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For the most recent reports from the BVI see this page.

- - - 2007 Hurricane Season - - -

- heavenly
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:06:30 EDT
The tropical wave went south of us and we didn't getting any of the bad weather predicted for us at all. Today is Summer Solstice!  Of course we have a few more waves coming off Africa, Like bowling balls, aiming for us, the bowling alley pins!  Argh!
 
I am still trying to get my renewal papers to stay here. My time is up in a few days and still no word!  I have called and called and they put me on to first one person and then another and then another and no one seems to know!  Soooooooooooo, if you lose touch with me, you will know it didn't go through and I have been cast at sea as a homeless mermaid!
 
Coney Island is having their 25th annual Mermaid Parade!  Wish I were going, but that is too far north and way to cold for my old bones (tee hee hee!)  The Atlantic ocean is much colder than the Caribbean Sea and brrrrrrrr the Pacific is very cold!
 
If you want nice cozy warm water to play in, then you need to be in Tortola!
 
Warm and Sunny Regards.
Dear Miss Mermaid

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- Immigration Bar
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:15:23 EDT
Beautiful summery day with trade winds wafting by and pretty clouds resembling a ripped open cotton ball package in disarray.  It is 80 degrees and just perfect. I can't imagine that heaven has it any better today.  For more info, check out the Marine Forecast. They are calling for choppy seas, but from what I can see, they aren't very choppy at all. At least not yet.
 
Well, I am still trying to get legal here again.  Been at it for about 10 days now. I have made 5 trips to town and 19 trips to various offices. Still no word on if they will keep me another year or not. Not sure why they are fretting and moaning and waiting so long to decide. Once they decide, I usually get notice to come pay $,$$$.$$ in 24 hours or less, or leave the island!  What fun!
 
So I start looking around, wondering where I would go, what I would do, if I had to go do it somewhere else. I joined Caretaker.org  to see if anything exotic was available for a mermaid to caretake. Just in case.
 
Where does one move to when one has been swimming around the Caribbean for umpteen years and half a lifetime?  I can't imagine living anywhere else!
 
I miss my boat, it made it so much easier than swimming all the time. I could just pick up the anchor and off I sailed looking for a welcoming port. Those were the days, and I miss them terribly. Of course I enjoy living on land now, and of course being a mermaid, I have to live at the seashore, and I do. So all in all, I feel very lucky.
 
Just that now the powers to be require so much paperwork!  Argh!  If anything, computers have created MORE paperwork rather than reduced it. Ugh!  Why don't they just plant a chip in my tail and let me scan through their machine once a year...
 
Maybe they could tattoo my tail, "BVI Mermaid". 
 
What is a tad more frustrating, is the phone companies here now want 2+ year contracts for any little service and landlords want leases and so on it goes. None of these coincide with my work permit renewal papers, so what happens if they cancel me, who pays the lease, who pays out the phone contract and so on?  Why has life on such a once-simple island, become so complicated?
 
I remember when I first came to the BVI, the immigration officer was no where to be found. The office was open and empty. A stack of forms sat on the counter top with a conch shell anchoring them down, so the tradewinds didn't send them out to sea. I stood around for a few minutes, filled out forms and stood around some more. Nobody turned up. With papers in hand, I went to the next logical place, the only thing open, which was a beach bar. If you could call it that.
 
There was the immigration officer, in uniform, sitting at the bar with a cold beer in hand. I told him I wanted to clear in. He looks me up and down and introduces himself and I introduce myself, we shake hands, and he tells me to have a seat.
 
The bar was a little lean to, with a thatched roof, a bar built out of leftover planks and some rickety bar stools. A man with a guitar alternately served drinks and sang silly songs and told bad jokes that somehow were funny, the way he told them. There was no electricity, and the beers were kept in a cooler on ice.  Rum, both dark and light, sat on a crooked shelf next to some plastic cups and a jug of fruit punch and a rusty coffee can. Your choice was rum punch or beer or soda. The rest of the bar was decorated with interesting memorabilia. The rum punch was cheaper than the soda and the bartender had a very heavy hand with the rum bottle, preferring to stretch out his jug of fruit punch as long as possible. Beer was slightly more than the rum punch and sodas were about double that.
 
I sat down, next to the immigration officer,  and placed my passport and papers on the bar.
 
He ignored my papers and  pushed his empty beer bottle at me. So I ordered up a rum punch and a beer for him and quickly paid for both.  The bartender stuffed my money into a rusty old coffee can sitting next to the rum bottles, then  picked up his guitar and began playing again.
 
The officer took a long swig of his beer and then said, "Ah, that is delicious. Now, you are cleared in. Welcome to the BVI."  and he pushed my untouched passport and papers back at me.  "Next time you see me in my office, stop by and I will stamp your passport for you, if you like."
 
I thought this place was heaven on earth and I just loved his disdain for paperwork!  I bought him a few more drinks, as he didn't seemed intent on leaving the bar anytime soon, then I went swimming. When I came back, he was napping in a hammock. So I ordered lunch and kept an eye on him. The menu was simple. It had 3 items. Fishburger or Hamburger or Cheeseburger.
 
Around 4pm, I saw the immigration officer wake up and he began wandering down the beach towards his office. I followed him and he went up the steps, closed the door, and turned around to leave. Didn't even bother to lock the place. I stammered "But I came to get my passport stamped" as I approached him. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Let's go get a drink. Come back tomorrow, I stamp you then."
 
So back to the bar we went. Only this time, he announced that since he was off duty, he would buy me a drink!  Heck, I loved this place even MORE!  Life was grand, paperwork was something the rest of the world did while this tiny dot on the map quietly ignored it as much as possible.
 
It took me 3 days to finally get that stamp in my passport and only then, because I sat on the office steps early in the morning, waiting for the officer to arrive and prop his door open. After he stamped me in, he left again and went back to the bar. His real office. 
 
Ah, I miss the good old days of  clearing in for the price of a few cheap beers and a handshake with an amicable officer over cold drinks at a ramshackled bar where no one wore shoes, the floor was sand and the bartender sang funny songs.




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- Satellite Failure?
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:55:19 EDT
Here it is warm and sunny with slight winds but nice and comfy, unless you are in Road Town. Road Town seems to never have good weather. It's always hot and muggy there.  Not sure why, but I suspect it has to do with too much traffic, too many A/C units, too few trees, too little nature, too much black tar pavement. But such is life!
 
An alert reader, Holy Pirate, sent me this interesting link;
 
Now that's a sobering thought, and reading it is kind of scary. Looks like I will have to treat my crystal ball with great care and rely on it more often for accurate reports should we get any hurricane scares. 
 
Of course, we are used to the forecasters being wrong. We went through Luis and Marilyn hurricanes with totally wrong info and we survived, but those that felt caught off guard blamed the wrong info we were fed. So you still have to sum up the situation and make your own choices.
 
Detours abound around the island, Public Works seems to be in an improvement frenzy. The waterfront highway on the south shore, has had a little bridge out for months. The detour takes you through a closed gas station.  It has barricades up and they didn't exactly measure for two way traffic, so it's dicey going through that detour section. Since I drive a little car, I have no troubles, but these lone occupants in these mammoth SUV's sure look glum as their mirrors snap off or they are forced to backup so another SUV can get by.  Honest to goodness, I may make enemies today, but why on earth do  we have these humongous SUV's everywhere is beyond comprehension.  Everyone I see seems to have ONE person inside and they never stop for hitchhikers. I don't get it. Why does ONE person needs this gargantuan gas guzzling vehicle to traverse such a tiny island and why aren't they picking up the hitchhikers since they often have several rows of seats to choose from?
 
I look at things eco-friendly, such as if 2/3's of the people hitchhiked and the remaining 1/3 picked up two hitchers each, wouldn't we eliminate the chronic traffic gridlock in Road Town?  Um, maybe my math is off. But I ran to town the other day, and it seemed 90% of the island was there with their car with only one occupant in it. I sat there imagining if 2/3's of these cars were off the road for the day, would I still be stuck in a hopeless traffic snarl for 35 minutes?  One wonders...
 
I pick up hitchhikers, though some turn away, when they see me driving up, cause they think my ugly jeep isn't good enough for a free ride. It always gives me a giggle!  Once day I stopped for a lady at the bottom of Joe's Hill, which is near vertical.  Her phone rang and now she holds up her hand for me to wait while she chats on the phone. I drove on up the hill without her. I felt a tad guilty, but I was ready to go home, and I thought I was being nice to stop and offer her a ride, but I had spent much of the day in Road Town watching clerks and waitresses on cell phones while customers waited for their personal calls  to end, so they could transact a little business, and I was sort of fed up with the whole cell phone routine.
 
I was at a party once where the booze and food was free. One man arrived very late and complained loudly that the food had run out, while he stood there with a drink in each hand (just what was he going to hold his food with anyhow?) . My friend says to me "I guess he can't drink  free booze without free food too..."
 
Our lawmakers must have the heat getting to them too. I have never once seen anyone smoking in enclosed public buildings. I have stood in line at all the governments offices and banks and numerous other places and not once has anyone lit up a cigarette. But they passed a law you can't smoke inside these buildings now. DUH!
 
Of course what has everyone in an uproar is that the open-air bars are now considered enclosed buildings.  Fines aren't being issued for 90 days, so many open-air places are ignoring the smokers, or setting aside an unofficial smoking area in an open air area. It's mass confusion now. Plus we have lots of grumpy people who are trying to quit smoking and lordy mercy, don't get on their wrong side!
 
