Arriving tomorrow!

Good luck in your journey, and we hope to see you soon!

Lisa

I know you are traveling t9oday and won't get a chance to read this, 13 hour travel time, but I hope you had good flights and everthing went well with the dog.
See you at the end of Sept or the beginning of Oct.
Terry and Annie

Thanks! We had uneventful flights, aside from one delayed bag, which I'm not letting myself worry about yet because it's happened before and always turned out fine. Our apartment is even better than expected -- Juanita's Casita Properties are the way to go if you're looking for a relatively short-term rental. We've already started supporting the local economy with a big trip to Cost-U-Less, and now that we've had lunch on the gallery, we're thinking of finding a dog-friendly beach on which to enjoy the rest of the day. It's kind of nice that it's a holiday, so we have an excuse not to go racing all over the island trying to do driver's licenses, P.O. box, etc. That can wait a couple of days!

Glad you made it, and are also adjusting quickly ! We made our trip to Cost U Less too(yesterday)! We've been here 3 days and everything is going swimmingly and the locals we've met couldn't be any more hospitable and friendly.

I suggest a PO Box aka a PMB with Mail Boxes & More... Very Smooth and plenty available.

Lets get together for a cocktail in the near future!

Enjoy your 4th!

I've been very happy with my PMB at Mail Boxes & More. It's across the road from Sunny Isle Shopping Center.

Ooh, good suggestion... I had heard that there can be a waiting list for P.O. boxes and wondered if that would be an issue. Sounds like Mail Boxes & More is the way to go -- will check that out very soon! How does the cost compare?

Yes, teamhurldon, it would be fun to meet up for a drink sometime! PM me sometime to work out our schedules. 🙂 We miss our friends back home and can't wait to make more friends here! But like you said, everyone here has been very friendly. Really helps the move go smoothly.

it depends on how many months you sign up for.. gets cheaper the longer you commit, I think we paid around $80 for 6 months at mail boxes...

Roadrunner, just remember> You won't have GOOD Mexican food again until you come back for a visit!:@)

Can't wait till I'm in your shoes!

Sara and I are waiting to find out when we will close on our place in Clairmont. Hope to be moving around the 1st of October. Regarding the PO Box, what do people do for packages when the vendor won't ship to a PO Box?

If you use Mail Boxes Etc. you address items with their physical address and include the box number.

Sara and I are waiting to find out when we will close on our place in Clairmont. Hope to be moving around the 1st of October. Regarding the PO Box, what do people do for packages when the vendor won't ship to a PO Box?

I have a P.O. Box at the regular post office, and when I can't receive a shipment, I have it sent to MailBoxes and More. They charge $5.00 per package, since I don't have a box with them. I just have the packaged addressed to myself, their address. Simple! I don't even need to let them know when I am expecting something. I just call when I think it should be here and then pick it up. If you do call ahead and give them your number, they will call you. Very nice folks.

Roadrunner, just remember> You won't have GOOD Mexican food again until you come back for a visit!:@)

Ugh, I know! That's one thing we miss already! I spotted avocados in the grocery store the other day and got all excited about making guacamole until I saw the poor, tired, brown cilantro. Guess we'll have to grow our own!

If I knew anything about the restaurant business, I'd think about opening a Mexican place... with real Mexican food, not the greasy junk you find in most of the U.S. The southwest has spoiled me. 🙂

My husband and I both just landed jobs, happy it only took us 6 days! But now have no idea what our new "schedules" will really be like yet to meet up, but I should know within a few days, maybe sometime next week we could all grab a cocktail...

How'd the P.O. Box situation go?

Did you do DMV yet? Can't decide how long I wanna hold off on that...

Rebecca

I just moved here in May and my Truck arrived by VI Cargo on June 30th and did the DMV on July 1. The inspection went super quick but inside was a different story. They called me up the first time after about 45 minutes but made a mistake on my title so I sat back down. They called me again in 30 min only to find out the error that was made was either made again or not fixed so I sat down again. 60 min went by and I finally went up paid and received my tags and Sticker. I was there at 8:10 and left around 10:00. But it wasnt bad, bring a book. Don't talk on your phone in there. I answered a page from the hospital and was told to holster my cell.

If you want a Driver license you need a SSN card and another form of Gov. issued ID (passport, Birth Cert. etc..) And of course a current valid driver license. If you are surrendering a US license you need to have a driving report from the state you have the issued license. Everyone told me this was not required but the day that I was in there you did. So you may get lucky and not need the report, I did.

They take Visa, MC, and of course cold hard Cash. No Amex.

BCF

Yep, I found out the hard way today that you need a stateside driving report. It took me forever just to find the BMV, and then some official-looking guy outside told me where to go and said I had everything I needed if I had my passport, SS card, and birth certificate, but then at the window, they just pointed to a notice taped up there about the driving report. (And yes, I had sleeves on and was very polite!) I managed to get it almost instantly online. Fortunately, everything else (registration, inspection, etc.) was done by the transport company. I did hear from a bartender that a fair number of people just pay someone else a fee to get their car "inspected" for them when it's time to renew the registration... the car never actually goes to the BMV, but the registration is renewed anyway. Very shady.

