you just
want rid of the mosquitos to start with. Also see books
on mosquito control.
Well, I hope all this helps and if any gentle readers have more
bright ideas to get rid of these deadly pests, let me know. I say deadly,
because of the types of dengue fever. I had the dreaded hemorrhagic dengue
fever a few years after having dengue fever, and was lucky to live through
it, though it wasn't pretty.
I was living alone on my boat, we had gone through 2 hurricanes a few
days apart. I had money in the bank, but the banks and machines
were shut down and I was penniless. I had credit cards, but since the
banks were closed up, no one would accept credit cards or checks. My boat
had run out of food, and I reluctantly stood in line at the
Red Cross. I was feverish and covered in red bumps and a rash. A Red
Cross worker, pulled me out of line to have a seat and she asked me
if I felt well and I told her no. She gave me a box of food and a voucher
to go see my doctor and another voucher for the drug store.
I managed to stagger to the doctor. The waiting room was
crowded but inexplicably, his wife/nurse took me ahead of the other
patients and put me in an exam room, where I promptly fell asleep from the
exhausting walk, which was only maybe 100 yards from the Red Cross, but it
felt like a 20 mile march to me. My body was covered in pinpoint
spots of blood on the skin, which I found out later, is why the nurse
rushed me out of the waiting room. All they could do was treat the
symptoms and send me home again with promises I would consume copious
amounts of water.
The Doc wrote out a stack of prescriptions that might ease up on the
symptoms. He took my Red Cross voucher as payment and so did the drug
store. I was trying to stumble down the street with my box of food and
meds, when I ran into a retired friend who had come over by ferry,
from another island.
He grabbed my box and went out to my boat with me, where I promptly
fell asleep. When I awoke, he had settled himself in and declared he
wouldn't leave until I got well again. We played endless card games
in between my frequent naps and showers to cool the fevers. He tried
to make all sorts of tasty things, from the Red Cross box, of which I
seemed to have little appetite for, although I remember the canned grape
juice and the canned beets being my favorite treats. Meanwhile,
another nurse, who lived on a boat, stopped by daily on her way to and
from work, to check on my prognosis and bring me water, juice and
treats. I remember I had a strong craving for yogurt and the island had
NONE at the time, as I was in St John and after the 2 hurricanes, power
was spotty and store selections grim. I still had no cash to pay her, but
promised to make it up when the banks reopened.
As you've seen, every hurricane I solicit donations for the Red
Cross. They save lives. They saved my life. The Red Cross vouchers
were promises of money to my doc and druggist, who were able to collect
their fees and thus stay in business treating the needy. The box of food
came from massive bulk purchases Red Cross made from existing
merchants, supplemented by canned goods shipped in and paid for by Red
Cross.
Red Cross Volunteers, spent their days opening up cases of foods and
sorting them into boxes, so that my box (like others) ended up with a
wide variety of liquids, canned vegetables, fruits and meats.
I owe my doc, the nurses, my friends and the Red
Cross for saving my life. My friends kept me restocked in water
and juices, and just having them around, kept me from being terrified. My
friend read his way through my library, and fetched water and food when
the box ran out. I remember I had wild dreams, a terrible fever, a
constant rash, numerous aches and was often
confused.
We heard the Tortola banks were operating, so after I got well, we
set sail for Tortola, where my visiting friend lived, and I remember
how weak I was, pulling in a sheet (rope) on the mainsail or jib,
felt like my arm would tear right off. After a few more weeks, my strength
came back. Dengue fever is a serious disease and one you don't want.
I must have nine lives like my cats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now THIS is something we've needed for a loooooooooooong time,
let's hope they keep their promises!
Relief
in the Works for Lengthy Work Permit Process Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands Persons interested in working in the British Virgin
Islands (BVI) and persons seeking renewals of their work permits will
soon not have to go through the ...
BVI
concludes discussions with LIAT over additional flights Caribbean Net News - Georgetown,Cayman
Islands ROAD TOWN, BVI: The British Virgin Islands government
has concluded discussions with LIAT to provide three daily flights to and from
San Juan, Puerto Rico, ...
Digicel BVI
dismantles towers as network roll out resumes Caribbean Net News - Georgetown,Cayman Islands ROAD
TOWN, BVI: Digicel BVI Ltd on Tuesday began the process of relocating the first
of several cellular sites in the British Virgin Islands in areas of
...
Tropical Storm Laura is headed for Canada. We have a tropical wave going
south of us and very slight winds here as a result of same. Laura is sending
swells to Tortola, so today should be a good one for surfing!
82f degrees on Tortola at 615am, slight to no winds, but that could change,
sunshine with pink and blue clouds, an odd combination I think from the way the
sunrise is hitting the clouds and making it quite colorful.
Sunday we went out with Captain Roy
on M/V Maxsea. It was a fun day to be at sea, and to sneak away to
some other islands. If you love to snorkel and want to find the out of the way
places to go, then CaptainRoyBVI.com is
the place for you to sign up for an unforgettable day trip of
snorkeling.
Alternatively, if you want to fish, then go with Roy, you won't be
disappointed when he shows you how to catch a boat load of fish, enough for your
dinner with plenty leftover.
Recently Captain Roy returned from a fishing trip and set up his scales on
the back of his truck in East End, and soon he was swarmed by eager shoppers,
anxious to pick out their fresh fish for family dinners.
Sub Tropical Storm Laura has formed in the mid north Atlantic, due east of
all that hot air in Washington DC. She poses no threat to that area
though. Kyle,
after pounding Nova Scotia, Saturday, is no longer a tropical storm, so he is
more or less dead. Bye Kyle!
I just wrote a lengthy email for today and guess what, I somehow hit
the wrong button and managed to highlight everything, type over it and LOSE the
entire email. Talk about disaster. *SIGH*
85 degrees here on Tortola. Seas on the south shore are slightly choppy,
nothing heavy at all. Sun is out and we have big puffy clouds wallowing around.
Swells are increasing on the North shore and today through Thursday should
be good for surfing, with Tuesday and Wednesday, as the best days.
FOUND IN A WINE BOTTLE ON SHORE THIS
MORNING:
Dear Miss Mermaid
Google will help you out
if you type in Calotropis
procera
Around the
islands known as French Cotton, Monkey apple, Cow heel, Milk bush, Giant
Milkweed, Bois petard_firework tree
SHOULD NEVER
BE USED INTERNALLY.
Toxic
for the heart says my book! “Plantes medicinales from
Exbrayat”
The pods can
certainly make you jump when they pop open noisily around
midday.
External
use
Crushed roots and leaves can be used as a poultice on painful
inflammations.
Latex, the milk, can be used undiluted, on warts and
corns.
Other
use
The silky tufts of the fruits were once used to fill
pillows.
In Africa the latex is used in
the making of cheese as it contains an enzyme that curdles
milk.
Thanks for all the pleasant and informative reports in all the
years gone by ;)
Hope this information helps.
Greetings Corrien
Sint-Maarten
Thank you Corrien for all your help!
Dear Miss Mermaid
*Scroll down to last 2 days postings to see pictures of this
plant.
The Flying
Cloud has run into MORE trouble, as our future BVI reef. Read the article
and see if you can help.
BVISO-
Windjammer Flying Cloud By
admin at saildivebvi.com ( BVI Captains Log Blog) When we first started
working on obtaining the Windjammer Flying Cloud to sink in the British
Virgin Islands, almost a year ago, it was tied up at a dock in Trinidad,
with the Marine Museum, who did not want it. ...
David
Swain’s friends, family plead for a fair trial Providence Journal - Providence,RI,USA But the real
reason and the real benefactor of the evening’s fundraising event sat 1700 miles
away in a sweltering hilltop prison on the island of Tortola.
...
I read that Swain read through the prison library in a
few days time. Friends have mailed him more books. His address is in the
article, perhaps if you feel like mailing him some used books, they will end up
in the prison library, which sounds like it could use some book donations.
LIAT adds flights to British Virgin Islands International Herald Tribune - France AP
TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands: The British Virgin Islands says
daily flights are now shuttling tourists between sparsely populated Beef Island
and the ...
Himmacane Kyle if off to Nova Scotia and the Gulf of Maine.
Calm seas, 82.6F degrees, slight winds and SUNSHINE at 645am Sunday.
Birds are chirping and the neighborhood is quiet, even the roosters. Typical
short scattered showers may come and go today in the beautiful British Virgin
Islands.
Two lizards are frantically flirting, one is inside on the window screen,
and the other is outside, sitting on the jalousie window pane. They can't quite
figure out what is wrong with this picture, it's comical to watch them run up
and down, trying to get together, and finding that one or the other appears to
be in prison.
A walk on the shoreline tossed up this very fine blue wine
bottle:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
Out of a bottle—very fine blue wine bottle I might add—on
the beach this inquiry:
Loved the picture of the plant with the pod that produces
beautiful flowers—what is it????
And also, to let you know that your daily updates are
greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Freesong—in North Carolina
Dear Freesong,
I was afraid SOMEBODY was going to ask that. By the way,
there used to be a Freesong sailboat homeported in Cruz Bay, St John, awhile
back, would that be you or just a coincidence?
