May 24-25, 2011

Tuesday, May 24, 2011:

It’s a little cloudy today, but not bad. Certainly not rainy! (although we did get a little sprinkle this morning).  We were awoken this morning at 6:58a to the sound of a power washer blasting down below us.  Nice.  But at 10a….nothing – no noise at all from them! I don’t understand what the heck they are doing down there!

I think we are going to forego the beach today.  Our burns have burns so we will take the opportunity to run around, maybe doing some last minute errands and shopping.

We left the apartment, and it started to rain.  Go figure.  Gerald turned on the wipers and then one of the wiper blades broke and flipped off.  And of course it was the most important one…on the driver’s side of course.  We stopped and he tried to put it back on but the clip had broke and it wouldn’t stay.  It was coming down pretty good now, and steady with no break on the horizon.  We sat in the car for about 20 minutes but it wasn’t going to stop.  We didn’t want to sit anymore in the car and needed to get the wiper blade fixed, so we decided to head over to the car rental place and see if they could fix it.  Of course, within a couple blocks the blade fell off again.  Gerald pulled over and tried to fix it again, but it just wouldn’t stay on.  He started to look in the car for something to tie the blade to the wiper arm. Of course there is nothing in the car that would help. But you know WHO had something IN their purse right?  That’s right.  Me. Tina “MacGyver” Simons.  (I’m gonna change my name when I get home)  I had a hair pin (don’t ask me why) and Gerald used it to tie and wire the wiper blade to the arm.  Worked out pretty good!  So, wiper blade sufficiently MacGyvered in place with hair pin, we headed to the car rental company, before it fell off again. 

We traveled (safely now) through the rain, but by the time we got over the hill and headed towards Simpson Bay, it had stopped raining.  We needed to have it fixed anyway, because you know it will rain again, so we continued to the rental place.  The traffic going the other way was horrible again.  I still don’t know why.  No bridge traffic, or hold ups, except people stopping to chat with friends they see on the side of the road, or just gawking at the road construction (that wasn’t affecting the main road anyway)…which kills me.  The traffic was backed up past the runway and almost to the airport! Worse than home!

We finally got to the car rental and we told them the wiper blade fell off.  They looked at it and acted like we were crazy! They fiddled with it for a while, looked at it and because it was wired on…wondered “what’s the problem?”  I don’t think they could have (and didn’t) fix it any better!  They looked and looked and finally Gerald had to unwire the hairpin and show them.  Well, I can tell you, the look of disappointment on their faces was hysterical! He had just BROKE the wiper before their very eyes! =)  But Patrick sent the young man in to the workshop to get another blade to replace it.

We sat there for about 45 minutes while the young man worked and worked on that wiper blade trying to get it on.  First, he wasn’t using the right one, then had to go get another one.  Finally, using the right blade, he worked and worked but still couldn’t get it to stay on.  That’s because he didn’t have the clip to hold it on, so it kept falling off.  And for some reason, the idea of getting a clip just never occurred to him. (although we sort of dropped the hint several times…like “don’t you have a clip?” “does that one have a clip?” etc) Then Patrick came over (because it was taking so long) to take a look too and they figured what they would do is put the new wiper blade on, then bend and kink the wiper arm so that it would just hold the blade in place.  It took him a while, but he finally got the end of the arm bent sufficiently to hold the blade in place. It definitely wasn’t going to come off now.  Gerald and I just looked at each other and laughed! Talk about MacGyvering !  I told ya they seemed bummed when Gerald untwisted the hairpin! It was working just fine as it was! =)

So, with the wiper blade being fixed we thought we were done, but while we were there he asked us if he could put the new license plates on the car.  Not wanting to get stopped again, and having bad flashbacks of the last time we were stopped, we agreed.  After another 45 minutes had passed...with the kid working on exchanging the plates…we finally left, with the front plate riveted on and the back plate put on with a rivet on one side and a large screw that was (and I’m not making this up) hammered into the back hatch door on the other side.  OMG!  You wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it!

Done with car repairs (thank goodness), we tried to head back the way we came with the intent of stopping by the grocery store, then hitting the Carousel to get some gelato, but the traffic was stopped and not going anywhere. It wasn’t time for the bridge to come up, so I guess it was still the gawkers slowing down traffic. After sitting for about 15 minutes and not moving, we turned around and decided to head back to the apartment via going around the other side of the island. We drove through Marigot, which itself has traffic issues, and finally found out way back towards the apartment.