Booze and liquor is sold in every store that sells food, but the cigarettes now have to be carefully hidden away from view and you have to show ID to buy them. But the booze?  Anyone can buy it at anytime.  Many stores stock their booze on or near the floor, so you can even ask your toddler "Hey, grab a bottle of rum for me!"  Life is sooooooooo funny.
 
If second hand smoke in an open air bar is such an issue, then what about walking around Road Town during traffic gridlock?  Is second hand pollution healthy now?  Har har har!
Attractive 10K Solid Gold Dolphin Toe Ring Wide 10 KT Toering
Summer is here!  It's time to show off your toe rings!
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards.
Dear Miss Mermaid

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- Detour
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 08:29:11 EDT
ANother lovely day with scattered showers and partly cloudy skies. We have a wave southeast of us and 2 well passed us.  It's a busy season so far, but no hurricanes on the horizon.
 
I had heard a rumor that Joe's Hill was closed. I have no idea why, last time I drove that hill, which is near vertical, the pavement was in great shape, except for having to dodge errant rocks here and there. The goats have tripod like feet, and scale the cliffs and thus kick rocks down at the road. Rains then bring more rocks as they wash away the little bit of mud holding them elsewhere.  Gravity then brings them tumjbling down to the road.
 
I don't think they emply engineers to cut these roads in, they just put up a raod and hope for the best. So, as I traversed Ridge Mountain Road toards town, I was told to detour at the top of Joe's Hill. So I bit. I followed the detour. However, you are on your own. There are numerous turns down the detour and at each one, hyou have to decide which way to go, as apparently they only have 2 detour signs, one at the top and bottom of Joe's hill.
 
So I turned this way and that and luckly did end up back in town and at the bottom of Joe's Hill.  However, the detour raod was partyly new and partly very old and dicy. Take a look at this picture!
The road is not really wide enough for two way traffic and even so, the pavement is much to be desired. At least the house below, put up a retaining wall in hopes of keeping traffic out of their kitchen.
 
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards.
Dear Miss Mermaid

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- No Hurricanes Yet!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:16:36 EDT
The National Weather Center tropical discussion shows a tropical wave just south of us, but it's not expected to affect us at all. We do have thick cloud cover today and small breezy zephyrs.
 
Carnival will be here in about 6 weeks, so I better get ready for the donkey races, (and pray no bones  break this year...)
 
Jolly Roger is having boat races and a chili Cook off the first weekend of July.
 
Snowbirds around the islands have all fled north in search of spring and summer elsewhere. Incredibly, we still have traffic gridlock in Road Town.  Where do all these cars come from?
 
I took my laundry around the corner and noted that this time, the huge craters I usually have to drive through were neatly filled in with dirt instead of the usual splish splash mud and muck and I commented on this to the laundry mon.  "Oh,"  he says, "Ya know it's election time again and those politicians are looking to buy votes by paving our street."
 
"Paving the street!  Must be a LOT of voters living on your street!  The whole neighborhood needs paving!"
 
"Well", he says, "They tell me, they gonna pave this street this weekend."
 
I think to myself, oh that makes sense. Let's run up tons of overtime for the Public Works folks while election is coming around.  But paving a dirt road, now THAT is major work. If anything the majority of  our roads are atrocious. Many were destroyed in the floods of November 2003 and haven't been fixed YET. But here comes election time, and suddenly our roads are getting attention. Or selective roads are getting attention, I should say. It will be interesting to note whether just this small patch of horrid road gets paved, or the whole neighborhood, which desperately needs fixing up.
 
I can't vote anyhow, I've only been here 20 years and STILL don't qualify. So I expect my section of road will be passed right over in favor of voters.
Sunset last night. Look how flat calm the ocean is. 
Notice the thick haze at the horizon, coutesy of the Sahara.
 
 




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- Life's A Comedy...
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:01:32 EDT
A beautiful day in the BVI. Had some rain last night.  I fed my plants some plant food and two of them died a few days later. I wonder what THAT means!  All the rest are lush and thriving.
 
We have a tropical wave along 43/44 West, South of 18 North, moving at 25 knots, so that puts it due east of us and about 56 hours away. However, due to the predicted wind direction, we aren't expected to have good surfing until the weekend.
 
There is another wave at 52/53West, 12 North, moving east, so it should go below us, unless it changes direction.
 
Last week I went to try to renew my annual work permit. Argh!  What a task. And the government can be scary, every year, you wonder if they will renew you. Every year, they make it harder. Such as now we have to go to the local police and get a letter that says we haven't committed any crimes on the island.  (Well gee whiz, would I pay all these horrendous government fees to legally work here if all I planned to do was rob banks and deal drugs?)  I mean DUH, it's the law abiding citizens like myself, that go through great lengths to remain legally here.  I don't see the robbers and drug dealers lining up to pay THEIR government fees...
 
Plus everyone in government wants my picture now!  Every year, I have to go support the local photo shops and get passport size pics made. Ugh. I don't photograph well and the photographer often complains. Your eyes are too squinty (sorry, I was born that way!)  or don't show your teeth when you smile  (but my parents spent a fortune on them so I could SHOW them when I smile)  or move your hair.  (Where to?  Utah?)
 
Seems to me, it would make for a shorter list, if the police would send a note to the Labor Department, informing them of who has been arrested in the past year. This list would typically fill less than a typed page...
 
But this way, we have to go pay for passport pictures and then fill out a form at the Police Station and hand over $10 along with our passport. Last year, I balked at them keeping my passport!  Finally the clerk, after much fussing and sighing, made a copy of it and let me keep the original.
 
I am fickle, I don't want ANYBODY having my passport out of my sight!  I mean, I wasn't born here, so I am not in my mother homeland, and my homeland, will NOT let me back in without a passport, so you see, this could raise BIG trouble if someone kept my passport and lost it. Seeing as nearly every government department has lost my file at some point, over the years, and forced ME to come up with copies of what should be in it, I am NOT amused to hand over something as important as my ONLY passport. (DUH!)  Maybe I am just being overly fickle...
 
So I went to have picture made, chose the ugliest ones, and then headed for the police station. To make matters even funnier, some folks here seem to think I resemble a certain comedian!  I kid you not!  I don't see the resemblance, but they do.  There is nothing more in the world I would like to have, than a job as a comedian *tee hee hee*. But the famous person is not me, and I am probably not funny enough to make it as a comedian and besides we have no comedian clubs here. Just living HERE is comical enough!  But the first thing the clerk does is ask me if I am so and so, the comedian...
 
Things were running quite smoothly at the Police station, until I asked if I could return in the afternoon and pick up my police letter. "Heavens no!"  said the clerk.  "There are 3 applications ahead of yours!  Come back Tuesday."  Well, this was Thursday!  So I sighed and said "OK, I will be back Tuesday morning". 
 
"No" she says, "It won't be ready until after 3pm" 
 
Sheesh!  This secretly irritated me, because once you get the police letter, then you have to go turn it in to Labor along with a stack of other papers and GUESS WHAT, Labor closes at 3pm!
 
So now I am up to three days of going to town to deal with government. Ugh. And still no renewal.
 
When leaving the police station, I noticed my brand new front right tire was going flat. Funny. The old tire on the front right was going flat too. I bought all new tires, recently,  to prevent this.  Grrrrrrrrrr.
 
So I drove around to the tire mon, and asked him to check my rim for a leak or my stem or something, but PLEASE don't tell me my brand new tire is mash up already, (I just can't take it...)
 
The tire mon was busy, but today his assistant was in, so he came out and fiddled around with the tire, took it off, claimed the rim was dirty, cleaned it and put the tire back on the rim and back on the car and charged me. I kept the receipt. The tire better behave now.
 
Oh!  And for those of you worried about my safety, I have replaced my duct tape with Caribbean hood latches...   You can only imagine, but it's real hardware and my friend helped me and all is well now...  me t'inks. Don't worry, be happy...
 
Father's Day is Sunday, Surprise him with some gold Bling (or surprise yourself with some!)  from ThisOldPirate.com (it's traditional for sailors to wear lots of gold, it's how they used to "save" up their money, by wearing it!)
 
Warm and Sunny Regards.
Dear Miss Mermaid




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- Chirp Chirp
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:59:55 EDT
The sun came up with chirping birds and gentle waves lapping the shores.  It is pretty windless, but there is a tiny swell. We have a tropical wave at 72 West, 17 North, (west of us)  and another at 83 West, 16 North, (also west of us) as well as some Atlantic tropical waves far east of us at 15 North and another closer to us at 10N (we are around 64 West, 18 North). For satellite pic, click here.
 
I am road testing my new refurbished laptop.  It's far nicer than my other (more expensive) antique laptop, and it only cost $499 because it is refurbished with 90 day warranty.  So far I am very impressed with the value for the money.  Click here for more refurbished deals (I bought IBM but other manufacturers are selling refurbs too at great prices.)
 
One thing I have learned about living in the Caribbean, on boats or ashore, is to buy budget electronics.  Look for the deals and go for that.  The weather, the sea spray, open windows and rains, dropping things in the ocean and so on,  it all contributes to deteriorating delicate electronic parts unless you live hermetically sealed in A/C.  But then why live in  the tropics if you want to be ensconced inside with perfect temperature and humidity?  You can have that anywhere in the world and there are many places far cheaper than here to live. Especially with the high cost of da current here (AKA power, electricity). 
 