At the time, I took the pictures, some locals I asked,
gave me a local name for it, that even they weren't sure of. I thought I
scribbled it on some paper, perhaps not. I checked my purse for scraps of paper
and what I came up with was 2 phone numbers and a quote:
"Life's a Garden: Dig
it!"
So, I will make an appeal to my gentle readers, some are in
the Caribbean and see if it can be identified by some smart cookie out there.
Scroll down to yesterday's post to see more pictures of the plant, pods and
flowers. What I know is that it is hearty, and will grow in sand without much
water. The one I saw was probably 10-12 feet, growing along the roadside,
in sand near the beach.
This pic shows the flowers to the left and a pod on the
right and of course the leaves.
84.8F degrees, sunny skies, calm seas, gentle winds. Summer still lingers
on, even though we are technically into Autumn. Waters are warm, and the
islands, are this incredible green, thanks to all the recent rain activity the
past few weeks.
I feel positively weak and lazy, it must be the summer daze...
Anyone that doesn't have a full cistern of fresh rain water by now, has a
serious leak somewhere, or very bad gutters.
*************************
The final proof of my book "Hurricanes and Hangovers" finally arrived (and
I just need to check it over. If all is well, then we should be in print
SOON! Yahoo!
*************************
Is it a fruit? A nut? A veggie?
No, it's a pod!
And it opens up to reveal these brilliant flowers!
Tropical Storm Kyle is meandering around, a storm watch is in effect for
Bermuda, then Kyle looks like he may head for New England, he's so big, he's
dumping ferocious rains, aided by 60mph winds, wherever he wobbles. By
Saturday he will probably be a himmacane.
There's a disturbance in the Atlantic we are watching, but no worries yet.
My crystal balls plans to send it packing elsewhere.
BVI’S New Shipping Registry Status By Gail Hartman As one of the leading
countries/territories in financial services (the BVI has more than 600000
international business companies registered), the territory is now moving
towards vigourously boosting its shipping registry.
...
British
Virgin Islands Sailing Charter – 10 Reasons to Sail Tortola By Nancy Hardy The British Virgin Islands
are conveniently located about sixty miles east of Puerto Rico, and the volcanic
island of Tortola is the largest of the chain. Ten reasons that
Tortola is an ideal location for a sailing charter are as
...
16-Member Delegation
Represents BVI at Monacco Yacht Show SKNVibes.com - Basseterre,St. Kitts and Nevis The
BVI’s participation is a joint effort of the VISR and the International
Affairs Secretariat, IAS. Director of the IAS, Mrs. Lorna Smith, who is part of
...
BVI, St. Lucia offer electronic customs
clearance The Triton (press
release) - Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA "This pilot project will permit
yachts entering and leaving St. Lucia and the British Virgin
Islands to submit the relevant customs documentation on
...
Virgin Islands for $351 on American Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA By
CLARA BOSONETTO MAERZ No passport is required* to enjoy a trip to St. Thomas in
the Virgin Islands! And at this time of the year deep pockets aren’t
...
BVI experiencing power outages (LIKE THIS
IS NEWS???) Caribbean Net News -
Georgetown,Cayman Islands By Oscar Ramjeet TORTOLA, BVI: The
British Virgin Islands is now experiencing power outages and the General
Manager of BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) ...
I see on your site that you are seeing "Kyle" in the
distance.
We are suppose to fly into Tortolla this Sat. (27th) for a
Tradewinds Cruise thru Oct. 4th. Do you see that the storm
will be in the BVI through this time?
O.T.W.
Dear "On The
Way",
Good news!
Kyle has already been through here! He could come back for an encore,
it's happened before, but he's not predicted to...yet!
Last Sunday, the 21st, I wrote: "Last night the storm blew in, I think
it's going to be named Kyle in a few days."
BELOW:
The red blob, more or less, is where the Virgin Islands are
scattered. That big white behemoth north of the islands, is KYLE. He is
moving north at 8mph.
There is a blob in the middle of the Atlantic, (not shown) due east of the
Windward
Islands and I am keeping my eye on him and warning him away from us, so your
trip should be fine.
Matter of fact, washed up ashore in a Cruzan Rum Bottle was this note
intended for you when you last wrote (see September 11th) See?
Those bottles tossed at sea seem to find Dear Miss Mermaid!
Dear Miss
Mermaid,
My wife and I were on a Tradewinds
cruise 8/23-30 and can testify that the folks have nothing to worry about. First
off it is a fully crewed charter on 45' or 56' cats and so they won't have to
figure out what to do with the boat, (in the event of a storm) although planning
for an early departure is prudent.
And on a final
note, what do sailors do in inclement weather in the
BVI? Well, that's a
good time to curl up and enjoy some wonderful books from Serendipity Book
Shop at #5 Main Street in Road Town. Stop there before you go sailing
and pick up some good books, they make terrific souvenirs and lasting gifts
too.
My crystal ball was right again. Since
September 19th, I've mentioned the future Kyle who is now
about 640 miles south south west of Bermuda, but he is one big boy!
Beware! He packs a lot of moisture and has no qualms about dumping it all
on you, diapers can't even keep up with this prolific baby.
Kyle is wobbling north at snail's rate of 8mph (Even a house
cat can run over 30mph!) Kyle has 45+ mph winds and extends about 210
miles across.
The Hurricane Hunters reported a minimum central pressure of
1001 MB...29.56 INCHES.
So roll up those Bermuda Shorts, and shed those socks and
sandals for some serious rubber boots and foul weather gear.
The big hoopla will be at FOXY'S
on Jost Van Dyke. He is famous for many great parties, which when I
had my boat, I probably made about a dozen or more parties each year at
his place from the legendary Old Year's Night (New Year's Eve) to
celebrating his birthday or Halloween or Christmas or the Wooden Boat
Regatta and so on. Yes, I've spent many a Rum Squall
there...
A Story Unrelated to Halloween...but about
September...and about Foxy's
It used to be on Labor Day
Weekend, the first weekend in September, Foxy held the Wooden Boat
Regatta. It is now held Memorial Day weekend (last weekend in May).
I was there, the last
time the September races were held. I was living on my 30 foot sailboat
alone. The party was coming up and I was delighted to be off work and
heading for the party. At the last minute, a girlfriend called in deathly
sick at work, and jumped aboard, as I was leaving to go over on a
Wednesday even though the festivities didn't start until Friday night. A
week on my boat, would heal her body and soul perfectly!
Sailing Takes me away To where I've always heard it could
be
I figured I would spend the week
over there, get a nice anchorage, do a bit of boat work in the mornings,
(the dreaded maintenance of polishing stainless steel rails, oiling teak,
changing the engine oil) all that fun stuff, to keep my home afloat,
then I could spend my afternoons swimming and my evenings ashore,
dancing in the sand, to the sound of the band.
It's not far down to paradise At least it's not for
me
It was nice to have company along,
as so often, I ended up sailing alone, for lack of finding someone with a
crazy schedule, that could afford to go. In this case, she could take the
ferry back, if she felt the urge to have a miraculous recovery and go back
to work.
If I had died and gone to heaven,
I would have thought life ended on one of the very best days
of my entire life.
And if the wind is right you can sail away And find
tranquility
We made the trip from Cruz Bay, St
John to Jost Van Dyke in under two hours of just really pleasant sailing.
The type of day when I just felt like a child of the planet, barefoot,
dressed in my bathing suit and big straw hat, lazily sailing on a
picture perfect day with moderate seas to a favored anchorage and the
promise of a fun weekend in the makings. What more could you
want out of life?
And if the wind is right you can find the joy Of innocence
again
We found my special secret
anchoring spot was empty and waiting for me. My friend was new to sailing,
but eager to help out. We put out one anchor to hold the boat and then
carefully laid out the second anchor, so we could sleep soundly at
night. We covered up the sails, tidied up the lines, put up the rain
catcher over the forepeak, then draped the boom with a tent-like awning
for extra shade, rinsed the seasalt off our faces, then sheathed
ourselves in colorful sarongs over our bathing suits. We launched the swim
ladder, climbed into the dinghy and smiled when that Yamaha engine started
on one little pull.
Ashore, Customs and Immigration
were surprisingly cheerful and stamped us in for the week. Word had spread
like wildfire that two single women has sailed in, so as we exited the
clearance building, we seemed to have a bevy of single men, awaiting to
escort us where ever we wanted to go. First we stopped by Christine's
Bakery to get some sent from heaven, whole wheat bread before she ran
out. Our escorts, of course carried this massive heavy loaf of bread
for us (ah to be young and single...) and we ambled down to Foxy's for
some much needed cold drinks, courtesy of our new found fan club.
Single women arriving by sailboat,
at that time, was a rarity and considered an oddity! It was mid
week in September, and very boats graced the anchorage, as most would
arrive on Friday and early Saturday. We were pummeled with endless
questions as these island guys were incredulous that two young women could
manage a boat. Many believed that only men could sail, why I do not
know, but that is the way it was then. My friend kept remarking that she
felt like a celebrity!
She announced she just KNEW
it was going to take a solid week for her to "get well" and we had quite
the giggle about that.
Saturday rolled around and the
Wooden Boat Regatta was in full swing. We had an extra jerry jug of
gasoline, so we tied that down in the dinghy, and motored out to sea, to
watch the wooden boats cross the start line. I remember it clearly,
all those beautiful graceful yachts, with all their sails up, loaded up
with crews and ready to spend a day at sea.
