Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary to Us

Well my neice asked me what I bought Deb for our anniversary which happens to be today. We both said the same thing. One way plane tickets. Hope everyone has a fun and prosperous new years. We actually are at the Embassy Suites tonight with a bunch of friends doing their New Years Eve party. Sitting in the room having a Captain & Coke with Deb with an early check in, we had to run away from the Griswald's for a day.

Jay & Deb December 31, 1998 Aboard the MV PA Denny

Ice Skating, Bowling and Hannah Montana Wii

Well the continuing saga of the Griswald's Christmas. We spent a good portion of the day yesterday trying to digest enough food for the average bear to hibernate for a winter on, and watching my seven year old niece learn how to play the new Hannah Montana Wii game that she got for Christmas. We received an email this morning from our other niece wanting us to go Ice Skating and Bowling today. Well we have decided that we might squeeze in one or the other so Deb emailed her back.

The truck is still on eBay. I have had two people make me offers from eBay so it looks like it will be sold this week. We will likely put Deb's car on there this week. The trip counter is down to 25 days and the list is getting shorter.

Jay

Post Office Island Style

You may or may not know that mail service to homes is basically nonexistent in the islands. Most people have there mail handled by an "agent". Basically a post office box provided by a private company. Well you have to go with what you know and there happens to be a mail/office center in Crown Bay Marina not to far from Deb's work and directly next door to one of our favorite places to grab a drink and bite so I guess you can send our mail to the bar. There also happens to be a cingular cell phone store there so when we drop our phones in the water they can be replaced as well.

Jay

Messages, Mail and More Phone: (340) 776-4324E-mail: mmm@vipowernet.net
An array of professional services including packaging, mailing, gift wrapping, courier service, car rental, crew placement, secretarial services, phones, faxes, calling cards, computer access, photocopying, bookkeeping, graphic design, notary services, mail boxes, and more.

Sailing, Diving, and Pretty Fish Pictures

Well since you can only post so many pictures of my truck and shredded paper. I thought I would put up a link to one of the Blogs that I read just about daily. This blog is run by the owners and the crew of one of the long running or suffering depending on who you ask charter boats in the islands. They do allot of diving and take a lot of underwater pictures. It's a good read and for anyone that has ever asked me about or thought about a charter vacation it's a good place to start your research. By the way I "borrowed" the picture from Kerry since I have been to busy shredding paper and selling cars to do any real diving or photography and you sure don't want to see winter pictures of the river behind our house.
http://saildivebvi.com/serendipity/

Jay

Back to the Grind

Time to shake off the cobwebs and re-focus. My little brother is flying back to New Orleans this afternoon. My sister will be in for a few more days. We put the truck on E-Bay this morning, that's why I am late getting this up. Big Red Truck on Ebay

We are trying to decide about some basic home stuff and the other vehicle. We have been back and forth as whether to trade Deb's car for an SUV and have it shipped to the islands. We know allot of people in the car business here and can get a good deal so I guess that's the decision of the week. We also are weighing the pros and cons of packing up some boxes and having some home goods mailed to us once we arrive.

Well its off to the airport now.

Jay

31Days

Well as Deb and I sit here and self medicate for the continuing saga of the Griswald's Christmas it occurred to us that in 31 Days we will be residents of St Thomas, St Thomians. Well hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas. We just thought this mile mark had to be posted.

Deb and Jay



Here is a little Buffett Video for the occasion.

Continuing Griswald's Christmas

$2700.00 for first class tickets from New Mexico to West Virginia, paying $300.00 for a hotel room at Hyatt in Chicago when your flight is canceled, getting booked out the next day to Columbus Ohio a three hour drive from were your $2700.00 tickets are supposed to take you and two days later you have one of your three bags................. priceless. Welcome to the continuing saga of the Griswalds Christmas. This is what my sister has gone through the last three days. At least the one bag that did finally show up yesterday does have her seven year old daughters gifts in it. By the way don't wrap gifts prior to flight as the TSA will unwrap them, ask me how I know?

Merry Christmas

Deb and Jay

Desiring Paradise

In my opinion, this book is awesome! Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. It's a true story about a couple that decided to move to the Virgin Islands and all the craziness of preparing for, moving to and living in the VI. Even if you aren't ready to make the jump, the book is worth reading. It's educational, entertaining and so similar to Jay and I that it's unbelievable. I highly recommend it.

