You have to have a sense of humor!

Disclaimer: Although it may read that way, this entry isn't a list of complaints, whining, or even cyber-venting (although if we experience some catharsis as a result of publishing this we'll take that!). We want to present many aspects of living our dream, including some of the stuff that we, as new residents, have to make adjustments to deal with.

Most everyone that has visited the Caribbean is familiar with the concept of "island time". That laid back pace and sanguine approach to getting things done is frustrating to a lot of off-islanders, but the ones that "get it" shortly realize that, A - you can't do anything about it, and B - you're here for a change of pace anyway, so why not embrace and go with it?

When you live here "B" may not necessarily apply, but let me tell you, "A" certainly does!

On Friday I went to the local cable company's office to sign up for cable, internet, and phone service. I went from window to window as directed to receive, then fill out, the various forms required - hoping to get the "right answers" and to deliver them to the proper clerks in the correct order. Playing dumb (ok - not really playing) seemed to help, and while they didn't seem to work at a frenzied pace, they all methodically waded through my forms, asked and answered some helpful questions, and generally were pleasant to deal with. When I had to call the bank that issued the credit card I was using to pay all of the deposits, because they viewed setting up those accounts so far from "home" as suspicious activity, and which was delaying the lunch break for everyone in the office, I expected some resentment if not outright attitude, but none was on display. I was out the door in two hours. Possibly long by mainland standards (but as long as it's been since I had to do that, it may not be). I had everything I needed except HD converters which they had just run out of, and was told I could come by and get on Monday.

Monday was shaping up to be a busy day. Leslie had a noon baby sitting gig in town, and we were told to expect our shipment of stuff from home (the two pallet loads I had delivered to Palm Beach the day before I flew down here) to be ready for pick up "around noon-ish".

I got a phone call Monday morning from the Cable Guy saying he would be out between 12:00 and 12:30. On Friday they had told me to expect him on Tuesday, but there was no way that I was going to tell him to come by any later than he was offering to, so ... slight adjustment in schedule. We left early for town, and while I went into the cable company office to pick up the converters (they were there - in a bag - with my name on it!) Leslie went upstairs to the deli to get a sandwich that we could split for lunch. I dropped her off for her appointment, then drove to our new place.

Have I mentioned that I had to switch our wireless family plan from Verizon to AT&T two days before I moved down here? It seems as though Verizon doesn't have a tower on St. John, but AT&T does. Guess where one of the only places on island is that doesn't get an AT&T signal strong enough for calls, data, etc. is? That's right - where our new apartment sits. While Leslie was on the phone earlier for an hour and twenty minutes with a *stateside* AT&T customer service rep, getting us a "micro cell", a signal booster that we hope will allow us to send and receive phone calls from home, I had emailed Shipping Guy to let him know that I might be hard to reach, for all of the reasons detailed above.

While I was waiting for Cable Guy, I walked out to the road and up a hill to see how far I had to go to get a signal. Fortunately, it was only a hundred yards or so, so there I stood on the shoulder of the road, dodging tourists in jeeps and locals in all manner of vehicles while I called Shipping Guy.

Shipping Guy thought he remembered seeing an email, and after searching for a few minutes, asking me how to spell my name, and searching some more, he found me! The same couldn't be said for our stuff. Sort of. He knew where it was, it just wasn't on St. John. The guy on St. Thomas who is responsible for clearing the shipments was running behind schedule (shocking, I know!). We would probably have it "tomorrow". I texted Leslie the news before I trudged back down the hill to the no-signal zone.

Cable Guy showed up on time. He was personable, competent, and thorough. The same, apparently could not be said for some of his co-workers back at the office, that didn't seem to be able to do the computer authorizations that he needed them to. He roared out of the driveway a couple of times to call them, climb "the pole" and for other assorted tasks he couldn't do on site. Eventually he told me that we were "good to go".