Next we motored over to White Bay
Sandcastle and had a few at the Soggy
Dollar Bar or somewhere, we spent time swimming and tanning then
decided it was time to go. On the way back, the engine sputtered and
came to a stop. We drifted silently, while I topped up the tiny tank
with our spare gasoline, then continued back to Great Harbor. After a nice
siesta, on board, we dressed and went ashore to greet the returning
racers.
Rumors spread about Himmacane
Lewis. I told my friend, that I had just left a 3 point mooring in St
John, and perhaps we should return there, so my boat could ride out the
storm on that plus my other 3 anchors. During the party that evening, it
was announced, that the Sunday race plans had been dramatically altered.
Instead of the Wooden Boat races, the gun would go off at 8am, and
everyone was to race to their favorite hurricane hole!
The next morning, was incredible,
as hundreds of boats, set sail en masse and the population of Jost Van
Dyke shrunk from about 1500 to 100 in a few mere minutes. The only boat
left in the harbor, was Foxy's fishing boat, looking very lonely indeed.
I kind of felt sorry for the bars
and merchants ashore, this big bash was supposed to bring them in lots of
needed cash to carry them through the lean month of September. Now they
were stuck with inventory, watching their dollars sail out to sea.
Himmacane Luis and the subsequent
Hurricane Marilyn, a few weeks later, injured and destroyed so
many wooden boats, that it was announced that forevermore, the Wooden Boat
Regatta would be held in May instead of September.
It's not far down to paradise At least it's not for
me And if the wind is right you can sail away And find
tranquility The canvas can do miracles Just you wait and
see Believe me
It's not far to never never land No reason to
pretend And if the wind is right you can find the joy Of innocence
again The canvas can do miracles Just you wait and see Believe
me
Sailing Takes me away To where I've always heard it
could be Just a dream and the wind to carry me And soon I will be
free
Fantasy It gets the best of me When I'm
sailing All caught up in the reverie Every word is a
symphony Won't you believe me
It's not far back to sanity At least it's not for
me And when the wind is right you can sail away And find
serenity The canvas can do miracles Just you wait and see Believe
me
Bright and sunny so far! Where is that tropical wave we were
promised? From 79
last night to 84F degrees at nearly noon now. Winds are moderate, seas are
a tad choppy and the SUN IS OUT!
I had lunch in Road Town at Le
Cabanon the other day. It was excellent, great service, delicious food,
pleasant atmosphere, in spite of the outside deluge going on, we stayed dry and
nearly cleaned our plates. Some leftover fish was brought home for the kitties,
and they were thrilled to have take-out, licked their bowl clean afterwards and
looked at me with goofy loving looks.
Halloween is just around the corner, and I'm pushing my mail order costumes
and props again. Back in the dark ages, I
owned a house inland, and for 7 years in a row, I hosted adult masquerade
parties around Halloween. It was great fun, though somebody always got in
trouble it seems. Costumes bring out the "other persona" and it seems there was
always a divorce in the making, a day later, from the couple you least expected
it from. But, I can see too, if you go home with a fantasy rather than your
spouse, that could tend to cause trouble. (Ya think?) But other than that,
it was always great fun. My dear friend Lisa, now long departed from this world,
arrived in her wheel chair one year, she was about 28 then, all wrapped up
in catsup stained bandages, to look like an escapee from the emergency
room. Lisa couldn't walk, due to muscular dystrophy, (she was the poster
child one year for the Jerry Lewis MDA Foundation) and apparently many
guests had no idea and they would say "Hey, hop up and let me ride in your wheel
chair for awhile!" She took this in stride, giggled and told them "No
way!"
Well it's been a busy day, first it was cloudy, then sunny, then cloudy,
then sunny, now cloudy again. Mid morning we had torrential rains with ferocious
winds, the rest of day were on/off light winds.
This mess passing over us, seems to be building up, and I expect it to be
named in a few days.
My crystal ball predicts this will turn into Kyle.
Yesterday, I went to town in this mess, I have to drive by the
notorious cliffs where the car sized boulders sometimes fall off onto the road
below when it rains heavy. Naturally, it's a bit nerve racking to drive by
there. What's worse, it's on a curve, so you're limited as to the speed you can
safely drive. Not that people drive safely on Tortola, most
DON'T!
But I tried to race passed the cliff and fly around the
curve without rolling my heap of a jeep over. My type of jeep has a small wheel
base, matter of fact, it is banned in the U.S. and possibly other countries.
They claim if you go 90 miles per hour and slam on brakes while turning the
wheel sharply, it MIGHT roll over. (Ya think?)
The benefits for me driving this scary arrangement, is that you
can turn it around (2 point turn, not 3) in ONE lane (not two), it's
cheap on gas, and it can U-turn on a two lane road, it's cheap on gas,
it's easy to find a teeny parking spot for it, and it's cheap of gas. (By the
way, did I mention it is cheap on gas?)
It's a basic engine (even I understand most of it).
Actually, I can open the hood of my car and name all the engine parts and
doodads. Yep, that seems to shock men, like it's secret knowledge, only they
should know and keep secret from women. Most men who are not mechanics at all,
are a tad surprised when they find out I might possibly know as much (or more)
shade tree mechanics than they do.
Newer cars and jeeps, are much more complicated now, I remember
trying to help a friend out and we popped her hood and the engine was so high
tech, I couldn't even locate the BATTERY! Later, someone told me you have
to remove a tire and a few other parts to get to the battery. Oh my
goodness!
My friend, whom I have known since he was 47, is now about
60-ish. He has resisted computers and cell phones for the past umpteen
years. We sailed together many times, and he did actually use my cell phone a
few times (but preferred NOT to). and while I used my laptop, he had zero
interest (fine with me!)
A few years back, um, maybe 8 years ago, he inherited his
mother's almost new car. He was going to sell it for something sensible (like
just keep his Triumph Hog) and decided since it was such a comfortable ride
(Big Lincoln) he would just keep it. Later he sold his Triumph, and I said
"WHAT? But I was coming to see you, what will I ride now?" (Yep, I used to
ride a motorcycle, a Triumph too, back in my young and foolishly
fun days.)
Awhile back he called me up from the states, and was pretty
upset. His car mash up and he had to get it repaired. Much to his horror, they
had to replace his car's computer for over a thousand dollars.
He was aghast! He didn't want computers, nor cell phones,
GPS was OK, because he owned a boat, but everything computer like,
he has steadfastly resisted. (Should I ruin it for him and tell him the GPS is
like a mini computer?)
He fought with the mechanic, that he did NOT WANT a
computer and to rip it back out and keep it.
"But sir, you're car won't run without it."
So, he caved in and paid the repair bill.
Anyhow, he announced "I don't know how to run a computer, but I
now own one, that apparently my cars needs to run on. It
doesn't do a thing for me, I don't even know HOW to operate a
computer, but my car does."
Big rainy mess here. Every now and then we get a cough of a grumble like
the thunder is terribly shy today. We have a depression building right on top of
us, could be the future Kyle, though I don't think it will damage us as we have
nearly no winds.
Cisterns are overflowing and the ground is about saturated to the
max. Gardens will bloom and fruit will swell and all will be well for
a beautiful season, which autumn starts today and I missed Talk
Like a Pirate Day on Friday. My calendar was turned to the wrong week. I
know, LAUGH at me!
Temperatures plummeted to 79 degrees, which woke me up as I searched for my
fluffy afghan to warm up with, yes, LAUGH, my feet were C-C-COLD! I've
been so used to sleeping with no sheets or blankets or comforters, those days
are over now I guess. Even the cats were cold!
Last night the storm blew in, I think it's going to be named Kyle in a few
days. We have had dark stormy clouds and lots of rain. We may have some flooding
as our ground is about saturated to the max, so I expect rock and mud slides to
start the next few days. This mess is expected to be over us another day and
then Tuesday night or Wednesday morning we are getting yet another tropical
wave.
Winds are really gusty and temps have plummeted to 80 and I am not that far
above sea level, so in the mountains, brrrrrrrrr, they must be really
cold. I woke up around 4am and had to fetch my afghan to wrap my cold tootsies
in.
I snapped this picture about 3-4 minutes before this storm hit us. That is
Frenchmens Cay in the foreground with Norman Island to the left and St John to
the right.
***************
I usually navigate my bathroom in the dark at night, why upset my eyes, if
I just need to make a quick pit stop and then back to bed. But my angel was
looking out for me, and warned me at 3am, to turn the lights ON. Well, I am no
fool, I listened to the angel and turned them on. I guess it's more fun to
scream with the lights on!
There on my bath mat, the one with the painted palm trees, lay a dead
RAT. No doubt, bounty from the kitty cat. Grrrrrrrrr... I managed to
find the broom attached to the dustpan, the one with the four foot handle,
that I like, matter of fact just that day I had washed the broom and dustpan and
they looked nearly new. *Sigh*. So the dead nasty filthy diseased laden rat was
swept up with my clean broom onto my clean dustpan. I deposited all that outside
on the patio, to deal with at daylight.
