Fresh Contact Lenses

First of all, I'd like to say "happy belated first day of summer" to everyone... Did you also celebrate the wonderful "Fête de la Musique"? Feel free to extend it throughout the weekend... or longer! Happy Alan Turing's birthday (he would have been 100).

Today I put on new contact lenses. My old ones finally looked past their sell-by date :) I have been wearing them for 9 weeks instead of the recommended 3 weeks... Not bad.

I use to wear Ciba Toric (monthly) lenses and I would usually get 3 months from them. They were great, except that Ciba has discontinued them and I can no longer find any in my prescription.

I now have Ciba Air Optix for Astigmatism contact lenses which the local optometrist recommended using for only 3 weeks per pair. I was at the end of my 6-pack and I didn't want to open up a new peroxide storage system until I received my new lenses so I soaked them in sterile saline solution overnight. This seemed to "plump" them up. They were comfortable to wear again. I did this for 7-10 nights and then went back to the hydrogen peroxide regimen with them. My new lenses arrived but my old ones were still going strong so I didn't change them... Yes, Ms Cheapseats!

I really prefer the hydrogen peroxide storage system to the "one step" type. It gets them squeaky clean... no champignons on my lenses anymore!

I guess I should state (before getting reprimanding emails) that if my lenses are torn or giving my eyes a problem, I will toss them and let my eyes rest up for a couple of days before starting with new ones.

Oh my gosh!  I just saw a news headline that says the average weight of an adult human is 137 pounds.  Well, at least I'm above average in something :)

Here's a link to the article: The Telegraph: The world's fattest countries: how do you compare?

So it goes...

Saharan dust

We've been having some Saharan dust over the past few weeks. It's nothing like the red dust we used to get in the Canary Islands but we were much closer to the source then.  I remember one day when visibility was extremely limited and we couldn't even see the shore.

I like the grayness of this...

The next night, the sky and water were very red... Too bad I couldn't capture the intensity of it in this picture... Photoshopping would be cheating :)

So it goes!

Vanilla Tops Lemon

The results are in... In a personal scientific study (not tainted by grant money or other "promotional considerations") carried out this week, cats prefer French Vanilla cake to Lemon cake.

The Taste Testers

Based on a group of 2 female felines, results are unanimous (100%) for the French Vanilla.

Findings also show that 50% of cats like peanut butter.

So it goes...

St Croix Animal Welfare Center Flea Market

The St Croix Animal Welfare Center (http://www.stcroixawc.org) Flea Market is a wonderful treasure trove. It is within walking distance from the boardwalk in Christiansted.

They have a very good selection of used books at good prices and the woman in charge of this section enjoys books which is a real plus!

We have found a variety of things there such as a hardly-used sextant with navigation tools & books for $10. Two life jackets in very good condition with a bag for scuba gear for $5.  Sportif shorts in great shape (like new) for $1 each. I bought all they had in my size!

They closed for a few weeks for renovations. We heard that they had reopened but when we walked by on Tuesday they were closed up tight and their sign was gone. Oh no, did they open in a new location?

Today I phoned the STX Animal Welfare Center (340-778-1650) and they said that the thrift shop is still in the same location but they have changed their opening hours (they are now closed on Tuesdays).

• Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 9:00am to 2:00pm
• Saturday: 9:00am to 4:00pm
• Sunday, Monday, Tuesday: Closed

The St. Croix Animal Welfare Center Flea Market is located at 151 Richmond (just east of Olympic car rental). If you are going from Christiansted towards Frederiksted, it is on a street to your right just before you get to the top of the hill before the post office.

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