Some of the things that you (and we) think of as basic just aren't so basic in the USVI. One area this applies to is technology.
Bob is part of the management team for the local provider of phone, cable, and internet. It's a really long story, but essentially the previous company owner lived a rich man's life with the fees the subscribers were remitting and no money went back into the company. So, no improvements in infrastructure or upgrading of features for the last several years. Since the ownership change last fall, the new owners and management team have been working to improve and update the company and its services.
Earlier this year, the company introduced wireless phone service in the USVI. It's going pretty well, from what I understand.
On April 1, the cable company is going to all digital signals, just as the mainland did - about 2 years ago.
Then, just a couple of weeks ago, new cable boxes were offered - and St. Thomas cable customers can now access 12 HD channels and DVR! This has proved to be so popular that the company is having trouble keeping the new boxes in stock.
Bob brought our HD DVR cable box home on Thursday :)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Another driving observation
I can't believe I forgot to include this.
When cars stop to let someone turn or enter the road in front of them, the drivers will either flash their headlights a couple of times or beep their horns. In response, the other driver will give a quick "double honk".
In fact, you rarely hear horns as an expression of frustration or to speed things up. Instead of being a symbol of annoyance, here in the USVI, they are a symbol of consideration.
When cars stop to let someone turn or enter the road in front of them, the drivers will either flash their headlights a couple of times or beep their horns. In response, the other driver will give a quick "double honk".
In fact, you rarely hear horns as an expression of frustration or to speed things up. Instead of being a symbol of annoyance, here in the USVI, they are a symbol of consideration.
Driving in St. Thomas
Most everyone knows that you drive on the left in the USVI, even though the steering wheels are also on the left, just like on the mainland. But that is the simply the most obvious of the differences - actually driving here shows attitudes that seem downright peculiar to us Dallas drivers.
First, except for right along the waterfront in the downtown area, most roads have only 2 lanes. Shoulders? No. Sidewalks? Rarely. One of the biggest mysteries to me is why there aren't more accidents between pedestrians and cars, because, despite the curves, hills & narrow roadways, many people do walk along the roads. Or they stand right at the road side "thumbing" (which consists of holding up an index finger) for a ride.
And that's another difference. The locals give rides to people who are standing by the road, especially if the driver has a pick-up. Before & after school, you'll see pick-ups carrying 6-8 uniformed young men in the truck bed. And the passengers are picked up and dropped off anywhere. The driver may pull to the side of the road, or he may not; he may just stop in the middle of the lane. Or someone may open a door & jump out while a car is stopped at an intersection, so it is really necessary to pay close attention all the time.
I guess that's one reason why the police here love to write tickets for drivers talking on their cell phones, tho hands-free is okay. They also write tickets for not wearing seat belts. Otherwise, traffic laws don't seem to be enforced. A car in front of you driving too slowly in a no passing zone? Pass anyway! Most drivers do stop for stop lights - after they've been red for a couple of cars - but even I've learned not to stop at stop signs if there aren't any cars coming ;)
There really aren't very many traffic signals once you are away from downtown. Since there are numerous driveways, either into businesses, homes or residential streets, traffic could back up a long distance while the leading car waited to turn right across traffic. No problem! Someone will always stop to let a car turn. And if you're waiting to pull out of one of those driveways? Still no problem! Another driver is going to stop to let you go - whichever direction you need to go. It's a way to keep traffic from backing up, and is a courtesy that could learned in other areas (Plano, for example.) The only problem with all this courtesy? You & the car in front of you may be the only two cars anywhere in sight on the road, but that car in front of you stops to let someone turn! Bob, in particular, gets frustrated with this, especially when he is heading to work.
If you are waiting to turn or to pull out and no one has stopped yet, you look for a small gap between the oncoming cars and just go. The top speed limit on the island is 35 mph, and it is usually 10 - 20 mph in busy areas. So, getting across the lane or into traffic is much easier than on most metroplex roads. It can take a while to get used to this: friends from McKinney were here on a cruise stop this week, and I picked them up and drove them to the beach and to lunch. I noticed more than one anxious expression as we traveled around :)
Then there are the safari taxis, which may be (or may not be!) VITran public transit. They are usually pick-up trucks in which the beds have been converted with covered bench seats and openings on the left side for passengers to slide in & out. Signs along the road ways designate the VITran stops - hahaha! They'll pull over almost anywhere to pick up or drop off passengers. If you're lucky, you'll be able to see a little way ahead along the road, and pass them while they're stopped. Otherwise, it's a slooooow trip ...
Road conditions and construction make driving interesting, too. Potholes, rough stretches, cracks, etc., seem to be permanent in some places. Drivers learn where they are and just drive into the other lane to avoid them. Sometimes, road crews actually work to repair the roads. Almost always, the newly repaired roads then need to be torn up to bury pipes under them. Months later, the repairs will be 90% complete ... months after that they will still be only 90% complete, and traffic will still be backing up as cars slowly cross the unfinished portion of the road.