I was really curious about whether they were still on St. John. After going through everything they did to get there, did they hang in there and actually make a life in the islands? I used the amazing power of the Internet and found out that they are still on St. John (ok, I feel like a stalker.....but I had to know!) She is a manager with VIVA! Villas and is the property manger working with Randy on Reef Madness. Small world since we read their blog on a regular basis http://www.reefmadnessvilla.com/

Once we get on island, it would be great to meet Karin and Bob in person (we need to invite them to a Sunday Beach Bar forum meeting!). I'm sure there are all kinds of side stories that didn't make it in the book! I'm really curious about the process they went through mailing all of their possessions via US mail (sixty some boxes) and if they had to do it over, would they do it again....or would they just buy everything on island (which is one of the things we are trying to decide on now). With Jay and I moving to St. Thomas vs St. John and the fact that they moved almost 10 years ago and with the power of the Internet, I would think having access to household goods will be a little easier now. But I could be wrong.

Now that Karin and Bob are coming up on their 10 year anniversary in the VI, it would be awesome if she wrote a second book covering the past ten years and how they actually made it in Paradise!

Keep Left

Well Deb is going to add to her reading list. I have added a link to "Keep Left The Open Air Asylum Called St. John" to the links on the blog. After reading the interview with Mike and a few PM's back and forth on the message boards, it looks like a good read. Our copy "soon come". We figure anyone that can build a villa on St. John, sell it and at least not go broke and start on a new one should have some interesting stories to tell.

And with lines like these how could you not want to read this one."The call came at precisely 4:30 a.m. Colorado time. The Rastafarian screamed into the answered phone, “We be seein a dead man stuck in da concrete and we be owed $40,000 and we bees scared to come back. You’s ever see a concrete dead man?” “Calm down idiot,” yelled the controlled voice on the other end of the instrument, I’m on the next plane!” In that moment this powerful, controlling man with a huge ego and “winner takes all attitude,” was plunged on a collision course with the island of “No Problems, No Worries.”"

Here is the link to his web page.

http://www.keepleftbook.com/

More Griswald Madness

Well my sister and her daughter were supposed to get here from New Mexico yesterday. I had tried several times to call her as the airline was showing her connecting flight from Chicago to Charleston as cancelled, the airline assured me that they could get her on a flight by Sunday to Charleston. Two days in Chicago, doesn't that sound like fun? Well she finally called me from the Hyatt at Chicago O'Hare , not where she had planned to spend the night. She did manage to get tickets to Columbus Ohio for today before she left the airport. By the way, her cell phone is dead and the charger is at the airport in her bags that likely won't reappear until new years. So it looks like today as my brother and his girlfriend are making their way up from the Big Easy via Charlotte on the US "GreyHound" Airways express, Deb and I will be driving to Columbus, three hours each way, to pick up my sister. Merry Christmas, you have to ask yourself why we didn't just all fly to St. Thomas for Christmas instead?

Updates on Paradise

Well some of the big ticket items are checked off the list. The house is rented, the lease is signed and the deposit paid. The plane tickets for the trip down are booked for January 24, the islands soon come. I am going back the doctor today to get scoped, woohoo. Deb took another load of accumulated crap to Goodwill yesterday. We cleaned up the hard drive on the old computer and are giving it away an employee for one of his grand kids for Christmas. Ordered me a new social security card since it was unreadable. Opened a safe deposit box, with Deb's mom having access to it, for important papers we don't want to take to the island. Continued consolidation of banking. Etc Etc Etc.

It seems as we check items off the lists, more get added on. Continuing with repairs to the house and making "how to" lists on how to use everything for the renters. Still trying to decide the whole "ship vs buy on island" issue. It seems shipping small household items would be the same cost as just buying them on island (cooking utensils, spices, sheets, towels, coffee pot, blender...you get the idea). If we're wrong, please advise. Selling the cars is the other issue. We plan on selling what we have, but should we buy something else here to ship down or just buy on island. Decisions, decisions.

Now on the the important stuff. The Griswalds Christmas Reunion starts today. Both of my sisters and their children get in today. We are going this evening to an Aunt and Uncles 50Th anniversary party. Then my little brother and his girlfriend will be tomorrow from New Orleans.

