Happy Friday!

So far no tropical storms and the Saharan Dust has been in force all week!

On this Friday, I am going to give you some of our ways with our locally elected and government workers. Although somewhat funny, some of these stories want to make me puke? Again you cannot make this shit up?

Accused Police Sergeant Allowed to Work Pending Outcome of Trial

Angelo Hill, the V.I. Police sergeant indicted earlier this year for his alleged involvement in a drug trafficking ring, has been allowed to go back to work at his family's car rental business pending the outcome of the case.

Former Schneider CEO Convicted of Tax Fraud

A federal jury convicted Rodney Miller Sr., former CEO of Schneider Regional Medical Center, of tax fraud on Wednesday after a two-day trial in district court on St. Thomas.

EDA's bad-loan list lacks names of senators

ST. THOMAS ­- After months of dodging its initial agreement to do so, the Economic Development Authority furnished an updated list of delinquent borrowers.

The list of 210 names sent Friday represents $6.4 million in delinquent loans made through the former Small Business Development Authority and the Government Development Bank since 1982.

However, the list still does not include many of the names or amounts referenced in an audit by the V.I. Inspector General's Office released in April that found Economic Development Authority's 2010 loan portfolio had a delinquency rate of 84.5 percent and that the Virgin Islands was owed about $8.5 million. The Economic Development Authority had lost millions of taxpayer dollars through negligent, insecure lending practices and through improper administration of its nine lending programs, the report stated.

WTJX hires convicted felon Marc Biggs

ST. CROIX - Former V.I. Property and Procurement Commissioner Marc Biggs, who is on home confinement as the remaining months on his federal prison sentence for accepting bribes wind down, has landed another V.I. government job.

Biggs, 48, went to work Monday as the facilities coordinator on St. Croix for WTJX, the Virgin Islands Public Television System, according to V.I. Public Television System Chief Executive Officer Osbert Potter.

Getting our FIRST Walgreens and the grand opening is going to be like Carnival! 

Walgreens opens Saturday morning

ST. THOMAS - Get in line.

Walgreens is expecting a mad rush Saturday morning as the national drug store chain opens its doors to the Virgin Islands for the first time.

The store is celebrating its grand opening with a Carnival-style parade at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, in which the St. Thomas Majorettes, the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School marching band and color guard and the Infernos Carnival Troupe will perform.

(read more) 

This one makes me laugh, anyone want some cans of noodles....will make you feel noodley?

Police arrest man after finding 136 pounds of pot inside noodle cans at King Airport

ST. THOMAS - V.I. police discovered more than 136 pounds of marijuana stuffed inside 68 La Choy Chow Mein Noodle cans Thursday at King Airport.

Police arrested Trevor Dolphin, who had just arrived on an American Airlines flight from Miami, after they received an anonymous phone tip.

Dolphin, who appeared Friday in V.I. District Court for his advice-of-rights hearing, is being charged with distribution of marijuana in excess of 50 kilograms after admitting to having dealt marijuana on St. Thomas for more than a year and a half, according to court documents.

Oh no where are we going to put our shit?

Bovoni landfill will reach full capacity in a matter of months

ST. THOMAS ­- The Bovoni landfill is in danger of bursting at the seams, Waste Management Authority Executive Director May Adams Cornwall said Wednesday.

At the same time, an $18 million request from the Waste Management Authority could have the same impact on the government's budget, as it was not accounted for by the governor's financial team in their presentation to the 30th Legislature, according to Sen. Clifford Graham, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

(read more) 

This is the one that makes me want to PUKE!  I can't believe this is an elected senator, and makes comments that she never says no and it is ok for a husband to rape his wife? Cultural differences here or just plain stupidity?

Hansen Outrages Other Senators with Rape Bill Comments

Section: Local news

Sep 11 2013 - 5:22pm

... of sexual assault and rape, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen said she did not understand how sex between spouses can be rape, before ... "That is correct," Hodge-Jack said. Hansen announced she did not understand how a wife could be raped by a husband. ...

Yes, you cannot make this shit up. But then again, this kind of crap goes on no matter where you live? 

Have a great weekend! I am going to enjoy going out on the boat and enjoy the beaches to myself since this is September! 