Translation: "Your TV signals look to be OK. (As soon as I get our shipment of stuff, which includes our two TVs I suppose I can verify that.) The line that will carry your phone and internet signal is good from the outside of the house to the inside. You will need to go to the hardware store to get face plates for the phone and cable connectors because your landlord is cheap (or maybe the previous tenants took/broke them). You will also want to go to (another business) to get a DSL filter so that the internet signal won't interfere with your telephone audio quality. Oh yeah, there is a wiring problem between the pole and the house. That's our problem and I'll put in a work order to have it fixed. The guy that does that kind of work is on vacation, but he's supposed to come back tomorrow or something like that. If you call my supervisor maybe he can have your job moved up on the priority list. Have a great day"

After he left I went to the hardware store and got the face plates. No problem. Found the other store, in the Lumberyard Complex (which was once actually a lumberyard but is now the busiest office/retail center on all of St. John). After searching around a bit the woman in the store found an old, used DSL filter. She gave it to me for free since she said that she thought she had more on order. Not too bad. Back to the car, and found it blocked by someone that had parked directly behind me. The same thing happened to me in this very parking lot just a few days prior. A look at the windshield of the offending vehicle revealed that it was someone from a villa rental agency that was in my way - just as it had been the last time. The woman at the desk was surprised to see me again, such as short time after our previous encounter and was certain that I had to be mistaken about their involvement. When she saw that it was indeed the case, I told her, with a laugh that they must be targeting me. She thanked me for my attitude and promptly got the car out of my way.

By now there was less than an hour before I was supposed to pick Leslie up, very close to where I was, so rather than drive home then turn right around to come back for her I found a public parking place not too far away and texted her that I was going to go grab a beer while I waited for her.

Leslie joined me as soon as she finished working, and we sat for a bit at one of our favorite waterfront watering holes/restaurants. Sitting by the bay had helped my mood immensely. I had arrived frustrated, tired, sweaty, and just a little down. Watching people come and go on the ferry, the dinghies and boats in the bay, the kids wading in the water, and the tourists soaking in the atmosphere reminded me of why we came down here, and helped me to regain some big picture perspective.

Our transition here isn't complete. Until Leslie leaves on Wednesday and returns on Friday, we won't all be reunited with Shane and Champ. There are still some last details being attended to before we list, let alone sell our house. Our stuff is still divided amongst the place where Leslie has been staying all of these months, what's being mailed down from Florida, what Leslie and Shane will bring down in suitcases, and yeah, those two pallets of stuff that are in some warehouse somewhere on St. Thomas. But all of that will be in hand soon. Our new place is no Taj Mahal, but it's temporary. While we're on a month to month lease there Shane can be making friends and working towards finding roommates.  Leslie was told that there's a place coming available in March that's close to town, on a road that we like, that has a nice sunset view. The owners are converting it from a short term rental to long term, and we are looking forward to living there.

We sat for a while, meeting some of our new island neighbors and talking to our friends that own the bar. The wife was telling us that their apartment up above the place was being converted to office space by the landlord and that they would be moving soon too. But she was excited about the new place they were moving to. So she began to describe it - little one bedroom, a view of Frank Bay, small porch in front and in back, and a cute little white picket fence. That sounded very familiar - we asked her what it was called. Guess what? It is the place that we thought we were moving to in March! We were stunned, they were surprised, we were stunned some more.

Philosophically, we decided (once again) that things would work out the way they are supposed to work out. In the mean time we do have a place to live. In fact, until the 31st of this month we have two places to live - three if you count our house in Florida!

The sun came up this morning. I drove Leslie to town so that she could take the 7:00AM ferry to St. Thomas where she will be giving some kids physical therapy today. I called Shipping Guy. They sent the wrong shipment from St. Thomas to St. John. The one that arrived is supposed to go to some other Steve. I wonder what island he lives on? I really should be moving some of our stuff over to the new place, but I need to be in phone contact. There are some friends of ours who have graciously agreed to let us borrow some of their currently unused furnishings and he is supposed to call me some time today to let me know when they will be loading up so that I can meet them there to unload it. I wonder when he'll call?

Island time, anyone?  :)