I'm back. For those of you who think I'm a major slacker (that would be anyone who knows me well), NOT this time. I have not had Internet service since early last Thursday. It seems that the condo association decided to go with another provider and they have been in the process for four days. Finally,today I called and said; "Hey, what gives." They gave me my new "user name" and "password" and I am up and running. The best part is, now it's true High Speed Internet. I can get video streaming and music without going through the whole download first business. It is amazing.

The next crisis is that my cell phone no longer works at the condo, "at all". Not even down by the pool. Oh, I get maybe five minutes before the battery runs out. I took the phone in to Sprint, to see if I needed a new battery and they said no. Apparently, the site closest to my condo has been vandalized (people have been stealing the copper wire and selling is at recycling places), so my phone has to work so hard looking for a site, it runs the battery down. Lovely. It still works on call forward if I keep it plugged it, but that means YOU HAVE TO CALL ME.

You may or may not have heard, but Tropical Storm Emily is bearing down on us. The Weather Channel is all excited and keeps predicting that it will reach Hurricane Status. Of course, we are hoping NOT. Decided that we needed to go to the store (you know how I love grocery shopping) tonight and stock up. That was a sobering experience. The place was packed. The shelves were empty. Every check-out was open, and we still waited almost an hour to get through the line. I spent way too much, but we are prepared. I'm going to have to find a way to get some of this money back out of the next four paychecks, but I think we'll be OK. Better safe than sorry.

People in the islands don't take the Hurricane Warnings lightly. I get really aggravated with the media. Particularly, The Weather Channel. They are so excited at he possibility of another disaster. Of course, all of their emphasis is on the potential impact on the States, we really don't matter.

Also,had to buy another tire today. The roads on St.Croix literally eat your tires.

Well that's all folks. Hopefully, I can keep you posted. If we're down for a few days, that could be the storm or it could be the friendly folks at Broadband VI fiddling with the new service. I'll let you know.