More Questions and Answers

In answer to other questions (all good ones!) about how we are billed for services
and how we pay for them, here are some more interesting tidbits:

You may have heard me say that they don't use checks on the island.
Everything is done with cash or credit card (and that option is
relatively recent). And remember, there is no mail delivery.

Our electric bill (as well as those of all our neighbors up on this
hill) is delivered to Dennis' gate at the top of the hill. Yes. Simply
stuck in between the decorative bars of the gate. So far they haven't
blown away but are sometimes rather soggy. When Dennis finds them,
generally on the 9th of the month, he brings them around. We then take
the bill to the bank and pay it there (within 6 days or they shut off
the meter!).
We use small 25 lb. propane gas tanks (like on your gas grill) for
cooking and we take those to the propane company to have refilled
(although the gas truck does make the rounds along the beach, which is
nice if you don't have a car, motorcycle or bicycle to transport your
tank).
We buy water from Dennis' deep well and pay him monthly. We have a
septic tank rather than sewer.
We don't have a landline, just cell phones and we use prepaid phone
cards to recharge the minutes. We can buy those almost anywhere. We do
have internet options here, too. We use HughesNet satellite for ours
and find it very dependable. They have our credit card number and
charge it every month, although we suspend it when we leave the
island. The satellite connection also allows me to use my U.S.
Blackberry phone, set for wifi only, to call the U.S. for free, and
anyone in the U.S. can call me just as though I was still in the U.S.


And lastly, we have no mortgage to deal with, thanks be to God!

Simple, no?
I'm always happy to answer questions about life here.