It's always hot in Aruba

Well, I did it. I called for some help. The political and business climate has turned so toxic here (as temporary as it is) that I'm spending more time dealing with all the stuff swirling around me that I'm struggling to get my job done and meet some hard deadlines. So I called the president of our company and told him someone needs to come deal with the lawyers and the immigration issues and the things that have me running the streets while I should be at my desk. I have also found out that there is more corruption here than I assumed. Lots of people know things that they can only find out through nefarious means.

Truth be told, he’s happy to jump into the fray from here rather than from Clear Lake. The savings in our collective cell phone bills ought to pay for the plane ticket. So, he’s coming in Sunday and I’m lining up meetings, dinners, and “clandestine” lunches. It’s unbelievable that we have to be careful who we are seen with at lunch or dinner so we have to carefully pick the venues. On the other hand, some people we almost need to be seen with, but with others we should probably wear disguises…which is ok because they need to wear a disguise, too. Aren’t we all adults here?
I really hope that I don’t have to be present for all those dinners and lunches because the food here…well…it sucks. I've been to the highest end restaurants and the food is just ok there. Even Ruth’s Chris at the Marriott is just ok. Not what you would expect (or receive) in the States. The best food I've had here was a steak chalupa at Taco Bell in Oranjestad….no kidding. But, it had flavor. I mean, the food here isn't bad, it’s just bland.

I normally have sandwiches at lunch time, which is just fine, and I cook my own dinner. BTW…beef here is pretty cheap. I can get tenderloin (the cut for filet mignon, chateaubriand, etc.) for about 25 florin per kilo or $6.50 or $7.00 a pound…about 1/3 of what I pay for it at home. Veal is about the same. So when I cook, I eat good stuff. Surprisingly, tho, fish is not bargain unless you buy it from some dude off his boat, but the flies are a little offputting…that and the general lack of ice.
Another subject…theft here is a big problem. Violent crime is almost non-existent here but theft is rampant. Anyway, while we were in a marathon meeting yesterday, one of the guys who is working very closely with me got a cell phone call (we were all, of course, very appropriately showing our indignation that he would take a personal call in that setting) from his wife. They had been burglarized at home. Everything the burglars didn’t take, they broke. He said on the phone this morning that they even kicked doors off the frames, cut furniture, just destroyed what they didn’t take.

This is a pretty dang small island (it’s only 70 square miles; Brazoria County, where I live, is 1800 square miles) with all 90,000 people living on the west coast (about a tenth of the island…the rest is uninhabited ‘outback’). The point being that it would be hard to sell something that you stole without causing someone to notice. Good luck, guys…the federales are always close here. There is a very imposing prison out there in the Aruban outback. (I think I have a picture of it.)

Like I always say…the smokier you drink, the player you get. (I’ll bring an iggy home to the first person who can tell me where I got that quote.)

OUT