Eatin breakfast at Cane Bay

Yes I'm at a bar; no I'm not drinkin! ;)

Random Ruins...

I just thought it was pretty.

Happy Friday!!!

Hello everyone, isn't it exciting that the end of the week is now here and sleeping in tomorrow (barring an emergency of course) is going to happen? I know. I am SO happy.
My boss was off today so my co-worker and I did the "please no fire, please no fire" prayer over coffee in the morning. Although in all honesty we would have been fine; but now its just funny to say.

It was a darn fine day except for the fire chief teasing me about my microscope melting. *sigh*
I sense I have not heard the end of this, but on the bright side I have a shiny new fire extinguisher provided by the fire department.

My neighbor has moved out and my landlord is back in the states. It is SO peaceful up here. I really think I made a good choice in apartments.

I hope everyone has a safe, fun, and relaxing weekend. I have absolutely no plans for this weekend but in approximately 3 weeks one of my best friends in the world visits (Erin) and the week after that my husband is down (Yay!) and the week after that my aunt and uncle are visiting (though they are staying at a hotel; I guess at some point in age and economic status it becomes awkward to "crash" on a couch. I am not there yet--I have no problem crashin' on any of your couches. *smile*).
So you see, soon I shall be inundated with plans and activities. And Uncle Tom, I am working on your ferry question; please be patient--we are totally on island time here.
Hugs to you all!!!
-H.

Darn You Basement!!!

My poor husband came home to a flooded basement yesterday.

Good Evening Folks...

So I was without power until bedtime so all I accompolished this evening was some darn good conversation with a friend of my neighbor while we all sat on the deck in the dark. My neighbor is moving out. She got a car and found a much cheaper place to live. So she is doing much better! Turns out her friend is some sort of rock star singer type who is definitely nice enough and even seemed to (sort of) forgive my snort of laughter at the description of his music type as "transcending any current genre" as well as his refusal to be "pigeon-holed". Dude, I couldn't help but snort, it sounded like a Saturday Night Live sketch about a rock star singer type. But as hour two of no power rolled around and we talked about our spouses at home and his special needs son (quadrapalegic due to a rare and horrifying disease) and how he had to fly his family home because this island is not handicap accessible. They luckily got out before the last hurricane. He is excited because he is flying home soon and can't wait to see them. I took some time to mention how a service dog might be a great addition for his son and I told him about this website (http://sneakpeeks.typepad.com/mastiffs/). I seem to mention dogs in every conversation. I don't remember exactly when I became a crazy dog lady, but there you have it...I'm a crazy dog lady.
But then happily power came back on and he was spared any further dog chatter. :)
But then guess what? I figured out how to hook my computer up to my television. So I can now watch online tv on a real tv. I had some assistance from Jen (bless her) and here is a slight paraphrase of our instant message conversation during some troubleshooting:

H: I have it hooked up but it doesn't work

J: Yeah, I need more info than that...

H: oh, sorry. I plugged in the computer to the tv but all I have is a blue screen.

J: Is the tv on the right input?

H: I think so.

H: whoops.

H: it wasn't. sorry. It's working now. YAY!!!

J: go you!

Some things I have learned today:
#1. it is user error 99.9% of the time
#2. if you turn a microscope light up too high for an hour it melts the microscope.
#3. you can meet really interesting people when you spend an hour or two chatting with no interuptions. I always forget how much email/blackberry/cell/tv cuts into actual getting to know someone. This island is good for me, it is teaching me to slow down and enjoy life.
#4. Make sure your computer is fully charged when you leave work and then you can watch stuff on your laptop when the power is out otherwise you end up wandering over to your neighbors house 'cause you have nothing better to do and end up having to actually get to know someone! (kidding!)
#5. don't melt your microscope...it is really hard to find parts for discontinued microscopes.

Why Heather is Not Home Yet!

Apparently, someone hit the pole.
So now instead of slackin I am sitting on the side of the road.
Waiting.

Stupid Genius

Okay, I know this is one of those things that is stupid crap, but at the same time is has proven invaluable when the power goes out. It is a lighter combined with an LED flashlight with a bottle opener.
Because when the power goes out you need the flashlight to find the candles which you light with the lighter before finally giving up and start opening bottles.

Life versus the Hill

120 pounds of lazy dog leapt towards the steep incline as an unspecified something burrowed in. *scrabble, scrabble - stuff nose into ground*
After an hour of scratching and sliding down the incline after some varmit of indeterminate origin--pretty puppy was pooped. She trotted proudly into the house; her normally black nose completely brown due to mud. I do believe Life has reverted to her "country dog" ways.
Both of the dogs seem to really like it here. Lots to smell. :)

Lunch.

