n5dx – Page 6

Curse You, Conrad!

My shtick when it comes to work, is I’m really tall, and I’m a male. Not to many people have one of those attributes in the education system much less both of them. Height and gender is usually enough to get the kids to buy into whatever I’m selling. However, it appears that the students of the Cayman Islands have already been exposed to both a tall and male speech therapist in the form of a Canadian named Conrad Duncan. Over and over again I had teachers comment on that I was just like Conrad. I had a group of students yell out to me, “Mr. Duncan!” while I was walking across school. Oh well, they did say I was a little taller than him so I’ve got that going for me. Conrad is no longer on the island.

Daily living obligations such as a car, house, insurance, etc. are starting to be taken care of. We are now the proud owners of a 2001 Honda Odyssey Van. We thought that it would be great for picking people up from the airport, giving island day tours, and it is big enough for my parents to sleep in when they come and visit (they can use the courtesy pool shower to hose themselves off in the morning). The van was recently imported from Japan. There is a giant GPS navigation screen that appears to be working but it looks like the map is centered on Japan instead of Grand Cayman. It also says something to us in Japanese every time we turn the car on.

I had my first real experience in a radio contest from outside of the U.S. Using big antennas from a little island was definitely worth the move. Its quite an experience when 50 people are all sending their callsigns to you simultaneously in Morse Code.

Katie and I went to Spotts beach on Saturday between my short stints at the radio station. It is a public beach that is 1/2 a mile from where our apartment complex is located. It is very secluded and has some really nice snorkeling. The highlight of the trip was getting to swim with turtles. The area is a mixture of sand and sea grass and the turtles like to congregate around the grass in order to find food. I saw half a dozen turtles in the hour or so that we stayed at the beach. They didn’t really care that humans were around and I was able to get close enough to touch them (although we didn’t touch them). During this time, Katie was on the beach under a tree reading a book. She hasn’t acclimated to the ocean yet and going out past her knees makes her uneasy. I wasn’t going to let her miss this so I told her to jump on my back and I took her out to see the turtles. After about 15 minutes of looking, I finally spotted one with its head poked briefly above the water. One of the nice features of Spotts beach is the water is very shallow. Katie could actually touch the bottom where the turtle was located. I swam at least a couple hundred of feet out from the shore and was still able to touch quite easily. I need to take my Go Pro camera next time and get some pictures and video to share.

Our free stay at Rochelle’s house is over and we are back at Eldemire’s Bed (just bed, no breakfast). Rochelle offered to let us stay with them for the next two nights, but I didn’t want to impose on them. Thankfully we will be moving into our apartment on Tuesday and we can finally have a place to call home. Jennifer and Michael are also set to join us on Thursday!

Katie’s Sand Mountain

On the pier at Spotts Beach

Weekend 08-March & 09-March

Weekend

On Saturday our main objective was to get Katie’s school uniforms. The PTA runs the uniform shop at Red Bay Primary and they are open on Saturday from 10:00-12:00 in the morning. I was amazed that someone was actually there and getting Katie’s uniforms was a breeze. She has three sets, all the same, in order to cut down on the laundry that will need to be done. Katie seemed really excited to get the uniforms but reality set in when she tried them on for the first time. They are heavy and have the pattern of a classic Betty Crocker cook book. She will get used to it because she doesn’t have a choice. We also picked up a pair of black shoes for Katie and above the ankle socks. All of which are mandatory. On Monday she has P.E. and her house, the iguanas, can all dress in their P.E. uniforms. On Friday the kids do not have to wear their uniforms, but the catch is they have to pay $2 in order to wear their street clothes. No nail polish or ear rings are allowed at school for the kids.

I rented a car Saturday morning in order for us to go and get Katie’s uniforms and to have some more independence. Katie kept laughing at me whenever I mistakenly hit the lever for the windshield wipers when trying to turn the blinker on. She also thought it was hilarious whenever I walked to the car and went to the wrong side of the car. Driving on the other side of the road takes a little getting used to, but it isn’t too bad. Hopefully I will be a competent driver by the time Jennifer arrives and she will be in awe of my driving skills.

We stopped at a big supermarket and grabbed some lunch to eat outside. Several wild chickens came up to us while we were eating and Katie kept tormenting the chickens by telling them that the fried chicken she had was there deceased family member and that they would be next. Chickens, lizards, and iguanas are everywhere on the island.

