Craig Goes To St. John USVI

This is episode number 287 of The Homeowner Show. Whether you're DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Craig Williams.

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The Homeowner Show. We're so glad you could join us for another live episode here in the studio. How you doing, Kev?

I am great. I, you know, trying to dust off my kayak, make sure that is working and floating along.

It's like it doesn't— it doesn't stop around here.

No, I mean, I, I feel like they say it's an El Niño year. I believe it so far. Yeah, but I don't know about your yard. And your trees, but they are loving it.

Oh yeah. Oh, my plants are digging it, man.

It's probably the best my yard has looked. I mean, we've, we've been there for 2 years this month, and, uh, it's the best it's looked, period. We've had 2 really dry summers. So I know, I know there's a lot of flooding, and I, I'm, you know, my heart goes out to the people that have lost a lot. And not just people, businesses.

Yeah.

That have, uh, suffered quite a bit from the flooding that's happened, but my yard is really loving it.

Yeah, no, I was— I mean, you think about, uh, like regular flooding, you know, people, people's water just getting— water getting in people's houses.

Yeah.

Um, you know, and I— there was, there was one that I heard of where it had flooded before, and so they— when they demoed it and then done the remodel, they had gone back in with waterproofed insulation on the first floor.

Okay.

Up, I think it was like 5 feet.

All right.

Well, the water came in 6 feet. And so it was like, they can't win.

6 feet?

Yeah.

That is like—

That's a lot of water.

That's a lot of water.

And so, like, and but the problem— here's the problem with what happened here is it wasn't like a hurricane.

No.

It wasn't a tornado. it was just a regular old thunderstorm, you know, Texas thunderstorm, and it acutely affected an area, right? You know, and so it didn't— it wasn't like a lot of people that were hurt by it, but it's still a lot of people.

Well, I mean, we have—

it just didn't make national news, and so there's not a whole lot of help coming in. That's right. To help these families out.

That's the difference. It is interesting. There was about any— depending on where you were at, 12 to 15 inches of rain within a matter of days, which is a lot. But it, you know, like you said, it acutely affected 2 very specific areas. One, Livingston. 2, Conroe, North Conroe.

Yep.

And that area specifically, there's 2 massive lakes.

Yep.

And Lake Livingston, I think, is the 3rd largest lake in Texas, or 2nd, 2nd or 3rd, something like that. Yeah. And so they're having to release record levels of the dam, and it's just cresting the rivers, and it's, it's a problem. It's a big problem. So, and it just keeps raining. I mean, it's raining right now.

So yeah, it's— Well, and there's, there's a big band of it, you know, coming through, right? Uh, that's gonna be here probably in about an hour.

Yeah.

So I mean, like, it could happen again. We got a lot of red headed this way.

That's right. Um, possible hail. tornadoes popping up.

Yeah, all kinds of fun stuff that roofers love.

Speaking of— yes, right. Speaking of, uh, I find this a little bit hilarious in a tragic situation. So, uh, a week ago there was a random tornado that hit Conroe and took out a, a house that a, a cop lived in, and, uh, he passed away because of a tornado. Yeah.

Jeez.

And so, uh, tragic situation. And then I guess it was last Thursday, um, there was a funeral for him. And so, you know, police officers from all over came in.

Yeah.

And I was driving home and I exited to, to get my side road coming down, uh, to my house, and there were cop cars all over the place. And there were tow trucks, all kinds of stuff. Turns out 4 of the cop cars during the processional got in a wreck.

Oh, geez.

Together. And they were—

With each other? With each other. Oh, gosh.

And I— but what was— what weirded me out was I, I was in Conroe and the police cars were Huntsville policemen. And I'm like, what in the— what in the world?

Yeah.

What is happening right now? And then I got home later and found out that it was because they were here for that funeral.

What happens in that situation? Do you have to call in like a third-party cop? To write the ticket or do the investigation?

I don't know.

I also want to see the fight when they, when they have the discussion as to whose fault it was. Whose fault it was.

Yeah. Well, what's funny is like, it's very clear that something happened and at least the 2 cars that I saw, apparently there were 4, one had rear-ended the other. It was a little bit hilarious to me.

Talking on their cell phone. That's right. And like, I'm sorry, don't, don't even act like you don't do it.

cops.

Oh yeah, I've seen you, right?

And, and it's funny because like, you know, they're like, oh yeah, we're not, we're not allowed to be on our computers either, right? Like, you're, you're telling me you got a 16-inch screen in front of you, right? Like at your fingertips.

