"It's Bermuda"

OK, I'm going to vent a little bit...

Things tend to work a little differently here. I think that because of the lack of competition, customer service is severely lacking. You can't expect anything to go smoothly, and expressing frustration about it will only make it worse. The only thing you can do is shrug your shoulders and say, "It's Bermuda".

This is all stemming from the fact that for the last few months, I have not received most of my bills in the mail. However, I'm still responsible for them. So I call the company for the amount.

For about 4 months, I have not received a cell phone bill. I was happy to find out that I could get the bill sent via email. Great. Except that I haven't received that either. Then there's the cable TV bill. Last month I phoned for the amount, paid it, then received the bill a week after the due date. I saw that they'd added a $15 sports channel that we hadn't asked for. When I called to ask for a credit for this, I was told that all disputes were piled up and given to the manager to decide at the end of the month. Huh?! I sent an email to see if I could speed up the process, but haven't had a reply. So it's now the end of the month, and no bill and no phone call from the manager. Guess I'll have to go there in person at lunch and try and get some answers.

Also, try getting a cab when you call either of the dispatch centres. Actually, I should say that you will some of the time, but it's completely hit or miss. If you really have to get somewhere by a specific time, it doesn't matter how early you call in advance. They may show, or they may not. After waiting for 30 mins outside on the street one night with my parents, I thought I should call back and check the status. I was informed that no one had taken the job yet. I asked if she had any idea if someone would, and was told, "I couldn't tell you that, ma'am." I guess there's really no point in calling then. Most of us have learned to carry around an individual cab driver's business card, and call them when you really need one.

You have no outlet, no voice. They just don't care. That's the most frustrating part.

Pumpkins and Parties

I'd heard that Halloween was a big thing here, so in preparation I brought an old costume back when I was home this summer. Good thing I listened, as this advice was correct. It seems that almost everyone got right into the festivities.

Pumpkins

The Wednesday before, my roommates and I had a couple of people over to carve some jack-o-lanterns. I think that this tradition isn't Bermudian though as I had to go to the more up-market grocery store to buy the pumpkins – shipped all the way from Philadelphia or something, and costing $15 each! Once carved, they stayed indoors until the Friday evening because we had visions of cockroaches and ants devouring them. When I was putting them on the front step, all lit up, my next door neighbour came over to check them out. I think he was fascinated with them.

The Big Night

Seeing as there's always a gang of kids running around our street, we figured that there'd be trick-or-treaters, so prepared ourselves with a bowl of candy. We were right... and then found out that lots of kids are driven to our neighbourhood because it's safe or something – or is it because we are a few houses down from the mental hospital?

There were several parties to choose from. Unfortunately, all groups of my friends were going to different ones. Some were going to a bar called Docksiders on Front street. Normally I find this place a little "scary" because the clientel is rough, but I guess scary is what you are going for on this night, so it's a popular destination each year.

The biggest event was called "Fright Night". It's held at Fort Hamilton, and you go down the creepy, narrow steps into a haunted house where actors jump out at and scare you. After that, the adults head on to a large outdoor party with a dj and booze tents. One of my roommates went and said that it was so dark that you couldn't really see anyone, and that it took at least 40 minutes to get a drink.

Good thing we attended the third option...

The Windsong 3rd annual Halloween party. This was a large house party hosted by a co-worker of my other roommate. These guys went all out and had rented a canopy, snow cone machine and A BOUNCY CASTLE! I did try it out, but soon realized that rum and jumping around didn't feel like such a good idea. Moments after I got out, we were treated to a WWF wrestling match between Elvis (white sequined jumpsuit era) and Jesus. Don't remember who won though, I think it was fairly evenly matched.

It was a great party. But as good parties go, I stayed way too late, got a bit carried away and totally regretted the next day. I guess moderation is the lesson to be learned!