Btw--after living in Frederiksted (west side of the island) being way over here in the east is weird. :)

New Love...

I have a new love in my life...I truly do.
The Amazon Kindle. It has changed my life. Many folks who know me know that I am a huge reader. Admittedly, I go in phases but there is very little in this world I like more than reading. I get lost in books and sometimes it is almost shocking to "wake up" from a good story.
Anyway, I bought the first generation Kindle used, and I have read a LOT since I got it.

However there is one thing that the Kindle cannot do...I can't use it to smoosh bugs. But I keep a paperback nearby for that. :o)

(FYI for those of you who don't know what a Kindle is it is an electronic book which you can download books to wirelessly.)

Pretty Sunset

Lizard

Tonight I came across a lizard chillin' on the inside of a solar tiki torch. I don't know why I found this to be odd. But I did. :)

Friday

I hope everyone has had a good friday. I stayed home sick today--stupid sinuses. But I would like to send happy karmic good to my doctor back in IL. I called and they fixed me up and after 24 hours of antibiotic treatment things are definitely mending. Yay!
I shall hopefully be back to my sparkling self shortly. :)
Have a good weekend everybody.

What the heck kind of bug is this???

Blackberry Blogging

Ok. So this is a test. It turns out I can send an email or pic directly to the blog and it will post. Or at least I have set it up that way in theory.
So. Here goes the test.
Happy Thursday everyone!

***note from computer***
it worked. :)
HUGS!

Cane Bay

These photos are from Cane Bay--it was stormy and overcast. It was so pretty.

Sandy Point Beach Photos

Ag Fair Photos

Jump Up Photos

Weekend...

Okay, so I am attempting to be all swanky cool with the photo updates. But I can't seem to get them where I want them to go. So this is my plan. I am going to write up my weekend in word form and then I will post a metric crap-ton of pictures in labelled blog entries.
Enjoy!

How to describe my weekend....fun, relaxing, and valentines day depressing all at the same time. Let's start with Friday: Worked (per as usual) then ran home, grabbed the dogs, and turned around and drove back to C'sted. Then I went to 'Jump Up' with a co-worker of my parent company (Hi Christa!). As far as I can tell Jump Up=street fair, alcohol, vast quantities of food, and Mocko Jumbie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moko_jumbies). They were pretty darn cool. I have some pictures but it was dark.

So then I went home at a sedate and sober 10:30 PM :). I purchased a really pretty blown glass necklace charm. I do love hippy jewelry!!!

Saturday arrived and I was determined to get out of the house and attend the "Ag Fair". This is an Agricultural Fair which to me was gosh darn similar to the county fairs I have gone to throughout my midwestern life. There was even a 4H booth.

There was apparently some sections of the fair I didn't see because I heard later that there were animals of all kinds for sale. Hamsters, Rabbits, Chickens, Goats, Sheep. I am glad I didn't find that part or I would have ended up with a house goat or something. I have no self control in regards to baby animals.

Prior to going to the Ag Fair I went to the dollar store. However, what I have noticed about the dollar store is that nothing costs a dollar. There is some weird formula to where most of the stuff is 50% off of the sticker--but not all. Whatever. I bought some curtains--totally girly curtains--purple and sheer and shiny. I like them a lot, and they were pretty cheap. I also managed to buy some towels and girl swim trunks for quite cheap.

Then I ran over to my mailbox where I had received a lovely valentines day gift from my husband. :) :) :)

So, on my way home I decided to swing on through to a beach called Sandy Point. I heard it was the most beautiful beach on the island with very limited hours (Sat and Sun 10-4 only). It was about 2PM and I drove to it. It felt like I was driving forever but then I came to an area where you had to walk from. It truly was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen. Very steep, very sandy. Huge waves. Stunning.

I took a bunch of pictures--even from the water. (we can all tell my husband thank you for my Christmas gift a couple of years ago. A waterproof/shockproof camera is a perfect gift for me! :) )

Then I went home, took a shower, got dressed and went to kmart. Where I purchased some nail polish. I know, it sounds silly but it is kind of fun to paint your nails. What color? Blue. :) :) :)

Then I stopped at a roadside stand and bought myself some flowers for Valentines Day. They really brightened up the place. But here is where the depressing part came in. There was an older gentleman buying flowers. He told me they were for his wife's grave and that she had died 2 months prior. I thought it was so bittersweet....I almost cried.