And it's not the only screen.

Exactly. Yeah. And you're not watching it, you're not paying attention to it, you're not ever typing on it, you're never doing anything. And my brother-in-law's a cop, and I know that some of them are, are great and others of them are not. But, right, um, it happens from time to time.

Clearly happened.

Clear something happened. So what's new in your world, man?

Uh, man, we are— we're just here to do a quick, uh, trip report because me and mine just got back from an awesome vacation.

Dude, it looked awesome.

Um, and so wanted to let everybody know. I mean, you know, we every once in a while we do one of these, uh, getting out of the house episodes. where, you know, we take a trip, we want to let everybody know what it was like, some good things, some bad things, and, you know, whether or not it's a place maybe you ought to go. Yeah.

And I—

this, this place gets my full endorsement.

Okay.

I mean, if, if you have the means, by all means, definitely go.

So one of the things that's interesting to me is that this is not a one-time thing. You've been back.

Yes.

This is your second time to go, which the full endorsement at that point Holds more water.

Sure. To be—

Pun intended.

It's technically my third time to go.

Okay.

So I went once before I was married.

Okay.

Um, with my family.

But the difference I would say is that you actually even stayed at the same place.

Yeah.

That you went last time.

Yes, that is true.

So to me, your endorsement still holds more weight now.

Right.

because you not only did you go and do similar things, you went to the same place.

Well, and there we'll get into why, because I, we, I think we sort of stumbled on like the really smart way to do the island, right? And for, I mean, if you're trying to figure out, we're talking about St. John, US Virgin Island. Um, it's, uh, just off the coast of St. Thomas, which is, uh, I think it's like the second biggest Okay. Island in the US Virgin Islands. I think St. Croix is the biggest one. Um, but anyway, it's right, it's right next to St. Thomas. It's also like on the— I want to say it's the east side of the island, I think, is where you can like, if you're a strong enough driver with a golf ball, you could probably hit it.

Oh, okay.

It's really close.

Yeah.

Um, and, and so, but like, it's what's, what's unique about this island is it's the only island in the US Virgin Islands that's a national park.

Okay.

Which gives it a whole different distinction.

Sure.

Which is— it's doubly interesting because it's a national park, but it's still a territory.

Yeah.

And you know what I found out that's interesting about US territories?

Tell me.

There are no open container laws.

What?

Yeah.

Really?

Yes.

So that to me would be one of the— which most regulated places—

So let me tell you why this is like so disturbing. One, uh, no open container law. Like, every— that should just freak everybody out.

Yeah.

Um, 2, you drive on the left-hand side of the road, not the right-hand side of the road.

Okay.

And, uh, it's all like straight up and down curves, back turns, driving through mountains. So, and on narrow roads.

Okay.

So you potentially have drunk Americans—

Oh geez.

Driving. Not like it's still illegal to drive drunk.

Well, of course.

Right. Um, but there's like, there's like just no— you can have alcohol out and about. The people riding in the car can be drinking.

That's weird.

It seems weird. That's the way it used to be in the US not that long ago.

I understand, um, but a lot has changed.

A lot has changed. I'm not saying that the changes are bad. I'm just saying like it's not that long ago where that was the norm here.

Yeah.

Um, but all that to say, driving through the mountains, narrow roads, wrong side of the road, like to me it's like you're asking for it.

It's like a, it's like a perfect like sphere of disaster ready to happen.

Like, so, but like, that being said, we never had an incident.

Good.

The whole time we were there. Obviously, I didn't drive while drunk or with an open container.

Here's the thing. You don't have to stay where you're at to get all the alcohol you want. No, you can be driving home. That's right. While drinking. It's like that whole— you remember the Ron White bit where he was like, he was like, he was like, public intoxication.

Yeah. They threw me into public.

That's right. I didn't want to be drunk. I got arrested for being drunk in public. I didn't want to be drunk in public. I wanted to be drunk at a bar. They threw me into public. It's really funny.

Really funny. So anyway, that was, that's, that was an odd one that we stumbled upon while we were there. And I'll also say this. I mean, I get some of the weird and like negative stuff out of the way. It's expensive. Yeah.

But what kind of expensive? Like Disney expensive or like vacation expensive?

I would—

those are 2 different types of things.

More expensive than Disney.

Okay.

And really because the food.

It's expensive once you get to the island? Yes.

Okay. So there's not a cheap bit of food on the island.

Right.

Everything has to be shipped there and it's probably been shipped through 2 3 countries before it even gets to you. Just as a for instance, like traditional, at least for us, like as an economical meal for our family is spaghetti.