There are also just miscellaneous slow downs, like the one Bob & I recently experienced. We were about 3 cars behind a safari taxi in the middle of a curve near the cruise ship dock - which on this day meant long lines of cars in both directions. Suddenly the safari taxi just stopped. We could see that there was an iguana standing in the road near the front tire. The taxi honked - the iguana didn't move. The taxi eased forward - the iguana didn't move. Finally, the driver got out and swung her purse toward the iguana - and it bolted up the hillside!
Slow travel does give one time to take pictures of interesting things, such as the home-made tailgate on a pick-up I was behind:
The license plates generally show which island a car was registered on:
I guess that's one way to make sure you don't lose your car in a parking lot!
First, except for right along the waterfront in the downtown area, most roads have only 2 lanes. Shoulders? No. Sidewalks? Rarely. One of the biggest mysteries to me is why there aren't more accidents between pedestrians and cars, because, despite the curves, hills & narrow roadways, many people do walk along the roads. Or they stand right at the road side "thumbing" (which consists of holding up an index finger) for a ride.
And that's another difference. The locals give rides to people who are standing by the road, especially if the driver has a pick-up. Before & after school, you'll see pick-ups carrying 6-8 uniformed young men in the truck bed. And the passengers are picked up and dropped off anywhere. The driver may pull to the side of the road, or he may not; he may just stop in the middle of the lane. Or someone may open a door & jump out while a car is stopped at an intersection, so it is really necessary to pay close attention all the time.
I guess that's one reason why the police here love to write tickets for drivers talking on their cell phones, tho hands-free is okay. They also write tickets for not wearing seat belts. Otherwise, traffic laws don't seem to be enforced. A car in front of you driving too slowly in a no passing zone? Pass anyway! Most drivers do stop for stop lights - after they've been red for a couple of cars - but even I've learned not to stop at stop signs if there aren't any cars coming ;)
There really aren't very many traffic signals once you are away from downtown. Since there are numerous driveways, either into businesses, homes or residential streets, traffic could back up a long distance while the leading car waited to turn right across traffic. No problem! Someone will always stop to let a car turn. And if you're waiting to pull out of one of those driveways? Still no problem! Another driver is going to stop to let you go - whichever direction you need to go. It's a way to keep traffic from backing up, and is a courtesy that could learned in other areas (Plano, for example.) The only problem with all this courtesy? You & the car in front of you may be the only two cars anywhere in sight on the road, but that car in front of you stops to let someone turn! Bob, in particular, gets frustrated with this, especially when he is heading to work.
If you are waiting to turn or to pull out and no one has stopped yet, you look for a small gap between the oncoming cars and just go. The top speed limit on the island is 35 mph, and it is usually 10 - 20 mph in busy areas. So, getting across the lane or into traffic is much easier than on most metroplex roads. It can take a while to get used to this: friends from McKinney were here on a cruise stop this week, and I picked them up and drove them to the beach and to lunch. I noticed more than one anxious expression as we traveled around :)
Then there are the safari taxis, which may be (or may not be!) VITran public transit. They are usually pick-up trucks in which the beds have been converted with covered bench seats and openings on the left side for passengers to slide in & out. Signs along the road ways designate the VITran stops - hahaha! They'll pull over almost anywhere to pick up or drop off passengers. If you're lucky, you'll be able to see a little way ahead along the road, and pass them while they're stopped. Otherwise, it's a slooooow trip ...
Road conditions and construction make driving interesting, too. Potholes, rough stretches, cracks, etc., seem to be permanent in some places. Drivers learn where they are and just drive into the other lane to avoid them. Sometimes, road crews actually work to repair the roads. Almost always, the newly repaired roads then need to be torn up to bury pipes under them. Months later, the repairs will be 90% complete ... months after that they will still be only 90% complete, and traffic will still be backing up as cars slowly cross the unfinished portion of the road.
There are also just miscellaneous slow downs, like the one Bob & I recently experienced. We were about 3 cars behind a safari taxi in the middle of a curve near the cruise ship dock - which on this day meant long lines of cars in both directions. Suddenly the safari taxi just stopped. We could see that there was an iguana standing in the road near the front tire. The taxi honked - the iguana didn't move. The taxi eased forward - the iguana didn't move. Finally, the driver got out and swung her purse toward the iguana - and it bolted up the hillside!
Slow travel does give one time to take pictures of interesting things, such as the home-made tailgate on a pick-up I was behind:
The license plates generally show which island a car was registered on:
This picture shows 3 cars that were parked together today. The license plate on the left one starts with a "J", for St. John. The center one starts with a "T", for St. Thomas, and the right one starts with a "C", for St. Croix.
Then there are just some generally interesting cars, like the "shark car" we saw parked at Trunk Bay:
I guess that's one way to make sure you don't lose your car in a parking lot!
Friday, March 11, 2011
A Month of Guests!
I can't believe it's been so long since I've last posted here, but we've had a busy, fun month since that last post.
We made a quick trip home to take care of a couple of things and to attend a special birthday party for Jim Dean. While we were at his party, Jim told us he had a meeting in Puerto Rico on March 2 and wondered if he & Carol could fly on over after his meeting to spend the following weekend with us. We said "Yes!" of course.