Daylight rolls around and my housemate mentions a "dead" odor and I said
yes, it's the dead rat we have to relocate across the street to the vacant lot,
where it can stink to high heaven without affecting us or the neighbors. I guess
I am too lazy to bury the bounty. I could wrap him in the garbage I
suppose and send him out that way and spook out the guys at the incinerator.
*****************
Back in the dark ages, my mother came to visit me at my first apartment and
accidentally ran over my new found kitten, who promptly died. I know she
felt positively awful and we had a good cry together. Well, I didn't have a
shovel, so I wrapped kitty up in some leftover material from a sewing
project, laid him gently in a shoe box, then tied it up with twine and many
knots. I carefully laid him in the outside garbage can, and prayed for his lost
soul.
Well next morning, the garbage workers arrive to haul off the
garbage. Then I heard this loud startled scream! I ran over to the
window, the worker had cut off the twine, opened the box and
unwrapped the piece of material and instead of the expected discarded
treat, it was my dead kitten. I guess I should have labeled the box "cat coffin;
open at your own risk."
I bet he didn't open another strange box for a long time afterwards. I felt
bad for my kitty, felt bad for my mother, felt bad for scaring the worker, I
guess it did look like a tempting treat lay beneath the neatly twined box.
************
Now for GOOD news, the dog mangled kitten, rescued by
Roger's wife Sandy, at the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke, has finally
found a loving home. It seems he overstayed his welcome, long enough to
wrap Roger and Sandy and their two dogs around his wittle paw, and guess
what, now they are keeping him! The dogs that absolutely hated cats, have
decided this little one makes a great pet.
Yesterday it started storming about 6pm. In the picture below, the
rain is so thick on the right, that the island of St John, appeared blue
instead of green. We expect more showers and another tropical wave to hit
us Tuesday night with another one close on its heels. We've had rains off
and on today.
I caught this rainbow at 445pm yesterday! I was dashing out to the store,
realized I had forgot my camera and phone, grabbed those and went back out and
good thing too, as I saw this huge rainbow! That is St John on the right,
in the foreground, the green tip is Frenchmans Cay.
Grand Turk Itinerary
Changes Cruise Critic -
Pennington,NJ,USA Changes, announced today, are as follows: Carnival
Miracle: The September 14, September 22 and September 30 cruises out of New York
will call in Tortola on ...
Vacation
Destinations of the Forbes 400 KREN CW 27 TV - Reno,NV,USA Brit billionaire
Richard Branson's Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands sees
more than its share of important people, Steven Spielberg and Oprah
...
One, two three, four... (we are the red dot!) so we only have one,
two, three...
Which one will be Kyle or are we DONE for the season with Ike as our grand
finale? (We wish!) Ike did way too much damage.
The other day, my email was eaten by the computer. I had written about the
freedom of living out of a seabag for 4 years, with no fixed address, no home,
and that sometimes less in best. After you've lost all you own
anyhow, maybe it's time to just live simply with nature. This of course is
of absolutely no comfort for those devastated by hurricane Ike, having the
fabric of their lives ripped beyond repair. My prayers to you all that
somehow you find the strength to pull through.
In response to Hurricane Ike's landfall along the Gulf Coast, the Red
Cross is providing shelter, food and emotional support for thousands in need.
Those affected by disaster are relying on the Red Cross for emergency
aid in their toughest times - especially now in the peak of hurricane season.
These storms have an impact. You can too. Your gift fuels the Red
Cross mission of disaster relief and lifesaving services every single day.
86 degrees, slight winds and da current done mash up an hour ago.
*sigh*. Here we are in the height of hurricane season and not a storm
around us, and we don't have any elec-tricky. I can't run my electric wind
(fans) and my generator is in the shop. *sigh* Laptop is about to die, and
that is how I do my work...
So, might as well head for the beach!
Found in a Serberian Beer Bottle on the seashore:
Dear Miss Mermaid
How are you? I hope that you and your region had not problem with
Whirlwind (Uragan) Aik. I wish you the best.
M.T.
Serbia
Dear M.T.,
We survived the whirlwinds (tropical storms)
and Uragan Aik (Himmacane Ike) just fine, though others throughout the Caribbean
and United States have not fared so well.
Actually Bullwinkle sent this link to me. The pics load quickly and give
you a heartrending glimpse of the power of Himmacane Ike.
View all the pictures, and when you are through crying, PLEASE
consider a donation to the Red Cross
to help the hurricane victims. Every dollar counts and goes directly for
relief aid.
Flat calm again, no winds, great sunshine, 84 degrees, nothing suspicious
coming our way, which makes me suspicious. It is mid September, when we
are generally dodging strikes port and starboard, so what's with the calm
conditions?
Do you see ANY ripples in the Sir Francis Drake Channel? It
almost resembles blue ice, as if we could merely walk across the channel.
That is St John to the right and Norman to the left with The Indians in the
middle.
Washed up on the Seashore in a French Wine
Bottle:
DMM. I think we've come adrift
somewhere......your post of September 14th. To my mind it's poor practice
to motor upwind with a headsail. It's likely to flog itself to
bits with sheets flaying all over the deck, and will surely slow
progress through the water. Worse a loose sheet can end up under the boat
wrapping itself around the prop. However, it's always better to maintain
the main in situ not only to steady the boat against possible rolling, but as a
means of manouvering should the engine fail. Properly set it will aid
progress.
Personally I hand the helm over
to someone else as soon as I possibly can so I can attend to managing the boat
and its systems. The work a skipper does. However, I hesitate to delegate
the actual steering of the boat when coming alongside, anchoring or in a 'man
overboard' stuation.
Perhaps none of this mattters
so much in the non-tidal waters of the West Indies where the wind blows
predictably 10/15 points North or South of East and where one hardly ever sails
at night........except on passage in open waters.
'Luv
Frenchie
Dear Frenchie,
Sure it's poor practice to motor upwind with sails, afterall it's a
sailboat ain't it? But years of chartering with newbies and not wishing to
terrify them (or clean up after their seasickness) taught captains like me,
that there is a time to motor sail upwind in favor of making the
passengers comfortable or hastening the passage or both.
By myself or with sailing friends, we would hardly want to be caught
dead motor sailing and therefore chose the purist route. However, in the event
of seeing a squall up ahead, I have been known to start the motor in neutral, as
a safety precaution, in case we didn't reef quick enough or underestimated the
power of the squall. The motor, in that case, can help regain steerage, if it is
lost, due to a gusty squall nearly knocking us down, and thus off course.
When we motor sailed, to keep the sails from flapping, we still headed at
the same compass heading as if we had NO motor. Therefore the sails didn't flap
and flog. We kept our sheets on deck with a close eye, as they can tangle
with the prop below, whether one is motoring or not. The extra power would
merely bring us close to hull speed and often we had reduced sail, so as to
keep things a bit less dramatically heeled so the newbies could get their
sealegs. Having the sails up rather than down, kept the boat from rocking and
rolling so much, here again, keeping the newbies more comfortable.
Actually, all the Windjammer ships almost always motor sailed their tall
ships and kept it a secret from the passengers, telling them the noise was from
the generators.
Some of the boats could make it under their own sail power, but not at max
speed, more like snail speed. Most needed the extra motor boost, so the boat
could appear to be doing close to hull speed. Since most of the Windjammer ships
were refitted for the passenger fleet, they realized if they built the rigs tall
enough true to a serious Windjammer, their crew needs would be much greater, and
their passenger space lessened, hence they made a compromise in order to keep
fares lower (most passengers, less crew).
I don't think any prudent captains would delegate steering when in a harbor
or doing something delicate like retrieving a man overboard. (You know it is
usually is MEN overboard, and when we rescue them, invariably their fly is still
down!) Women tend to be a bit more careful and aren't as eager
to flop overboard (tee hee hee).
I guess we are close to non-tidal in the BVI and USVI, though around a full
moon, our tide can be upwards of two whole feet! We don't sail in the dark
around here because the hazards aren't marked, GPS and charts don't agree and it
seems when folks do sail here after dark terrible things happen.
Most of our tragedies in the last few years, resulting in loss of life were
almost all after dark. The speed boat on the north shore, that bounced out
two passengers which haven't been seen since; the French boat that crashed
on the rocks and lost a child and the yacht, the two speed boats that were both
rounding Steele Point, from opposite directions, after dark with no navigation
lights, when they crashed nearly head on, both lost crew, never to be
found. These are just a few that come to mind and good enough reason
for me and 99% of the others, not to sail around these islands after dark. Too
many unmarked rocks, reefs and points.
I remember the story told to me by my captain friend. He was on a
ship ship coming in here late at night, years ago, and they had
been hit by lightning and had nothing but the compass to rely on. It was
overcast so they had no stars to steer by. When they finally found Road Harbour,
they were ecstatic and even more pleased they found the marking lights on shore,
the two lights you line up vertically, to let you know you are coming in the
harbour channel correctly.
Eagerly they poured a round a drinks before clearing through the channel
and anchoring. Right as they toasted their arrival prematurely, all the power
went off in the BVI and they were plunged into darkness with no idea where to
steer to next. Ooops!
Many bareboat companies in the Virgin Islands, have a curfew around
4-5pm, that boats must be at anchor or on a mooring until sunrise. They make the
curfew early, to give them leeway, to still get in before sunset.
