No mention

I am not going to mention the Lads this morning.

Two hurricanes

I am dodging hurricanes this time of year.

Earl is getting close, but he will likely pass just a bit to the north, and give us some backward winds.

Still, I need to put up shutters.

Wicked, but workable!

Coco

Here's a new name.

Coco.

Move the first letter to the far right and read backwards, and it is also Coco.

Wicked.

Patriots Game Tonight

I get to watch the Patriots tonight on my little teevee in my little room with surround sound and a recliner.

I might stay awake for the whole game.

Wicked!

Research

I get to do some research this morning.

And I have 2 puzzles today.

Wicked!

Lads Win 3rd Straight

The Lads won last night for the 3rd Outscoring Effort In A Victory Category In A Row kind of game.

They need to keep doing this, but it seems probable.

Wicked!

We got a left guard

As predicted by The Legend, we got a left guard for a draft pick.

I told you so.

Wicked!

Now we are going to do something with Mankins. Either sign him or trade him for a draft pick.

And we will also get a defensive lineman who is a late cut.

Wicked!

I finished a headboard

Yesterday I finished a headboard for the bed in my office/guestroom.

Purple heart.

Very hard, as in wicked hard!

Wicked!

Headboard

I built a headboard.

For the bed in my little office/guestroom.

Purple heart.

Wicked.

Patriots Won

The Patriots won last night.

Easily.

They are wicked!

300

A milestone

300 = 2 x 2 x 3 x 5 x 5

I can't write wicced because my letter between j and l isn't worcing.

Oddities

Now another of the blogs has 300.

I better do some research this morning.

Wicked!

298

298 = 2 x 149

Wicked!

Changes

I have to catch up with website changes.

Therefore, maybe this week I'll do it.

The only building project I have is to make a headboard for the bed down here.

And I have to trim the walkway. Probably today for the trim job.

Wicked!

Funds are available somewhere

We found out that the parking at Enighed Pond was put on hold because there weren't enough funds for the Port Authority. However, this was just in The Source, www.stjohnsource.com. A few million here and there.

---------------------------------

Nearly $2M in Funding Slated for Coki Point
By Ananta Pancham — August 13, 2010

Now that a 10-day cleanup effort has cleared Coki Point Beach of garbage and debris, the government is moving ahead with some more permanent improvements to the area, including plans for new restrooms and a boardwalk.

Public Finance Authority board members on Friday approved $750,123 worth of funding to finish off the project, which, according to Housing, Parks and Recreation officials, is expected to cost an overall $1.7 million. The department has already received a little more than $500,000 to start the project, but plans were stalled after an archaeological study revealed there are graves in the area, which forced a change in the design plans.

Since then, the project has been broken up into phases, the first of which will be the renovation of bathrooms to include a cistern and office, which is expected to cost -- according to the winning bid -- $472,000. The remainder is pegged somewhere around $261,000, Roy Canton, the department's territorial projects coordinator, told board members Friday. Canton said Housing, Parks is also including a 15 percent contingency -- about $97,000 -- in case there are more changes in the architectural and engineering plans or other unforeseen developments.

Also included in the plans is a vendor pavilion, with spaces for nine vendors instead of the initial 11 to 13, officials added. The extra funds needed to finish off the project will be coming from interest earnings on the 2003 gross receipts bonds, according to board members.

Negotiations are ongoing with the selected contractor, St. Thomas-based Custom Builders, who Canton said he's trying to work down to five or six months for the construction of the bathrooms, instead of a projected 18 months.

Part of the beach area -- including land around the cemetery -- is privately owned, and the government currently has an informal agreement with the landowners to use the space for parking. Negotiations to put in place a more formal agreement fell apart years ago, but PFA board chairman Gov. John deJongh Jr. said after the meeting that he will be sitting back down for negotiations now that the government has cleaned up the area and is committed to maintaining it.

DeJongh said the recent cleanup, which he launched after a shootout last month killed two teenagers, went well and addressed two main issues: beautifying the area and adding police to curb illegal activities and help safeguard against any further violence.

And as officials look at taking a more aggressive approach to crime, efforts are also underway to find youngsters in the community more things to do -- which includes backing Housing, Parks on a number of playground and recreation projects. PFA board members approved:

* $195,000 to complete renovations inside the Winston Raymo Recreational Center on St. Thomas (funds will be coming from interest earnings on the 2003 gross receipts bonds);
* $65,000 to construct a concession and bathrooms at Isaac Boynes Ball Park on St. Croix (the money will be coming from the PFA's project and administration fund)
* $17,500 to reimburse Housing, Parks for the cost of installing energy efficient lights at the Subbase paddleball and tennis courts;
* $75,000 for renovations to the Contant playground and basketball court; and
* $48,000 to finish work at the Kirwan Terrace basketball court, along with field and fence upgrades.

"The funding for these capital projects is important, because if you notice, they're all focused on improving neighborhoods," deJongh said after the meeting. "We have been looking at being aggressive with arrests, but we also need facilities for our kids to go."

