Jay's Rant of the Week ATT Hell

So I am so mad at my phone right know I tried to break it in half today. It has horrible sound quality, it constantly drops calls and the text messages almost never work. So I got on the ATT web page and tried to figure out what to do about it. I am eligible for an upgrade and discounted prices on a new phone. So after spending a couple evenings on the web page trying to figure it out I think well lets ask the experts. ATT live chat. We currently have 6000 rollover minutes and about 500 minutes a month expiring. So my thought was reduce the monthly minutes, add some data and get a smart phone. So I posed that question guess how that went? Here is the transcript.

Please wait for a chat agent to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Margaret R'
Margaret R: Welcome to AT&T Premier Support. I am reading your question and will be right with you.
Margaret R: To clarify you would like to upgrade your phone and reduce your rate plan, is that correct?
Norman Pennington: Yes my current phone the Nokia has horrible sound quality. My wife loves her iPhone. What we would like to do is replace my phone with one that has email/data capability and reduce our rate plan to try to offset the difference.
Margaret R: I'd be more than happy to assist you with this.
Margaret R: You can log on to your premier site and start your order there.
Norman Pennington: I am logged on to premier
Margaret R: Does it state that you are eligible for an upgrade?
Norman Pennington: yes
Margaret R: Then you can start your order and the prices are listed so you can kind or match it up to what you already have.
Norman Pennington: Are you talking about rate plans or phones
Margaret R: Both.
Norman Pennington: That is the problem I have no idea what phone or plan to chose
Margaret R: Then you should take your time and review the information.
Norman Pennington: The information is not clear there is no simple way to look at the plans, compare prices or features. You have to pick a phone first then muddle through and try to decide which plan. There is no clear listing of the prices and data plans
Margaret R: I can understand your frustrations but that is the only suggestion that I can give you.
Norman Pennington: Thanks for no help as usual after ten years I should know better
Margaret R: Do you have any questions regarding the information we discussed today?
Norman Pennington: Just the questions that I had a half hour ago when we started this what is the best phone and plan for the money based on our current usage
Margaret R: Thank you for using AT&T Premier Support. We appreciate your business.
Chat session has been terminated by the chat agent

I can't blame this on the island time ting. Because we still have stateside phones and this is stateside support.

Jay

Algae Plume

Picture taken from the St. Thomas Source.

Well, for that past month there has been an algae plume surrounding the Virgin Islands. It has caused the water to be a different color and reduced visibility drastically. It seems to be finally dissipating but is still lingering. Divers and snorkelers have noticed the difference but it hasn't stopped them from enjoying the Caribbean water. We haven't been out in awhile so I can't describe first hand, but friends have said the water is greener and the visibility is like 10 feet vs. the normal 40-50 feet. Here are a couple articles in the St. Thomas source that give more detail.

St. Thomas source article

St. Thomas source article

Relay for Life

I have to apologize to all people that sent me donations last year for the Relay for Life fundraiser. The UVI chairperson has still not sent in the donations to the American Cancer Society (ACS) and I have done everything I can to try and make her turn them in. I have called, emailed, stopped by in person and my supervisor has done the same, and still nothing. We have contacted the ACS as well as the president of UVI and still nothing. It's a real shame. ACS is very disappointed that so much money was raised that never made it to the cause. I alone raised around $600, but who knows how much the university raised since it was never turned in and the person that has all the donation sheets aren't turning them over. So, those of you that wrote checks and they haven't cleared, they probably never will. At this point the checks are almost a year old, so technically they shouldn't be allowed to be cashed even if they were turned in. I've tried getting the checks back from the chairperson so that there wasn't any chance of her cashing them, but I can't even get her to do that.

This whole thing, in my opinion, has put a black cloud over UVI and their reputation. If they allow this person to ever be in charge of a fund raiser again then they're crazy. It's also put a black cloud over me as far as my fund raising capabilities. Who in their right mind would ever send me a donation for anything I participate in when the last check they sent was never cashed and never given to the cause they were supporting. I always participate in some kind of event every year and do a great job of fund raising, but those days are over.

So my apologies to all of you that the ACS never saw your money, you couldn't turn it in as a charitable contribution on your taxes, and the hassle of balancing your check book for the past year with an outstanding check. Sorry. :-(

Grande Bay Review

Well we have been promising to post a review since we spent a weekend at Grande Bay on St. John a while back. So here goes the good, the bad and the ugly. First off let me preface this by saying that if I were on the board that issued the permits for this development, and for that matter Sirenusa, I wouldn't have voted for the approval of either building at the current density levels that they have. That being said, the horse is out of the barn and is a mute point. This development is a fact of life and very likely over time will be thought of just like Gallows Point or for that matter Warfside Village as neither of them would have been particularly popular when they were developed either.

In the Real Estate business there is a rule, location, location, location. This development is based on that rule. It has to be the most convenient location for those that want to hang out in Cruz Bay that is available today. There is parking in the basement and you can walk to all the action in Cruz Bay. When you want to go to the beaches you just load up the car after a short elevator ride down and drive out. Frankly it couldn't get any easier. We stayed in a one bedroom penthouse condo. It is Small but fine for two people. It has a very nice little kitchen with granite tops and stainless appliances. The main living area is the kitchen and living room combined. With a very nice covered deck overlooking Cruz Bay. The dining area is outside on the patio. The apartment is finished out pretty well by island standards all though it has a few little finishing touches that need to be taken care of. Like cutting off the blinds and maybe touching up the trim here and there but hey this is the islands at least the blinds got hung. The pictures above basically tell the story, it is clean, safe and convenient. Right now the prices are very reasonable as well. I am sure as time goes on and the amenities are finished the prices will rise. Right now there isn't a pool and a few buildings are yet to be finished. So there is a little construction work going on but it isn't overwhelming in scope or noise level.