I remember one evening, my friend lamented he wanted to go to Jost Van
Dyke, one more time and we were in Sopers Hole and it was after 5pm. I told him
if we jumped on my boat right NOW and sailed as fast as we could, we might make
it into Great Harbour, by sunset and heaven help us if we didn't. My
friend was new to sailing, but had already had several lessons with me. After we
set sail, I said my prayers, because entering the crowded anchorage of Great
Harbour, after dark, struck me as fool hearty.
I guess the angels and seas were with us, we managed to set anchor just in
time to watch the sun drop beneath the horizon. I remember we had a good
laugh over that one and it was one of the rare times, I did something foolish on
my boat. I say so because I know my navigation lights were malfunctioning and I
too, was only sailing by a mere compass with no other electronics. Women can be
foolhardy too (though it is RARE!)
Well, you've heard me say it a zillion times:
PACK HALF THE CLOTHES AND TWICE THE CASH!!!
United
Airlines Boosts 2nd-Bag Fee to $50 ABC
News - USA ... will apply for tickets bought beginning Tuesday
for travel beginning November 10 within the US or to or from Canada, Puerto Rico
and the US Virgin Islands.
At this link you can see pictures of before and after, hurricane Ike hit
the Bolivar Peninsula, in Texas.
These pictures illustrate so dramatically, what I have seen first hand
after hurricanes, one house can stand while the rest of the neighborhood can be
in ruins. I remember after hurricane Hugo, seeing a whole neighborhood flattened
out, yet inexplicably stuck on a metal fence post, which was still standing, was
a nearly full roll of toilet paper, sitting there pretty as you please.
I also remember going to help a friend retrieve her belongings and when we
got to her house on Water Island (near St Thomas) all her baby clothes
were blown high up in a tree, stuck to the bare branches. It was an eerie
seen, the clothes were way too high for us to reach. The roof off her house was
gone and we didn't see traces of it anywhere.
85 degrees, slight winds, flat calm seas and the SUN IS OUT! A beautiful day in the BVI.
It's a bit quiet around
the island, some businesses are closed for vacations, many residents are off
island for lenghty vacations and here I sit dreaming of a vacation! I
know, I know, why would you want to go anywhere when you already live in
paradise?
My last vacation was simply to another island (I kid you not!). I
traded one beautiful place for another beautiful place.
It is really sad for me to read and hear about the massive destruction of
Galveston Island in Texas. I spent six months there,
working as a Chief Purser, on a cruise ship that did evening gambling
cruises. Actually we did 8 per week, with 2 on Saturday, one in the day and one
at night. Once in awhile we had a rare night off, usually due to
mechanical difficulties.
Because we were basically at dock all day, some crew members had homes and
cars ashore, so through them, I got to see and know Galveston. Everyone
from there always talked about the big hurricane of 1900 which wiped out so many
people, that a final head count was never accurate. Deaths range from
4,000-12,000 depending on whose account you read.
Thoughts and prayers to the many victims of Hurricane Ike. Sad, to say, but
it may be months before Galveston is habitable again.
In a language all can understand,
this public restroom is
"OUT OF ORDER".
The 4th Annual Miss Caribbean World Pageant will take place at
the Multipurpose Sports Complex on Saturday 20, September 2008 at 7:00 p.m and
will feature contestants from a total of 18 countries from around the
region.
Miss
BVI Will Not Compete in the Miss Caribbean World
Pageant Platinum News Online -
Tortola,British Virgin Islands The reigning Miss BVI Maquita
Richard has confirmed that she will not be competing in the 2008 Miss Caribbean
World Pageant scheduled for September 20. ...
BVI
Gives Support to TCI Platinum News
Online - Tortola,British Virgin Islands In response to Hurricane Ike
and its impact on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), BVI Department of
Disaster Management officials have been deployed to ...
Whew! I am so glad to see SUNSHINE! I was afraid the Tourist
Board would yell at me for reporting all these overcast cloudy days. It's 85
degrees with nearly flat seas and some light winds wafting by. TZhe greens on
the mountains are just so vivid against the baby blue boy skies.
We did have a bit of rain last night, just a sprinkling. The cats
were showing their boredom with being indoors a bit too much the past few
days and getting fussy.
I trotted out the cat nip, a tablespoon laid out on the patio for each of
them and they were thrilled to no end. It apparently provides terrific
entertainment for them and watching them play in it, is rather comical.
I went out last night to look at the full moon, which is officially
tonight. Two cats followed me out and I just assumed the 3rd one was
already out. I went back inside to lock the door, and go to bed. I didn't have
any lights on (better for star gazing) and I stepped on the 3rd cat who let out
an awful squeal that scared me. By the time I found the light, he had ran off
and hid from me. I felt just AWFUL. I had no idea how badly he was hurt
and it was definitely a leg I stepped on, I think I tripped over him with one
foot then stepped on him with the other.
I went to bed feeling awful and he refused to answer or show up when I
called him.
I woke up a few times in the night looking for him, to no avail. I woke up
this morning, and my bed was empty. Now I felt truly awful, that he had limped
away and needed aid. Yet I reasoned, surely the other two would alert me, they
aren't total dummies. They have their own cat door, so I had no idea where
he had gone.
A few minutes later, he slowly walked in and climbed in bed. I tried
to check his various legs out, which he pulled each away abruptly with a dirty
look at me. Then he flopped over and offered me his belly, so I gave him a belly
rub (his favorite way to be petted!) so I guess he has forgiven me and
miraculously, he wasn't injured, though he may be bruised up and I just can't
tell it since he refuses to let me check. Whew. Looks like poor kitty will
survive.
**************
Sopers Hole Marina against a backdrop of vivid greenery.
I just discovered Shakatak's album: Blue Savannah has a song on it "Tortola
Sunset". Amazing the number of musicians who have become so inspired
here to write music. I think it's the beauty and ambiance.
************
Iron
Duke Due to Arrive in BVI on Saturday Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands The HMS Iron Duke is scheduled to be in the BVI until
Wednesday, September 17. Staff Officer in the Governor’s Office Ms. Emma Dean
said that members of the ...
Casting Call
Announcement Platinum News Online -
Tortola,British Virgin Islands A special casting session will be held
here in the BVI on Thursday September 18th between 8am and 5pm. All
persons from all walks of life and age groups who ...
Leo
Club of Tortola Undertakes Major Beach Cleanup Project Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands Nearly 15 heavy duty bags of rubbish have been collected from
the island of Great Camanoe, as part of a major cleanup project by the Leo Club
of Tortola. ...
We had a stormy evening and torrential rains in the wee hours of the night.
It is pretty cloudy today with some sunshine poking out here and there. I hear a
grumble of a mumble of a rumble of distant thunder, so more may be on the
way.
Another tropical wave is about 800 miles east of us with yet more rains. It
is 83 degrees with very slight light winds and flat calm seas.
Found on the Seashore in a French Wine Bottle:
DMM,
Puzzled by your series of
pics yesterday (below). Would any boat motor-sail with its headsail
up?
'Luv
Frenchie
My Dear Frenchie,
Sure!
When I chartered and we had light winds and guests with
tender tummies, I would motor-sail upwind to get us THERE quicker so they could
pretend they enjoyed the sail...
Even in heavy winds, I sometimes reefed to keep the boat
from heeling much, then added the motor to make it easier for green guests
(those new to sailing) to steer the boat upwind (and get us there
quicker).
Alone I rarely ever motorsailed, as I was content to take
what was dished out, but with paying guests, you just want them happy enough to
remember to maybe tip you at the end of the trip for a good time, and
proving bravado takes a back seat while guest comfort is of premium importance,
especially for those new to sailing. We threw up the main and foresail, to make
it LOOK like we are sailing. Indeed, if you play the music loud enough, they may
not realize the engine is even on.
Something else I discovered, if you see someone on board,
looking sickly or they express concern over becoming seasick, just
give them the wheel and basic instructions (and/or sit nearby). Most
become so engrossed in handling the boat, they forget all about tossing their
cookies.
Make SURE to get their picture with your camera and
theirs, several shots, everyone loves a great shot of themselves at the
helm. Many newbies have been pleasantly surprised to see in the background
just how far over we really were heeled, while they steered us to our next port
of call.
I worked with a handful of super macho captains
that never let the guests sail the boat (aka STEER the boat!) and it seems
someone (usually ME) was scurrying around cleaning up after seasick guests. If
you are a helm hogger, (and you KNOW who you are) consider next time letting
your guests or friends have a turn at the wheel and get their picture for fond
memories.
When I taught "an introduction to sailing" on board my
boat for 1-2-3 passengers for 2-4 days and nights, I discovered most did NOT
want to learn to sail. All they wanted was to steer that boat, with the sails up
and get their picture taken with that big smile plastered across their sun burnt
face, something to show the folks at home, look what I DID on my vacation, I
learned to sail!
Last night we sat on the patio marveling at
the already full looking moon until the rains chased us back inside.
Prayers and thoughts go out to those
ravaged by the recent hurricanes. Remember you can always count on the Red Cross
to get relief to victims.
About 90 minutes later, you can see the sailboat, now going
the opposite direction!
***************
This morning we went outside to watch the storm coming across
the Sir Francis Drake Channel from the south. What did we see? But a
small sailboat out to sea! There were no winds so I am pretty sure this
guy in the top two photos was motor sailing, as he was moving at a good clip and
we had virtually no winds.