Okay.

So I'm talking noodles, 1 jar of sauce, some Italian sausage, Parmesan cheese, and some garlic bread.

Right.

Okay?

Yep.

I went to go pick up those ingredients. And I think— what else? Did I pick up anything else? I think maybe I got like a bottle of wine.

Okay.

Which the bottle of— and for context, I think the bottle of wine I picked up was like $15.

Okay.

For all of that, I think I paid $65.

Oh, goodness gracious.

Yeah, from a grocery store near the place we were staying.

And you can like order takeout for your whole family in the US of spaghetti. for cheaper than that.

Yes, every single time.

Yeah.

I mean, I could, I could make spaghetti dinners for like the whole week.

Oh yeah.

On $65.

Absolutely. Here.

Like, but there, I mean, like, it's just, just the way it is there. I mean, like, it's just food is like, they had avocados on sale for $6.95 apiece. Oh, it's like, you know, like there's just nothing, there's nothing cheap. I bought a bunch, like a thing of bananas.

Okay.

Like, I think it had 4 or 5 bananas in the bunch.

It's like $1 here.

I think I paid $5.

Oh my God.

for those bananas. It was like a buck a banana.

Jeez.

You know, it's— so it's just the way it is. The only thing that's not expensive there is rum.

Oh.

And it's because it's made pretty much there, right? Um, so yeah, the food— just like be prepared because— and, and going out to eat's not any cheaper. Um, it's more convenient.

Sure.

Um, and, and probably still going to be better than most of the stuff that you can get at the grocery store. So there's not a whole lot of selection either.

That's— is there value in cooking yourself? Or is it if you can get it for a regular, I mean, a similar price, or is it still quite a bit more expensive?

I would think that if you have odd dietary restrictions, there is value in cooking it yourself.

That makes sense.

But I would also say that like when my wife and I went the first time, we did not have a kitchen in the place that we were staying. So like every meal had to be eaten out or had to be like some sort of like prepared packaged food. Like granola bars.

Okay.

Or Pop-Tarts or something like that that you— that could be a meal. Yeah. And, and it's just ready to go.

Yep.

Um, so, but like, again, like, you can't bring that kind of stuff with you. I mean, I guess you could, uh, if you wanted to like pay extra for—

yeah.

Because all the airlines have lowered the poundage that you can pack on a checked bag, right? By like 10 pounds, I think.

Sure. Um, so what is it, like 50?

It's 40 pounds.

It's down. It was 50.

Now it was 50. Now it's 40.

Yeah.

Yeah. At least on the airline we went on.

Yeah.

I imagine it's the same across the board.

Sure.

So anyway, all that being said, incredible place to go. Some of the best snorkeling you'll ever do in your life. Some of the most up-close experiences you'll have with ocean life that you can ever hope to have.

Okay.

And like what? Like we swam with giant sea turtles.

Cool.

Giant manta rays. I saw the biggest starfish I've ever seen in my life. It was the size of my torso.

Oh my goodness.

And a lot of times it's in water that has visibility, you know, 20 feet, 25 feet.

Wow.

Because most of these— most of the island is made up of like these inlets and bays. And so there's not a lot of waves. Yeah, it's a lot of still water. And so in these bays, they've been able to cultivate, and, and they're still regrowing, but like cultivating these coral growths, um, that are just incredible. Yeah. Um, and so there's a lot of different fish in and amongst those corals and, and fish that you've just never seen before.

Sure.

So, um, and every time I went to a different beach, I saw a different kind of fish that I just hadn't seen yet.

Wow.

Um, and, and like, like Good. There was one that we went to where a, a 3-foot shark came in and, and just swam right up close to the beach.

Wow.

And I mean, just kind of did like a perimeter pass, just looking to see what was going on.

Yeah.

Um, it wasn't like a dangerous shark or anything like that, but people were like, oh, it's a shark. Yeah, it's like the size of my arm, man.

But still. But still. Yeah.

I mean, he could still bite you.

Of course.

Um, I don't know why. I mean, they don't want to.

No. So not today.

Um, but anyway, um, it's— so the other thing is, is like the island is full of chickens.

Okay.

Uh, donkeys.

All right.

And deer.

Really?

Yes.

So can you— I guess you're farming chickens at that point? Are they wild?

They're wild.

Really?

Now there's people that keep them.

Sure.

And I did— I left off goats and sheep. They have goats and sheep.

So can you, can you hunt No. Okay. Because it's a US— well, like, because it's a national park.