Have a great weekend, I still have a JETS hangover.....

Boat for Sale

The time has come to say good bye to the Louly II. When we bought our boat here, we wanted to start out small and inexpensive because we didn't know how much we would use the boat. When we lived in Nevada we went out and bought a brand new boat and then only used it a few times a year due to a couple of factors, one called Winter, Lake Tahoe fees and another called a trailer. Having to trailer the boat and in and out of the ramp got to be well not so relaxing. Turns out living here we don't have that word Winter and we have a boat slip which has made all the difference in the world.

It has been about 15 months and I can say we have gone out just about every weekend on the boat. Knowing that we love boating here and I am male and like toys, it is time to get something bigger and better!

Here is the low down on our boat and if you want more pictures, let me know!

Great boat for island hopping, fishing, diving and snorkeling. This boat is powered by twin 2010 Suzuki DF115's, so your fuel burn on this boat is great while cruising at 20 knts. Only 500 hours on the motors with a recent service completed. Each motor is independent of the other so you will never be stuck. Boat features a comfortable helm with new throttles, new Clarion stereo that you can plug your phone into, VHF radio, fish finder and windshield. Boat rides very stable since it is a catamaran design. Bimini features rocket lauchers. In gunnel rod holders. Raw water washdown. 

Work completed on this boat in the last 1.5 years:
New stereo
Bottom paint 
New bilge pump
New navigational lights
New battery
New rear seat
New front seat
Oil change and lower unit oil change
New hydraulic piston for steering on one motor


2002 TWIN VEE EXTREME CTR.CONSOLE
Material Fiberglass
Length 25' 7"
Beam 102"
Weight 2500 lbs
Maximum HP 300
Fuel Capacity 120 Gallons
Transom Height 25"
Steering Hydraulic

Don't miss out on a boat in this price range that you can take to Jost most of the time and only burn $60 in fuel. 

Call or email Ken at 340-514-5671 or ken@ken-wiseman.com

Skiing Chile in the Summer! Part II

Day 1 continued:

After arriving in the city of Chillan, the last city before you head up to Nevados de Chillan, we stopped in at their version of a Super Wal - Mart, Jumbo. It is on the right about 2 miles from where you exit Ruta 5.

It was about 5:30 and we walked in to much of a surprise, a clean and well organized store, something we are not used to here in the Virgin Islands! It was fun to see the cultural differences:

• One aisle dedicated to yogurt
• eggs were not refrigerated
• fresh produce
• one aisle dedicated to hot dogs! 
• lots of fresh seafood and meats
• large section of breads or hockey pucks as I call them
• not very much in the way of potato chips or salty snacks
• tons of cookies
• not much in the way of beer but plenty of wine and pisco. 
• Many items that are liquid come in pouches?

We then made our way through chaotic Chillan and made our way up to the village of Las Trancas which is about an hour and fifteen minute drive, at least we thought. 

All of a sudden about 30 minutes along in the countryside, there are a bunch of cones we came up to with one lane closed. Behind all of these cones was a little guard shack. Road was down to one lane due to road construction. No signs saying the road would be closed or a lighted arrow? Nope nothing, here it is dark out and the cones pop up out of no where. We waited about 15 mins before we could go and as soon as we came out of that, it starts snowing! Glad I rented the 4Runner! After dodging numerous large pot holes through the slush, we finally arrived at our destination at 8:30 PM. 

We stayed at Cabanas Los Andes for 6 nights, http://www.cabanaslosandes.com/ and loved it! We had a two bedroom cabin with kitchen, fire wood, and a carport! There was always hot water for a shower and was only 15 minutes from the ski resort. We payed $150/night. Stuart, the owner is from England and he lives there with his wife and their dog Brian. Although there is not wifi in the cabin, you can go up and use the lounge and the main house. It was scary at first not being able to use my electronic device, but we weened ourselves off. Stuart was great and loved sharing stories with him. 

I grilled up some Chillean Sausages and had some wine with our wood stove and we crashed! 

This is what we woke up to:

Yes it was going to be a powder day!

We slept in as we had just did a red-eye and planned on doing a half day! On our way to the mountain!