We watched in earnest, thinking any minute he is going to douse
the main or at least reef it, as often gusty winds come with the squall.
Suddenly we saw him heel drastically as the storm hit him, it was so thick he
was obliterated in the deluge.
It's now high noon here, and still pretty overcast, though the
from the west, the sun is fighting to make a breakthrough. It's only 83 degrees,
winds are faint.
The cats correctly predicted the storm, they were all clingy
this morning before it hit. I've noticed if bad weather is on the way, they want
to be exactly where I am.
I woke up and they were in bed with me instead of out
hunting. We watched the last half of a movie then got up.
I sleepily went into the kitchen, followed by 3 cats, then I transferred to the
bathroom and had company while on the throne, (gee thanks guys!) I finally
traversed to the office, only to have my desk draped in cats, leaving me very
little room left to work. When my housemate called me to come
outside, to look at the storm (weather fascinates us!) I went outside,
followed by my three shadows. When the rain hit and we came in to shut
some of the windows, we were dutifully followed from window to window by 3 cats.
Then the food fest began as the cats gorged on food, something curious
they do when it is stormy, stocking up their tummies for possible lean days
ahead.
Amazingly the brief sunshine we saw this morning was just a rare cameo
appearance. Weather like this could wreck our reputation for typically only have
5 days a year of inclement weather.
The tropical wave is passing by us with a great deal of thick cloud cover
and moisture. Only slight winds, and flat calm seas. More tropical waves on the
way.
Bowling balls and we are the pins.
This morning I ran out in the rain, it felt good. I used to do that when
living on a boat, it was a good way to shower and wash the outside of
the boat too.
Sometimes I could get stuck, like have the deck all lathered up and then
the rain stops. I would have to finish with salt water rinses. Thereafter, I
learned to clean one section at a time in the rain, that way I rarely got
caught with suds and no rinse water when the rain abruptly stopped.
I ran out in the rain, to cool off, to feel good, to feel the cold water
against hot skin, to feel alive.
Tonight, I made the mistake of watching the news about Himmacane Ike and
Texas. They were ahead of things already, predicting 125,000 destroyed
homes. I was aghast, sure it could happen, but it hasn't happened
yet! But they were already discussing it, as if it was a past event.
Perhaps I misunderstood.
My prayers are with those in Ike's path and that you somehow survive.
I wrote this big long email to post today and my computer ate it. I know, I
made a colossal boo boo. Now I am too tired to rewrite it.
In the BVI it is 83 degrees, very dark and stormy with flat seas and a dark
squall on the way.
The picture below was taken a few weeks ago.
I was trying to post my lousy attempt at doing a panorama of
Nanny Cay and the email program just folded right up on me after I had written a
dozen or more paragraphs and forgot to save.
Weather is great, sun is out, seas are flat, not much wind at all, just the
odd zephyr now and then. We have three tropical waves headed out way. It's 85
degrees and a great day to be out in the sunshine.
Yesterday, we had a 9 hour power outage. I was miffed, as I had work backed
up to do and the current done mash up! I hope those boyz at the
elec-tricky corporation can get a handle on t'ings.
Nice and green on Tortola, with a view of the Sir Francis
Drake Channel, looking at Salt, Peter and Norman Islands (BVI).
Message ONE in a Bottle:
Too much rum
before breakfast Dear Miss Mermaid? Thank you for all the photos of
Norman Island etc., when my father was Administrator of the BVI 1954-56 there
was a huge cash of pirate treasure found on Norman Island, sadly handed over to
Her Majesty's Government. Think what might have been. I hope the
hurricanes keep avoiding you and everyone else (also my house in
Anguilla).
All the
best,
J.
H.
Dear
J.H.
I suppose you mean the yogurt and sand (cracked
wheat) incident. Perhaps I will cut back on the *hiccup* rum before I
attempt *hiccup* making breakfast!
Message TWO in a
Bottle:
I was at your website today and saw
the pictures of the beautiful sunrise.
My husband and I have a Tradewinds cruise scheduled
for departure out of Tortola on September 27th. I am getting a
little nervous that this trip will be a pleasant one because of the recent
hurricanes. How has your daily weather been in the last
week?
P.
Dear P.,
The recent hurricanes are no
worry, as they are already GONE (tee hee!). Suffice it to say, today is
about the peak of hurricane season.
Compared to the long-term historical record, the first half of the 2008
hurricane season has been busier than usual. According to meteorologist
Scott Braun at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.:
“Looking back to 1995 and earlier, most seasons have had only 5-7 storms
by Sept. 2, whereas this year has had 10. 2008 is surpassed only by 1995
(13), 2003 (11), and 2005 (14) and matched by 2004 (10). Prior to
1995, the last time there were 10 storms by Sept. 2 was 1936
(11).”
The beauty of sailing on someone else's boat is that
you don't own it! So in the event of a hurricane scare, just get in touch
with Tradewinds, as they will tell you where to put the boat then you can go
ashore and get a nice sturdy room in a concrete hotel. Alternatively, at
the first scare you can run for the airport and fly home standby. At some
point the LAST plane leave before the storm and then all flights are canceled
until the planes return, after the storm. Our airport is pretty empty in the
event of an imminent storm threat. So in other words, if you want to fly out,
you can't wait until the last minute.
Don't worry if you get stuck here, we have terrific
hurricane parties, before, during and after!
As for the daily weather, the past week, just scroll down for my
daily postings. Have a GREAT trip!
***********
Recently a reader informed me they found my "reply"
to their email in their junk folder! ARGH! No idea why I would end
up there, but years ago my email name was stolen and compromised for junk
purposes, but I thought, since it was years ago, my email name was now safe.
Maybe not! So if you wrote me in the past and did NOT get a reply, check
your junk folder or rewrite me and I can dig up the reply I previously sent you.
Confused? Me too!
Himmacane
Ike is still churning away in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. He is
growing in size and strength, with 90mph winds and creeping around at only 8mph.
Keep your fingers crossed on this one!
Today we have SUNSHINE!!!!! It may not last, but
it's HERE!
Daybreak this morning, brought brilliant hues of vivid rainbow colors. That
is Peter and Norman Island (BVI) in the background with the tip of St John
(USVI) shown on the far right.
Look at how FLAT the seas are. Winds are nada, but the greenery is
abundant.
There is nothing YET, on the horizon to scare us. We have been very lucky
this year, so far, so good. My prayers go out to those not so lucky, I
understand some of our neighbors are not doing well at all in Haiti and the
Turks.
**********
In the islands, it's common to keep your food stuffs tightly sealed, often
transferring them to an airtight containers after opening them. For instance, I
save up plastic wide mouth jars, typical of some name brand peanut butter
jars. Then I use these to store dried beans, baking goods like cornstarch,
pancake mix, dried cereals and so on. I also have store bought containers,
but I like the plastic jars with lids for the most part.
I happen to like Cracked
Wheat which is typically used to make Tabouleh Salad, but also,
served hot, is a great tasty healthy alternative to rice. I am also
drawn to plain yogurt tossed with Grape Nuts with
a scoop of my friend Lori's homemade jams as a tasty breakfast or
snack. I purchase Soya Mince from the local health food store which
is a protein alternative made from freeze dried soy beans and basically you
rehydrate it and use in place of ground meats.
Well, GUESS WHAT.
Soya Mince, Cracked Wheat and Grape Nuts all look suspiciously alike. So I
label the lids when I store stuff in jars. Flour and pancake mix can look alike
and so on. Well, I guess now I will label the JARS instead of the lids as
apparently I mixed up my lids for Grape Nuts and Cracked Wheat.
This morning, I scooped out a blob of plain yogurt, topped it generously
with Grape Nuts, stirred in some of Lori's Key Lime Jelly and took a big sleepy
bite, while sitting on the patio, photographing the sunrise (above).
It was like taking a big mouthful of beach sand. I grimaced and stared at
my bowl, and wondered what on earth had happened to the Grape Nuts. It was
totally unpalatable, so I stumbled back indoors, and rinsed my mouth out and put
the yogurt mixture back in the fridge. I could still feel gritty sand in my
mouth and rinsed some more. Yuck.
A few coffee cups later, I ventured back to the kitchen and pulled out my
jars of goodies. Well, apparently, somehow the lid labeled Grape Nuts had
switched with the lid labeled Cracked Wheat. Cracked Wheat requires basic
cooking, such as covering generously with boiling water and waiting 20 minutes
for it to SOFTEN and fluff up.
I had apparently dumped a generous amount of raw dry Cracked Wheat over my
yogurt and that alone will not cook the wheat. In it's raw state it tasted like
beach sand instead of the heavenly nutty flavor it gives off when cooked
properly. Ugh...
I guess now, I will label the jars instead of the lids. I still have NO
idea how the lids got switched or did someone play an impractical joke on
me? It temporarily ruined my taste for yogurt. About an hour later, I
timidly made a sandwich for breakfast and it went down without grit.
*****************
Deputy Governor’s
History Research Awards Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands This year’s theme is “Historical Sites in the BVI” and
the deadline is 1st November. The purpose of the awards is to promote, encourage
and recognize local ...
