Island life comments, no photos.

It looks like we got a break in the weather, until that glob just starting to spin up there north of Hispaniola gets here. So we are going to run up to Pine Cay in the boat today. Plan is to check on the new refrigerator we hope got delivered yesterday, then we are going to head out to the reef and do some snorkeling if the weather holds. There have been some swells breaking on the reef a lot last few days. We figure to pick up a dozen or more conch and make up a big batch of Conch Chili. We put it in two-serving ziplocs and freeze it. Good stuff to have when we don't feel like cooking. But the point of this is that we plan to go look for conch in the spots near those ballast piles, so I should have some more underwater photos to post late today. I hope some of you like the underwater shots. It's a break from talking about Provo, or the new house, anyhow.

Well, so much for the boating plans today. We got the cooler packed, programmed some GPS points of interest into our hand-held Magellan, and headed for the marina. Only to run across the WIV (West Indies Video) cable guys at the end of the street. We stopped to see if it was Howard, whom La Gringa has been talking to on the phone. Lots of times. For months, in fact. They are on a first name basis.`And it IS Howard. Supervising a cable technician. Working on a Saturday, no less.

We have been waiting for just over fourteen weeks since we requested cable hookup to the house. They are trying to get it done today, and need access to the house. So, we decided to put the conch diving and wreck exploring trip off til tomorrow morning. The thought of being able to watch the Discovery channel, Sci Fi, History Channel....after 14 weeks without television, just changed our plans. Besides, the wind has picked up and the afternoon squalls must have been alerted to our intentions. They have surrounded us already, and the dog is considering taking up nail-biting. He thought boating today was a bad idea from the get-go, but we get antsy when we haven't been on the boat for a few days so we were gonna go for it.

The swells are breaking on the reef, and an evil little chop is starting to flex its muscles, but we still would have gone. But you don't just turn your back on cable installers here, once they get around to your little problem...you may never see them again. Besides, we made a new friend. His name is Howard.

To live in a place like this and not go insane requires large amounts of tolerance, a sense of humor, and above all, a pervasive and consistent, and never-flagging flexibility. Such is life in the Kingdom of MakeDo.