To live in the Caribbean on a small island, is to live open air and enjoy nature, along with the salty air, the geckos, donkeys, goats, chickens, gulls, and bountiful tradewinds.  Well, usually they are prolific, but lately they have slowed down temporarily. Last night the winds were slight as in, I didn't feel a thing!  So I was forced to use my electric wind (AKA fan). 
 
I love the outdoors and the first thing I do upon arising, is throw open all the doors and go outside and look around.  I also check for kitty gifts.  Lately they have been avid hunters and seem quite eager to drag home their trophies for me to admire. I was explaining to company the other day that I only have fast lizards on my property.  That is because the cats have killed all the slow lizards and removed the tails from many fast lizards.  So eventually, we will only have fast sprinters breeding with other marathon runners, and all the lizards will be fast.  The fast lizards do grow their tails back and the kitties think  of this as a  natural renewable food source...
 
My first apartment on shore, was a tiny cottage, 12 by 12 feet exactly.  It came with a back yard (which I had to clear of the tamarinds) so I could spent much of my time outdoors.  Anyhow, due to the overgrowth, The lizards were long living and HUGE.  I mean these guys were like 14-20 inches long from nose to tail tip, very healthy and fat in shades of green and blue.  Because my two doors lined up perfectly and the same tile was outdoors as indoors, and there was no steps,  they used my cottage as a shortcut from the front to the back yard.  When I would be indoors, working at my computer, here would come these huge lizards lumbering by. Sometimes they raced by, 3 and 4 at a time!   I had no pets then and the landlords' pets who frequented my place didn't hunt for anything except welcome pats and rubs or  the food  bowl.  I've never seen such huge lizards since.  Maybe they were a special breed, soon to be extinct, like everything else that was once beautiful and natural.
 
So in my morning walkabout, as I take in the great outdoors, I also check the welcome mat and verandah as well as places indoors for pet treats like dead rodents or a a lizard head.  My cats seem to like lizard bodies as snacks and leave me the head, to let me know they have been busy.  I must admit, lizards aren't very welcome indoors, as they tend to poop on painted walls and nothing removes that stain except covering it up with more paint.  Heaven help the errant lizard that dares to come inside my home.  The kitties are having none of that and considered it a delivered snack as if they had called for pizza delivery.  Not that we have pizza delivery here... but somehow they decided indoor lizards are delivered food for their enjoyment.
 
Well, it's Monday morning and before I got things finished, POOF, there goes the Internet.  So I will email this out, whenever the intermittent INTERNET decides to make an appearance.  *sigh*.  I am behind on my email answers, very behind, thanks to this erratic Internet. *sigh*.  I will be glad when the local phone and communication wars are over. Since we were promised competition and better service, HA, we've had lousy service and rising costs.
 
We Still Have A Thick Haze in the Air from the Sahara
 




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- Parking T'ings
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2007 08:48:23 EDT
Beautiful day in paradise. We had some scattered rains yesterday and last night. My internet connection has been scattered too...
 
We've got four tropical waves bouncing around, most aren't expected to do much, but time will tell.
 
We have erratic cloud cover here and slow winds at about 5-6 mph.
 
Father's Day is just around the corner, for the man who has everything, check out these Pirate Books.
 
I just love the way they park t'ings on Tortola...




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- Horse Bananas!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 09:26:46 EDT
Bright blue skies and extremely few clouds. Light, slight winds.  Small waves, but perhaps enough for beginner surfers to hang out hopefully for the big beginner wave!
 
I am going to start the arduous task of getting legal again for another year. Each year the required paperwork and tasks grows longer and longer. I expect this task will take several weeks to complete. Nothing like feeling useless... hanging out in long lines at various government offices for hours on end. Argh!  Note to self: take new novel to read...
 
Here are some comments and observations on the new smoking laws in the BVI:
 
The new no-smoking laws have taken effect in the BVI with much confusion and derision. Many bars have increased their drink prices in anticipation. Why?  Because they feel they are losing the smoking crowd (many drinkers smoke too) so they've decided to make it up in non-smoker drink sales.
 
Considering that 90% of the bars are open air, many managers and owners are miffed at the new law and would like to control their own smoking and non-smoking areas without government control.
 
One outdoor bar, cheerfully measured out 50 feet from the entrance to the bar, placed a huge rope in a circle, and inside of that, a table and an ashtray bucket. Not surprisingly, the table quickly overfilled and more chairs were dragged to the circle.
 
The table doesn't have any shade or an umbrella, so the smokers' quickly relocated the table outside of the circle to a shadier area, even further from the bar.
 
Employees are not allowed to serve that area, (per the law) so the smokers are getting more exercise these days, as they hike 100+ feet round trip for their drinks. The smokers said well, this certainly saves on tipping a waitress or waiter and we get in some walking exercise to boot!  A gloomy waitress stood back at the entrance of the bar, looking at her empty tables inside the open air bar.
 
The owner stopped by and lamented there were more people at the smoker's table than in the bar and he would have to buy more chairs for the smokers' area.  He sauntered off shaking his head at this odd phenomenon.
 
Another bar owner, was worried and upset, her lunch and happy hour crowd had vanished overnight. She never realized how many smokers' frequented her open-air bar. She doesn't have 50 feet of outdoor area, to put up a smoking area, so she feels cheated.
 
Several have commented that walking around Road Town for an hour during the chronic traffic congestions is far more pollution than 2nd hand smoke in an open-air bar.
 
Smokers and nonsmokers all agree that hermetically sealed buildings, should all be nonsmoking. 99.9% of them were before this law took effect.
 
Rumor is no fines will be issued for 90 days, but managers and employees are supposed to police the smokers. This makes many uncomfortable and they feel like snitches.
 
One bar owner had not heard of the 90 day grace period for fines, and he was directing his smokers to hide in the bushes about 20 feet from his open-air bar and the run like hell if anyone showed up to complain.
 
I ran into some tourists who had been to the islands before and were surprised at the new law. So they wanted a cigarette and walked out from under the roof of the open air bar, counted off 50 steps and each smoked a cigarette. They were surprised to be joined by a few drug dealers who wanted to ply their trade to the smoking outcasts. The tourists were indignant, "For God's Sake, just because we smoke a cigarette doesn't make us a crack addict!  This is disgusting, to have crack and cocaine dealers in the bars but smokers, heaven forbid, are treated as the pariahs while the drug dealers are free to roam and deal!  Where are the priorities here?"
 
One wonders.
 
Smoking is a disgusting habit, but it's also highly addictive. Many smokers simply can't quit without killing someone  *giggle*. Of course all the former smokers rave about how easy it was too quit, (proud that no one has dug up what's under their flower bed...)  as their smoking friends grind their teeth and mutter under their breath. The BVI used to be known for its laid back charm and do as you please, law abiding (but there were a lot LESS laws to abide!) , don't worry, be happy attitude. Now the government seeks  to add as many laws as fast as possible on the books and take away that feeling of footloose freedom.
 
I must be getting old, if I long for the good old days...
 
************
Here we have Horse Bananas and Rudy, of Rudy's Bar. I commented on the lovely stand of horse bananas hanging from his roof as I took a picture. Notice how square and big they are. Their skins are thick but the fruit inside is very lush. Rudy asked if I wanted any, and I asked if I might could have two. He snorted and handed me six!
 
The next day, my friends, who were also at Rudy's, came by for breakfast and we sliced them diagonally about 1/2' thick, then sauteed them in olive oil on one side, sprinkled the other with a bit of cinnamon, then flipped them all over and sauteed the other side. They made a tasty side dish for breakfast (or any meal!)  YUMMY!
 
Father's Day is June 17th!  Check out Nautical Bling and other great gifts at This Old Pirate's Booty Chest.
 
By the way, the webcams for the Caribbean have been updated! 
 
 
 
 
 
 




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- Bright Blue Skies
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 15:39:14 EDT
Winds were dead last night, but kicked up a tiny bit this morning, then died and we had a "scattered" rain fall. It evaporated a few minutes later.
 
Sun is back out, seas and swells are small.  Wind is gone!
 
My internet was off again this morning and off most of last night. Other times it fades in and out!  Argh, those no good  scallywags, I wish I could keel haul the bilge drinking rats!
 
Some folks are complaining about mosquitos. They rarely ever bother me, so I have few complaints. Maybe it's a mermaid thing or maybe because I eats lots of garlic and use apple cider vinegar.
 
 
 




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- Young and Foolish
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2007 08:58:39 EDT
Bright and sunny with scattered cloud cover. Winds are minimal but picking up occasionally. Waves and swell is very slight, I see a trawler heading off the north coast of Tortola making good headway.  Waves are tiny, maybe a foot or so. We are expecting the usual quick downpour to continue greening Tortola.
 
I went to the fool moon party at Bomba's.  It was late when I arrived. I was home alone and couldn't sleep, the waters were flat calm and incredibly, I could hear the music from Bomba's, all the way down to my place. So I went down there to dance.
 
I ran into lots of locals and tourists, it was a very busy party.  I knew all the cops and they were quite friendly and trying to keep traffic flowing in at least one lane.
 
At some point the female singer announced a wet T-shirt contest. Women lined up on the stage in their T-shirts. Usually icy cold water is then dumped over each female's T-shirt.  The MC then presents each lady, one at a time and the crowd reacts.
 
