Just another day in Paradise

In a less macabre tone than Phil Collins' song, today really was just another day in paradise.  I was scheduled to work 4-12pm, leaving the morning and early afternoon to me.  I woke up early (thanks to the Panther cats, who learned from JJ how to disturb the deepest of sleeps so that they can enjoy their breakfast by the early sunlight in the window) and unlike the last several days, the skies were clear and sunny, and the temperature was indeed warm.  Monday the temperatures hit a record Bermuda low at 14 degrees Celsius.  Don't forget the humidity and wind chill, it did not feel as balmy as 14 degrees Canadian Celsius, trust me.  Today, however, it was pleasantly warm outside.

I started the day off hitting the HSBC to do a favor for a friend.  HSBC in Bermuda operates on a caste system.  The common fodder like myself have to line up with the masses for anything you can't do in the ATM.  The next tier up, earned by keeping a set value of savings in the account, (in case you have a spare $50,000 to leave in an almost non-interest bearing account just to get the second tier of status), gets shorter lines and some easier access to a customer service rep, and a few other perks.  The top tier have their own little executive lounge...I don't know what the requirements are, but if you have one of these accounts you can have free coffee, juice, sparking water, and newspapers everyday in the special lounge reserved for these customers.  You don't have to do any banking...you can just show up for your morning coffee or juice.  So today, I rode the elevator to the second floor, and by association gained access to the lounge.  I snagged a coffee and some investment management newsletters, as clearly these people all know something I don't know.  Once the free coffee was done, I rode the escalator down to my normal place in the world, and met up with some friends from work for Sushi at Cafe 4 and a catch up.

Once the sushi was done, we all ran our errands, and a few of us continued on to Yo Cherry for a nice frozen yogurt treat.  Of course I got completely sidetracked walking by a storefront that was just dressing the mannequin in a floor length black sequined ballgown.  I gasped and we rushed inside to try it on.  It fit like a glove...which would be good if I had spent more time at the gym and less time blogging.  On the way back we saw the other window, and gasp...a black and gold one a little more my style was in the other window.  I remarked that I love to buy clothes but here I am wearing jeans and a hoodie from Camper's Village.  My friend Shibby replied "You're like a cat.  You go crazy for anything sparkly and have to collect it and get it home."  Touche.  Truer words may have never been spoken.  There is so much glitter in my closet that sometimes I end up sparkly just from digging in my closet.

And finally, feeling terribly guilty after proclaiming that there would be no Christmas cards this year, I stopped at a store and picked up my supply...am hoping it will be a nice surprise for everyone in January and February when and if they do survive the collective international post office experience.  I still wonder where in the world my postcard from Egypt from Phil ended up, 2 years and still no sign of it.

The rest of my day was spent trying to tackle the enormous challenge of acquiring cat food for the Lexi cat.  Lexi has been on a Canadian brand of food for 16 years.  As the resident princess of the house, there is no substitute.  The Panthers keep stealing her food and we are running out.  There is now a rather complex and unsuccessful international effort to get the Canadian cat food somewhere where I can get it -- because you KNOW mailing it just isn't an option.  Thank you Cherie for harassing every vet clinic in Philadelphia and Boston while I burned up 2 long distance cards making friends with the rest of the Eastern United States veterinarians.  Sigh...I may need a weekend in Toronto.

And so another day has gone by, somewhat ordinary, but under a brighter sky and warmer sun, closer to the sand and oceans.  A nice day with good friends and the usual quirks of life.  Just another day in paradise.