While driving through Marigot, I saw those gold lamé snake print pants again in a store window as we were passing, but Gerald still wouldn’t stop so I could get them.  He’s no fun.

We stopped at the Grande Marche in Phillipsburg to do our shopping and get some water and a few things, but when we came out it was starting to rain again.  We hurried back to the apartment to try to beat the rain wall we saw coming towards us and made it up just in time.  I cooked dinner, and Gerald took a load of laundry down to the wash room.  I made chicken fettuccini for dinner and I must say turned out really yummy!

Just watching the news and weather channel, and we’re watching the tornados moving across the Midwest…I hope everyone stays safe!

Now we’re watching American Idol.  I don’t like that show – never did – but Gerald does.  He used to watch it with his Mom, Avis and Karen.  It’s hard for me to watch people embarrass themselves.  And towards the end, I don’t understand why some stay who aren’t that good, and some get kicked-off who are great!  …and is it just me, or does Scotty look like Alford E. Neuman?  …I know, I know…it’s me.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011:

The sun is out today, but we are still recovering from burn (my forehead is peeling), so we won’t go to the beach, technically.  We are going to walk around Phillipsburg and Gerald is going to bring his guitar and play a song for Janet down at Pasanggrahan.  

Traffic going through Philipsburg was terrible! It’s busy! There are 2 cruise ships in dock, but what’s with all the other people here today? We ended up parking by the University and walking to town. We walked through the market, then down Front Street to Gold & Jewels to see if Monica was in the store today.  She wasn’t but I did get to talk to Larry.  We then walked down the street towards Pasanggrahan which is on the other side of town.  We sat and said hello to Janet.  After a while Gerald asked the owner if it was ok if he played a song for Janet before we left. He said ok!

**

It’s so funny to watch the expressions of people who have never heard Gerald sing and play before.  They are just amazed that sound comes out of him!  Well, I can tell you Janet was thrilled! She kept telling everyone to come listen! =)  It was so funny! Even the other gal that was there was singing along! After Gerald finished a couple songs, he put his guitar away and we came back to apartment to get cleaned up for dinner.  It was so hot, and not much of a breeze! 

We got ready and headed to Peg Leg’s for a steak dinner.  Traffic was a nightmare.  I can’t for the life of me figure out why?  Those of you who may know the island a little, from the Welfare Road roundabout going north on Union Road towards the Princess Casino, it was backed up on Union Road in the Cole Bay area all the way almost to the casino itself! That is ridiculous! Gawd only knows that it’s probably backed up to Maho on the other side!  And what’s worse, is that people coming from Philipsburg trying to avoid the roundabout are taking Peter’s Road cut-through…which made it worse on Union Road! While we were waiting in traffic, we saw a police car headed towards with lights flashing and siren going.  People were trying to get off the road, but it’s kind of hard to do, when there is not much of a shoulder and you can’t move forward because traffic is stopped.  We thought maybe they were going to an accident or going to help with traffic, but when it finally got up to our car and passed us, it was actually an escort for a limo (with license plates of Mr. 1).  I was flabbergasted! Residents and visitors to this island have been sitting in traffic for hours and a VIP gets run through with a police escort? Unbelievable! If it was a government official, they SHOULD have to sit in this traffic.  Maybe they will try to do something about it– but if you get to run through traffic with a police escort all the time, what’s the incentive for them to do anything? Status quo.   

But we finally got to Peg Leg’s.  I ordered a Cosmo and it was a great! Could have had 2, but didn’t want to risk hurting my ankle again! =) Then Gerald and I ordered the petite filets and listened to Craig/Bob and his Cover 2 Cover band entertain.  They really are pretty good and entertaining!  He went around to the tables and 1 couple had just gotten engaged, another table had 2 couples from St. Louis and another table was from Chicago! FUNNY! One guy from the other St. Louis table came over to talk to us.  He is from the Creve Coeur area (which is where Gerald grew up)!  Our dinner finally came and I have to say it was the best filet I’ve ever had. Gerald and I both agreed! They were tender enough to cut with a fork and had so much flavor.

We finished our dinner and said goodbye to Craig/Bob then went into the Princes Casino and gambled a little.  We lost our money and then came home.  Traffic had cleared, so it didn’t take long and we got back just in time to watch the winner of American Idol …which was disappointing to say the least!  It’s amazing what a bunch of screaming little girls can accomplish!  =)