DON'T STAND ME UP

There are a few things in life that I can't stand:

People who spit where others have to walk.
People who spit when there are people right there watching (it makes me feel like throwing up - seriously, I have to fight down the bile sometimes).
A shower that keeps changing temperature.
A dog that barks incessantly for no reason.
People who slam doors when others are trying to sleep (or make other noise that isn't necessary).

But I think the one that I hate the most, so much that it makes me livid, is BEING STOOD UP.

I drove 45 minutes, from my hotel, in to Road Town over a hill that makes me nervous and roads I don't much enjoy driving due to other lousy drivers to meet a woman I met on the beach a few days ago. She had already stood me up once when I had offered to drive her to Long Bay to spend the day together at the pool there; she was supposed to arrive at 11:00 and I waited until 11:45 before finding out she wasn't coming (via a comment on here).

We arranged to meet at a place called The Watering Hole, which I had never been to and had no idea where it was. I looked it up on line and then on a map. There are no addresses here, just vague area's. This one said it was on Wickham Quay I. There's a lot of stuff on Wickham Quay I!! And so I drove around for about 10 minutes trying to find the darn place and had to pull over and ask someone. When I arrived, finally, it was 11:00 on the nose. She said she would be there from 10:30-11:00. To say I wasn't happy when I looked around and she wasn't there would be an understatement of huge proportions. I was truly angry. It took me so long to get there, in blazing heat. I drove around and around on roads I was completely unfamiliar with, which I hate doing - especially here where one is on the other side of the road and often on roads that has room for only one car so someone has to back up. I bought a drink and sat and waited for half an hour just in case she was late. She wasn't. I just don't understand why, when arranging to meet someone, you wouldn't wait an extra 10 or even 30 minutes just to make sure they're not running late. And especially when the person is in an unfamiliar country, for crying out loud. I honestly can't recall when I was so angry. I spent the drive back to my hotel trying to calm myself down so that the entire day was not ruined.

I went back to my beach chair, that I left at precisely 9:45 to go get her, on Apple Bay and enjoyed the sunshine again. That worked on my boiling blood. I probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as angry if it wasn't the second time she'd stood me up. I think I was as angry at myself for allowing her to do it to me a second time as I was at her for doing it.

After a couple of hours on Apple Bay, I drove up to Long Bay to use the pool for a bit and stopped into the office to ask for Carlotta. She's the event planner at Long Bay resort and did a stellar job of Ashleigh and Rob's reception. She was there and remembered me and the bridal couple. It was lovely to see her and we chatted for 15 minutes or so before I had to let her get back to work.

By the end of the afternoon, the sun and pace of this place had worked it's magic and my blood was no longer at the boiling point. But I still say that to stand someone up twice in a few days is beyond rude.

My View from Little Apple Bay - right in front of Sebastian's.

My View from Little Apple Bay - right in front of Sebastian's - tomorrow I plan to be on that island in the distance.

DRIZZLE, RAIN, DELUGE

When I dial my cell phone voice mail and there's no message, a woman's voice says, "Not much to tell you." Well, that's how I feel about blogging today.

Yesterday morning, I was at Sebastian's outdoor area, on the computer, killing time until Jo's daughter dropped her off as planned. She said it would be around 11:00 and when she still wasn't here at 11:45 I began to wonder. Then I checked my blog for comments and Jo had left two saying that she wouldn't be coming by after all. I was pretty bummed as I was looking forward to the company.

So I headed up to Long Bay Resort alone, planning to enjoy their pool and deck chairs for the afternoon but just as I pulled in, it started to drizzle. Drizzle soon turned to rain, and then rain to a downpour. So I sat at the outdoor bar, half under cover, wrapped in a towel, and got to know the bartender - a very pleasant woman.