It's a national park. They have been talking about opening up a season on the deer.

Well, because I would imagine— what do they do to control the population?

See, this is the thing, is there are no predators on the island.

Right. So I, I can see that, which is another reason you'd have to control the population. Right.

Okay. Yeah. So there's— and like, um, There's— this is actually something I thought was really cool. There's no predators, so like no big cats, nothing like that. Um, not really even any, uh, they do have like some red-tailed hawks.

Okay.

So like, but those will go after like chickens and rats and—

Sure.

Mongoose and things. They do have mongoose.

Oh.

Um, we saw one while we were there.

It's nice. It was really cool. Yeah.

Um, and no poisonous snakes. Wow. No poisonous spiders, like no insects that are like biting, stinging. Like, it's, it's like the antithesis of Australia, right? I mean, like, everything in Australia is trying to kill you. Like, there's, there's nothing— like, the, the most dangerous thing you can come across is like fire coral, which can get you.

Sure.

And then there's some things in the ocean like urchins that can get you.

Like, they have like jellyfish or anything?

I mean, they're there, but I never saw any while I was there. I mean, honestly, most of them, the bays kind of protect that kind of stuff from coming in because they just kind of follow the water currents.

Right.

And so there was never anything that we came across like that that scared us. My wife got into this poisonous bush that gave her a rash. It's called a Christmas bush. If there's something there, she's going to find it.

Yeah, of course.

And she did. Of course. But like, other than that, man, there's like, there's like, it's just like, you don't have to be worried about your kids wandering off and finding something that's gonna try and like kill them, murder them, sting them, bite them, puncture them in any sort of way. It's just like, you know, there's like, that's just not there.

And the people are awesome.

Well, and there's just not that many people.

Sure.

I mean, like, the whole island is like 20 square miles.

Yeah, it's small.

It's small. Um, but it takes you a half hour to get everywhere because you got to drive through the mountains, right? It'll be, it'll be like 5 miles and it'll take you a half hour.

Yeah. It's like Houston.

Kind of like Houston. Yeah.

But for completely different reasons.

That's right. But so the place that we stayed at or have stayed at the last 2 times, the reason that we ended up staying there with them was 2 reasons. It's Jack and Julie's place. Big shout out to them. I'll link up their place in the show notes. It's fantastic. It's in Coral Bay. Um, and there's, there's basically 2 big places you can stay. You can stay in Cruz Bay or you can stay in Coral Bay. Cruz Bay is where there's more restaurants, there's a lot more nightlife. It's just gonna be louder and more lit up. Yeah, at night.

Sure.

Um, there's also a couple of resorts there. Um, the Westin has a big resort there, and it's pretty like—

yeah, it's—

and there's lots of cool stuff to do in Cruz Bay. And it's— Cruz Bay is where you come into the island if you're coming from St. Thomas.

Okay.

Um, and then there's Coral Bay. Coral Bay is super quiet. Um, there's like 3 or 4 restaurants in Coral Bay. Um, and nobody makes any noise after like 9 or 10 o'clock at night.

Sounds fantastic.

It is. And so, and it— now there's a lot of boats in, in Coral Bay, and Coral Bay is not a place where you can like want to go snorkeling. It's more like a boat Harboridge.

Yeah.

And but it's also where they have the floating taco bar.

Oh, nice.

Fantastic.

Of course.

So that one's called Lime Out. Shout out to Lime Out. Incredible tacos and just a fun concept. Yeah, like giant floating tables out in the water and little floating tables they push out to you with their drinks and tacos.

Oh my goodness.

Well, I'll tell you about a little bit of them. But anyway, Coral Bay, super quiet. Their place overlooks Coral Bay. And Jack maintains all the Jeeps for like St. Thomas and St. John. And so like he's the go-to mechanic and he has his own fleet that he keeps there.

Okay. And so he rents them out?

You can rent them out from him and it's very reasonable. And if you have any problems, he's the guy that they're going to call to come fix it anyway. And it's really difficult especially if you— which you have to, you have to fly into St. Thomas, right? And then take a boat from St. Thomas over to St. John. And it's really expensive to rent a car on St. Thomas and then get that car over to St. John, or just, you know, get a taxi to the boat to St. John and then rent another car while you're on St. John. It's next to impossible to find one. You usually have to book it like 6 months in advance.

Wow.

If not more, to even have a vehicle on the island. a lot of people end up resorting to taxis while they're there. Taxis are crazy expensive.

I bet.