On Sunday my neighbor's ride to work didn't show so I drove her out to Cane Bay. I took the dogs for a nice long walk on the beach...then we went home to listen to the rain on the metal roof while watching hulu.com.

All in all, a darn fine weekend.

update...

I don't know if it was food related, or virus related... but I definitely had some tummy badness for about 24 hours.
ugh.
Anyway, woke up this morning feeling much better so I came in to work.
Just wanted to let anyone who was worried know I am better.
**hugs**

Dear Stomach...

I am sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. We have eaten there before and we were fine.
I know sushi is a always sort of hit and miss--and it was shocking back in Jackson, TN where the sushi was suprisingly good. So, I started to feel invincible. If Jackson, TN can have good sushi--surely an island...
We haven't had any food problems since we got "potlucked" in '06. Those were bad times. But stomach, we made it though then and this time isn't nearly as bad.

ugh. anyway.
hi everyone. I feel like crap. Hope ya'll are better than that!!! :) :) :)
This too shall pass.

wednesday afternoon.

Today was a day. It wasn't a great day, it was not a horrible day.
I was busy--that was good.

Most of the people reading this know me, and know I speak fairly openly about a lot of things.
Sexism.
Today's topic is sexism.
Today I was asked out on 2 dates, had my question ignored to the point where I walked away so as not to hit the guy,
and was told I had good lips.
So I go back to the laboratory and it turns out that my sarcastic co-worker rarely gets asked out and no-one has (to my knowledge)
commented about his lips.
Who knew?
Now to be fair to the guy who ignored me, I think he was just a regular kind of jerk. And normally I can laugh off the come-ons.
As one of the female operators explained to me, contractors get onto this island and its like they've never seen alcohol or women before.
She is right. It can be irritating.

As a sidenote--my roof is totally leaking due to high winds and torrential downpours here in the rainforest.
And when I went out to dinner tonight my dogs we're determined, I mean, "we are making a stand these 12 hour days where we stay at home and wait for you have got to go"
-determined.
So I took them with. They had to sit on the outer portion of the restaurant . This means they were
seperated by a tiny planter. Teak (small dog) wigged out, chewed through his leather leash, and proceeded
to hide under my legs.

So. That's it for today, maybe tomorrows topic will be, "the economy and how it's f'ing up my contract rates."
;)

wednesday morning.

Good morning folks!
I am currently sitting in the cafeteria drinking tea. I attempted to drink the coffee but it was really ucky.
Anyway, I got an email of some stuff that needed to be monitored so I hopped in the truck and came here.
But after the "hurry up" always comes the "wait".

Last night at around 6:30 (right in the middle of my dinner heating) the power went out.
*sigh*
So I called water and power;
and with the sounds of other peoples generators in the background I gave up and
went to sleep.
Then at the crack of 3am I got an email which made me head into work.
*sigh*
More later.

so, I suck...

I did nothing this weekend. Well, I did laundry. I did take the dogs out for a nice run on the beach. They misbehaved and chased a stupid little white ugly dog. Its owners were underwhelmed with my existence in the world--I felt bad, but their dog was being a butthead.



But yeah, I didn't actually take any pictures. I will though, soon!!! I promise.

It is nice and peaceful here. Landlord is off island, neighbor is back but with her dogs gone it is super peaceful.

Anyway, night everyone. I will try to write better this week and give you some photos.

Peace...

I'm sitting here. It is silent.
There are no dogs barking, no neighbor noises. Nothing.

My neighbor is not here, her dogs have been taken to the humane society. My landlord is off island--having taken his dog with him (or if he didn't she is much quieter today).
This right now is my favorite moment on this island ever. Friday night--so in theory the entire weekend is open to me, work and commitment free.
*happy sigh*

This was a long week. I am going out tonight (yes, I will be careful!). And then for the next 2 days I have absolutely nothing planned. Thats right, you heard me! I have the weekend off!!!!!!
wooooo-hoooo. I think I may go swimming. :)

Alright everyone...have a great weekend. I will let you know if I do anything fun. And yes, I will take some pictures this weekend. :) :) :)

*****update*****
about 45 seconds after I mentioned how much I was enjoying the peace and quiet my landlord showed up. *sigh* I chatted with him for a few minutes. Apparently the neighbor will be back tonight. oh well, it was a really great 45 seconds of peace.