Reading, reading and more reading.....

As you probably figured, we have been doing a lot of reading (I mean a lot of reading) to prepare for this move; some for research, some just for fun. Besides all the web sites (blogs, forums, newspapers, etc.), there have been several books that we have enjoyed. I thought I would list the top four:

Desiring Paradise by Karin W. Schlesinger

Don't Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk

Chasing the Horizon by Cap'n Fatty Goodlander

Seadogs, Clowns and Gypsies by Cap'n Fatty Goodlander

If you have suggestions for similar reading, leave us a comment.

Enjoy!

Deb

The World According to Buffett

Well as I sit here and make up a new Jimmy Buffett playlist for Deb's IPhone and ponder the future I thought I would throw in a couple of my favorite Buffett quotes.

From the song Holiday

"You need a holiday take a holiday find a far off wonder land where you might regain command of your life today"

From the song Cowboy in the Jungle

"With no plans for the future He still seems in control From a bronco ride to a ten foot tide He just had to learn to roll.Roll with the punches Play all of his hunches Made the best of whatever came his way What he lacked in ambition He made up with intuition Plowing straight ahead come what may. .......They're tryin' to drink all the punches They all may lose their lunches Tryin' to cram lost years into five or six says Seems that blind ambition erased their intuition Plowin' straight ahead come what may.I don't want to live on that kind of island No, I don't want to swim in a roped off sea.Too much for me, too much for me I've got to be where the wind and the water are free."

From the song One Particular Harbor

"I know I don't get there often enough But God knows I surely try It's a magic kind of medicine That no doctor could prescribe "

From the song A Pirate Looks at Forty

"Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call,Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall.You've seen it all, you've seen it all.....Yes, I am a pirate two hundred years too late.The cannons don't thunder there's nothin' to plunder I'm an over forty victim of fate Arriving too late, arriving too late."

From the song Back To The Island

"Well I hope you understand I just had to go back to the island And watch the sun go down Listen to the sea roll in"

From the song Changes In Latitudes Changes In Attitudes

"These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes Nothing remains quite the same Through all of the islands and all of the highlands If we couldnt laugh we would all go insane.......God I wish I was sailin again Oh, yesterdays over my shoulder So I can't look back for too long There's just too much to see waiting in front of me And I know that I just can't go wrong"

Big Red Truck for Christmas

Well since we are still a few weeks away from being able to post new pretty pictures, I thought I would use this opportunity to advertise my truck. It is for sale. 1997 Ford F-350 Crew Cab dually w/ power stroke diesel 2-wd. It only has 68,000 miles. Power windows, locks, a/c and key less entry. $9,000.00 This just another one of the fun things we have to take care of to get ready to go. We also will be selling Deb's 2005 Pontiac GrandPrix GTP supercharged for $11,500. If anyone is interested leave us a comment.

Jay

This morning I shot six holes......

.......... in my freezer I think I've got cabin fever Somebody sound the alarm
I'd like to go where the pace of life's slow Would you beam me somewhere, Mr. Scott
Any old place here on Earth or in space You pick the century, I'll pick the spot
But I know I should be leaving this climate I've got a verse but can't rhyme it
I gotta go where it's warm

JB

It' 15 degrees here this morning and I have just had enough of winter already.

We spent the weekend overheating the shredder in the office. It literally would run for about ten minutes then overheat and shut down. We would have to wait about twenty minutes and it would start running again. We shredded up five trash bags full of out of date financial records, unbelievable the amount of crap that just piles up over the years. Deb's car is currently loaded with more stuff for Goodwill, the list continues to dwindle down which is a good thing.

Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

Here is a little video to spread the Christmas chear.

Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lota Rum

Well, since the flight is booked for Jan 24 to the islands, all of our friends here insisted that we have a going to the islands party. Yesterday while running such errands as going to the Doctor, the bank, the social security office to get a new SS Card, etc., we managed to call a friend that owns a bar here, booked his upstairs room and then called another friend that plays music and we have a party booked for Friday Jan 18. It will be at Rivers Edge Cafe in Saint Albans, for anyone reading this that wants to come. Drinks and food around 6:00, cash bar and food as we are hording our money for the islands. Paul James "Team Drink" Deffinger will be playing around 8:00. This will be a beach themed party, so break out the Floral shirts, shorts and bathing suits. "What time is it.........it's time for a team drink!"