The woman with the most positive noise from the crowd wins $100.
 
Sounds easy enough, if you like this sort of thing.
 
No, I didn't enter, mermaids don't wear T-shirts, and I was wrapped in a colorful sarong to hide my tail.
 
Anyhow, through a typical island hiccup, no one had the icy cold water pitchers ready. So the MC continued the show by presenting each female one by one while the crowd hooted and hollered. There wasn't much response, as the men of the crowd were looking forward to wet T-shirts, not dry ones.  I felt sorry for the contestants, mainly it was their friends hollering hopeful cheers.
 
When the last contestant was presented, the crowd didn't have much to say, most had now turned away from the contest, having lost interest in looking as dry T-shirts clad over women.  This contestant looked crest fallen from the non-reaction of the crowd, so she stripped down to her birthday suit, right on stage and began dancing naked!
 
Now, THAT is one way to wake up a bored crowd!  The sounds were deafening as she dance naked and soon everyone's attention was riveted to the stage.  I heard some very funny remarks, as I was suddenly now at the back of the crowd, as everyone had rushed by me to get a better look.
 
The other contestants  looked very unhappy as the MC announced the obvious winner and handed her a $100 bill. The naked dancer did another dance routine, with $100 bill in hand,  as the other contestants glumly left the stage. The band struck up a new song and  the 'shroom tea poured onwards. 
 
Ah, to be young and foolish again. Wait until she grows up and tells her grandkids...
 




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- Beach for Two
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2007 21:42:49 EDT
Gorgeous day with some scattered rain. Winds have perked up some and we sure need them.  Every time the winds stop, everyone talks about getting air conditioning.
 
Ugh. We have so many power problems as it is. But, the government has told us that is over now!  The Dutch boys showed up and got us all fixed up right. We needed this done 25 years ago. They say now we got plenty of power.
 
Uh huh.  25 years later.  I'm impressed! 
 
No outages, lately, so I am not complaining one bit!
 
A Private Beach for Two
 
I went to look for friends at the airport and drove up to the taxi lane.   I pulled up in my red jeep and immediately a cop walks over with her ticket book in hand and starts tapping it against the other hand. I left the engine running, I thought this lane was for pickup and drop off and I am trying to pick up. I didn't dare get out of my car and go look, I knew the way she was slapping that ticket book against her hand that she was ready to slap one on my windshield.  I craned my neck all around, and realized I was at the departure gate rather than the arrival gate. I would need to back up 800 feet.
 
I decided not to chance it. In the old days, I wouldn't have gave it a moment's thought. There was no one behind me, I would have backed right up and the cop would have looked the other way.   But somehow, I don't think today that is the case.
 
I tried to call my friends on my cell phone, but the battery was dead and I am still waiting on my mail order one. It hardly works anyhow, much, since the phone companies are having wars again, now we the consumers are getting lousy or no service.
 
I smiled at the cop.
 
I pretended my phone work and sat there some more, looking all around while chatting on the phone to nobody. See you aren't allowed to chat on the phone and drive. So this confuses the cop. I hope.
 
I decided to go see if my friends were in the bar a the beach.  They weren't but that killed 10 minutes.
 
I came  back by intent on driving REAL slow through the pickup lane and try to catch them at the arrival area.  Sure enough, there they were at arrivals.  I got out of my car. Here comes that cop huffing down he sidewalk.  She leans against a pole with her ticket book in her hand and studies me intently.
 
I walked around the back of my car and open it up.  I tell my friend, to help me look busy and let's load the luggage while her hubby was doing something else inside.  Otherwise I would have to  park a  mile away.
 
The cop looked bored.
 
We left and I forgot all about the cop.
 
That is, until we returned to the airport later in the day. Same cop, comes over to look at my jeep. She is tapping her ticket book on her hand again.
 
This time I jump out and I am letting people out and unloading their luggage. I realized now it is my 3rd trip to the airport for the day, and my jeep is a tad remarkable, what with all that duct tape on it.
 
Maybe the cop is wondering what on earth I am up to!  Am I running a taxi without taxi tags?  But who would ride in my decrepit jeep?
 
She watches me and I pretend I don't see her.  I hug my friends and we promise to do it again soon.
 
I forgot.
 
I forgot to shut and lock my back door properly. So when I start up the key to start off, I here the familiar thump that lets me know if I keep driving the door will fly open. So I have to turn the engine off, hop out again. 
 
I see the cop, light up, like maybe she will get to write a ticket after all. I go through my special gyrations of shutting the back door with the old weak hinges, and then I have to lock and check it a few times, it doesn't always catch right since the hit and run, mash em up and leave, that bedeviled my heap a while back.
 
Finally.
 
The lock catches.
 
I get back in my car, and ignore the fact that the cop has moved much closer. I start up and get the heck out of there.
 
What I really want to know is, why don't they hand out big tickets to the dang taxi's that stop in the MIDDLE of busy streets to pick up, discharge and chat. Many of them have doors that open right into oncoming traffic.It backs up traffic behind me, and some stop for so lon it causes snarls all through Road Town.
 
But there is no law and no ticket for THAT.  But smoke a cigarette and you get a ticket or stay more than 18 seconds at the airport picking up or dropping off.....  I just don't get it.
 
Gee, it used to be so friendly in Tortola. Now it's all about tickets. Tickets for smoking a cigarette, tickets for using the temporary lane at the airport.
 
The people here are still laid back mostly, but the government has decided to become a real pest. ARGH!
 




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- Storms...
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 11:07:37 EDT
Day 2 of hurricane season and our 2nd Tropical Storm, named Barry, has hit the Gulf Coast of Florida. If he strengthens (doubtful) he will become a himmacane!  Actually, at this writing, he has been downgraded to a tropical depression.
 
Meanwhile in the BVI, we have scattered crowd cover, um, let's change that to scattered cloud cover, moderate winds, and 81 degrees. Tropical Storm Barry is not a threat to us at this time. Whew!  But stayed tuned, you just never know when Chantal may pop up on our horizon!
 
Washed ashore in a bottle at the beach:
 
Dear Miss Mermaid:
I'm still new to the island and am interested learning about how the Territory prepares for hurricanes. I'm going tomorrow for the official gov'ment Disaster Management tour, but I thought you might be able catch me up on the deeper issues they would gloss over. I saw your site and figured your insight would help.
 
Thanks you for your email!  We have three different types of people getting ready for a potential hurricane strike. The tourists, the land folks and the boat folks.  Well, and then there is the government...
 
Typically the tourists want to stay for the excitement of the hurricane, others want to leave, and many bemoan the fact it had to happen on their vacation. We heavily encourage them to get to the airport with their departure tickets (albeit for a different date) as early as possible and try to  fly stand-by out of here. It can't be a last minute decision, as there won't be enough seats to fly everyone out anyhow, and at some point all the planes leave for good, to be stored elsewhere until the storm passes.
 
About 90% of the boaters and their respective owners and managers, generally prepare early for a storm, moving to the best hurricane holes such as Paraquita Bay.  Lately, the BVI government has been turning away boats from other ports such as St John and St Thomas before a storm. St John has a hurricane hole, but it's mismanaged by government with  a ridiculous long list of regulations, not written by a mariner. 
 
Once tucked away,  boaters typically rush to remove everything from the deck, including sails and stash all that below. Extra fenders are put out, often made of old tires covered in heavy duty garbage bags.  The smart boaters will find a concrete bunker ashore be it with friends, in a hotel or in an emergency shelter.
 
The boat yards here used to be lackadaisical about preparations, but have learned a great deal since hurricanes Luis and Marilyn struck 10 days apart in  1995 leaving boats toppled and damaged  in many yards, when advance preparation would have saved many.  Since then, most boat yards require boaters to prepare their boat for a storm at the time they enter the yard, even though no storm is on the horizon. This saves a lot of last minute confusion.
 
The day before or the day of  the storm the other 5% of the boaters will rush around  attempting preparations and complain there is no where left to go.  About 5% will actually do nothing to prepare or the boats were left here with no designated caretaker and thus sit by themselves in various anchorages.  Usually that's the last we see of them.
 
The land lubbers, typically argue the storm ISN'T coming and therefore no preparations are necessary. But about 10% of the people will take early precautions to secure their property and stock up for the storm with food, liquor, batteries, booze, water, beer, medications, rum, candles, alcohol and so on. Notice the heavy emphasis on alcoholic beverages.  Their friends and neighbors will sneer at them for getting ready early.
 
Two days before the potential storm hit another 40% will start preparations and at the grocery stores, the beer, liquor and wine aisles will empty their shelves out first. Hardware stores often empty out their supplies and lines are very long everywhere you go. The stores usually stack up a mountain of Spam, canned Beef and Vienna Sausages in the mistaken belief that this is all we're going to eat.
 
By now most gas and diesel  stations have run dry, as those with generators have stocked up and smart car owners have filled their tanks.  During hurricane season, I typically try to keep my car topped up every few days, so that if and when we get caught in the cross hairs, I may already have a full tank of gas and thus can avoid the long lines and frustrations.
 
Banking before a storm is chaotic as many folks rush to withdraw cash funds. This is because if we get a major strike, after the storm, 99% of the businesses that are able to re-open, will ONLY accept cash and no credit cards or checks.
 
