On 2018-03-12 12:48 PM (-4), Stephen wrote:
> On 12/03/2018 13:23, Cousin Ricky wrote:
>> Numbers?  Who has the energy for number codes?  It's Compose * 0 on
>> /real/ operating systems.
>
> A Pover who cares not for numbers!
> What is the world coming to?

I do care about numbers.  I just acknowledge that computers are better 
at handling them than I am.  Also, isn't that why god invented the 
#declare directive?

> <aside>
> How is the Island?
> There was an article about the BVI, last week. It is still in a poor
> state. Was thinking about you.

I can only speak for the USVI.  As close as we are to the BVI, the 
political boundary does create somewhat of an information bubble.

Things are slowly getting back to normal.  Pretty much all buildings 
that are safe to be electrified have been energized.  Still, we've had 
several island-wide blackouts much more frequently than the normal rate 
of island-wide blackouts.  The utility company says new generators are 
on the way, but considering that their reliability has not improved 
since my dad was a kid, I'm not getting my hopes up.  But that has 
nothing to do with the hurricanes.

Phones are a different matter.  Quite a few land lines have not yet been 
restored.  I've been seeing the utility contractors on my street for a 
few weeks, but I don't actually see anything happening.  I'm thinking 
about canceling my land subscription, anyway, although other household 
members will continue to use land services.  In the meantime, I'm 
getting Internet through a local wireless ISP.  It costs more and is 
slower on paper, but at least it exists, and the phone company wasn't 
delivering anything close to advertized speeds anyway.

Sprint is back up and running.  Ironically, they now seem to be 
performing better than before the storm, as many of their customers fled 
to AT%T, which now seems to be struggling with the increased customer 
load.  The local phone company is also upgrading its mobile services, so 
I may consider that if and when I tell them to cancel the land line.

Rebuilding is proceeding slowly.  I haven't seen a noticeable decrease 
in the number of tarped roofs.  Some hotels won't reopen until 2019.

Many schools were badly damaged, and many of the remaining schools are 
hosting students from the damaged schools.  At least one school has been 
condemned, and is now being used as a debris storage depot.

Cruise ships started returning in November.  At that time, it was 
forecast that we would get about half the normal number of calls this 
season.

Roads have been patched.  Although many of them are still in pretty bad 
shape, they are at least passable.

Presi^H^H^H^H^HGovernor Mapp is up for reelection this year.  The wolves 
are circling.

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