Best Laid Plans

Well we may not make it to the lab for the blood work. There is a wreck and the traffic is horrible. Posting from the IPhone.

Pokes Prods and Bloodwork

Well its not pretty, but today we both have additional doctors appointments. First we go to get blood work done. This is so our family doctor can scold us for not eating correctly. Then we meet with the specialist that plans to use the probes in unspeakable places. That won't be happening today. but, we have to meet with him so he can tell us about it, bill the insurance for an office visit, then set up a time to do it....and bill the insurance again. Let the good times roll.

Also, we have an IPhone update. Based on my conversations yesterday with Apple and ATT the IPhone is now sorta available with a 340 area code. Apparently the problem all along was with the Edge network that ATT uses for wireless web access. They assure me it is working correctly and the newest version of ITunes will now allow activation of a 340 area code. Also, according to the guy at ATT relocation department since we are activating the phone here first with a stateside area code all we have to do is have a new sim card programmed for the phone with the new 340 number and it will work fine. He claims to have been in a meeting this week talking about the phones in USVI and PR. I sure hope he is right because we bought one for Deb yesterday for her Birthday/Christmas present and she already loves it.

Jay

Griswald's Christmas

We love are families, but with everything we have to do to get ready for the move, the timing could be better. We are going to have a house full for Christmas. Last week my sister called from New Mexico to let me know that she is coming in for Christmas and bringing her daughter. Then she called me back a couple days ago to let me know that she is buying airline tickets for my little brother and his girlfriend to fly in from New Orleans as well. So there will be six of us here at the house for over a week. Then my little sister will come in for a week with both of her kids but they will stay at Mom and Dad's house about five miles away. It will be the first time in almost twenty years that we have all been together at the same time for Christmas. Deb's sister and our brother in law will also be in from Charlotte and we will be dog sitting a good part of the time for them as well. They will stay at her in laws house about five miles away. So its going to look allot like the Movie Christmas Vacation around here. If there are any network executives out there looking for a quick cheap reality TV show, since the writers are on strike, here is the chance to film a reality based sequel to the movie. It could be called "The Ten Days of Red Neck Christmas Vacation" I figure a seasons worth of half hour shows could be filmed in a week.

More Phone Fun or How Matt Saved Us $400

Well after readying Matt's http://www.lionindasun.com/ comment about the I-Phone and the islands, I made a fourth call to ATT to ask about the same I-Phone that I asked about two days ago. "We don't have service outside of the US" was the first response. Then after politely explaining the US in USVI means United States, and that my phone works there, she went back to the documentation on the phones and let me know that "Steve Jobs and Apple, yes we will hold him personally responsible, don't support I-Tunes in PR or USVI". No I-Tunes no I-Phone. So now I have to scramble to find Deb a new Birthday present.

So as a shameless plug,and a reward for Matt, and because we had a great time on Josh's and Matt's boat here is a little video to get you through the day.

Warmer Than Normal Weather

Well yesterday it was 70 degrees here which just isn't normal. Based on some of the posts that I have seen online it was as warm here as it was in the islands. I had a few items on my to do list that were outside so I took advantage of the weather and worked on them yesterday afternoon. It's not sexy but I did some repairs to the boat dock here and cleaned out the gutters. The three page to do list is getting smaller a line or two at a time. The picture is of our Tiki Bar on the way down to our dock.

15 Minutes of Fame

Well I guess if you are reading this today you probably read On-St John. I guess Andy Warhol was right about the whole 15 minutes of fame thing.

Jeff thanks for the publicity.

http://www.on-stjohn.com/

MaryBeth's Video

Thought I would put together a video of some nice pictures from the islands. These pictures came from MBW1024 from Virgin Islands Online.

Cell Phones, Leases Oh My !!!!