Ice cubes and blocks,  both before and after the storm is scarce.  I believe the electricity is shut off when winds reach 50 miles per hour, could be 35 mph or earlier, but at some point the current is going to mash up and stay off until the storm is over.  Once the storm has passed,  they generally inspect the neighborhoods before turning the power back on.
 
Many last-minute folks are left poised with drill and plywood and no current to run their power tools. One thing that disturbs me, is the sudden building frenzy we are experiencing in the BVI has brought on a pile of buildings that weren't even designed to protect themselves from a storm. So many people will pound huge concrete nails into the sides of their buildings, that will leave ugly unsightly gouges when the boards are removed. Many more will simply put massive amounts of duct tape on their windows (and it's fashionable not to remove it for the next two years either...)
 
Surprisingly, Christmas decorations are rarely taken down, so if they are still up in the summer or fall when a storm hits, they typically remain up.  It's not unusual to find a Santa Claus or a string of red and green lights in your neighborhood bushes after a storm strike. Yesterday, I drove by a house that still had all their Christmas decorations up!
 
At this point, anyone with a generator , discovers they have MANY friends and loads of company.  This is why before a storm, many smart people will tell you their generator is broken (it isn't!) but they don't want 128 people in their home during the storm.
 
In years past I've seen grocery stores actually empty out completely before a storm, but I believe most have a handle on things now and am able to somewhat restock and keep selling canned goods. Bread disappears off the shelves and you can't seem to find a crumb for a week before the storm. This is a phenomenon I don't understand.
 
The day before a potential storm hit finds another 25% of the people start preparations and the day of the storm yet another 20% frantically rush around making preparations and complain the store selections are minimal, IF the stores are even open.  This leaves another 5% of land lubbers, who often do nothing to get ready for a storm. Once the effects of the storm start, they typically show up at your door, empty handed and stay throughout the storm, helping you deplete your supplies. (I think Aesop has written a similar Fable about this too...)
 
While staying on a boat is the most foolish thing you can do, every storm brings out some sort of macho male sailors, that insist on riding it out on  their boat.  How they think they are going to maneuver or re-anchor in 100+ mile an hour winds, is beyond anyone's comprehension. Many disappear and this is usually covered up by the government. With no body, you aren't presumed dead even though you and your boat have vanished.
 
It is foolish to stay in a wooden building as if the storm is a big one, the wooden structures are the first to collapse.
 
Everyone is encouraged to take shelter in concrete buildings that are shuttered or boarded up. Some sturdy hotels will open up rooms and rent to locals and tourists while others will claim to be booked full when in fact they are empty. No I am not going to name names...
 
I think over the years the government has improved their response time a great bit. Back in the dark ages, they often made no official announcements until 24 hours before a potential strike and by then, if you aren't already prepared, making preparations will be difficult!
 
After the storm, the BVI is amazingly resilient. People pour out into the streets and clean up the mess and get back to normal business as soon as possible. Restaurants often cook up all their thawed food and serve it for free. We've never had a looting problem or a curfew, unlike our USVI neighbors who seem to have some serious looting problems and ridiculous curfews after a storm. I pray the BVI will maintain this spirit of cooperation and can-do attitude after a storm.
 
If anything, we in the BVI need to learn how to prepare EARLY for a storm rather than waiting for a last minute rush.  Businesses could help with the cooperation by letting employees work only half days for the three days preceding a storm strike, if their business is non essential.  Others like grocery and hardware stores are scrambling to keep employees because their lines are long as everyone shops at the last minute. If you live in the BVI, or any area that is prone to a serious storm threat this year, then you really should think about getting organized now with your food stash, batteries and supplies.
 




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- Yep, The Mermaid Is Alive!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 08:56:39 EDT
Another airless day with flat seas and a semi-thick cloud cover.  Weather has been the topic of choice of late, as it has become hot or seems hot, since we've had very little wind and virtually no waves or swell. The temperatures haven't really increased but we are spoiled by our near constant trade winds and when they stop, it appears to heat right up.
 
I'm sorry I skipped a few days, reporting in, I have had a lot on my plate lately, and the days wiz by and my list of things to do is still quite lengthy by nightfall and OOOPS!
 
Now tomorrow is June 1st (no kidding!)  and it' also the "start" of hurricane season. Not that the hurricanes pay much attention to the calendar dates, but around the world meteorologists are buying new suits, sporting new hair styles and calling for make overs as they prepare for their potential time in the limelight, should we get any big bad storms, hurricanes or himmacanes.
 
I am well prepared for a potential hurricane, I have everything except emergency food.  It's the cats' fault. Every time I buy a case of tuna to stash for our hurricane needs, they seem to find it!  One cat has become a real showman, and will open up the kitchen cabinet, and pull out a can of food, close the cabinet back, then sit by his chosen can of food, waiting patiently for someone with thumbs to come by and open it for him. I wish I could catch this on video, as I've seen him do this several times,  and it's hilarious! 
 
His cabinet has both cat food and tuna cans stacked in it. He ALWAYS chooses a tuna can. Now how does he know which is which?  They are identical in size and randomly stacked up together.  Can he read labels now or is his sense of smell so keen he can sniff what's inside the can and then choose his favorite?  I tell you, cats are smarter than they want you to know...
 
His brother, is proud of the fact that he can smell chicken (and beg for same) in any element. If I come home with cooked chicken, he goes nuts and pesters me until I put some in his bowl. But if I come home with frozen chicken, he can also smell this!  He will run to greet me at the car, meow plaintively and follow me carefully all the way to the kitchen and guard the fridge while I place the chicken in the freezer.
 
Once I bring it out to thaw, I usually place the frozen chicken in a big bowl of water and put it back in the fridge, he goes nuts, and checks in with me often to see if that chicken is ready yet. One day I was cooking chicken and veggies all day in the crock pot and that evening I opened the lid to see if everything was done. Suddenly I hear the rapid patter of running little paws as he races to the kitchen, at 30 miles an hour (yeah they can run that fast!)  doing a dance by my legs, begging and begging for chicken (which of course I always  relent and give him some).  He and his brother even love chicken bones and will happily gnaw them down and leave little chicken toothpicks around the kitchen floor when they are done.
 
As kittens, they would drag their chicken bones around the place, alternately gnawing on them and playing soccer with them. I was forever picking up leftover chicken bones, a day later, scattered here and there. See, Pussers used to have a chicken wing night, and I used to pass through there and bring home a sack full of leftover chicken bones for the kitties to finish off.  I'm not much of a meat eater, but my cats sure are and this was a free treat they got once a week.
 
One day I hired a maid to come help me clean and rearrange my living room, which also contained my office. The kitties, having been tamed from the wild, were still extremely terrified of humans (except me, and I am a mermaid anyhow) so whenever anyone came over, they would run hide and refuse to come out until the terrifying humans left. For two years, no one believed I had cats!  They thought I had "imaginary pets"  because I would talk about my sweet little darlings, that no one ever saw.  (Small wonder friends say I am crazy...)
 
In their third year, they finally decided humans coming over were OK, and quit doing this ridiculous hiding maneuver. I remember a couple coming over to visit me again and the now full grown cats strolled by, and my friends'  jaws fell open and they remarked "You really DO have cats!"
 
So the maid, who had been over before and never seen any kitties or cats, probably thought I had "imaginary pets" too though surely she saw the bits of cat fur as she swept up. So on this day, it was maybe her 2nd or 3rd visit to my place and she was shy, since I was there, as I called her to help me rearrange the furniture and usually I was gone working, when she came to clean.
 
Anyhow, at that time, my desk had little tiny legs, about 1/2 inch tall.  So I was expecting the usual dust bunnies to be hiding under there, but imagine my HORROR  and sheer EMBARESSMENT, when the maid and I pulled the desk out, and there underneath, were a couple dozen  chicken wing bones mingling with the dust bunnies!
 
I bet that maid is still talking about that...  Probably thinks I am some kind of pig that eats chicken wings at my desk all day and kicks the bones underneath when I am done...
 
I tried to explain to her, it was a kitten thing, but I am not sure she bought it, as she silently swept up the mess and deposited it in the waste bin, giving me sidelong stares.  Of course those naughty kittens craftily hid all day, and I never did get to show her that YES I really have cats living here...
 
So if you are in the islands and hear about some nut who stashes chicken bones under her desk, that's me...
 
In this picture you can see how absolutely flat the Caribbean Sea is these days. The bottom of the picture shows the water at the shore's edge, and you can see the waves are only about 1/4inch tall!  Notice the lack of sailboats.  (They need wind too!)
Today is the Full moon and it's a Blue Moon!  Parties will be at both ends of the island including Trellis Bay and Bombas.
If you are unsure what a blue moon is, then check out this very interesting article.
 
If you already know what a blue moon is, then feel free to check out these beautiful sun and moon ankle bracelets at my online Beach Boutique.
14k Moon, Star & Sun Ankle Bracelet




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- Argh Mateys!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 14:15:26 EDT
Another gorgeous day. My color is coming back, so either the sun is working or I am feeling better or both.
 
Afraid I can't give a first hand report of the wooden boat regatta, for the first time in 20 years, I have missed it and I am very sad.
 
Waves are up a little, sea is a bit sloppy, winds are light and cloud cover is heavy but no rains.
 




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- Music Fest
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 09:49:26 EDT
Another gorgeous day. The waves are trying to get up so the surfers can have some fun. Music Fest in Cane Garden Bay is in full force. I went by there Friday but didn't make it Saturday. I am still building up energy after that awful fever. I did get few pictures before the crowds arrived.
 