Stay tuned for the first day of skiing and the Three Big Accidents! 

Football in the Virgin Islands!

So you are thinking that if you move to the Virgin Islands, your favorite season, football, will be missed? That is not the case! As the NFL gets ready for the first Sunday of the season there are plenty of options for you here!

At home I get Dish TV just as if I were in the states. Only added benefit is that I can get the major network feeds from NYC and San Francisco in addition to the 4 networks I get out of Puerto Rico's local networks. That sometimes gives me 3 different games on at anytime! I also get all of the ESPN channels, CBS Sports Network, Fox Sports Network and PAC 12 Network, perfect for watching college ball and my very own Colorado Buffaloes!

Fantasy football? I belong to a league here.

Sports bars to watch the game with friends and strangers? Check, have that covered with some great sports bars, we  have Hooters by Havensight where the cruise ships come in. Their A/C is probably the best! There is Shipwreck right down the street. In Red Hook, Island Time Pub has two TV's and you can watch the game while watching the boats in the Marina or head to the other side of the complex and there is Molly Mallone's with TV's and specials.

We also have other establishments that do football specials, one of my favorites being Island Time Pub in Red Hook has 2-4-1 pizzas during Monday Night Football and our very own Beer Club is doing specials too!

So don't let Football be an excuse not  to come to the Virgin Islands, and besides come December there is no need for you to bring your football hoody here, it will still be warm, like a Super Bowl party that is an indoor/outdoor party with shorts to boot! 

Enjoy the first Sunday 2013, I know we will rooting for our sad excuse of a team! 

Update 9-29-13: Caribbean Saloon: We have tried for a few weekends to go here but have been overall dissapointed. This a few years ago used to be the go to place with great A/C and food. Not anymore, it is cooler outside, food is not so great and even if you have many fans there to watch their favorite team, they tell you, "sorry we put on the game on the big screen with sound to whichever team has the most fans" which is not always true....

Happy Friday!

Only real thing to be happy about today is that this storm, formally known as Gabrielle is starting to leave? And it figures soon after I post why September is a great time to visit and how everything here is empty?

From my last post we had this storm coming and that was Wednesday, and here it is Friday and this thing is still hanging around, like a nasty head cold that won't go away?

Wed night all signs were pointing toward this storm leaving the area. I put up some of our hurricane shutters before I went to bed as our house is an older masonry home with arched windows. Only problem with these windows is no glass, just screens, but we have these wood doors to close up.

Sure enough about 4AM Thursday, I hear it pouring and the wind coming from the west (normally we get easterly trade winds). I got up and found rain pouring into house. So here I am in my boxers hanging the shutters and Shannon following me with towels. I thought the Weather Service said that this storm was moving to the north and out of here?

4 AM

5AM

I finally got back to sleep around 6:30 AM but poor Shannon had to go to work. It rained on and off again but just light rain through the day. 

At 8:30 PM it was time for the first NFL game of the year! It started to rain again here pretty heavy with lightening. I guess Denver had the same issue? The game never got really going to about 9:30 PM. By that time our Dish TV was coming in and out. By 10PM I gave up and went to sleep instead. At least I had the house boarded up! 

Friday morning, I slept fine through the night, Shannon didn't I guess. While having a cup of coffee I read my emails and this alert came through:

Description:

VITEMA's 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center received no reports of significant flooding on St. Croix, St. John or Water Island.

Heavy showers and thunderstorms associated with Tropical Storm Gabrielle flooded and washed out roads on the island of St. Thomas.  Roads in the following areas have flooded:

St. Thomas Eastern side of the island
- Bolongo Bay - Flooding
- Nadir (Bridge To Nowhere)  - Flooding, utility pole sparking, cars stuck in the water
- Mandahl - mudslide
- Brookman Road  *ROAD CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING, ROADWAY COLLAPSE, CARS STUCK IN THE WATER
- Bovoni - Flooding
- Frenchmans Bay - debris in the roadway, road undermined and hillside came down in citizen's yard
Western Side of St. Thomas
- Kronprindsens Gade, manhole Cover came off
- Estate Pearl, flooding
- Contant - flooding
- Northside - trees Down in the Roadway
- North Star Village - Roadside undermined
- Soldberg - Debris and boulders in the roadway
- Crown Mountain (WGOD) - Landslide *blocking 90% of roadway
- Honduras - flooding, debris
- Veterans Drive - flooding, debris
- Mandela Circle - Flooding
- Northside (Four Corners) - Debris and boulders in the roadway

I am so glad the alert let us know that everywhere but here was ok? 