(Along the way, a teenager flagged me down and asked if I needed help finding something, so I told him I was looking for the BMV. He didn't understand, so I told him I was going to get my driver's license... as I sat there behind the wheel of a car. 😮 I hope he understood that I meant I was exchanging my AZ license for a VI one!)

As far as the PO box goes... I'm holding off on that because I need my driver's license! I did stop by Mail Boxes, etc. to get a price list, and although it's not cheap, it's not terrible, either. The lady there told me that her friend just got a PO box at the USPS, and he waited about 2-3 weeks on the waiting list. Not bad.

Oh, and while we're talking about newcomer stuff, I found out from someone at work that Banco Popular is the only bank here that doesn't charge a fee just to bank with them. (Please correct me if that's wrong information.) She also said that when making transfers from here to a stateside bank, it's free to have the stateside bank "pull" the money from your VI bank, but if you use your VI bank to "push" the money to the stateside bank, you'll wind up with a fee of $15 or so for each transfer. (Again, correct me if I'm wrong.)

So... on my to do list for tomorrow, my last day before I officially start work, I have: fingerprinting at the police station (required for work), BMV (again!), PO box, and bank account. Haha, what are the chances?! I'll be lucky if I get two of those things done! But hey, I'll get a lot of reading accomplished while I'm at it!

Teamhurldon, congratulations on your jobs!!

Better call the VIPD in Fredriksted where they do the finger printing. They only do it on certain days. Make sure you have your form filled out. They only take cash, but if there is not a line you are outta there in 15 min!!

BCF

Instead of paying yearly for a mailboxes account or PO Box, you can get a box by the side of road somewhere near where you live. They cost maybe $20 at most upfront and that is all you pay for as long as you keep the box. No yearly fees or anything. SInce it is a "real" address (mine is ### Prosperity, F'Sted, 00840), not a PO, you never run into problems with places not shipping to a PO Box. Go to the post office and ask which locations may have a box free. When you get packages, they put a slip in your box and you just go to the post office to pick it up. One of the best bargains on island!!!

1st bank charges $5 per month on a checking account unless you keep a a blance of $1000.

Bank of St. Croix is free, but any transfer between two different banks is a $35 fee no matter where you bank. The way that I've gotten around that is to set myself up as a "Payee" on both of my accounts (here and stateside) and just "Pay" myself when I need to transfer. It takes a few days, but has worked well both ways so far.

The roadside boxes are sometimes well guarded by the neighbors which the boxes are in front of (and therefore in short supply), but not at all guarded as far as in comparison of safety between one of those and an actual P.O. Box.

Good luck, and welcome!

Lisa

Thanks, B_man, for the tips. No one told me there was a form, so I'd have been delayed again! I'm saving it as we speak, so I can print it tomorrow. Fingers crossed for no line. 🙂

Instead of paying yearly for a mailboxes account or PO Box, you can get a box by the side of road somewhere near where you live. They cost maybe $20 at most upfront and that is all you pay for as long as you keep the box. No yearly fees or anything. SInce it is a "real" address (mine is ### Prosperity, F'Sted, 00840), not a PO, you never run into problems with places not shipping to a PO Box. Go to the post office and ask which locations may have a box free. When you get packages, they put a slip in your box and you just go to the post office to pick it up. One of the best bargains on island!!!

I don't doubt what you are saying, but this is news to me. When we bought our apartment complex on STX, we inquired at the post office about putting boxes on property. They said it was strictly up to the mail carrier (what???), so if our current mail carrier changes, maybe we will have a shot at getting a box. We decided not to pursue it because we rent to so many short timers, it would be a mail forwarding nightmare. I was thinking the boxes are designated for particular neighborhoods, so not just anyone can take advantage of the use. Not totally sure about that, though.

Well, when I got it, I lived in the area. But now that I've moved further away, I'm still allowed to keep it. I never talked to any mail carrier, just one of the ladies at the front counter. Granted, I do think the service at the Frederiksted post office is much better than other post offices, so maybe they just didn't want to go through the hassle of giving you a box unfortunately 🙁

I managed to accomplish ALL FOUR missions today: fingerprinting, driver's license, bank account, and PO box. Left the house at 9am, returned for an hour lunch (if everyone else shuts down for lunch, why can't I?), and returned again at 3pm. That also includes a quick stop at work for some paperwork.

For those who may need one, the Sunny Isle post office has small PO boxes available. I didn't ask about the larger ones.

While waiting in various places, I overheard locals complaining about the wait and discussing the high crime rate on the mainland and the fact that they would never want to live there because of it. 🙂 (And when I say "locals," I refer not to the color of their skin, but to the fact that they also mentioned being born and raised here... just so no one gets their feathers ruffled.) So it's all relative...