Food, drink and gift vendors were out in full force at the Music Fest. Here we have old meets new. On the left, we have a store bought gas BBQ and on the right, we have the traditional Caribbean BBQ. The sack underneath holds locally made charcoal.
Extra restrooms were placed nearby the MusicFest. You can take a dump, at the dump, throughout the festival.
If that isn't convenient, then whilst visiting the graveyard, you can also relieve yourself while listening to cards wiz past on the road, merely inches away.
You can see the big stage and numerous vendor tents set up late Friday afternoon. I ran into an officer from Trade and License who was checking out paperwork and shutting down a few opportunists who had failed to get the proper paperwork. The big truck parked on the beach (shame on them!) had a life guard perched on top.
Many boats had anchored in on Friday.
 




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- Big Dark Clouds Wafting By
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 13:39:35 EDT
Drop dead gorgeous day with big thick clouds overhead. The Cane Garden Bay Music Fest is gearing up for 3 days of partying, as is the Wooden Boat Regatta at Foxys.
 
It's Memorial Day Weekend for the Americans and Whit Monday for the BV Islanders, so it's going to be big partying for the next few days.
 
Summer is upon us soon and spring in the BVI is particularly beautiful these days, especially since we did have some rains a while back.  
 
It's a great weekend to work on your tan!
 
 




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- The Secret World
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 24 May 2007 14:10:47 EDT
Another gorgeous day here. The promised scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms never came to pass. You just can't trust anybody these days it seems.
My crystal ball shows slight winds and clear waters. No surf today.  No hurricanes on the horizon. Just warm lovely weather.
 
Legends have long told of the powerful, mysterious creatures that are half human and half fish. This scrapbook is a collection of writings and "evidence" from Aunt Lydia. The four mermaid figures bundled with the book represent the four types of mermaids that can be found all over the world: the frequently spotted shipsavers; the wishgivers who help those in trouble; the shapeshifters who whimsically enter and exit the human world; and the weatherworks mermaids who bargain with humans for favors. Plenty of "factual" information is included.
 




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- 1,000 Words...
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 13:51:37 EDT
 




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- Scattered, Isolated, Maybe's
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 09:49:21 EDT
Another gorgeous day. The Sahara dust has settled somewhat but still we were treated to a spectacular sunset last night.
 
Heavy clouds are threatening rains and the hazardous weather outlook predicts scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms. Scattered?  Isolated?  Sounds to me like that covers all bases. 
 
Once I locate my camera cord,  I will upload the sunset for you.
 
My heap of a jeep seems to be a source of entertainment as of late. After the tire blew out, I became too scared to drive it anymore. I mean that little incident took 10 years off my life.  So finally, I gritted my teeth and went downtown, driving at a very sedate rate, in case another tire blew or the hood flew up (it's held down by duct tape since the latch broke) and I finally arrived at the tire place. I think it took me an hour to get to town, I drove so slow, and prayed the whole way while maniacs passed me on hills and curves with a toot of their horn.
 
I bought four spanking brand new radials at a ridiculously high price, what with 20% duty on car parts here and wholesale markups, retail markups and the cost of shipping and cost of mounting and so on. I had to shop at two different places and pay two different prices to end up with 4 matched tires. These are heavy duty and made for anything these awful roads can dish out.
 
Believe it or not, my heap of a jeep drives like a new car now. I drove home with tremendous confidence and even got up to almost 40 miles per hour!  These new tires, have caused some rather unkind remarks such as "her tires are worth more than the heap!"  and "why didn't you put retreads or used tires on it?"  Then of course, I was retaping my hood, as the heat melts the duct tape glue eventually, and this was met with snickers and giggles and finger pointing.
 
Honestly, my heart just could not take another tire blow out, and after assessing my current tires, I decided I was darn lucky they have provided so much mileage.  I've had the old tires so long, I can't remember when they were bought. At the time, they were a gift, as a friend of mine, another sailor, was fond of using my jeep to run errands and often drove me around in it, since I really don't like driving. I just drive because I have to, but most weeks, my jeep doesn't leave the house more than twice, since I do most of my work at my  home office. Anyhow, it was cranky at the time and producing frequent flats, and so one day my friend came back from town with 4 new tires on my jeep and said they were a gift for all the times he had driven my jeep. Somebody is going to give that guy angel wings when his time comes.
 
Eventually he sailed away, and though I have waited in vain for him to come back (and discover I need tires again....)  his boat has yet to grace the horizon. So I had to buy these tires on my own, and WHEW, they cost a fortune. Ah, the price of paradise. Livin here though, is priceless.
 




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- Fantastic
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 17:30:07 EDT
Another gorgeous day in paradise. I haven't been anywhere in the heap, um jeep yet. I still need a spare tire, and want to go buy that next week on my next outing. Tortola is a bad place to drive without 3 cans of Fix a flat and a spare tire.
 
Waves were up and surfers were out, no rain in site but we sure need some to settle this dust.
 
Readers Ken and Lori shared this fantastic photo of an incredible rainbow they captured off the south shore of Tortola recently.
 
 




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- Dusty and Hazy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 18:11:10 EDT
It's not like me to miss so many days without reports. Goes to show how the fever has really affected me. I told someone the other day that I just realized it was Tuesday and wondered what happened to Monday. My friend looks at me and says, "Hun, it is Thursday..."
 
We have light but bountiful winds today and  bright sunshine pouring through the incredible thick haze. I have run into others who are quite sick, but we all seem to have differing symptoms with only two common threads, we all feel like we are nearly dead and think that death  it is imminent. Thirst is the other common thread, I can't seem to get enough liquids down and others report the same.
 
Surf is slight today, but the surfers are up and running.  I haven't ventured out to check further yet. Yesterday I went to town, for the first time in about three weeks and got stuck in the sun for about an hour and a half, and it brought my fever back something ferocious.
 
I wrecked my trusty rusty heap, almost. A tire blew out while I was whizzing down the waterfront highway. I was in 2 wheel drive instead of 4 wheel drive so I lost control of the vehicle and watched in horror as my jeep aimed for the rock seawall and I braced myself for the impact while gently coaxing the steering away and lightly pumping the brakes, I was too afraid to stamp on them for fear, I would flip right over the rock wall. The car made awful noises and left black rubber marks on the pavement.
 
When I came to a stop, I opened the door and looked behind me. I wanted to see if I was about to be rear ended, but what I saw was the black rubber tracks that looked like a drunk had careened wildly down the road.
 
I had a hundred things to be instantly grateful for. Like the fact I was alone on the road, as otherwise I might have collided with a car. I had woke up without a fever and ran to town to do my errands while I still felt alive. I was traveling with a quart of ice water, which I had already depleted, and though there were lukewarm water bottles stashed behind the seats, I had pulled over at Nanny Cay and bought a huge icy cold drink, which now sat in the console.
 
I sat on the rock wall and sipped my drink and studied the haze and the brilliant blues of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. I regretted not having my camera nor my hat with me. Cars went around my heap and no one stopped to help. I guess they couldn't see my tire was blown out, and I should raise the hood and stand around looking pathetic.
 
I hadn't the energy to change the tire and my 3 cans of Fix-A-Flat were not going to be able to do anything to the front driver tire which lay in shreds, flatter than paper. My cell phone doesn't work because I can't find a battery to buy for it. It's almost a year old, an antique!
 
However, I have an old cell phone that still works on prepaid cards, and my friends who had been using it, had recently returned it. I had tossed it in the jeep for good luck and I was ever so grateful.  After a few tries, I found taxi-mon Dave who promised to come get me.
 
I had already tried the lug wrench and those babies weren't budging. I was by now soaked in sweat from head to tail and feeling positively lousy. I had a car load of important stuff and just wanted to go home.  I had my BVI file with me which has every paper I need to prove I am legal here. It is very heavy and thick. I also had papers and equipment and packages belonging to others. Then I had two bags of sale items from various grocery stores. I hadn't bought anything I wanted, just bought the sale stuff and left the store. And I had a bag of cheat cat food. My poor kitties.
 
Dave showed up and he was quite ill as well. I said, well you can just take me and my stuff home. He insisted we change the tire. It was pathetic. Two sick people trying to change one tire. We shared my icy cold drink in between sweating and groaning over the tire. When we finally finished, we were both dirty and I said I had water and toilet paper in the car but no rags except a nice rug that fell out of my laundry. Dave, said well he had Joy soap!
 
So we stood by the side of the road washing our hands and rinsing with my warm bottled water I keep behind my seat.  Then we drove to the next watering hole, where we both consumed two glasses of juice and sat there sweating.
 
Finally, I had enough energy to go home and him to pick up his daughter at school. I've been in bed since, with this horrid fever, wondering what day it is.
 




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- We Be Surfin', Mon...
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 11:04:10 EDT
Surf is up and a few businesses and schools are short a few people who have the surfing fever.  Waves are 2-4 feet.  Sun is out and it's 86 degrees on the North shore, but much cooler in the mountains.  Some of the haze has settled from the Sahara dust storm that was dumped on us.  *Cough*Sniffle*Sneeze*
 
Last weekend some dear friends brought over some La Dolce Vita homemade Italian ice cream from Road Town. I must admit, it was my first time trying this incredible delight and now I wish I had 10 more gallons of the stuff. The samples they brought me included mango, coconut and chocolate chip.  Each one was heavenly and cooled my throat and temporarily relieved my fever. 
 
