November 7, 2010 was a Long Time Ago

Wow.  November 7.  That was the last day that I posted to this conversation.

Wow.

Ok, so I know I said (or at least if I didn't, I should have) that I'm not the most disciplined writer around.  But November 7???  That's a long time even for me.

So how do I begin to recap life in exile at the beginning of the second decade of the 2000s?

Well, the major highlights were:

1. On December 22, my work permit for Barbados was finally approved.  The application was made in September.  That's equivalent to a work visa in the US.  So, if you can read between the lines you'll guess that I was working here...um...not so legally...between August and December.  Let's hope that officials of Immigration here aren't intensly curious folk who read blogs.
2. I spent a pretty miserable time between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.  I was sick.  Not just "a cold" sick, or "the flu" sick, but sick.  I was out of work and in and out of the emergency clinic almost every day, even twice on one day during that week.  MUCH better now.  The silver lining of that dark illness cloud was that I found a remarkable medical practitioner here who has become my regular physician.


3. As of January 28, I own an automobile here.  His name is Horace. (Like cats and dogs I've had in my life, cars tend to acquire the names of jazz musicians.  "Horace" is so named because of his color...and in honor of jazz great Horace Silver) Horace is a Suzuki Swift, not a nameplate known or sold in the United States. It is very close in size to the Mini Cooper.  As a matter of fact, one reviewer compared the two side-by-side:

Swift: 3695 mm long, 1690 mm wide, and 1500 mm tall

Mini: 3635 mm long, 1925 mm wide, and 1408 mm tall

That makes the Mini slightly shorter in height and length, but a lot wider. Looks like it could be quite roomy in there.

And here's their final word on the two cars, along with a photo of my car and the Mini side-by-side.

Without a doubt, the Mini is irreplaceable. You can't hold a candle to millions of loyal fans who consider their Minis as their very own babies. But the Swift is the best-looking compact car to enter the midrange market to date, and bears a fairly good resemblance to the Mini. Whether you choose to consider it a rip-off or a tribute to the design influence of the Mini, it’s a nifty little car that should make a lot of budget-conscious people happy.

So, all in all, I'm VERY happy with Horace.  He's fun to drive and the perfect size for the island.

And finally, in the recap of my world, on January 30th, Mom came down to Barbados to spend six weeks.  So that means she's still here (soundly sleeping at the moment...) and will be so until at least March 8.  Longer if I can talk her into it.  She's spent her time relaxing, enjoying being away from the Northeast US winter weather.  No beach yet, but we'll get there.

Life in Barbados continues to be very satisfying.  Work...well, I still love my work.  Good clients (for the most part!), great, fun co-workers...and as I said earlier, the anxiety of not having my working papers has been removed.

The challenges of life in what most would consider a "tropical paradise" continue.  Barbados is still a very expensive place to live.  Since the island is so small with limited resources,  everything from food to cars to medicine must be imported...imported at a cost.  I won't even go into the details of what it took for me to arrange to actually purchase a vehicle.  Just know that for a vehicle that sells in the UK for about $15,000, I am spending more than $35,000 US.  The financing arrangements are absurd, but I had very little choice.  My car note is actually $7/month more than I was spending on renting a 20+ year old car (same make and model) without such luxuries as power windows, power steering, air conditioning or a radio.  So I'm not complaining.

Well, I've been up MUCH too late tonight, thanks to lengthy conversations with old friends Dale and Walter in New Orleans.

I'll try to be more regular with these updates, but as you can see, I still have nothing earth shattering to say!!

Have fun!