I looked at another car this afternoon. The guy told me that the rims on the car were cool, but I wasn’t buying it (literally). I told him rims weren’t my style. I have the rental car until Wednesday so hopefully I can find a car by then.

Sunday was Katie’s birthday. We went and saw Mr. Peabody and Sherman in 3d. The movie was really good and had lots of neat history in it. The popcorn was bad, which is a good thing because we won’t be tempted to eat it the next time we go back. Maybe I will have to go back to the gummy bears that I used to sneak in as a kid. In the morning we visited the very nice ham radio station of Andrew, ZF1EJ. He gave me the keys to the shack and told me 24 hours a day, it was open for my use. The station is less than 5 minutes away from where our condo will be. Very exciting to have access to a station like this and I hope to get on this week. One of my schools is only a few hundred feet away, so maybe I will take my lunch break at his station. Katie and I are going to a club meeting tomorrow evening where I will meet several other local ham radio operators.

I think we will stay at a small bed and breakfast, much cheaper than a hotel, on Monday and Tuesday night and then take up one of my coworkers offer to stay at their place while they are off the island. We finished the day by going to a public beach where I got on the radio and made a few contacts. Being near salt water is very good for radio signals and other than the giant block party of Jamaicans and the really loud rap music, the experience was fun. Katie got to go to the water and I got to get on the radio.

Birthday Lunch on the Water

Katie’s School Uniform

Selfie

Lunch Time Visitors

Sunset view at ZF2DX/P

Friday 07-March-2014

Not much going on today. I had to report to work around 9:00. Barbara picked Katie and me up and dropped us off at the office. We packed turkey sandwiches and ate lunch there at the office. I haven’t had a diet coke since Sunday and at this point have no craving for one, which is nice. However, we discovered that there is a Burger King about 200 feet down the road from my office so hopefully I don’t get back into my #9 chicken sandwich habit that I had a few years ago.

Gigi, our realtor, is not very good about calling me. I always have to call her to find out what is going on. She always says, “Oh Kevin, I’m so glad you called me” and then proceeds to tell me the news she has. When I called her this morning, she told me that she presented the offer of $1350 to the owner and they wouldn’t even give a counter offer because the price was too low. I told her to come back with $1550 and to call me as soon as possible to let me know. Around 2:00 I hadn’t heard anything from Gigi so I gave her another call. “Oh Kevin, I’ve been out of the office and haven’t been able to check my email.” About two minutes later she called back excited and said that they would accept our original offer ($1700) and not put the condo up for sale. They also said if they decided to put the condo up for sale that they would accept the offer of $1550. Good enough for me. The only catch is we can’t move into the place until March 18th. Originally we were told that it would be available on March 10th. Our stay at the Sunshine Suites ends Monday morning, the 10th.

My boss has offered to let us stay with her, but I’m a little reluctant to take her up on the offer. When I told the Jamaican Ed. Psychs, otherwise known as my life coaches, they said I should call Gigi back and try and negotiate some reduced rate or place to stay at our condo. So, we are in waiting mode to see if Gigi can make anything work. I doubt that they will give us anything, but it is worth a try. I also called the local ham radio operator who has a big station and I believe a small one bedroom place at his shack. He already knew I was coming and the purpose of the call was to introduce myself and to nonchalantly tell him our situation. He was very nice but didn’t comment about our lodging situation. He called back later and I got really excited when I saw it was him calling, but he was just calling to invite me to their club meeting on Monday. Nigel, G3TXF, will also be at the club meeting. It will be nice to have a group of hams around the island, with many top contesters visiting the island throughout the year.

So it looks like the only viable option for the next 10 days is staying with my boss, Barbara. The days will go by quickly, but my only concern is if any long lasting repercussions develop from our stay with her.

Katie did a good job playing in the office with her doll and on her iPad all day Friday while I looked at the paper thin files on all of my students. A typical IEP for a student in Arkansas is around eleven pages long. The amount I will be responsible for here is one goal page. Therapy and paperwork here will be a walk in the park.

We are settling in and I think we will really have a good time, especially when Jennifer and Michael arrive. It will be great to greet them at the airport (hopefully I can get off, ). I’m going to rent a car Saturday morning for a few days until I can buy one and get it insured and registered. We are going to get Katie’s uniform Saturday morning and will also have to buy some black sneakers and black dress shoes for her to wear to school.