Moni and i were talking about the many developments which are happening around the island right now and what we realised, and what really disappointed us, was that Grenada is slowly losing its uniqueness.

The developers have descended on the island and their only interest is in the bottom line...they are here to make money. (Of course! They want a return on their investment.)

The government has literally turned a blind eye to what is happening, giving everyone the placebo that these developments will attract visitors, provide employment and everyone will benefit.

At what cost?

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Sunday we decided to go searching for a location to set a hash.

For those of you who don't know what a hash is (sorry, has no relation to hashish, but you never know what you might come across while hashing), you can check out the Grenada Hash House Harriers site.

O.K, for the facts...Grenada is supposed to about 133 sq miles in area...However, with all the hills and valleys, it is actually closer to 500. That leaves a lot of real estate in which to knock about in, and all of it covered in fabulous lush greenery and tropical rain forest....that basically mean that there is a lot of bush.

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Was stuck in traffic again today trying to get through the paddock area.
NAWASA has been digging up the road again, this time to install water mains to connect with the pipes already installed in the Springs area.
To say things are a mess right now is putting it mildly.
Forget about passing that route...With all the machinery and holes in the ground, there is no chance of getting through during working hours.
Of course, signs are posted, with my favorite being the one which says..'Expect Delays'...(Duh!)along with the obligatory 'Men at Work' (apparently no women are allowed while the men make a mess of things).

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Its HOT!!.....

O.k, i know we live in the Caribbean and yes, this is September (the height of the hurricane season), but don't you think it is a little hotter than normal?
I think we are on the front lines of this global warming craze....haven't seen any icebergs in the area and even the ice in my glass has melted!
Lots of people say...oh, this is normal for September and anyway, by the end of next month things will cool down as we head into winter....(meaning that they think i'm just making noise and wining about the heat).

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View from Mt. Qua Qua

Today we decided to go hiking to Mt.QuaQua.......We should have gone to the beach instead! The trail is well marked and easy to follow.

If you ever wondered what the weather was like after Ivan, then i strongly suggest this scenic tour of the Grand Etang Lake with NO SHADE!!

The weather was absolutely perfect today, but it must have been in the 90's (check out the photos we took).

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Ever have one of those days when you think the whole world, or at least the part you are dealing with, has gone to the dogs? (Our dogs will probably object to that comment! They have too much common sense already.)

The inmates are running the show!
Good example is our internet connection.
We have ADSL and were supposed to be getting around 1Mb download and 512k upload (within 10% of this due to internet load).
For the past 3 weeks, we have been getting between 16k down and 100k up (dial up speeds from 12 years ago) and 400K / 350K. Of course, we complained to the ISP...4 times and counting.....The first time, they contacted us after a couple of days to try to resolve the problem...no such luck.

The second time, we waited 2 weeks before someone showed up, but that was a false alarm. He thought we had complained about our telephone service and knew nothing about the internet problem.....no help there!

....... ->

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Stumbled out of bed saturday...actually, get a cold nose in the nether regions from the doggies who feel that because the sun is up, we should not be in bed....this is around 6am, sometimes earlier when they think the snoring is disturbing them.

There is no alarm clock made which can come close to a cold dog nose, for snapping you awake in the morning..

Get ready to head down the road around 9...Nick & Lisa's our first stop.

(Nice little donut shop at the Marquis Complex in Grand Anse and one place we try never to miss.) I don't think we could do without stopping by there on a saturday for breakfast. There is something about the place which suits us.

Nick's is a great place to hang out on mornings. Lots of friends stop by for the morning java and obligatory insult ;-)(well worth hanging out there for an hour....brightens your day).

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We decided it was time to get a dog house built....no, not for me, for Lucky and Balu.

Most of the time, people simply find a crate or box, cut a door in it and voila!, instant dog house (thank goodness the dog doesn't care what it looks like).

Anyway, Our dogs are having one custom built....that means you find a photo of one you like,(yeah, this photo...........) show it to someone who knows how to handle a hammer and saw, hand over your wallet and hope that he measured the dog first.

That last part proved to be a little difficult as the carpenter is mortally afraid of dogs....Anyway, I measured the dog..'twice'.

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Topical Storm Felix

Been awake since 4am today. It was almost like Ivan again... lots of rain and then the winds slowly picking up until it was gusting to 30+mph. Too much like Ivan! Luckily, Felix (thats the name they are giving this one) did not have time to develop before reaching us.

Lost a papaya tree and lots of grapefruit, but no damage.
Power is out at the moment...made a short run

As we get closer and closer to September 7th, can't help but remember hurricane Ivan. The memories are still very fresh (if you got hit by a category 4 hurricane, i don't think you will forget about it in a hurry either).

Looking at some of the photos we took back then just jogs the memory some more. The day and night of the storm were bad enough, but the days, weeks and months afterwards were just as bad. Learned a lot of during that time and saw first hand how disasters could bring out the best and worst in people.

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