You can forget about any other ice cream on this planet, La Dolce Vita is definitely the crown jewel. They also thoughtfully pack your purchases in thick Styrofoam containers, so your ice cream arrives at its destination still intact. If you are coming to Tortola, you must put La Dolce Vita on your list of "must do" things and you won't regret it one bit.
 
I am still straggling along.  Yesterday I thought I was taking a pill for my sinuses. An hour later when I didn't feel any better, I decided to take another pill. An hour after that I felt positively loopy and lousy and decided to do some research on the internet and find out what was wrong with this medication that it had zero effect on clearing up my breathing and sinuses. Well...
 
That is when I discovered I had gobbled down prescription Codeine for pain. I searched my home and found the correct pills, and amazingly both were small white round pills. Both were in identical baggies, both had green labels from the pharmacy on them. But silly me, didn't read the label, I was so sure I had the right ones to start with. I had forgotten all about even having codeine around. I guess it is a prescription leftover from mashing my fin.
 
Argh!  I can't believe I made such a silly mistake. Now I was positively goofy, as the codeine prescription says twice a day, not twice an hour!  I went back to bed and had pleasant dreams of life on Pluto with La Dolce Vita ice cream.
I took this picture while under the influence of my drug error.
 




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- African Dust Storm Reaches the Caribbean
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 12:06:30 EDT
We have this incredible thick haze over the islands. Visibility is very poor. I called around the island to ask others about their take on this haze, cause what with my fever, it could be just me in this purple haze...
 
However, others see this thick haze too, and last night the sunset was gray, so I am puzzled.  The Sahara dust kicks up brilliant red sunsets, the volcano ash from Montserrat dishes  up spectacular orange sunsets, but what would be so think as to only produce gray sunsets?  Maybe the dust from the Sahara is polluted.
 
I read an interesting article that SUV's running around eh Sahara are kicking up more dust than usual, and all that mess is sent across the seas and dumped on us.
 
It almost looks like smog!  But where could the smog come from?  I can't think of any polluting plants around except maybe Puerto Rico and the refinery in St Croix.  Maybe what we have is a combination of dust and ash and smog from heaven knows where.
 
I know some asthmatic friends are reporting troubles and increase in med's. One friend complained he had used up all his sick days and still didn't feel like going to work.  I said, well there is nothing left to do, but call in dead!  That might get you a few days off...
 
Tonight is the new moon and Trellis Bay is serving up a party with food and fun and madness.
 
AH HA!  ah choo!
 
After digging all over creation, I found IT!  A huge dust storm left  Africa May 9th and typically it takes 5-7 days for this mess to reach us, and boy has it ever dumped all over us!   This is a NASA photo, taken May 9th, and look how big and thick this dust storm is!  No wonder our visibility is reduced to 2 miles or less.




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- Thick Haze
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 00:40:26 EDT
Well here it is dark thirty, I am churning out the weather report. It was quite hazy all day and expected to be that way for a few days. Winds are slight and swells are tiny, waves are a half foot or less.
 
My fever has wore my down, I am confused and drift in and out of life. Friends have stopped by and discovered either I am half dead or deaf or my walls are so thick I don't hear them banging on the door. I found a care package on the door step in a pink bag. I was tickled and embarrassed that I obviously didn't hear them knocking.
 
I went to call in a thank you, when I noticed I had a slew of phone messages. What?  I slept right through the phone ringing?  Well that could be this fever has made me feel like I am on another planet ( I am!  I am in Tortola, after all...)
 
Checking my messages and opening my care package, made me so tired, I collapsed back in bed.
 
Next thing I knew,  whether it was an hour later or a day later, I can't tell you, but I  heard loud noises at my bedroom window, and I came flying out of bed, with weapons in hand and saying not too nice of things, as it was dark and I couldn't see who or what was on the other side of my bedroom window, I just knew there was a jungle back there, and it was unlikely that someone  was merely passing by.
 
However, I was ever so wrong, it was a friend of mine who came to check on me. I hadn't turned up where I was supposed to be three days ago, and they couldn't rais\e me on the phone and after asking around, it seemed no one had seen me as of late, so my good Samaritan friend had been on my property for 45 minutes, knocking at the doors, and entertaining the cats, who seemed quite thrilled for the company. Finally, thinking something was wrong, they decided to brave the jungle and go bang on my bedroom windows and see if I was alive or dead or what.
 
It seems the security of my home is pretty tight, as after 45 minutes, they still hadn't figured out how to break in without a jack hammer. The banging on the window, sent me into a temporary rage, as I thought this cant be good....
 
But alas, it was my friend, and I ran to open the front door and allow them entrance. I was trying to explain that this fever has had me in another world as they tried to explain all the things they had done for the last 45 minutes, trying to find out if I was dead or alive or what.
 
"Or what" is bout the state I am . My friend stayed and watched movies with me. Well, actually, I watched like the first 12 minutes of the movie... and woke up in time for movie number two, which I watched exactly 19 minutes of, before succumbing to my never world again.
 
On movie number three, my friend had made dinner and was shoving a bed tray at me, to try this heavenly casserole, all nice and spicy to help clear my head. Well, it was VERY tasty, and just the thing to make me sleepy again.
 
I just seemed to fade in and out, taking cold showers, drinking fluids by the qu artful,   I am tired already and will try to give you a better weather picture tomorrow, the Almighty willing to let me. 
 
Please scuse my typos, my spell heckler must be  feverish too.
 
 




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- Monday Moods
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 07:37:41 EDT
Sun is out, winds are slight, but birds are chirping loudly. Seas are calm. Limited chance of precipitation. Winds, if they show up, are expected from the southeast.  Mosquitos have plagued the island for about a week, but hopefully will abate soon. They seemed to arrive with all that rain we had in the past.
 
I forgot to send a report yesterday. My fever was still making me delirious. I was in and out of a fitful nap and kept hearing my name. Eventually I woke up and found a note under the cat, that said some friends had stopped by looking for me.
 
Later they stopped by again, and this time I was upright and semi-awake. I asked them how they got the cat to hold the note. They said, they set the note in the chair and left (my front door was wide open) and no cat was around. I guess the cat came home, saw the note and decided to anchor it down, so I found the cat, sitting in the chair, with this note. It was kind of funny.
 
I seem to have broken the fever, but am exhausted, so back to bed for me. I don't think I have the dreaded dengue fever, being as I have had two types of dengue already in my tropical life. Supposedly, you can't get the same type again. There are four types, but how can one soul manage to get all four and survive?  I think and hope, it's just a coincidence, that we have had mosquitos and I developed a high fever.
 
 




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- Windless Days
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 12:18:10 EDT
Remnants of tropical storm Andrea are off the coast of Florida, and no threat to us. But she seems to have sucked out our wind and left us heavy humidity with thick clouds that are threatening to burst open at any moment.
 
I am tucked away in my lair with an awful high  fever, so no weather pictures to offer you today.
 
 




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- Andrea arrives early
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 08:32:20 EDT
Sub-Tropical Storm Andrea is off the coast of Georgia,  and it's not even officially Hurricane Season. Well, you know how women like to be early, rather than late, so it just goes to show...
 
While Andrea is not a threat to us, we did have nice waves yesterday and a very overcast day. Today is ditto!  Nice waves and thickly overcast. So get out your surfboard and test your luck.
 
It was late at night and I couldn't sleep, so I was pushing the furniture around. I do this when I can't sleep. As a  result, I seem to rearranged furniture often. Usually all that heaving and hoing is enough to tire me out.
 
I heard these pesky dogs yapping and barking and wondered what on earth they were up to and why they were loose and why they sounded so close by. Finally I got out my big heavy flashlight and pepper spray. I used to never be scared of dogs, then I saw a pit bull maul my friend back in December and since then, I have been very wary of other people's dogs.
 
I went out to investigate and was stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a loud SNORT. Hmm.  This can't be good...
 
I turned the corner and there were two barking dogs and a donkey!  I hollered at the dogs and they looked at me and ran off terrified with tail between their legs. I felt so empowered, that is, until I turned around and saw my 3 ferocious cats were right behind me.
 
Oh well. I should have just sent them out to deal with the noise. I have no idea where this donkey came from. But there he was, tied up to my coconut tree, munching on some grass. I talked to him for a few minutes, and incredibly, one cat walked right up to him, and sniffed his hooves. The donkey seemed happy for the company and didn't even try to shoo or kick the kitty away.
 
So I left to go back to my pushing and shoving and moving. I got to thinking that maybe I could employ that donkey to help me build a little house. He could haul things, pull things and so on. Maybe together we could build a place. Then I could write a book about it and name it "I Did It With My Ass". 
The bright lights to the left are the cat's eyes!
 




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- Drizzly
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 10:14:12 EDT
Not a speck of blue in sight except for the water.  The skies are cloudy and the humidity is heavy. Rains are drizzling down. The sun is lighting up the clouds but visibility is poor as I look across the pond at Jost Van Dyke
 
Dark skies for 10am!
 
But look how green the garden is!
 
 




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- Flatter than my spare tire
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 7 May 2007 15:42:47 EDT
Seas are flat calm. You could paddle your way up and down the north shore. No surfing this week!  Winds are slight. We might get a teeny tiny itty bitty shower.
 
Might.
 