Wrapping up Friday's meeting, the board also approved a $147,840 funding request for the Health Department to buy a new chiller for the Charles Harwood Medical Center (because one of the units is beyond repair, the building has become overheated, forcing workers to go home early, officials said), and gave the go-ahead for the V.I. Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA) to begin negotiating with the V.I. Water and Power Authority on a final lease agreement for space near Crown Bay.

VIHFA owns the land and has agreed to build an office complex that WAPA will lease in order to cover the debt service payment on up to $10 million in Recovery Zone Economic Development bonds that the PFA will be floating to finance the project. The proposal will come back to the PFA once an agreement between the two agencies is finalized, officials said.

Board members present during Friday's meeting were Finance Commissioner Angel Dawson, deJongh, Office of Management and Budget Director Debra Gottlieb and Keith O'Neale Jr. Board member Pablo O'Neill was absent.

August

It is August.

Hot.

I built a window and a medicine cabinet in my little library, where I will go for some research. They are made from mahogany and are wicked good.

Wicked!

Oh poop!

The Lads won last night, but were outscored in the 9th inning by 4 runs, making the total outscorage 1 run.

Axolotl and Potrzebie

Axolotl and potrzebie are real words.

Wicked!

This is stupid

Here is an idiot. Guns and ammo in a suitcase. I suppose he expected all the scanners to miss them.

He'll undoubtedly plead not guilty, as do all of these ugly little punk shitheads, if you get what I mean.

From The Source today.

===================

Man Arrested for Firearm Importation
By Source staff — August 10, 2010

Ricardo Nadal, 23, was arrested for bringing firearms into the territory.

Ricardo Nadal, 23, was arrested Monday and charged with transporting firearms, among other charges, after he landed in St. Thomas and was driving away from the airport.
Police said Nadal brought a firearm and a large amount of ammunition into the territory.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents told police Nadal was transporting a firearm and ammunition from Tampa, Fla., through Miami to St. Thomas on an American Airlines flight. Following Nadal’s arrival in the U.S. Virgin Islands, police targeted his vehicle and stopped it on the Airport Road. A search of the vehicle revealed two black gun cases containing one .45 caliber Glock 21 firearm; three 13-round magazines; one 30-round extended magazine; 150 .45 caliber rounds; and 50 .44 caliber Magnum rounds.
Police noted that the three magazines, the extended magazine and the 150 bullets were more than excessive for use by a legitimate owner. Police also noted that the 50 .44 caliber Magnum rounds could not be used in the Glock, leading police to believe that the ammunition was most likely going to be illegally sold on the streets of St. Thomas. Police also said their investigation revealed the firearm was bought in Nevada on July 30.
The suspect was charged with carrying firearms openly or concealed, evidence of intent to commit crimes of violence, possession or sale of ammunition and importation of firearms without a license.
Bail for Nadal was set at $75,000. Unable to post bail, he was turned over to the Bureau of Corrections.
Police Commissioner Novelle E. Francis Jr., said this arrest was the result of cooperation between the TSA, Immigration and Custom Enforcement and the V.I. Police Department.
“This individual was flagged in Florida, and information was transmitted to the VIPD that this person was bringing a firearm through the St. Thomas airport," Francis said. "My officers worked swiftly and the gun and ammunition were confiscated and thus not allowed to be utilized in the Virgin Islands."

I am going to build some stuff

I need to buy some wood to build:

1. A headboard for this bed.
2. A medicine cabinet for my bathroom.
3. A screen window to replace the jalousies in the bathroom.

That will be wicked!

The Tourist Trap

This was in The Source this morning. Larry is from the Boston area. You can see this and others at www.stjohnsource.com.

=========

@ Work: The Tourist Trap
By Lynda Lohr — August 8, 2010

Cheryl Geller and Larry Grenier.

With a catchy name and an eclectic menu, the Tourist Trap serves up tasty food in a very casual side-of-the-road setting.

“I always said if I opened another place it would be a little hole in the wall,” owner and chef Larry Grenier said.

He described the Tourist Trap as island funky and a spot where people come to relax.

“It’s what St. John used to be,” he said.

Grenier and his business partner, Cheryl Geller, opened the Tourist Trap almost two years ago after years of working at various restaurants and bars on St. John.

It’s on Route 107 just a couple of minutes from the popular Salt Pond Beach and at the start of the road to Concordia Preserve, and visitors find it easy to drop by for lunch, drinks or an early supper on their way home from the beach.

While the menu includes such things as fish sandwiches, hot dogs with homemade chili, meatball subs, and nachos with homemade roasted tomatillo sauce, the New England-style lobster roll is the star.

“I use the slipper meat from Caribbean lobster, a little mayonnaise …” Greiner said, ticking off the ingredients.

He slices the sides off hot dog buns to make the traditional buttered and toasted lobster roll.

A native of Manchester, N.H., Greiner’s worked at restaurants all up and down the East Coast for 20 years. He cooked, he waited tables and he bartended, but after doing the same at such St. John spots as Asolare and Skinny Legs since he arrived in 1994, he decided he’d had enough of the “front of the house.”

