Saturday, April 09, 2011

Saturday, April 09, 2011:

Up this morning and face the day.  We don’t have any friends left to play with so we probably won’t go to the beach. =(  Instead, I need to go get some Sudafed and some more kitchen supplies, like a paring knife and a veggie brush, so we’ll probably do a little running around today.  We have lots of leftovers to eat so our menu is already set for several days. It’s a “Must-Go-Meals” weekend (and probably into next week!).

Today is really clear! You can see St. Barths pretty good, and you can even see houses and there is a cruise ship too! Wow!

**St. Barths:

Our first errand today will be to a pharmacy.  I need to get some Sudafed since I wasn’t able to get very much when I left home – because of the darned meth/crack-heads! Argh! So we went to the “Pharmacy +” in the Simpson Bay area.  Most likely, since there are lots of Americans and Canadians over there, they should have what I need.  And they did.  In fact, it was prescription strength! Twice the strength of what you can get at home over the counter. It’s like Belize and Mexico…just go in and tell the pharmacist what your symptoms are and they give something to you! (I’m sure within reason of course) And it was cheap too! The Sudafed (not an off brand or generic) was only $3.55 for 15 60mg tablets! That’s equal to a 30 pack at home.  Somebody ‘splain that to me?! Never mind…government and taxation at its finest!  No wonder people cross the border to Canada and Mexico for medications!  The only problem I ran into was that the box and instruction sheet was in French! No polly-vu-Francois! …er… Francais…er…whatever…I don’t speak or read it!  I’d be in a pickle if I didn’t know what I was taking.  But the pharmacist was very helpful and told me how to take the medication, even though I knew already, and the mg’s and ml’s were plain to see and I was able to compare what I got from home to what I bought.   

Finished at the “Pharmacy +”, we went down the road to the Le Grand Gourmet Marche’ to see if they had any Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.  We seem to have a difficult time finding that dressing here. We couldn’t find it easily in St. Croix either. And in Belize? Fagedaboudit!  We got Wish Bone Ranch, which is a pretty good substitute.  Unfortunately the Gourmet Marche didn’t have any, but they did have lots of other stuff…to the tune of $60!  =)  What can I say…I was hungry…and I went against the rules and went grocery shopping while I was hungry! But I got fruit, nuts and granola! That’s good and healthy! Ok..ok…I got some Cheetos too…I’m weak! 

We ended up stopping at the little market at the end of Billy Folley Road to get some Wish Bone Ranch, because we knew they had that, and lo and behold they had the regular Hidden Valley Ranch dressing! Jackpot! Gerald only got 1 bottle though.  I would have gotten 2 or 3! I don’t like being without…and since it’s hard to find I would have stocked up! =) But that’s just me!

Next we head to the Kooyman Hardware Store to return the other sink stoppers I bought.  The returns were only $5 and I’m not sure it was worth it because it took forever! But it was on the way, and I guess it wasn’t a special trip so it didn’t cost us anything.  And as Gerald says…we’re on a fixed income now! Gerald stayed in the car while I went in.  As I came out of the store I could see him scramble putting stuff back in the grocery bag.  I could tell another “the stuff was already open when you bought it” story was coming!  I got in the car and it was clear he was chewing something.  So I just stared at him.  Of course he said he was just inspecting them and discovered that a few of the packages had been opened, like the Cheetos and the dried pineapple, which coincidentally matched the crumbs on his face.

Next we head two buildings down the street to the Ace Hardware Store!  I need to get a few more kitchen items there like a paring knife so I won’t cut my thumb off by using the butcher knife, and felt pads, cause I keep slamming the cabinet doors when I shut them and it makes an awful noise – that is…when I remember to shut them! (I still don’t know why I have developed that odd habit!)   So I got those two things and a few other items … like salad tongs, measuring cups, measuring spoons, a veggie brush, non-metal meat fork and a Twix candy bar (The latter being the most critical! Every kitchen should have at least one!)

Shopping done (for today) we head back to the apartment.  On the way we see a couple of escaped cows running down the road!

**Bessie Escaped!

Only got a picture of one! Gerald was driving too fast. (If you can believe that!)  He only drives fast when I’m trying to take a picture! We've seen lots of animals running loose, bulls, horses, and LOTS of goats! 

Got back to the apartment and decided to make a dent in the leftovers for lunch.  Haven’t decided what leftover is going to be supper yet.  But I’m going to use my brand new paring knife to cut up the mangos I bought so I can have them in the morning with my yogurt and granola! Then I end up cutting up the cucumber for salad for supper. I’m gonna get my monies worth out of it that’s for sure!

Sitting on the deck, watching planes fly by, wondering if our friends are in them and if they can see us. We’re waiving…just in case!

Had to go down to the office to print a form for the COBRA election. Went earlier, but the format was wrong and I had to reformat so I could print it.  I reformatted in a few different types, just in case, then headed down to the office to print the form.  It worked! And cost me fifty cents! Oh well.  While I was on my way to the office, I noticed that I had sloped mango on my white shirt when I was cutting them up earlier! How embarrassing! It’s dried too – which is a problem! Mango doesn’t like to come out! Could be a lost cause! Oh well…another one bites the dust!

Got my form printed and back up the steps – through the skeeter corridor – to the apartment.  Gerald finished the rest of the salad fixins and it’s about time to eat. We finish dinner and rested the remainder of the evening. I worked on the computer and we listened to the dogs make their regular commotions in the neighborhood.

There’s hardly any wind tonight and I’ve had to get my electric skeeter killer out again.  Killed the last little bugger…so I guess I’ll head to bed!