After reading this email, I ventured out onto the property to survey the damage. 

yes that is over 5 inches of rain

Pool has filled up and on the verge of overflowing into the pump closet, usually the water is right below the blue flowers.

These lovely pricker trees have decided to come into the yard?

Cistern overflowing, I was really surprised having 4 down spouts and only 1 drain we didn't flood the house. Now my favorite pictures

Shannon, I think we have a leak somewhere in our office here? Anyone know a good carpenter?

Here it is at 3PM, just GO AWAY already?

I would love to hear your story and if you have any pictures of what happened to you during this storm, please send them and I can post them. 

So I guess I spoke too soon about September, don't come here this month, it sucks. 

I know that by Sunday it will be beautiful again and I will have all the beaches to myself again! 

You know I will be happy again once this crap leaves. Good luck with your favorite football team this weekend and enjoy the first Sunday of NFL! Go Colorado Buffaloes, beat Central Arkansas, Go Yankess beat those BOSox, and well the JETS, I guess it really doesn't matter if the season starts......

Happy Friday! 

Tropical Storms in September in the Virgin Islands!

Here is the reason why most folks don't come down to visit in September.

Let's see, so far this Summer:

August 2013 ended as the 4th wettest August on record with 7.69 inches.

Summer 2013 ended as the 3rd wettest summer on record with 16.36 inches.

Fun times in the heart of hurricane season! This storm is not named yet, but just swirling around us. So far rain gauge says 1.75 inches of rain today and the office ceiling collapsed from some leak...cistern overflowing.....no wind, just rain, rain, rain! 

As I was writing this it just became Tropical Depression 7! 

Although it will be to the East of us, we will still being a ton of rain. 

Good news is this will only last a few days and then we will have our beaches all to ourselves again, and at least it isn't a wildfire?

Labor Day Weekend in the Virgin Islands

Well, the end of Summer is here marked by that holiday known as Labor Day. Not that it really matters as it is Summer here year round.

September has to be one of my favorite months here in the Virgin Islands. First off, it is the start of football season. But most importantly, it is the height of hurricane season, which means that no one will come and visit this time of year even though the weather is really nice (last major storm was Marilyn in 1995) and as I sit here, there is a 13 mph breeze, 85 degrees at 1 PM and mostly sunny. All the WAFI's (Moorings, SunSail and other charter companies) are not sailing this time of year. What does this mean to us? Well, you can have most of the mooring fields and beaches to yourself.

So what to do on Labor Day Weekend? Spend Saturday getting all your household chores done, swimming in the pool with the dogs and catching some college ball.

Then on Sunday you head over to the Capella Islands or Buck Island National Wildlife Preserve. Not to be confused with the Buck Island in St Croix. These little islands are the ones you can see from the Marriott Resort when you look to the East and if you have ever stayed at the Marriott and done one of their snorkel tours, this is where they bring you. There is an old lighthouse on the island.

Then watch the Colorado Buffaloes beat Colorado State with an old school buddy. 

And on Monday, Labor Day you head on over to Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar Bar for a little RnR. This time, it was just the wife and I for a quiet relaxing day. We were surprised at how many neighbors to West were here to visit (I will have a whole other post on this, more like a rant). Mic the bartender was off, he has Mondays and Tuesdays off.  It was really surprising to see no rental sailboats around and the overall day was really quiet there. You had two St Thomas Frat Party boats blaring their house music, Visitors from the West, the two o'clock Bad Kitty/Breakaway tourist stops and a couple of other private boats. You know it is September when you get your Roti in 5 minutes from when you ordered it?

The best part of the day was around 4PM, everyone left and we were there with 8 other people! That was amazing, not to mention the ride home, which always brings me to play Adios to Jost when we pull out of White Bay.