We rented ours from Kim "Dinghy" Morris. She and her husband run Noah's Little Arks and she is known around town as Dinghy Kim. Kim is helping to manage a few units in the building (one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom, adjoining units, etc) and she can be reached at 340-998-1978 or dinghyjoe@earthlink.com

Jay

PS I guess I should have posted a price range. I don't know about the bigger units but we paid less than $200 a night for the one bedroom. Which by St John standards is relatively cheap.

PS I also wanted to add that the noise level wasn't a problem at all. When you are out on the deck, you hear the noises of Cruz Bay, which I enjoyed, but once you close the patio doors, you don't hear anything inside the room. They must have done some major sound proofing. In the evening, you can hear music from some of the bars (but it's not that loud), and one night there was something going on at the ball park so you could hear the announcer. In the morings you can hear the roosters and sometimes you can hear the ferries coming in or some traffic coming by. But we really didn't hang around much other than sleeping and getting ready to go somewhere..... Beaches during the day, out to dinner at night. So noise wasn't an issue at all.

Deb

View of downtown Cruz Bay from the penthouse apartment

UVI at carnival

UVI at carnival, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Got a great place to watch to adult parade. We're under a tent and
right next to a food/beer stand! UVI just came down and they looked
great!

I actually parked in frenchtown and came over on a dinghy with Kirstin
and Dave so no dealing with parking!

It's beautiful weather especially since we're in the shade. Hopefully
it stays that way.

Cistern Issues

Well we forgot to mention that we are currently having some cistern issues. It started last week when we came home from an evening out and Jay noticed the water pump was running non stop. We got an email from the tenant downstairs and said that there wasn't any water coming out of the faucets, only spitting water and air. So Jay checks the cistern, and sure enough, it's empty. Well thankfully Jay knows what to do and switches to the other half of the cistern. It hadn't been used in awhile so we dumped a bunch of bleach in just to be safe. We turned on several faucets to get the air out and eventually we had running water again. Yea! But then we noticed that the pump still hadn't shut off. Jay checked things out and got on the Internet to research the issue and determined that it was either the pressure switch or the bladder in the accumulator tank. Either way something was burnt up from running for several hours so we had to turn it off which means no water. We let the tenant downstairs know so that he could use some water before we turned it off for the night. The next morning we turned it back on for showers but then turned it back off before heading for work. We let the landlord know what was going on and she got someone there the same day to look at the pump. I still haven't heard what was the issue, but all I know is that it works and that's good enough for me.

In the meantime, the landlord had someone come look at the cistern while it was empty. They had talked about having it cleaned at some point, so since the one side is empty this seems like a pretty good time to take care of that. They actually found a small crack in the cistern so that could explain why it went empty. In the year that we've been here it had never even gotten low so that's why we were surprised when we found it empty. So they started the process this past Wednesday and it will take a couple more days. They had to completely shut off the intake because it has to remain dry while they make the repair and apply a sealant. So that means what little water is left on the other side of the cistern has to last at least a week which I don't see happening. We've been taking our laundry to the laundry mat in order to conserve water and trying to be as frugal as possible with daily usage. Worse comes worse, I guess the landlord will have to pay for a load of water to be delivered, but hopefully it won't come to that.

No Jost for You/Friday Beach Picture

Well not exactly but definately going to be harder to get there for a while. Apparantly as a reaction to the Swine Flu customs on Jost is closed for private vessels. Here is the article in the paper.

Rising pandemic alert sees change in clearance proceduresGovernment Information ServiceNew customs clearance procedures will be implemented from this Friday, in Government's ongoing quest to strengthen its effort to mitigate the impact of the dreaded Swine Flu (H1N1) virus on the Territory.After consultations by the Ministry of Health and Social Development and the local Pandemic Influenza Taskforce, Her Majesty's Customs has issued an advisory to the boating community.The advisory states that all customs clearance procedures for yachters or other non-commercial vessels will only be processed through three designated ports of entry. They are the Road Town and West End Ferry Terminals in Tortola and the Spanish Town Ferry Dock in Virgin Gorda.Yachters wishing to dock on Jost Van Dyke, Anegada, or any other sister island are advised that they must clear customs at one of the designated locations. Comptroller of Her Majesty's Customs Mr. Wade Smith said those precautionary measures will be in place until further notice.Visitors who fail to comply with the new procedures may be charged with illegal entry into the Territory.Meanwhile, cargo vessels docking in the Territory will continue to be processed at Port Purcell. However there will be additional screening and inspections by officers of the Environmental Health Department and the Department of Agriculture.The decision to implement new procedures for clearing customs followed the World Health Organisation's announcement that the global influenza pandemic alert has been increased from Phase 4 to the more serious Phase 5. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Irad Potter is also encouraging residents of the Territory to restrict unnecessary travel as much as they can amid the increased level of alert for a Swine Flu pandemic.Several Government agencies have been working collaboratively to monitor Swine Flu reports since the outbreak began, in order to implement measures to safeguard the Territory from its potential impact. The local Pandemic Influenza Taskforce is jointly led by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Irad Potter, Chief Executive Officer of the BVI Health Services Authority Dr. Ronald Georges, Health Disaster Coordinator Dawn Leonard, and Director of the Department of Disaster Management Sharleen DaBreo.

Jay