Again, it was a bit nostalgic being up on the pool deck as that is where Ashleigh, my daughter, had her wedding reception. I will never forget walking up the stairs and seeing the setting for the first time - it took my breath away, it was so beautifully transformed. Now it's just a regular pool deck with deck chairs lined up, waiting for sunshine and sun worshipers and it's hard to picture it as it was that night.

The pool deck all 'decked' out for the wedding reception.

The pool deck today. And look at the clouds on the hill, where the weather is coming from!

I tried waiting it out, but after an hour or more, I gave up and drove back to my hotel room. And good thing I did because, no sooner was I in my room than the downpour turned into a deluge. I mean, it rained so hard I couldn't hear the TV at the highest volume setting.

So - a day spent in my room, watching TNT movies (Lake House, The Last Samurai) and then went down to the restaurant for a bowl of lentil soup.

Exciting stuff, huh? But what is great is that even on the worst rainy days it's still WARM here. I LOVE that!!!!!

STAYING DRY

Yesterday it was two years ago that I stood on the most gorgeous beach I had ever been to and watched my beautiful daughter marry her wonderful husband. And so it was with much excitement and happiness that I got into my car yesterday, and took a little road trip; it was in preparation for my return to that gorgeous beach.

It was a wonderfully sunny day and I set out on the hour long trip to Point Roberts, just across the border from Tsawwassen to pick up two of four items that I ordered on Amazon this week for my upcoming trip back to the British Virgin Islands.

Many items that we as Canadians attempt to order online are from the USA and can not be delivered to Canada, for some strange unknown reason. Especially when ordering from Amazon.com. It's very frustrating. I have, in the past, had items shipped to a friend in Palm Springs when I knew he was headed up this way shortly. But that is inconvenient for him and he isn't making a trip here any time soon. So what to do? I recently ordered a sweat shirt for my son-in-law and had it shipped to my daughter's friend who has a cabin just across the border. But that won't work for things I want for me. To the rescue - a friend online who happened to notice my FaceBook post voicing my frustration. He recommended a service in Point Roberts, called The Letter Carrier, that accepts packages for a nominal $3 fee. And the important point is, it's not a post office box number as most USA orders won't send to one of those either.

On this trip I am picking up a waterproof bag to use at the beach. As I am traveling alone, I won't have anyone to watch my valuables when I go into the water. This small pouch (6"x5") is just the right size to hold my passport, credit card, and cash. The second item is a watertight case for my digital camera.

Since my last few snorkeling experiences were so amazing, I have decided I need to take underwater pictures. I looked into an underwater camera, but I would have to spend $250 - 300. Canon makes a really nice one for just under $300 but I really don't want to spend that right now and I already have a great little digital camera that takes really good pictures. So online I went to see what a watertight case for it would cost. The hard plastic fitted ones cost more than the underwater camera I liked, so that would never do. But in my search I found soft, ziplock-type, bag ones.

I found two that fit my camera. One was the Vivitar for $34.89 (just the case, not all the accessories pictured below) , and the other was the DiCAPac for 21.38. I ended up going with the DiCAPac, and I am now wishing I ordered the Vivitar. As you can see from the photos, the Vivitar has a pouch built into the bag that holds the camera in place; the DiCAPac doesn't which means that it is tricky to keep the camera in place inside the bag. It's also difficult to work the buttons on the top of the camera and I think the fitted bag would make that much easier.
















I first did a watertight test with the bag, placing a wad of tissue inside and then submersing it in a kitchen sink full of water. Once I determined that it was indeed watertight, I then took a couple of pictures with the camera in the bag (but not submersed). At first I thought it wasn't going to work at all as the camera had a problem focusing and then shut down with a message on the screen 'Please turn off and try again'. I tried several times and got the same message, and one other that said something about focus malfunction. I then realized that I needed to insert a rubber ring that came with the case into the lens compartment on the inside. This extends the compartment so that the zoom lens on the camera can extend all the way out. Once I did that, the camera started up with no issues and the photos I took were of excellent quality. I can't wait to try it snorkeling. I will definitely be posting pictures on here once I do.