As part of the 60th Anniversary celebrations, Land Rover donated 60
vehicles to the British Red Cross Society and its sister national societies
around the world. The BVI was lucky to get two of these, one for Tortola
and one for Virgin Gorda.
Hats off and big bow of thanks to Land Rover for their
generosity!
BVI
Red Cross Receives 2 Brand New Land Rovers Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands His Excellency Governor David Peary and members of the
BVI Red Cross including Director Mrs. Edris O’Neal, President Mr. Gordon
Stanley and Treasurer Mrs. ...
Ceres
Juices 10K Series to be Part of Caribbean Wellness Day Events Platinum News Online - Tortola,British Virgin
Islands Several walks throughout the districts on Tortola, will
begin at 5 am and finish at the Central Administration Complex. The course will
take participants ...
Well it's a bit overcast today, but finally the sun is making a hard try at
showing up. I even feel the heat and sweat. Himmacane
Ike seems to have sucked out all our wind and flattened our seas. It's 85.5F
degrees today at 230pm.
I was having Internet troubles earlier today (what else is new!) We had the
light rains this morning, everything is green like emeralds around here.
********
Yesterday, I snuck out of the house and went to see my Spanish friend. We
had great fun torturing each other with our lack of language skills. She is
learning English and I am learning Spanish. Finally she brought out this ten
pound dictionary, as we got stumped and our conversation came to a funny halt.
I am embarrassed, she is learning English much faster than I am learning
Spanish, but now and then I throw out a word at her that sends her eyebrows up.
We must sound funny, because we both speak very slowly to each other, as I try
to grasp her English and she tries to understand my Spanish. It's great
entertainment as I say things in Spanish, like "Is that an elbow in your
hair?" and she answers with "You have a rabbit at home?"
One thing we do really well; is to giggle a lot!
************
Carnival Miracle’s Sept. 6 cruise from New York will replace the
scheduled call in Grand Turk with a visit to Tortola on Thursday.
Grand
Turk, home to a Carnival Corp.-built cruise port, appears to have sustained
“substantial” damage from Hurricane Ike, which also forced itinerary changes for
a number of cruise ships. “It appears it is going to take some time for Grand
Turk to recover,” Carnival said. “As a result, we are not able to provide an
estimate for re-opening of the Grand Turk cruise facility at this time.
When green, bananas can be peeled, sliced and boiled then
served as a starch.
Once they ripen, they are fruity and sweet. A favorite
pick-me-up snack, is to take a soft whole unpeeled banana and slice it carefully
lengthwise about 3/4's of the way through, (don't break the skin on the other
side) to make a pocket. Stuff peanut butter in the pocket,
sprinkle with cinnamon, place on a plate and microwave about 60-90
seconds.
Optionally top with plain or vanilla yogurt or ice cream or
whipped cream or sour cream and devour. YUMMY!
Well, I hate to tell you, but it's gloomy here
again.
This is the longest running gloomy days I have
ever seen in my 20+ years around here.
The rain pictured below, has obliterated Peter
Island (BVI) on the left, though Norman Island (BVI) is still
shown on the right. Now the rain has reached me, where I took this
picture. We have had scattered rains throughout the morning and it's
only 10am and looks like dusk. Thunder just let out a loud low
rumble in the distance. 84F degrees with intermittent winds and
mostly calm seas.
I heard through the coconut telegraph
that many residents, in the Conch
Republic have ignored the mandatory evacuation (I am not
surprised...hearty lot, those folks!)
Message in a Bottle: Washed Up
Ashore in a Blueberry Jam Jar:
Dear Miss
Mermaid,
Can you describe the
missing cat's bowl for me? Ceramic, plastic, how big? Thought
I'd check here in Minneapolis and see if by some chance the bowl
found it's way into the Sir Francis Drake then the ocean, was picked
up by Gustav, floated up the Mississippi, then maybe, drifted North
to the beginning of the Mississippi.
Desperately seeking your
Kitties bowl!
Skipper From
Minneapolis
Dear Skipper,
Thanks so much for your
concern! The errant bowl was oval, made of woven wood and last
seen, may have contained remnants of wet canned cat food.
For nearly two days, the
disappearance was a mystery. Then I began tossing the fridge,
to see if any leftovers or "must goes" were getting lost in the
fridge, as I was hungry and looking to organize the tiny untidy
fridge and whip up something quick to eat.
Well, lo and behold, in the
very back, hiding behind a bunch of containers, was the missing
kitty bowl! Ah HA! It only had a few dabs of errant cat
food and needed a good wash and the kitties are plenty grateful to
have their bowl back.
I scratched my head over that
one, then I vaguely remember cleaning up in a hurry before the pizza
party, and somehow I guess in my haste, the kitty bowl got
tossed into the back of the fridge.
The cats never thought to look
there and neither did I. As kittens, they had been scolded plenty of
times for climbing or attempting to climb into the refrigerator,
every time the door opened, so that now, they totally ignore it.
(Curious kittens and some cats will inspect your fridge,
given half a chance!)
Maybe I inherited this
occasional absent-minded tendency from my mother who once
recounted this story to me:
She was home alone with a
small crying baby, and frantically trying to keep baby happy and
stuff and season a big turkey. She had picked up the baby, to
console her, then when she stopped crying, laid her down,
wrapped in her blankie, on the big china turkey platter, to
keep her from rolling off the counter top. The baby happily watched
mom stuff and season the turkey in the baking pan. Finally the baby
dozed off quietly. Mom cleaned out the fridge leaving a large
shelf open, so she could put the turkey back in the fridge while the
oven preheated. She had a million things on her mind, getting ready
for a big feast and company. She was consulting her list of things
to do, and absent mindedly reached over to pat the baby and
felt the clammy turkey skin. She whipped around, opened the
fridge and there lay the nearly newborn, still sleeping, on the
turkey platter, on the refrigerator shelf. Fortunately,
the baby was fine, and only my mother's pride was injured.
**********
More interesting stuff:
Lightning
Strikes In The BVI By admin As the trailing end of TS Hanna
continued to affect the BVI on Monday night (Sept 1), a
thunderstorm rolled around the hills. This short 42 second clip
shows two sets of lightning hitting Tortola. Look out for the fork
hitting Tortola ...
TS Hanna is dying out and TS Josephine has already died down, but big
bad himmacane Ike is such a bully now as a category 4 (out of possible 5) and
winds of 135mph, with much bigger gusts. Not a pretty site. Prayers
for all those in his path, the Turks & Caicos
have already taken a beaten. If you want to help, then scroll down to
yesterday's post and donate to the Red Cross (links provided below).
Himmacane Ike spaghetti (which
came with this disclaimer: If anything on this graphic, causes
confusion, then ignore the entire product. ) Now THAT is telling the
honest truth. Remember, this is just the EYE of the hurricane tracks, the storm
is HUGE spreading about 145 miles from the eye. Yikes it's Ike!
The Florida Keys
are under mandatory evacuation, but I've heard from the coconut telegraph,
that many residents plan to HIDE and stay put. I hope they are pretty hearty,
because if it knocks out the power and bridges and so on, they will be on
their own for awhile. I suspect the reason the authorities want to evacuate
EVERYONE is so that they don't have to send aid back in, if the damage is
catastrophic and it could be, so I hope you Parrot Heads think this one through
and DO NOT stay on your boat, no matter what. It's NO place to be during a
hurricane. Just ask my dear departed dead friends who tried to ride out a
hurricane aboard...
On Tortola at 1030am it is 85 degrees with moderate winds, and a very thick
haze over the area. I am trying to bring up the Sahara
Dust map to see if that is what is over us, but my Internet has slowed to a
pathetic crawl, so I give up and wish to get this out while I still can!
Jim
Donovan at 23 Has the World to Sail All At Sea - Saint
Thomas,US Virgin Islands,U.S. Virgin Islands Then using a GPS (ah, the modern
world comes into play) he sailed directly to Jost Van Dyke. “I couldn't believe
how beautiful it was. I pulled in at 6 am, ...
The
Barge Dog's Turf All At Sea - Saint Thomas,US Virgin
Islands,U.S. Virgin Islands On its maiden voyage, Amory wrecked his new boat
on the Anegada reef, a total loss. His dog lasted longer but met a similarly
undeserved fate. ...
Scuttlebutt
Europe #1605 - 4 September Tortola, British
Virgin Islands: The fourth annual Nanny Cay Nations Cup will take place the
weekend of November 15/16 off Nanny Cay Marina in the British Virgin Islands.
The US Virgin Islands team of Peter and John Holmberg,
...
TS Josephine has died down, TS Hanna is moving quickly through eastern
North Carolina, Himmacane Ike is 210 miles east of Grand Truck Island.
The sun is almost out and about in the BVI with temps at 84 this morning
and gentle trade winds wafting by. The seas are fairly calm. I am watching
a freighter make good time going upwind.
This morning's daybreak was beautiful with vivid hues of blue, yellow,
pink, orange and purple. That is Peter and Norman Island (BVI) on the
horizon.
Each new day is a miracle, to see this view and
listen to
The Red Cross needs your help so they can help victims of recent
storm flooding and hurricane disasters. You can make a memorial donation in
honor of a loved one. The stories coming out of Haiti are particularly chilling.