My printer has no morals. It lies to me. It says out of memory, close out programs.  I click the X on the message and it prints anyhow. Then it trumps up a new message, that I MIGHT be out of black ink and should change it. I x that out and it prints in dark black ink, pretty as you please.
 
Next  it gobbles up 2-3 pages at a time, and declares "you are out of paper!"  while it is spitting out blank paper between the printed pages. This printer is new and it doesn't work with half my programs. There are no updates for it either and it makes up lies just to get out of work.
 
I miss the good old days when I had a secretary. She had far less complaints than this machine does. 
 
And she didn't make up lies.
 
Don't forget to shop for Mother's Day, check out these unique Caribbean Gifts.
 




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- Need Wind
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 10:34:18 EDT
Very little wind today, almost airless last night.  I slept under a fan to pretend it was windy. We have scattered clouds with expected showers later in the day.  The island is looking much greener.
 
Here is a terrific picture shared by Ellen, she took last week,  while having dinner at Sebastians.  The mountain is called Sugar Loaf.
 
Tortola builds funny.  I guess it stems from being on a tiny island and at the whim of the current suppliers.  Also duty is high on some items, so many retailers, insist they get full price on items, even long after they are nearly obsolete are merely just hopelessly dated or in some cases worthless.  I have seen hunks of rust, no longer identifiable, for sale at the original price.
 
Take my last apartment, it originally came with a pink toilet and a pink sink with orange soap and toothbrush holders firmly glued to the tiled walls (which were the color of baby puke).  Pink fixtures went out in the early 60's I believe.  Eventually my bathroom was rebuilt and I insisted on plain white fixtures, which thankfully were found locally.
 
However, I often visit a certain marina for refreshments and a visit to their rest rooms while I am running errands in town. Well at the time they were building the ladies restrooms, they used toddler toilets. Yes!  Those tiny little toilets low to the floor, designed for day care centers for wee ones to take, well a wee wee. 
 
No one knows WHY these tiny toilets were installed, perhaps that is all the supplier had that day.  Apparently, no one in management uses these restrooms because they have never been replaced. So when you sit down, your knees are up around your ears.  Lately someone has put a sign up in the restroom to flush three times to make the toilets works right.  Still they are short and tiny and aggravating to deal with.   I expect they will be there until a hurricane levels the place. 
 
OOPS!  Did I say that?  I didn't mean it!
 
 




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- Wet and Windless
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 10:27:02 EDT
Sun is playing peek a boo with the big gray clouds. They aren't dark gray but they are gray enough. Seas are slight, waves are tiny. Winds are slow, birds are chirping. 
 
For the past two days, I have been treated to the lovely sight of dead pray my kitties have dragged home, to prove they aren't totally worthless. They have now killed 5 rats in under 10 days. I suspect they have found a family, they are taking out one by one. The outdoor welcome mat used to be good enough for them to park the corpse on, but nooooooo, lately they have to drag the critter through the cat door and park him on my bath mat!  Argh!  So, if you were in the Western end of the island and heard a loud scream at 4am, it was me, when I stumbled across the wretched dead body of their bounty. 
 
Somehow I managed to bleach the entire bathroom, without busting my nose up this time. And I tossed the bath mat into a bucket of bleach for good measure too, after disposing of the hideous rat body. Thanks, kitties.
 
Ellen  shares this fantastic picture of the sunset from Bananakeet Restaurant, taken last week. You can also sometimes view the webcam from Bananakeet at the Heritage Inn,  on this webcam page.
 
 
Lost in the BVI?  Check out these cool maps.
 




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- Snow Clouds or Eerie Fog?
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 07:00:07 EDT
That eerie fog is back. Viability is severely reduced.  Last night was the fool moon but pouring  rains later in the night,  probably cut the festivities short.   To look at the sky this morning at daybreak, is funny, as if I woke up somewhere far north and am expecting snow any minute.  It is 77 degrees but feels much cooler. 
 
Most of last week, on the weather channel and several web sites, St Thomas was boasting minus 7 degrees. I don't know how they can be so close to us and get that cold. Besides, if it was that cold over there, then it should have made international headline news!
 
Manchester NH shows temperatures of 41 degrees, gee, don't those guys know it's May up there?
 
I was absent from the festivities. My throat hurt, my nose was stuffy and I felt dizzy. Instead a friend came over who has a fondness for cooking and made homemade pizza dough and pizzas. I was too tired to clean up last night, so this morning flour  is scattered around the kitchen to deal with and memories of that heavenly pizza and AH HA!  Leftovers in the fridge including a few extra pizza doughs in the freezer.
 
May 31st will be a blue moon and a full moon. We don't get those too often, just once in a blue moon. 
 
Of course today was to be my town day and I don't like to go out during storms what with mudslides and boulder falls.  But I need to chase down an odd list of weird things like a cell phone battery (they were out last week) and black ink for my printer (they were out of that when I bought it and haven't stocked any since it seems), TV cable in white (black can be found but where's the white stuff?) and phone books (they've been printed and if you don't grab them quick, they run out).
 
But perhaps for now, I will go back to bed and see if I wake up to snow.
 




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- Dancing Palm Fronds
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 12:28:09 EDT
We were just drenched by a micro hurricane!  The winds whipped up and the rain flew at all angles with quite the fury! 
 




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- Another Day In Paradise
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 08:29:25 EDT
Seas are clam, um CALM,  sun is out, clouds are sailing by. No snow in sight, might bet a teeny tiny spit of rain if we are lucky. No surf, but a great day to work on your tan. There is a big dark cloud looming over the mountains trying to make up it's mind!
 
Yesterday we had a 10.5 hour power outage. YUCK!  Those bilge  drinking rats at the BVI Elec-tricky corporation sure know how to wreck t'ings mon!
 
At least my internet works on battery, courtesy of CCT Boatphone, a treasured sponsor for WeatherBVI.com .  CCT Boatphone has wireless that runs off of their cell towers, and you buy a little card, plug it into your laptop, and you can surf the world without da current mon!  Um, I just checked and their website seems down today, so um, guess you have to call them about this service.
 
From the Mailbag, Washed up in a Rum Barrel at my Door this Morning:
 
900 watts should kick off your fridge if the compressed gas has had time
to lose its head pressure
try it my 1000w gen does mine
chuck
******************************************
Chuck, you got that right, I was losing my head from the pressure of no electricity...
 
Haven't tried the fridge thingy yet, um, your email is technical and I am a techno klutz... plus it means pushing the beast away from the wall to fetch the cord.
 
When I bought the little generator, I just wanted to be able to run my office and a few comforts.  I only get paid if I work, so no current, no work, however, my visiting friend discovered she could iron with the generator as well as run the microwave. 
 
I have this 100 foot cord I drag around to whatever I want to plug in next, it has 3 sockets so I run more cords if need be.  Haven't broken my neck yet...
 
I did find some little velcro straps that tame the 100 foot cord, so now I have it coiled into three stacks, so I can reel out 33 feet or so at a time. Though I have discovered the generator is whisper quiet when I park it 50 feet out my door! 
I was on the phone and mentioned we had no current and I had my generator running and my friend was aghast she couldn't hear it, as generators are notoriously noisy, but the model I bought is pretty quiet. I must admit, I am having a love affair with the generator, it keeps me REAL HAPPY when I need to work or just want a fan and light in the dark.
DMM
 
*****************************************************
Dear Miss Mermaid:
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN®) recently agreed to reduce their Registrar Transaction Fee from $.25 to $.22. What does this mean for you?
Good news. You have been credited $.03/yr for each domain name you registered or renewed dating back to July 1, 2006* -- $.12 has been placed into your account!
 
Holy Cow!  WHATEVER will I do with this windfall!  Let me consult my investment counselor...
DMM
*****************************************
Dear Miss Mermaid,
I am a devoted reader of your tropical adventures ever since I first visited Tortola two years ago. Like you, I have fallen in love with the place, and your daily missives about island life only strengthen my resolve to spend more time there. Thank you for brightening each day with your adventures!!!! Please try to keep your injuries to a minimum in the future. Are you sure that you don't own a black cat?
 
Well, um, it has come to my attention recently, when reviewing a picture of my ktichen, that well, there is something in this picture that suspiciously looks like the fateful black cat you speak of. Hmm...
****************************************
"Drilling through concrete requires a lot of cursing." It also makes a huge mess, : (per Dear Miss Mermaid in an earlier report) 
Next time you better be smart and stick an envelope with masking tape directly below the pencil point . . .  and crease it like a little bag. . . .   all dust will fall down. . . . .  no more or much less mess!!!!
Better yet is a friend holding the vacuum cleaner. . . . !!! 
Miss MerryAnne
 
Ah!  You are one smart cookie!  No crumbling!  Um, no kidding!
Wish I had thought of that sooner...  Today I am housekeeping for company coming in an hour, and I am STILL finding concrete dust in the strangest places...
DMM
***************************************
 
Dear Miss Mermaid-
I cant help but daydream of the beautiful BVI today...while it is
SNOWING in April in Chicago...I want to be lying in this hammock at
Soggy Dollar Bar!!! 
Colleen
 
Dear Colleen, I want to be there too!  What a GORGEOUS picture!
DMM
 
********************************************
Thanks again for all of your write ups......we really need them.  Enjoy the slight modification to the shark picture.
Lb
 
 
I've no idea HOW you did that, but the shark swimming around it terrific!
DMM
 

 




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