After all the aggravation at the airport, we arrived in the Bahamas to...crystal clear, blue skies? endless sunshine? a gentle carribbean breeze wafting inland from the ocean?
Nope. Dark, threatening skies, one hundred and ten percent humidity, and a car whose driver had the air on so high, I was thinking more of long johns and hot coffee than I was of bathing suits and frozen, tropical drinks!
"Don't worry," Tim joked, as I grumbled and huddled into my jacket trying to keep the frostbite at bay,"this is the Bahamas. If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes!"
Five minutes later, it was raining. Five minutes after that, it was pouring. I was not amused.
Apparently thinking Tim could use some moral support, the driver chimed in, telling us how lucky we were that we hadn't come during the last two weeks because it had rained every day(as opposed to the liquid sunshine that was presently coming down?)
Of course, he continued, in August there was less chance of that happening, but then you had hurricanes blowing through. Still, it was better than January or February when it got kind of chilly.
I wondered why the tourism board hadn't snapped this guy up as head of their PR department.
Out of sheer self-defense, I decided to turn on my blackberry and call everyone I know before I got the weather report for the remaining months.
Three bars. A good signal. I punched in my parents' number, only to get a recording saying that I was not authorized to use the system. Hmm. Interesting. I guess world-wide service includes France, which is seven hours and entire ocean away, but not the Bahamas, which is only two hours and a tiny bit of ocean away.
I decided to put my vast technological knowledge to work. I turned the phone off, then on again. Still not authorized. I punched a few buttons, took out the battery and reinserted it. Once again, not authorized, and I was pretty much at the limits of my computer expertise.
Sensing my growing frustration (perhaps the bulging veins in my neck coupled with the clenched teeth clued him in), Tim pried the blackberry out of my hands and went through essentially the same process, adding a few more steps. This time...no service!
To add insult to injury, not only was Tim's blackberry working, but so was his cell phone, which had Verizon as the provider, same as my blackberry. Now it was personal.
By this time, we had reached the hotel. Naturally, our rooms weren't ready (based on our day so far, I would have been shocked if they were), so we settled in to the lounge to watch the rain pound down on the beach where by now we should have been two degrees into our third degree burns.
Deciding to put our down time to good use, I borrowed Tim's blackberry and called Verizon to see if they could help me. Fat chance.
A perky-voiced service rep answered the phone. "Okay," she said. "Turn off the phone and take out the battery." Gee, I hadn't thought of that, good thing you are there. "Still not working? Let's punch some buttons." Half an hour later, she wasn't quite so perky, and transfered me to tech support. And the rain kept coming down.
"Okay, turn off the phone..." Uh, uh. I wasn't falling for that again. And so another half hour was sucked out of my vacation, and I still wasn't authorized to use the system. Not to worry, this woman assured me, she would fill out a trouble ticket and someone would get back to me within twenty-four hours. Usually. Probably. Maybe. Or not.
Yeah, and the rain would stop soon. Probably. Maybe. Or not.
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