ALMOST LEGAL......

Almost legal for us to drive here. We both got our learners permits on Thursday (YAY!!!) I was really nervous even though I studied hard for this test-the first question threw me a bit as the terminology on some of the questions is very British so it took a minute to figure out what the question meant in English ( I see JP cringing over that comment!) Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to flunk after having your first learners permit almost 30 years ago? Thankfully we can now move on to the driving lessons next week- Hopefully by the time we move, we will have wheels. You really do not need them but its just more convenient especiallyfor doing things like groceries. Now that we are in a condo and have full facilities at our disposal we are buying groceries in small amounts as walking home with a lot of bags in the heat is not much fun and if its raining like it was this past week, you only have one free hand as the other one you need for the umbrella. We had some bizarre weather Thursday and Friday with a big front that blew in and apparently there was a tornado watch or warning on Friday morning. There was some pretty wicked thunder and lightening and then just after lunch it turned into a Bermudaful day. (Hot and sunny) One thing that I really like here is that even when it is raining its still hot out, the temperature doesn't seem to change at all, its just wet!

We moved again yesterday to the executive apartment that the company owns for a 2 week stay until our home is ready Nov 1st. For the first time in months we have a real place to stay that has furniture other than a bed to sit on!. It is really close to the office so I can sleep in for the next two weeks til 7:30, get cleaned up and still be at work by 8:00 ( I can see the office out the window, although its down the hill about 2 blocks) Its a pretty nice condo and has all the bells and whistles you would expect a place to have- All the latest gizmos and appliances and is quite nicely furnished. There is a convection oven and convection microwave too but I have no idea how to use them- good thing that I don't do the cooking because I have no idea where to start. We had a few blonde/senior moments yesterday when we wanted to go out and could not for the life of either of us figure out how to lock the freakin door!. We gave up and left the place unlocked and finally figured it out this morning. You wouldn't think that you would need an instruction manual to close the doors but you do! Then it took the 2 of us to figure out how to work the remote control for the airconditioners. Maybe we were just having a bad day but it was ludicrous how long that took! This place normally sits empty about 3 weeks out of 4 as it is only used by my big boss from London and he just left and won't be back til after we take possession of our condo. (For the total rent we are going to pay over the terms of the lease, you would have thought we were buying it and not renting it as the rent will cost more than what we paid for our condo in Calgary)

We picked up our wireless home phone and wireless internet device so even though we are not in our home yet, our home phone is working already-its like a cell phone in some respects as if the battery is charged you can take it anywhere on the island and it would work but its as big as a normal house phone with a stand so not a cell phone substitute. The internet device is pretty cool- its something called EVDO and its basically a USB key - install the software on your computer and hit connect and voila- internet connection without cables, phones etc. It was the quickest way for us to get the internet and the wireless phone was our first choice because we did not have to go with the Bermuda telephone company- it takes weeks or months from what we are told to get a home phone line with BTC- the wireless home phone is with cellularone and all you do is take it out of the box, plug it in and you are can make phone calls. I am looking into something called SKYPE for long distance over the internet as my neice in Taiwan uses it and calls Canada for 2 cents a minute but my brother just told me about it yesterday so have to do some research- I have no idea how it works but it sounds pretty cool.

This weekend we went to the King Edward VII Gold Cup which is a sailing competition and got to check out the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club- its normally closed to the public but they opened it up for this event which lasted all week. They had a variety of matches and the finals were today. We were surprised that there were very few specatators for the finals, especially as Bermuda made it to the finals but there were only a handful of people there today. There were quite a few boats out on the water watching the event but still it seemed that the only people who were watching knew the competitors. (Sailors from all over the world compete in this event.) It was a beautiful day and even when there are no events like this taking place, we can sit down by the harbour for hours and just look out to sea. Haven't been to the beach for about two weeks as we have been too busy but think we will go next weekend and we will be going to the caves too. I am still looking at getting tickets to the grillin and chillin event at the aquarium for later in the month but am still trying to justify the price of tickets for that.

We went up to Blu's the other day at Belmont Hills Golf course. We have decided that this is the club we are going to join and it is gorgeous! The course is in immaculate condition and the restaurant (Blu's) was excellent. We had a table with an ocean view and ate dinner while the sun was setting. I can definitely see us spending a lot of time there, whether it be to eat, golf or just go for a drink there.