This is for you Itchy!

Yes, that is lobster stuffed with taco! It's our finest food stuffed with our second finest food. Looks delicious doesn't it?

Still here?

Yeah, I'm still here. It's just been so boring. Itchy had two weeks of tests (and a week of studying before the tests started). For 3 weeks, we didn't really do much.

Now that the tests are over (well, not really 'over' as finals start in a couple of weeks) we still haven't done much. Spent Saturday at the beach. Nothing much happened there. Fun though. Then we went out to dinner at the largest resort on the island. Awesome customer service! I ordered a burger well done with no bacon. I got a medium burger with bacon. The best part was that it came a good 15 minutes after everyone else's food.

Now I'm just shopping around for a good deal on a rental car, health insurance, etc.

On a rather sad note, our outdoor cat (actually, he belonged to our landlady, but he spent a lot of his time on our porch, we fed him, we loved him, I wanted to steal him, etc) died 2 weeks ago. Hit by a car. That's the landlady's 3rd (or 4th) cat to be hit by a car in the 2 years we have been here. That's why our cats (the ones that actually belong to us) will only be indoor cats. The landlady has already bought a new kitten.

I wonder if they can handle the responsibility?

Corporate sponsorship is a pretty good idea. It's nice to see big companies step up and help the community. They are already providing jobs and paychecks for a lot of people. But it's the extra step that makes them stand out. Like when banks sponsor educational programs. Or when cola companies sponsor sporting events. Everyone wins. The sponsors look good and the community benefits.

Here on the island, we see a good amount of corporate sponsors. We just had Music Fest, which had a ton of sponsors. Cricket is a big deal down here and there are always a lot of sponsors for the cricket tournaments.

One particular company seems to be going above and beyond though. It's a local development bank. I'm not really that familiar with the company but I think it's pretty much their job to help the island grow and thrive. So when we see them out there, putting effort into the community, we just know that they care a lot. I think everybody feels better when they see this sign:

I think some people are starting to get worried though. The Development Bank seems to be taking on too much. I mean look at their latest project:

Yeah, they adopted the grassy part of this roundabout. By themselves. No one is helping them with this. It's all up to them. This might just be what overextends them. What if they can't handle the responsibility? What's going to happen if they decide to back out? Who will take care of the roundabout? Think about what could happen to the roundabout. Won't somebody please think of the roundabout?

Like I said, I'm not really familiar with the Development Bank. This might be their only project. I've never seen any other signs around the island that indicate their work. I'm sure this project is a lot of work. It did take 4 days to put up the signs and the fence. Oh, you didn't notice the other sign? Yeah, there are two. Here look in this picture:

I just hope that this doesn't overwhelm the Development Bank. I'd hate to see a 20 foot diameter roundabout bring them down. The island needs them.

Money?

Yeah, we all need more of it. Life is expensive. That sucks. Last night Itchy and I were trying to figure out where all of our "student loan" money had gone. It was no fun at all. One would think that we'd be having all kinds of fun with as much as we spent, but no. Just bills. Bills are not fun.

On top of all the money we've spent, we've also been robbed. Right in our own house too. We were home when it happened, which makes it worse. It was just a kid, only about 4 years old. Never even suspected her. I just so happened to be taking pictures at the time and caught the whole thing. Silly cat burglar, monies are for people.

She looks so innocent doesn't she? All casual, not even looking at the purse.

Then, she makes her move.

When she thinks she's in the clear, she goes in for a closer look...

Then she has to resort to using her teeth to pull the money out.

This probably isn't the first time she's done this. I'm looking into rehab programs for her. Maybe they can help her become a better cat.

ETA: By the way, I didn't intend for such blatant product placement. But we do love our Nalgene bottle. So if someone from Nalgene sees this and wants to send me a free bottle, just leave me a comment!

Persistance

"Energy and persistence conquer all things." -Benjamin Franklin

It's a pain in the ass, but sometimes you have to live by that quote. A mistake was made when I booked my return flight for my upcoming vacation. I swear I double checked everything before hitting ok. But alas, my return flight was scheduled for one day after I arrived. Yep, because flying for 16 hours, spending a night in a hotel, and then flying back to the island the next day is exactly what I want to do. I swear I double checked it. Whatever.

It had to be changed. Changes for international flights can not be changed online. That would be far to easy. You have to call the airline. Fine. They have 1-800 numbers to call based on where you are calling from. Not that it matters since I'm using a pay as you go phone, my minutes are getting eaten up anyway. I call the number that corresponds to my island. Except that the number doesn't work. I try calling a number for a nearby island. But a voice tells me that it will not be a toll free call. Please enter your credit card number so we can charge you a ridiculous amount of money for the call. Sorry no. Not happening.

So I sent an email to alert them that the toll free number for my area doesn't work. Their reply? Please call us. Yeah, I would except that the number doesn't work ya bastards.

This was weeks ago. Once a week I would try the number again. It wouldn't work. I would email the airline. They would respond with the same old reply. Seriously. Do they read the emails at all? I'm emailing them because the number doesn't work. I'd call the other number if they would tell me what rate I would be charged (provided it wasn't ridiculous), but since a friend was charged over $10 a minute for a call to the States, I'm not playing that game. Read the freaking emails!

This week was different though. The phone number for my island was working! It took an amazing amount of time to get through to a real live person, but eventually it happened. She was helpful but rather slow. It took her half an hour to make the changes. I found the info online, with my ghetto slow connection, in under 3 minutes. Not that it matters, it wasn't a competition. The changes have been made. I get a real vacation now.


I'm pretending that my persistence and energy resulted in the airline fixing the problem with the 1-800 number. Without me, no one from this area would be able to call toll free. I believe I will be rewarded for this. Not from the airline of course. But karma for sure. I mean, I did just help a lot of people right?