Well, today after work I called Cingular/ATT to try to work out the whole cell phone thing. If you know anything about programming, lets just say I was caught in an idiot loop. First call was to the customer service department. I got a real nice girl, only after several beeps and types in a lovely voice mail system. I tried my best to explain that we are relocating and need to change our phone numbers. "Where are you moving to?" Saint Thomas, USVI. "What is your new zip code?" This is where it starts getting tricky. Rather than explain we really don't have an address yet, I just gave them the zip code for the Mafolie Hotel. “That’s in Puerto Rico”. No, that’s in the Virgin Islands. “oh, it’s in the Puerto Rico region”. Then I tried to explain that I wanted to keep one of our numbers from here as it has been my business number for ten years and I am not quite ready to give it up. I was trying to talk them into giving me two numbers, one for here and one for there. I got the first of these responses. "That's handled by the relocation department, you need to call 800- I just passed you off” (or something like that). So I called the relocation department, explained the whole two numbers, different area code thing all over again. "We might be able to do that? Let me look the account up again. I see you have a commercial account. You need to call the other 800-I just passed you off ". This nice lady did manage to actually transfer me as opposed to having me call and work through the system again. The commercial customer rep was very nice and informed me that I couldn't have two area codes on one bill. Well plan B, my partner here has a calling plan with the same company, so we are going to transfer my phone to his plan and let the company pay the bill. Deb gets a new phone, IPhone for her birthday, and a new number the week before we leave. Then when we get situated on the island I will have to add a line to hers and put a VI phone on for myself. Isn't that as clear as mud? It only took 45 minutes and three different Cingular/ATT employees to work out this addition to the grand plan.

After finishing this, the new tenants for our house came over and we ironed out the lease. That went pretty well…..a few tweaks on Microsoft Word and we have an agreement. One more thing to take off the to do list.

Now it’s time to do a layout for a kitchen that I have to finish before leaving town.

Jay

The Grand Plan Current Status

I alluded to the moves made prior to Deb's job offer in the introduction. Well I thought I would get a little more detailed about the getting ready to get ready part. Roughly a year ago when we decided that this was likely to happen, we started positioning ourselves to make the transition a little easier. Quoting Jimmy Buffet "I got too much stuff", it was obvious that we were going to have to weed out all the junk we had accumulated through the years and distill it down to the necessities. So the yard sale and donation thing came about in the early summer. The other obvious thing to us was money or should I say the lack there off. As typical Americans with middle class tastes and incomes and no children we tend to live a little better and spend a little more than rational people might. Well with the potential costs of relocation looming it was time to get serious about the money end. We both worked a little more this year and spent a little less. Deb had a little more taken out of her checks to put in the credit union, we bought a house to remodel and flip, all in the name of putting a little extra cash away to grease the wheels. We buckled down and got rid of all the debt we could. Then a little over a month ago we did the unimaginable, we sold the boat. Now to normal people selling a boat may not sound like an extreme measure, but I am in my forties and purchased my first boat when I was 23. I hadn't gone a single day of my adult life since then that I didn't own a boat. Regardless of what most people have heard about the best days of a boat owners life "is the day you buy it and the day you sell it", for real boaties this simply is not the case. Then there is the issue of our real estate. We own some rental property that after about fifteen years of limited upkeep the building was getting a little long in the tooth. So in the spring we reinvested some money and put all new windows, siding, and roofing on it to make it a little more maintenance free, and to make it a little more attractive in the event that we decide to sell it. We are going to hold onto to it at least for a while until we decide how we fit in the islands. We also own the water front home we are living in, well we own part of it, I am pretty sure the bank owns most of it and just lets us rent it from them. While we were trying to decide what to do with our house a neighbor told a friend it might be available for rent. Well the couple called us in August, came and looked at the house and agreed to rent it furnished upon our departure. A month or two later when we all figured out that things were moving at Island speed, they basically committed to staying in their month to month apartment until the house became available. They own a waterfront home on the great lakes and will be here for a few years due to work and wanted back on the water so they are willing to wait on our house as waterfront rentals are very scarce here. I am pretty sure the Carib Gods lined this up for us. The only question is whether this is to reward us for our perseverance or to set us up for punishment later, only time will tell. So here we are mere weeks away from the next big step.... actual relocation. I still have to take care of the automobile situation; we plan to sell both of our current vehicles. I am looking for a cargo/work van for myself and my tools to ship down and we plan to buy Deb an Island Car next month when we get down to the islands. Say a little prayer that these pieces fall into place as well as the rest have so far. If there is a moral to this story, be careful what you wish for you might just get it. A rum,sun, and sea induced dream has morphed into plan, and what on surface appears to be an obtainable goal.

