Jobs n Stuff

Adam,
Let me know when you get here with the Captain's license ....

Ferreras....hmm. I used to teach some kids by the last name of Ferreras. I wonder if it's them.

Possibly Maria Ferreras of Armour Enterprises 340-774-5203. They own and lease a lot of commercial and retail property.

Yep...that's the Ferreras' I know. I taught both of their kids a few years ago. I remember the dad had a pretty nasty accident with one of his hands and had to go stateside for awhile to get it reconstructed. I wonder how he's doing.

I am moving Oct 1 from Brooklyn.

Adam,

Here's a financial tip to help maximize your pocket cash: skip the terrific symbolism of the one way ticket and by a round trip one instead. With advance purchase and a Saturday stayover, a Round Trip ticket from DC to STX was about half the cost of a one way ticket on our preferred move date. With a RT ticket, we also ended up with a return ticket that we should be able to use as a one way ticket back to our old stomping grounds by simply paying the $100 fee to change the travel date/flight (it must be used within a year of the date of travel on that return ticket). Even if we never end up using this $100 "just in case" fare back to DC, we still ended up with $500 to spend on getting settled here instead of having it go toward just getting us down here.

Am keeping my fingers crossed that your licensing goes quickly!

HC

Terriffic symbolism?!? Hell, post-9/11, a one-way ticket is a HUGE red flag. Cost considerations aside, a one-way ticket should be avoided by anyone wanting to minimize any extended entanglement with the TSA folks.

VB,
who, FTR, bought a one-way ticket this last move, but only because it was several hundred dollars cheaper than the round-trip.

VB,

Oh my gawd, I can't believe that I forgot about that!

We came down here in part because the constant stress of living near the Pentagon and working two blocks from the White House and IMF/World Bank -- both underlying and overt -- were taking a huge toll on me. Even though 9/11 was experienced to some extent by people throughout the world, its not really possible for most to understand how deeply people who lived and worked near a crash site have been affected and how it changed life in those cities forever.

I guess the fact this is the first time since 9/11 that I haven't thought about how things are different is a real testament that island life is working its magic on me.

Thanks for this reminder that my world - and the world in general -- are both different now.

HC

When my wife and I moved down here three months ago, we got one way tickets from Washington Dulles. The fare was cheap and the only questions we got from TSA were how we got so lucky to move to St. Thomas.

David,

How interesting! We moved at that same time and found that it was much cheaper for us to go with RT tickets out of National than any fares (RT or one way) we could get out of Dulles or BWI. In addition, that cheap fare required only one stop and was jet service all the way, while the others eiother required two plane changes and the final leg of the trip was on a puddle jumper. Guess that illustrates the difference between going from DC to STT and STX.

Are you enjoying yourself down here as much as we are? 😛

HC

I flew to and from D.C. during an 'orange' alert time period. The pilot announced that no one could move from their seat 30 minutes prior to arrival in D.C. or we would have to make an emergency landing. My husband Chris experienced that as well. On lower alert levels that didn't occur. He did fly one way out of D.C. to K.C. once and spent a long time in security. Nothing bad, just a hassle. He had bought the ticket within 7 days as well so you get red flagged quickly. We just flew one way from Fort Lauderdale to STT last Friday and were tagged to get 'special' security attention, but finally made it through. The security guards were kind especially to the kids. My daughter did not want to cooperate, but the lady got her job done. Our tickets were only $250 each so we couldn't beat the price. Usually a round trip ticket does cost less. My advice is to get to the airport early - at least two hours before a flight. We had about 20 minutes before boarding to buy some snacks and relax. Anyway, that was my experience.

Teresa

HipCrip,
I dont know if it helped our cause on our tickets, but my wifes company booked them for us. Our first three months here have been hectic and fun at the same time. My wife and I are both from Northern VA and I worked in DC for three years at 18th K, Wisconsin and Dupont Circle. I can appreciate all the new security and hope it works. My mother in law was one corridor over at the Pentagon when the United flight hit and my dad was across the street in Crystal City for a meeting that had been moved from the Pentagon. Our neighberhood lost two civilian contractors at the Pentagon that day. The security at Dulles always made me nervous before 9/11 because half the screeners barely spoke english and did not seem to know what they were doing. Hopefully TSA has changed that!? Anyway I have enjoyed reading your postings and everyone elses for the last year. Moving down here can be a challenge and everyone's situation is so different so it is interesting to hear how different peoples moves went.

We have three one-way tickets to STT out of Washington/Dulles right around election time in just a couple months. Do you feel my pain? I'm hoping it's not too bad.

me

Katie,

Oooh -- that's going to be a long day for you. I'll send nothing but good karma your way.

Security at the DC airports is so different from location to location that it still makes me nervous, especially at Dulles. We've flown a lot in the last five years, and the folks at Dulles give me the least intensive search of any airport we've encountered. They never look under my chair, or swab or otherwise check my seat cushion, which has a gel core and could very well be stuffed with something hazardous. I also have a metal pump that's about the size of a hockey puck implanted under the skin in my abdomen . In over 50 flights that I've taken since 9/11, only one TSA screener has ever done a thorough enough pat down to notice this chunk of metal and ask me if I had the card to prove it was a medical device. She wasn't in DC -- or New York -- she works here, in STX.

HC

To further support what HC said, in all the traveling we have done I'd have to say that STX went through all our bags with the swabs and took a hard look at our cameras too!!
Even the flight to and from Germany right after 9-11 wasnt as inense as what we had last saturday! Good luck and maybe there wont be that much of a hassle for ya!

Donnie

That's because flying from the VI to the states is not like flying from Illinois to Florida.

Entering the U.S. through the VI is equivalent to entering the U.S. from a foreign country. In fact, you should be prepared to encounter *heavier* screening than you would if entering from a foreign country, as the VIs are considered to have rather "porus" borders (e.g., the boatload of illegals who thought they'd just sail into C'sted harbor on a Beneteau last week--if they hadn't hit the reef, no one would have noticed them). It's *much* easier to enter the VI illegally, and from here attempt to enter the continental U.S., than many foreign countries due to those miles and miles of lovely (and unguarded) coastline.

VB