Dry Season

Trinidad has two seasons, the Wet Season and the Dry Season. That's it. A weather person here has an easy job..."High 32 deg. C, low 24. Chance of rain."

Where I live, the proximity to the coast and prevailing wind currents, along with the mountains and rain forest vegetation means it rains most mornings at about 3 a.m. I don't know why the time is so consistent; maybe it's the convection currents and the time it takes for the warm air and moisture to cool off and interact. But it's nice to hear the rain on the "galvanize" (local term for the tin roofs).

It seems hotter during the rainy season, just before it rains. No breeze, and the heat gets oppressive. The daily rain is warm, of course, but ranges from drizzles at the start to pounding torrents. This is accompanied by landslides and flooding, which in turn bring traffic woes and delays upon us.

The dry season, in contrast, has some rain at times, but not usually in the middle of the day. Any rain is short-lived, so there is usually no flooding. Many days there is none. While it is still hot and humid, the humidity seems a bit less and  there are often breezes. If you are near the ocean, you get the cooler "sea breezes" which are wonderful, even if they rust out some things prematurely.

One of the best things, for me, is that I can once again enjoy my gallery, or covered porch, where I sit and read or write, enjoying the birds and masses of green all around me. More fresh air rather than cowering in the air-conditioned sanctions from the stifling heat and humidity. Relaxing sounds of birds, wind chimes, the wind itself, and neighborhood children.

Now is when I appreciate even more that I do live in a paradise...until I drive down the road and hit another one of those million potholes that never get fixed.

Flushed with Success

Who knew that shopping for a toilet seat was so technical?

 For the first time in my life, after once again almost falling off "the throne" due to a broken hinge, I embarked on a quest for a new toilet seat. Mind you, I rent, and my landlord tends to do things "sorta allright." So I've learned not to be a perfectionist. But when safety is an issue, I need to step in.

Since the defective seat was a flimsy plastic thing that one couldn't even sit on when closed, I was determined to go for a bit higher quality without being flamboyant (I really didn't need a polished oak seat, or a padded one. I did almost consider one on which I could train my cat to "go" but decided against it.)

Measuring tape in hand, I measured across, down, and between posts, as those seemed the most likely. Also I did it in inches and centimeters, as we get both here. That completed, I was on my way to the local hardware store (no Target or K-Mart here.)

It was amusing to see that, of all the departments in the place, three people had converged on the toilet seat section. We all had our tiny papers with measurements and our measuring tapes in hand. After sharing stories about our broken seats (you get comfortable fast with strangers who also have "toilet troubles" it seems), we started picking through the bins. There were not too many choices.

That was hard. The display had no rhyme or reason, no sizing, not even color classification. In fact, many of the seats were in plain brown boxes so you couldn't tell anything about them without opening them up. No being a shy consumer, I started pulling boxes down and opening them up, then measuring. We all leaned towards the conservative; no one was interested in the clear seat with sea shells embedded, or the blue clear "fish" toilet seat.

At one point a salesperson came up to ask us if we needed help, but she was obviously not trained in the intricacies of toilet seat replacement. She did, however, inform us that toilet seats were not returnable. Ya think? EEEUW!

I ended up with a "green" toilet seat. I mean, it's white, but made of recycled materials, which proved to be a godsend, since it needed a bit of "tweaking" to fit. OK. Maybe I didn't measure so accurately or note the exact shape of my toilet. Or maybe it's another one of my landlord's "finds" that is not quite standard. But with a bit of drilling and if you don't look too closely, my beautiful white scalloped toilet seat makes my bathroom a bit more lavish. And it also has a special feature....it is easily snapped off for cleaning (who takes off the toilet seat to clean it, anyway??)

Chalk this up to one more unique experience ten degrees north of the equator.

Technology International

OK. I got used to the fact that I can't download music from the iTunes store. (My country is not one of those listed.) But now, with all the excitement about the Mac Apps store, I find that I can't download apps. Instead, I must purchase the boxed version and wait....wait....wait....for it to be shipped overseas.

Mind  you, it's easy enough to purchase my laptop and assorted other tech gadgets online. My Macbook Pro came directly from Apple in record time. It seems that the problem is with the approval for downloads, somehow. I see some very obscure countries listed as being approved. So is this a political thing? Another "who-knows-who" setup? An unannounced embargo against Trinidad and Tobago?

Last year I tried to purchase a dress from a store in NYC. I had done my homework, having my U.S. skybox listed as an additional address for my credit card, so the shipping was done domestically. Yet, no matter what I or the salesperson on the phone did, we could not get the order to go through. Finally, after much discussion and the manager's investigation, we found that the computer checked my computer's location, and it denied them from taking the order!!  No matter that my credit card was fine and I can purchase thousands of dollars worth online, for airline tickets to merchandise. This was not Kleinfeld's, either, but a basic women's clothing store. (I finally had to have a family member purchase it for me from within the U.S. and send it to me...still had to pay the delivery charge and way too much for the local VAT and import taxes.)

Admittedly, compared to a decade ago, things are much easier. We have on-demand movies and a wealth of cable channels (although many are in Spanish and many are changed from English-speaking to Spanish with no notice! ) We have faster internet service that is quite reliable and access from almost anywhere in the country, even with some free hotspots around.

Our cellphones work (well, better than before) and we can get updated models (mostly 6 months and older models, at 3 times the price in the U.S.). We can order and have most things delivered in about 2 weeks, which is half the time it used to take.

So - what's the holdup? Why are we being blanked for download services from some vendors? Anyone know?