And there's no negotiating it because they're all regulated, uh, by the local government. Um, so like, just, just to give you, for instance, it was a, uh, so when we landed in St. Thomas, there was, we had, there was 5 of us, and it was from the airport to the ferry to go to St. John. That taxi took— it was a 15-minute ride. Okay. And like maybe 6 miles.

Yeah.

Uh, it's like $125.

Oh my goodness.

To take that taxi.

Ouch.

Yeah. Yeah.

Wow.

And so, and you have no choice, right? It's like, that's what, that's what it cost. And like, and so like when you get to the airport, there's, there's literally a guy out front that's just like putting people in groups to get— because it's like most of them are like 18-passenger vans that they're sticking you on. Yeah, there's like a lot of people. Yeah, that are all paying the same price. And so they just, they just fill up the vans and then send them off, fill up the vans and send them off.

$500 to $700 apiece.

Yeah, they're group— and they group you by destination. Okay, so they're like, who's going here, who's going— and because they know there's only like so many places you can go, right? Um, and, and man, they gotta be making a killing.

Oh, have to.

But that's what you—

that's what you get whenever you live in a place where there's no other options and it's a monopoly.

Well, but like, it's also that they need to make that much in order to survive because we were talking about, like, we don't understand how people live there. Yeah. You talk about, you know, fuel being— it was like around $7 a gallon while we were there. Yeah. You talk about electricity. Electricity there is 10 times the national average.

Wow.

You know, and so you end— you do end up seeing a lot of people with, like, solar panels.

Sure.

And stuff like that.

It makes sense.

And so, but, like, we, like, we're just trying to do the math in our head and, like, we're pretty good at budgeting and, like, doing numbers for our business and understanding, you know, okay, we can make that work and how you do it.

Sure.

Like, we have— I don't have any clue how, how you, how you live there comfortably.

Sure.

Because just everything's so dang expensive.

Right.

Um, so anyway, um, where was I?

Uh, we were talking about just, you know, different places that you can be. You talked about the snorkeling you don't really want to do in Coral Bay because of all the ships.

Yeah, so, but like, even though that's like one place where you can't go snorkeling, there's like 20 different beaches that just are open to the public. Yeah, that you can go to.

Can you like rent equipment there?

I assume usually. Okay, so the place we stayed at gives you everything. Oh, so like they have snorkeling sets for everybody that stays there.

Cool.

They have, you know, anything that you want to take to the beach, they have it.

Okay.

For you. And, and usually that's, you know, also comes with the vehicle that you rent.

Okay.

And so like they provide you with towels, they've got snorkeling gear, they've got fins, they've— I mean, just the whole shebang. Um, and, and then the place that we stay, when you, when you stay with them, the week that you're there, you get 1 day of private beach. Oh, in what's called Hanson Bay. There's a private beach that they have access to, and you can reserve it for the day, and it's just yours, and nobody else can have it.

Wow.

And that day, they— there's furniture and stuff out at the private beach. They also give you umbrellas. And then that place has additional things for rent, like paddleboards. Okay. Um, kayaks, different things like that.

Nice.

Um, and it— but like, there's— and there's different beaches that have different amenities. Like, there's some of the beaches that have restaurants. at them.

Yeah.

Cinnamon Bay is one of those that has a pretty nice restaurant actually there. Okay. Cinnamon Bay also has glamping. Oh, like really nice tents that you can— but again, like, they only have— I think they have like 10 of them, right? So I mean, like, they go pretty quick.

Sure.

You have to plan in advance to do something like that. You also probably kind of want to be a camper, right, to do that.

Yeah.

So it's, you know, it There's stuff there for everybody depending on your, you know, your— if you have budgetary constraints, that's gonna be the biggest thing. Yeah.

What's the, uh, what's the climate like?

So it— I think it's pretty much the same all year long.

Okay.

Um, because it— the island sits pretty much on the equator, right? So it's, you know, it hangs out like around 85 degrees.

Huh.

Pretty much year-round humid. It's not bad.

Really?

Not bad at all.

No.

But you, like, anytime, to me at least, if you have a nice ocean breeze, it's, it's going to be difficult for it to be crazy humid.

Sure.

Um, and, and you have that all day, all night, so it gets nice and cool at night too. It usually, you know, kind of, it'll usually get down into like the low 70s, high 60s.

Okay.

Um, and I think some of that has to do with where you're sitting at on the mountain too.

I would think so.

Um, because there's lots of elevation.

Sure.

Um, you know, because I mean, you can I mean, you can look up the mountain and it's like 3/4 of a mile and there's still houses, you know, up at the top.