Pain Killer Home Kit

Since Jay mentioned painkillers, I thought I would add the recipe.
1 part cream of coconut, 2 part dark rum, 4 part pineapple juice, 1 part orange juice. I use a gallon jug, 48 oz can of pineapple juice, 12 oz of orange juice, 750 ML of Dark Cruzan Rum (it's about 25 oz - so close enough), 12 oz of Coco Lopez (the can is usually 15 oz, so I just use most of the can). Before adding the Coco Lopez, sit the can in a bowl of hot water, let it sit until it sounds liquefied when shaken. This keeps the little white specks of coconut from forming. Don't forget to garnish with fresh grated nutmeg. Enjoy!
Deb

PS You can get the nutmeg and grater shown above at St John Spice http://stjohnspice.com/

Another Day of Packing up and Throwing Away

Well I would like to say we are doing something fun today like drinking painkillers at The Soggy Dollar Bar. The harsh reality is its a rainy 30 Degrees and we are sorting out all the "stuff" we have accumulated through the 13 years that we have lived in our current house. We are packing items not going to the islands, disposing of a ton of it to Goodwill and the rest to the local trash service. One of the pre-job offer moves we made this summer was a huge yard sale and a donation to Goodwill afterwards. We actually filled up half a 40 foot box truck after the yard sale. Well, with all that gone, you would think the house would be empty but that's just not the case. The good news is we are about to call it quits for the day and Deb has the better part of a case of Cruzan in the dinning room that we have to drink up before we leave town as it sure doesn't make any sense to ship it down there.
Painkillers soon come.
Jay

Just for A Little Fun Sailing Video Forever Young

Thought I would add some fluff just for fun, and to show one of the reasons we are making this move. Here is a video from our most recent trip.

Some of the Little Stuff

Some of the little unpleasant things to get ready for the move to the islands. Yesterday we both went to our doctor's office. Haven't had a check up in a while and since the medical care may not be what we are accustomed to we had physicals. Won't go into the gory details but you get the picture. Of course when he found out we are leaving the country it's flu shots, tetanus shot's, blood work to let us know we don't eat right, and in my case some additional tests have been ordered that involve probes in unspeakable places etc. Apparantly this is a right of passage for forty something males. Today we are closing on the refinance of our home here and working on a further consolidation of banking. I also am about half way through packing up my office in the house here destroying unnecessary paperwork and filling the rest for storage, not any fun but I keep telling myself the islands "soon come".

Jay

Introduction

Deb and I currently live in West Virginia. We are life long boaters, divers and have traveled extensively. We first visited the Virgin Islands in 2002 on a week long charter. Well, after a few days of sun and sail it became painfully obvious to us that we were living in the wrong part of the world. So, we decided that it would be a great idea to move to the Islands. Well of course we went home and fell right back into work, friends, hobbies, etc. Fast forward to 2005, we decide that it's time for another charter in the islands. This time we came down for ten days. We spent a few days in St Thomas then a week long charter; we again decided that we were still living in the wrong part of the world. Then it's back to work, friends, hobbies, etc. Then in 2006 we came back to St Thomas for Thanksgiving; notice the visits are getting closer together. We spent about a week in St Thomas and started getting a little more serious about our plans. We found a job posting at UVI for a computer programmer at the University. I joked and asked Deb if she wanted a job in Paradise, she didn't think that I was serious. When we got home she sent in her resume and shortly there after had her first interview set up for February when we were returning for a ten day stay; the visits are getting closer together now. February 2007 we spent two days on St Thomas, one on Jost VanDyke, then a week on St John. Deb took the Ferry from St. John for her interview. It went well even though the job she applied for had already been filled internally. But, there were going to be additional openings later in the year and they were very interested in talking to her about them, "job offer soon come". Fast forward again to the Thanksgiving. We were back down for six days and another interview for Deb at UVI. She had the interview on Tuesday morning, she started to doubt herself, and on Thursday they called and offered her the job! Well this is where the fun starts. We actually had made some financial and personal moves prior to this to get ready to move, but the real scrambling starts now. She is starting the job on Feb 1, 2008 and we are running around like chickens with cut off heads to get everything ready. I suspect I will know the US Air flight crews by first name in a month or two as I button up my business here and get situated there.