But, we already had 2 rounds of guests coming down before that - plus a different kind of visitor.
Early in February, our great-nephew, Ethan, had mailed his Flat Stanley to us. For those not familiar with Flat Stanley, he is a character in a series of books and was flattened when a bulletin board fell on him. He is perfectly healthy, tho flat, and can travel to visit people folded up in an envelope. According to Ethan's project instructions, we were asked to take Flat Stanley around during our regular activities and to some of our favorite places, take pictures, and mail him back with the pictures and a letter detailing our outings. We were even asked to make appropriate outfits for him. I loved the idea and wholly embraced the project! Here are some of the activities we included Flat Stanley in:
The last picture shows the first round of our "human" guests. Parker and her boyfriend, Andrew Nelson, flew in for a long weekend to thaw out during their Chicago-area winter. We had a great time visiting Trunk Bay Beach & the Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins on St. John, Megan's Beach, and Linquist Beach, in addition to general sight-seeing and yummy meals out.
Parker & Andrew posed for a lot of pictures, and there were some really cute ones. But these were some of her mom's favorites:
We made a quick trip home to take care of a couple of things and to attend a special birthday party for Jim Dean. While we were at his party, Jim told us he had a meeting in Puerto Rico on March 2 and wondered if he & Carol could fly on over after his meeting to spend the following weekend with us. We said "Yes!" of course.
But, we already had 2 rounds of guests coming down before that - plus a different kind of visitor.
Early in February, our great-nephew, Ethan, had mailed his Flat Stanley to us. For those not familiar with Flat Stanley, he is a character in a series of books and was flattened when a bulletin board fell on him. He is perfectly healthy, tho flat, and can travel to visit people folded up in an envelope. According to Ethan's project instructions, we were asked to take Flat Stanley around during our regular activities and to some of our favorite places, take pictures, and mail him back with the pictures and a letter detailing our outings. We were even asked to make appropriate outfits for him. I loved the idea and wholly embraced the project! Here are some of the activities we included Flat Stanley in:
 |
| Enjoying a glass of iced tea on the balcony |
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| Our morning run |
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| Linquist Beach |
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| Ogling the yachts at Yacht Haven Grande |
 |
| Dinner at one of our favorite restaurants |
The last picture shows the first round of our "human" guests. Parker and her boyfriend, Andrew Nelson, flew in for a long weekend to thaw out during their Chicago-area winter. We had a great time visiting Trunk Bay Beach & the Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins on St. John, Megan's Beach, and Linquist Beach, in addition to general sight-seeing and yummy meals out.
Parker & Andrew posed for a lot of pictures, and there were some really cute ones. But these were some of her mom's favorites:
 |
| The waves were pretty high at Trunk Bay! |
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| The water is cool in the winter, even in the tropics |
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| Love the snorkel look! |
They snorkled in the bay below our condo and saw all different sorts of fish. They also saw a sting ray burrowed into the sand, which meant the end of the outing for Parker. I hadn't known that she is very scared of them!
About 24 hours after I took Parker and Andrew to the airport, I was back there to pick up our nephew, John McMahon. John was here to do some fact-finding for a business concept, so we offered him the use of our guest room. Since he was working, we didn't do the normal beach/sight-seeing outings, but we did manage to enjoy a great dinner out one night!
After two more trips to the airport, this time almost 48 hours apart, John was back in Texas, and Carol Dean arrived to spend a couple of "girls' days" before Jim joined her here.
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| Carol & me at Megan's |
Carol & I took the passenger ferry to St. John and wandered through the shopping areas in Cruz Bay. There is a wide variety of shops, in all price ranges and carrying everything from souvenirs to fine fashion to ... well, we didn't quite make it to all the shops, so we'll just have to go back again!
We had a great weekend with the Deans, even though things didn't always go like we might have preferred :) On Saturday, it rained all morning - finally. Winter is the dry season on St. Thomas, but this year it's been unusually dry. Everything is looking rather brown, so we were grateful for some rain. And the day improved when we decided to go ahead & go to Megan's Beach and found that the rain had already moved away from that area.
Sunday morning, our condo complex had some sort of problem with the water pump system. That meant that we had very little water for face washing and tooth brushing - and that eventually we had no running water at all. We did have bottled water, so we were able to have our morning coffee and tea. And, we were happy to discover that we had water for the toilets. We knew that our toilets used "grey water," but not that they use a different pumping system. There's a blessing for you!
Carol & Jim had to fly out Sunday afternoon. And we had no idea when we'd have water for showers, etc. They just didn't think they wanted to fly home (approx. 8 hours travel time) covered in sunscreen, salt and sand, so a beach outing was cancelled. Instead, we all relaxed & read for most of the morning, then went out for brunch before taking them to the airport. I'm glad the Dean's are so easy-going!
We have a little while before our next guests arrive, so I'll get back to recording some of the things that make St. Thomas different from living on the mainland in the next post. And I'll try not to wait so long again!
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