Thursday 01-09-2009

So, there are 5 cops in my yard right now. With guns and everything.
Wacky.
No, I didn't do anything, why does everyone always think it is me? I am really quite tame you know.
Yup, more neighbor drama...she has gone away for a few days. She asked me to feed and water her beasts--yup, I am too stupid to say no.
The landlord has told her that her dogs have to be gone by friday (tomorrow). Since she is not here he has spoken to the humane society as well as the police. They are coming to pick up the dogs. Apparently it doesn't matter that they have food/water (provided by yours truly) because I am not the owner.
Anyway, they are gone now. I was called to assist because everyone else is afraid of dogs. That's right, send the idiot in to deal with the untrained dogs...
but, since I deal with their stupid untrained furry butts daily, no big deal.

Life (my dog) was highly irritated with me being outside and her being inside--so she opened the door to let herself out. I had to tell her no as, well, I didn't want her shot. So she backed her butt back into the house. Teak (other dog) took advantage of the distraction and stole Life's bone. Good times were had by all.

So, the neighbor is supposed to be home tonight...I think it's a 50/50 shot as to whether she shows up or not.

Work was good today, almost boringly normal.
Have a good night, I shall write more over the weekend.
-H.

blackberry update...

So, I feel like I have lost an appendage. Maybe this break is good for me, maybe I spend too much time typing on my phone (don't worry boss, not at the refinery--at home). Anywhichway when I meet people who tell me that they hate text messages, well, I finally understand why. I am currently using a craptastic flip phone which was a grand total of $19.99. I am happy to have it, I would be completely screwed without it. And since I am now an official member of the "Emergency Response Team" (doesn't that sound way impressive? yeah, it's not. Just means they can call me in for whatever--I do get a schwanky red badge though) I have to be reachable. However, trying to type words into this little flippy pain in the butt thing is HORRIBLE. To everyone out there who is "text-hostile" for the love of all that is holy--get a qwerty keyboard phone next time. Life gets a LOT more entertaining.

Dumbass Heather Move of the Week: My neighbor is out of town for the week. She caught me off guard and asked me to watch her dogs. I folded, and now my world is a great big pain in the butt of wrangling 2 extra (untrained) dogs.

2nd Dumbass Heathe Move of the Week: Dear Liver..., well, you know the rest. :) :) :)

Happy Wednesday People.

Hot.

Dear anyone coming to visit,

I know, I do it too. But just don't do it. You think to yourself, it might get "chilly" at night. It won't. You think, I will want to dress up--you won't.
A this long sleeve t-shirt is painfully hot. Jeans, well, I wore them once. It could have been worse--I was in my truck which I air conditioned.

If any of you come visit bring the following:
1. money. cash and/or credit cards--not travellers checks. The stores here hate them. Most everywhere takes credit cards, but if the power goes out (happens all the time) they can only accept cash. So definately have some cash available.
2. tank tops. Preferably of the non-wife beater variety (they're just not cute). Any sleeveless type of shirt is fine. I don't care if you think your arms are fat...trust me you won't care soon either.
3. shorts. cause well, you should wear something on the bottom.
4. Now, for those of you inclined, dresses and/or skirts are just fine as bottoms as well and can dress you up a bit.
5. Only half fill your suitcase. Your going to end up getting more crap. It just makes life easier if you pack lightly.
6. Allergy meds (or you can have some of mine) this place is full of mold and fifty-thousand other allergens.
7. patience. Nothing happens quickly, customer service is a bit of a sarcastic joke, and I cannot state this more adamantly--nothing happens quickly.

8. thin comfy pjs of the tank top/short variety and a bathing suit. It doesn't have to be a pretty one. :)


Now, do not bring the following:
1. heavy makeup. I have busted out some eyeliner and mascara once or twice. But if you put on a full makeup face you just look weird. And weird sweaty makeup running down your face ain't pretty.

2. hair dryer. I don't care if you normally spend hours on your hair. just give up. its the island.

3. jacket. just don't. you don't need it. I swear.

4. Polyester. I know, it doesn't wrinkle--but seriously, you'll die. It will just melt right onto you.


There are a thousand other things that I am sure I will think of. Remember, this is an island, but it's not the middle of nowhere. You can buy pretty much anything you need on the island itself. And cell phone service (AT&T and Sprint only--verizon works here but it is approx. $1 per minute) is good everywhere except-well, my house. *sigh*


In case you are wondering what I am wearing at this moment in time: scrub pants and a sports bra. And thats only cause I am doing laundry and I have no shorts left. :)

-H.