With a tiny kitchen housed in a plywood shack and an adjacent six umbrella- covered tables, he’s decided he’s right where he belongs.

“I always loved to cook and it seems to be working,” he said.

Geller, a Florida native, came up with the name the Tourist Trap. When kicking around ideas for the restaurant, she said that since everyone would think it was a tourist trap why not call it by that name.

She has a bachelor’s degree in communications design from the Parsons School of Design in New York. After working as a graphic designer in various locations she moved to St. John 11 years ago. She and her then-partner opened the Beach Bar, and she worked on opening the now-closed restaurant Tage.

She’s the mind behind the Tourist Trap marketing and a frequent contributor to travel forums that get the restaurant’s name in front of the public eye. She’s so well known that when her dog, Miles, recently died condolences poured in.

A big animal lover, another dog and five cats keep her company at the restaurant. And she maintains a feeding station for strays near the restaurant.

Geller is also a people person, enjoying her time visiting with customers.

“They come as customers but leave as friends,” she said.

The Tourist Trap is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call 774-0912.

Red Sox Win Once Again

The Boston Red Sox won yesterday, beating the team that sucks by underscoring them. And today the Red Sox will win again.

288

288 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3

Wicked!

Trip to Hawaii

I would go to Hawaii and stay at Palione Street, but three ladies are all atwitter with stupidity and are somehow charging me $577 x 2 = $1,1154.24 for a week, when the daily rate is $125.

$125 x 7 = $875.
$1154.24 - $874 = $279.24
Less cleaning $150 = 129.24

129.24 / 875 = 14.77%

So they are taxing me 14.77%

We'll see if Pat's Kailua Beach has a place for me. Those ladies are being dum.

The actual rate, including cleaning and tax, comes to $164.89. You can eat it!

Hurricanes

Here is an article from The Source, our on-line newspaper. You can read it and others at www.stjohnsource.com.

==================

Renowned Hurricane Forecasters Predict Busy Season
By Lynda Lohr — August 4, 2010

Although residents breathed a sigh of relief when Tropical Storm Colin disintegrated Wednesday, hurricane season still has a long way to go until it officially ends Nov. 30.
And the rest of hurricane season doesn’t look pretty.
The Colorado State University hurricane forecast team of Phil Klotzbach and William Gray made that point clear Wednesday when they gave the territory a 27 percent chance of one or more hurricanes tracking within 50 miles and a 72 percent chance of them tracking within 100 miles.
The probabilities are even higher for named storms. According to Klotzbach and Gray, there's a 54 percent chance of one or more named storms tracking within 50 miles and a 72 percent chance of them tracking within 100 miles.
They said the Caribbean looks to be very active in 2010, with overall tropical cyclone activity in the region approaching levels experienced in 2004 and 2005.
In 2005, 28 storms, including the devastating Hurricane Katrina, formed. They put the chance of a major hurricane making landfall in the Caribbean and Central America at 64 percent. The long-term average stands at 42 percent.
Overall, the hurricane forecast team predicts tropical cyclone activity in 2010 will be nearly twice that (195 percent) of the average season.
By comparison, 2009 witnessed tropical cyclone activity that was about 69 percent of the average season.
Gray and Klotzbach maintained their June forecast of an above-average hurricane season with 18 named storms. With Alex, Bonnie and Colin ticked off the list, that’s 15 still to go. The next named storm will be Danielle.
Gray and Klotzbach predict that 10 those 18 named storms will become hurricanes. Of those 10, they expect five to develop into major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
The long-term average stands at 9.6 for named storms, 5.9 for hurricanes and 2.3 for major hurricanes.
Unusually warm water in the Atlantic and the development of a La Nina are the reasons the Colorado State team thinks 2010 will be an active year.
“We believe that a moderate La Nina will be present over the next several months, which is associated with decreased levels of vertical wind shear and increased hurricane activity,” Gray said.
According to Klotzbach, the very warm waters of the Atlantic are associated with dynamic and thermodynamic factors very conducive for an active Atlantic season.
The Colorado State team said current observed climate factors are similar to conditions that occurred during the 1952, 1958, 1998 and 2005 seasons, which overall had well above-average activity.
Klotzbach and Gray predict the 2010 season will have activity in line with the average of these four years.
As for the weather for the next week, meteorologist Luis Rosa at the National Weather Service in San Juan said that the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Colin will pass to the northeast of the territory Wednesday night. He expects the weather to clear up Thursday and remain clear for the next week.
“For the next seven days it will be tranquil,” he said.

Nothing

Nothing.

Except a cat killed a rat and brought it in to my downstairs bathroom.

I cleaned up the mess a bit yesterday, but it still needs more cleaning.

No storm

Colin is heading north of us, and is going to blow about 60 mph tops, so there is nothing to even watch out for.

I am not impressed by Colin.

Wicked dud.

283

283 = 1 x 283

Wicked!

282

282 is symmetrical. Also it is 2 x 141, which is

Wicked!