USVI-On-Line

Just a medical alert:

Benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety medications such as xanax, valium, klonopin, ativan)should not be taken with alcohol. That can literally be a lethal mix.

i just hope if there is any trouble with my st.john flights it's on the way home.

In my opinion, the best part of high season is getting on the airplane in freezing cold temps (of course depending on your locale)... and then feeling the warm tropical air flood the airplane when they first open the cabin door in STT. That just puts it all in perpective for me!

crickett : )

Lex brings up an excellent point. Though I've certainly broken the rule that benzos can't be mixed with alcohol, I've always regretted it. Don't do it, it's not safe. And, it will knock you on your a**, and not in a good way.

About xanax not working... it should, so if it's not, you don't have a high enough dose. I'm a relatively small woman and I take 1 mg, which is the dose they normally give a larger man. Go figure. I also need a ton of novocaine at the dentist's in order to make me numb, so maybe I just have a higher resistence/tolerance? Anyway, tell your doc the xanax didn't work last time and have him/her re-evaluate your dosage. It's probably too low, as they tend to go conservative.

OK - I'm starting to get nervous about snooty people. I talked Bill into doing this trip at the beginning of March so we'd be there for my 50th birthday - but I'm a really down to earth person.

Ruth - what places should we try to avoid?

jaq w (formerly jac w)

Our visits have been pretty much restricted to Jan, Feb, March, and April.. what I guess is considered "high" season. We are late eaters and restaurants are never a problem. Crowded beaches are not a problem. Overflowing parking at Salt Pond or Francis is what? 15 cars? The biggest drawback we've seen is during president's and easter/spring (not college) break weeks there are alot more families with kids and the noise, sand kicking and general mayhem that accompanies them. We counteract using the equation - distance to beach is inversly proportional to # of chidren divided by sum of their ages. In laymen's terms- go where mom and dad won't want to haul 15 pounds of drinks and snacks, a playpen, assorted toys and 10 pounds of sandy wet towels on the way out.

Well, looks like I'll have to figure out sumthin' cuz hubby is chompinga thte bit to reserve sago Cottage for January 2009!

I think I will try higher doses of Xanax as well as some meditation excercises throughout the year. alw1977 made a great point about different doses for different people (I also need a TON of novacaine when going to the dentist).

The way I see it, if STJ is the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm gonna find a way to get through!

jaq w wrote:OK - I'm starting to get nervous about snooty people. I talked Bill into doing this trip at the beginning of March so we'd be there for my 50th birthday - but I'm a really down to earth person.

jaq w (formerly jac w)

jaq: I was there from 12/27/07 - 1/5/08 (peak season) and didn't run into any snobs at all! Maybe because we were in Coral Bay, and avoided Cruz Bay except for one morning (to catch a boat.) More likely because we were having a great time and didn't care what others thought of us. We would go from beach to grocery store or lunch spot, crusty from salt water and hair all wet, and no one cared a bit.

I'm sure you could find snobs any time anywhere in the world. Ignore 'em. You're having a better time!

I did notice that getting to the beach early was a big benefit. That's when we'd have a whole gorgeous stretch of beach to choose from. Starting at maybe 10 a.m. and definitely by 11 a.m. we'd start to see more people. But it was always beautiful and never got in the way of a great day!

LysaC, regarding fear of flying: Does an iPod and a really really good book help? Not meaning to sound simplistic, but it really helps put my focus into something else. I am in a completely different world when I'm on a flight with my nose stuck in a book. My kids know they better bring books too, because I won't be paying attention to anything else. When else can you read for so long?

A glass of wine plus a good page turner... I can almost put up with the jacka$$es who recline their seats into my lap.

I always was able to read on the plane in the past but had a really tough time with my new anxiety issues. I could not concentrate at all on the book.

It probably didn't help that I was trying to read Running with Scissors!

Maybe I'll try a bit mellower book next time. I'll save the Janet Evanovich book for the flight... something light and funny.