January 5-7, 2010 St. Thomas

January 5-7, 2010 St. Thomas

 

Another decade, another boat issue(s)…

 

The eyebrow around the port side of the salon roof came unglued.  Steve cleaned off the failed adhesive with lots of scraping and elbow grease!  He finished sanding and prepping the surface, applied new adhesive after which we re-installed the eyebrow, diesel fuel cans holding it in place until the adhesive set up.  The finish caulking was a two-person job, working quickly to fill the 15-foot seam. 

 

The last two days the kids were with us, the freezer went on the fritz.  Apparently, there was a blown fuse, which Steve replaced, but in addition, he also replaced the water pump that cools the compressor.  Both hot water tanks no longer work, one is even cracked. Neither tank repairable, two new tanks are in transit.  (Of course the tanks are not locally available…they are Italian made.)

 

Things seem to happen in threes.  Let us hope we have our repairs out of the way for a time.

 

Funny Story:  Yesterday I went to a local dentist to have a crown re-cemented.  His office is on the second story of a historic building in Charlotte Amalie.  Approaching the front door, a woman, still wearing her dental “bib” around her neck, rushed out of the building surprising Steve and I, nearly knocking us down. Within seconds, another woman, we assumed to be the dental assistant, appeared, chasing after her. 

 

Steve and I stopped dead in our tracks as they passed, looked at each other questioningly.  Steve called after them, "Should we reconsider going to this dentist?"  The dental assistant looked at us, at first not understanding why we would ask such a thing.  Her "EUREKA!" moment came when she realized they appeared to be fleeing the office.  Laughing, Francis, the dental assistant

explained her sister (fleeing woman #1) had parked illegally and they were hurrying to secure a parking space that had just opened.  She added with a wink that it was safe to go to the dentist  J  Sort of a National-Lampoon-Goes-To-The Dentist moment, don’t you agree?

 

Romantic Story:  January 7 is our wedding anniversary.  This year is our 33^rd.

As we typically do not give each other gifts, I asked Steve whether we were exchanging gifts for our anniversary – he said no.  (Unbeknownst to me, he WAS giving ME a gift but, as usual, I was not giving him one, so felt justified in saying “no” when I used the term "exchange"…)

 

He gave me a Spanish coin, dated 1536-1555, retrieved from the treasure of a shipwreck and crafted into a piece of jewelry.  He also wrote me a lovely letter about how this coin will serve as a memento of our time together in the Caribbean, adding I am his “greatest treasure”. 

 

Go ahead and be envious, Ladies around the world.  He is mine, and he is definitely “a keeper”.  J