Alternatively, help those who can't speak out, help the
the 4 legged creatures who suffered through disasters by giving to the BestFriends.Org who rescued countless animals
after Hurricane Katrina and recently Hurricane Gustav.
TS Hanna is about 425 miles south of Wilmington NC with 65mph winds.
Himmacane Ike is about 460 miles north of us with 125 mph winds. YIKES it's
Ike!
TS Josephine is 665 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands with 50mph winds.
It's a roller coaster out there!
We had unsteady drizzle throughout much of the night and wee hours of the
morning as the tail of Ivan passes over us. At 830am the skies are decidedly
overcast with the sun in a fickle mood as to when or if he will appear. Enough
rain to keep us saturated, if we get any more major rains, then we are ripe for
rock and mud slides plus flooding.
The Sir Francis Drake Channel is just flat and mirrors the sky.
My cats are tracking up the place with little muddy paw prints.
*Sigh*. You can see where they come in the door and walk AROUND the fluffy
rug. That rug was put there for humans AND cats to get the mud and
dirt and grime and rain off one's shoes or feet or PAWS. I don't know HOW
to get this through their fluffy little hard heads. GRrrrrrrrr...
Last night some friends came over and we had a pizza party. I made extra so
I could have leftovers today. Ha ha ha. What was I thinking? We didn't
have two crumbs leftover to rub together! I bought some whole wheat flat
bread that was 12 inch in diameter, also known as pocket bread, as if you slice
it open, well there's your pocket. But leaving it whole and topping it with
tomato sauce, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms and
cheeses then baked until the crust was crisp, ohhhhhhhh man, it
came out wonderful!
SO this morning, realizing there was NO leftovers, I thought I would whip
up a simple scrambled egg sandwich. SPLAT. Egg lands on the floor. I so
much wanted to go back to bed, if this was an omen of things to come. But
leaving egg to dry, is like leaving permanent glue on the floor, so I managed to
clean up the icky mess, make a sandwich and survive.
The cats inquired about breakfast and their wet-food bowl has vanished.
Very odd. We looked high and low for it. It's oval, the only two oval bowls I
own belong to the cats, one for dry kibble, one for wet food, both
are oval so 3 cat heads can share together. Nope. I refuse to have six cat
bowls. The little guys have learned how to share. Sure they have a squabble now
and then, but when it's feed time, all squabbles are forgotten and they always
eat in peace without fighting. I have caught one cat, who sometimes shoulders
the other cats out of the way, and I pick him up, deposit him outside and shut
the door. He must think I am awfully mean, but I am trying to teach him that
shouldering his buddies away from the food dish is not acceptable. He isn't too
bright though, so he is very slow learning this, but now he seems to eat in
peace without the need to "lean" on the other cats making them move.
(Sneaky little guy!)
I don't know WHERE they hid their bowl. It's a mystery.
It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
- Ike, Hanna, Josephine but no Fay!
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 07:34:03 EDT
Himmacane Ike is punching out winds of 145 mph! He is northeast of us
at 22.7 N...55.8 W with movement towards the west northwest.
Tropical storm Hanna is sprawling all over the place. She is holding just
under hurricane strength with only 70 mph winds.
Tropical storm Josephine is still quite a ways away with 60mph winds.
On Tortola we still have dark clouds and gloomy weather here with
flat seas and no wind.
I caught a rainbow this morning!
A territory-wide heart
healthy walk, is among activities scheduled for the Territory’s
observance of the first Caribbean Wellness Day next Saturday, 13
September.
The Performing Art Series will host classical
music at the College Oct 3 and 31st.
On yesterday's map, I put Fay's name where I should
have put Hanna's name. Ooops! A big thanks to Chris T.
for being the first one to point this out (followed by Tyler, Joe, Helen,
Chuck, Bill, Sharon....)
Well, I can't be right all the time, otherwise no one would
believe me.
It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
- IKE BECOMES THE FIFTH HURRICANE OF THE 2008 ATLANTIC SEASON
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 17:56:38 EDT
The BVI has been in a thick overcast all day with intermittent rain squalls
and occasional gusty winds.
It would appear Fay has stalled and is growing bigger and we have her tail
spraying down on us, like a territorial dog marking her territory!
Himmacane Ike (21.6 N...52.7 W) has become the 5th hurricane/himmacne of
the season, with 70 mph winds, and has moved north and hopefully will pass
north of us Friday or so across open waters.
Stormy Josephine (13.8 N...29.9 W) is sporting 60mph winds and not a
threat to us..... yet.....
84 degrees, dark and stormy in the BVI.
I concur, let's go hide under the rug and wait for t'ings to
improve!
It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
- It's a Girl!
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 08:30:51 EDT
Tropical Storm Josephine is south of the Cape Verde islands with winds of
60 miles per hour, moving at about 13 mph.
Tropical Storm Hanna is meandering off the coast of Haiti with heavy
rainfalls. We even had a big rainfall right at daybreak.
Tropical Storm Ike could very well miss us, as he is now slightly north but
still east of us by about 835 miles with 65mph winds.
Lastly, Tropical Depression Gustav is slowly dying out across the southern
states.
I wrote the above at sunrise, then forgot to to mail it! I was still
sleepy and the dreaded jerk-hammers had not started their work, so I tried to go
back to bed. Of course by 700am, the jerk-hammers were in full force and I was
up again. Grrrrrrrrr...
Yesterday da current done mash up FOUR times! What's wrong with dem
elec-tricky folks? It's not even a real storm and dey can't keep our
current running. Sad, just sad.
I met a young man who had just spent two years at war. He came here for a
month long vacation to recuperate. He said in the first week, he was
here, the BVI had MORE elec-tricky outages than he experienced in a war
torn country over the past two years. He was laughing about it, but said it
was true, and I believe him. These outages are an embarrassment and make us look
plain silly.
Dark, gloomy and flat, looking at a near bare Soper's Hole in
West End, Tortola, BVI with the USVI in the distance. No sunburn today!
It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
- Yikes! It's Ike!
From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:00:11 EDT
Yikes! Tropical Storm Ike is about 1200 miles
east of us in the BVI and we shall watch him closely and often while he figures
out if he wants to be a himmacane or not. He is moving west at about 15pmh, with
50mph winds.
Gustav has downgraded to a tropical depression.
Hurricane Hanna has downgraded to a tropical storm.
Tropical Depression Ten (Josephine?) has been
numbered and noted near the Cape Verde Islands.
********
We now have 5 different houses in my neighborhood using jack hammers. Most
are underpowered so it takes them three times longer to do a job. It's
frustrating, I want to wrap their jerk hammer around their neck. I think all my
neighbors are deaf. WHAT??? Yes, deaf!
I get a nice home office on Tortola, and then we had this construction
explosion. But they've about run out of land in my neighborhood and I am lucky
to be on a large lot, just that I wasn't planning to learn to work by jerk
hammer noise, grrrrrrrrr...
I ponder, how can you be building to code and plans if half of all your
work has to be jerk hammered out again? What am I am missing in this
picture? Today, I noted another neighbor is going up another floor and
argh, on the last floor, he jerk hammered all his window frames out. Poured
thick walls without window frames, craziest thing I have seen. Then he jerk
hammered the window holes. Seems to me that just weakens the wall again,
but I'm not a builder, just a dreamer.
Maybe years at sea, aboard a quiet sailboat, just listening to the waves
slap the hull, was music to my ears. Sure there were times I had the stereo at
near max volume and other times at subdued peace, but there were times when I
just sailed to the gentle rhythm of the winds and waves occasionally interrupted
by a seagull chattering or some other bird tweetering.
Looking at Ginger, Cooper, Salt and Peter Island, BVI.
If you need a unique one
of a kind gift, check them out, and be pleasantly surprised they offer more than
just books. 
, identical to the crockpot I mashed up while sleepwalking. I
call it my "bean pot" because it's the perfect size for dried beans. I love to
make all manner of dried bean recipes, such as split pea soup, 19 Bean Burritos,
Chili beans, Hummus Dip, Black bean Dip, lentil burgers, Calico beans, Cowboy
beans, BarbQ beans, Creole Beans, Bean Salad and so on. 
an excellent well done book. It's coffee table
size, not something you sit down and read in one evening. It makes you want to
run away to sea!
that does magic. Sometimes I sprinkle bacon bits and a small
slice of cheese on top, then poach and serve on an English Muffin. Yummy!
That's a hearty breakfast in under a minute, made from scratch. 
There's still time for
folks to order books or calendars and get them before Christmas. You can even
order the book gift wrapped with a card or just with a card alone. 
I use for making exotic dishes out of dried beans. I
remember, ah yes, I was sleep walking last night, in search of cold water, when
somehow, I tangled with the cord to the crock pot on the counter, and
it lept to the floor, shattering the crockery. Thank goodness, I had
forgotten to put the beans in, I was too tired when I went to bed, to start a
new recipe as I often let my dried beans slow cook all night. Now
that would have been a huge mess to send me into tears, no doubt. But I was
mightily tired when it shattered, and I simply went back to bed. Now I am up,
looking at the huge mess and wishing 1,000 times it had not broken. 
I wonder how much longer I must wait...
which is typically used to make Tabouleh Salad, but also,
served hot, is a great tasty healthy alternative to rice. I am also
drawn to plain yogurt tossed with 
