Hurricane season’s over dammit. What is this? A subtropical storm has formed. So much for just jolly Christmas winds. Olga’s on the other side of Puerto Rico, but being felt far behind its track. Here’s what the latest discussion on Weather Underground says:
Olga’s strongest winds are located well away from the center of circulation…which is a characteristic of subtropical cyclones. Winds of 40 mph extend outward up to 275 miles. Olga is expected to produce additional rain accumulations of 2 to 4 inches over Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands…with isolated maximum storm total amounts of 12 inches over Puerto Rico.
Oh this should be good stuff. A new building MOVING blog. Jay and Deb, a West Virginia couple, are moving to St. Thomas and they’re going to blog about the process. Bookmark it. ”Live de Life, Living in the USVI’s”, here.
The whole idea behind (or at least the presumed idea behind) cleaning up Cruz Bay Beach is to make it a swimming beach. Now DPNR, the very folks pushing the plan, say it may not be safe to swim there.
The agency regularly tests water quality at 43 beaches across all three USVIs, including 8 on St. John, and posts the weekly results on its USVI Division of Environmental Protection Website. And Cruz Bay Beach failed the latest tests, the only beach out of 43 that did. DPNR warns of an elevated health risk because of an increased concentration of bacteria. It’s the first time in a long time any beach as failed the water quality tests, though there was a general warning about coastal waters during all the rain in October because of runoff.
Don’t read too much into the warning. Unless Cruz Bay starts failing the tests every week.
This is a paid advertisement, but the comments below are our own.
Right up front, this isn’t a villa and there is no water view. If those are priorities, this place isn’t for you. So why are we featuring it? Because it’s a good deal. A great location with your own outdoor space, a very nicely done, very nicely furnished, very big apartment. A “West Elm meets St. John” kind of place. Gifft Hill Garden Apartment is a brand new, 3 bedroom apartment on the first floor of a duplex. If you’re on a budget, or are looking for someplace to park yourself for an extended stay, check out Gifft Hill Garden Apartment. Take a look around, below!
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. We’ve learned that this is amazingly true on St. John. For example: That vacuum cleaner on the left? I took that picture on the way up the hill at about 10 am one morning. The next picture of the same dumpster on the way back down the hill no more than one hour later. Broken or not, there are darn good working parts in that vacuum.
Rusty frig? Might be a good motor on it. Plastic patio chairs? Score. Old terra cotta planters? You’re kidding, right?
We learned this about a year ago when we were going to throw away a coffee table with a chipped corner. The advise we got when we asked where to dispose of something that big? “Just set it in front of the dumpster. Somebody will take it.” (And that first experiment proved the advise was sound. Gone before the end of the day.) So, when you see stuff sitting in front of the dumpster, it’s not because somebody was too lazy to hoist it over the top. It’s just getting a second chance at life. And a good chance it is.
Meet the guy that sponsors Jeep Cam. Greg Edwards tells us how he started Courtesy Car Rental. And he answers those pressing questions too. Liberty or Grand Vitara? Parking or no parking? Jeep top up or down? Meet Greg, below!
We snapped this picture at a villa which will remain unnamed because it’s hardly the owner’s fault. This represents what we like to call “The St. John Way.” There is the right way. And then, there’s The St. John Way. In this case, the right way to fix backwards plumbing would be to fix the plumbing. The St. John Way is to just make it clear that it’s not the right way. You see this ALL THE TIME. (Not signs like this…this is actually helpful.) But you run into backwards hot and cold water all the time. One guy told us a story about this problem in every shower in an expensive new villa he was building. He told the builder he wanted it fixed. Next time he visited his villa, it was. The workmen had peeled off all the red and blue decals…and reversed them. That’s The St. John Way.
Here’s an out of the way spot reached by a little love nest of a cottage called Siempre Azul. It sits on Friis Bay, not far from Miss Lucy’s. Friis Bay, below.
Did you know Starfish Market routinely rounds the checkout price down to the nearest nickel? If the register says $56.72, the checker will say $56.70. Seriously. You probably don’t even notice. Watch next time. And when that register drawer pops open, look in it. You’re likely to see maybe one very unwelcome penny in there. Whether or not this is actually a formal store policy, we don’t know. But they don’t ever round UP, so they’re not making it up over the course of the day.
I know they’re just pennies, but in the course of a year at a grocery store, that’s got to add up to some sort of figure with a comma somewhere in it.
We’re getting closer to Centerline Road. This time, we’ll leave the Trunk Bay lot and head to Peter Bay Estates (the entrance only…riffraff like us isn’t allowed past the gate.) A rainy afternoon left the roads wet, and this trip takes us up a couple of serious switchbacks. Don’t follow too closely! North Shore Road, part 4, below.
A two day Christmas Music Festival included a cute little kids parade through Cruz Bay and Santa on a truck. And kids led by Festival organizer Steve Simon. (This just looks like sugar high chaos to me.)
Ever been to Hassel Island? (It’s number 31 on the National Park map above.) Here’s a chance to see it, and help the Park too. Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park is looking for volunteers for a Hassel Island cleanup next Saturday morning. Show up at the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay at 7:30. Friends will get you there. They’ll even throw in lunch. Read details here.
Hurricane season’s over dammit. What is this? A subtropical storm has formed. So much for just jolly Christmas winds. Olga’s on the other side of Puerto Rico, but being felt far behind its track. Here’s what the latest discussion on Weather Underground says:
Did you know Starfish Market routinely rounds the checkout price down to the nearest nickel? If the register says $56.72, the checker will say $56.70. Seriously. You probably don’t even notice. Watch next time. And when that register drawer pops open, look in it. You’re likely to see maybe one very unwelcome penny in there. Whether or not this is actually a formal store policy, we don’t know. But they don’t ever round UP, so they’re not making it up over the course of the day. 