That's a—

that's going to be a big temperature change, of course, um, up there. So that might be a little bit cooler. We were staying further down, but we just wanted to be close to the water. We didn't want to be on some of those crappy roads going up to the top.

No.

Um, my wife had panic attacks just going on the lower ones.

So, um, I bet.

Anyway, it's, it's Yeah. So there's plenty of stuff to go and see different, but there's also hiking and there's some cool hiking trails that you can take. A lot of them lead to like really flat bluffs out over the ocean that are kind of up high.

Oh yeah.

Real pretty views. And then there's also one, the one we did the very last day, which is a waterfall hike that you can go to, but there's these stone carvings I forget what they're called. I mean, like, we have pictures of them, but like one of the carvings, it looks like a monkey ninja that they like, that picture of a head that they carved in. Yeah. And it's, it's like weird kind of like Aztecian looking carving symbols that they just carved into stones up by this waterfall.

Interesting.

And it's, it's like the best example they have of it from, you know, they don't know when, honestly.

Yeah.

Um, but really cool symbols and imagery that they have up there around this waterfall. The waterfall wasn't as big, right, uh, this time that we went. Last time we went, it was really big, but they'd had a lot of rain. Um, but it's kind of cool, like, on such a small island, this big freshwater waterfall coming down. Um, kind of rare.

Sure.

Um, so anyway, there's— I mean, there's just lots and lots of cool stuff to go, go see and do.

Yeah.

while you're there. Um, and before we get too much further, I want to thank our sponsors for this episode. Uh, the first one being Lone Star Appliance Repair. Uh, guys, if you, if you have any appliances that have, you know, they're making those bumps, those, those, those weird squeaks, uh, all the noises that you don't want to be hearing coming from your, uh, kitchen and washroom and all that kind of stuff, give them a call.

Yeah.

It's so much cheaper to get your appliance— you, you never know, it could be a simple fix. that they can set up for you and make it brand new again. Yeah, working like it hadn't worked in months, you know. And, and so, but, and there's a, there's a simple fee that they charge to come out and diagnose that appliance. And, you know, hey, maybe wait until there's 2 appliances that are down. Yeah, right. Get them to check them both out while they're there. I'm sure they're happy to oblige.

Sure.

Um, but their techs are great and they're very understanding and they, they want to get you back up and running Um, you know, and maybe that's because they walked in the house and they smelled how bad it was since you hadn't been able to do a load of laundry. Yeah, right.

Well, my— they actually came out to, uh, my mother-in-law's house just, uh, a few days ago, actually. Um, her washing machine— she's got one of those, um, it's not a stackable washer and dryer, it is a one washer dryer unit altogether. Uh, the dryer's on top, and, uh, the motor actually wound up going out on the Oh wow. The washing machine. So she had had this thing for like 20 years, and you know, the thing, the thing that's nice about them coming out, they come out, they tell, they give you your options, and ultimately she decided to get a new one because it was old enough that she didn't feel like it was the smartest choice to, to put a new motor in something that's so old. But,

um, you know, you don't know. I mean, it very likely could have gone the other way. where they're like, oh, we just need to change this little thing, and it was a cheap fix and she could have been on her way. But, uh, they're going to be honest with you. They're not going to just take your money, and they understand, uh, that if, uh, you know, if you want to go one way or the other, they're gonna, they're gonna help you out however they can, right? So great experience. She had nothing but good things to say about the, the man that came out and, and helped and, um, was very kind and very honest. And, um, yeah, everything was, was great. So Uh, she had a, she had a great

experience. I know you will too. And it's really easy to get a hold of them. You can call them at 936-647-2364. You can even text them at that very same number, or just go onto their website and you'll be able to, uh, to find them pretty easy. In fact, you can find a link to their website in the bottom of these, uh, this episode if you're listening online. Uh, you can find them really, really easily. Just Google Lone Star Appliance Repair. repair, and you'll find them.

Awesome. Also want to say thank you to Texas True Solar, our newest sponsor for the show. These guys are the experts in solar energy systems and independent energy ownership. Uh, these guys want to come out and give you a free quote and see how they can help you get energy independence through solar, uh, and, and, or maybe through, you know, a combination of things like solar, battery, generator. Um, but really, they want to, they want to be your go-to honest approach to solar energy. The, the CEO Josh, he actually travels around speaking about the scams and, and some of the frustrations that a lot of homeowners experience with dishonest solar programs or, or, you know, people who have gotten taken advantage

of and, and exposing some of these ways that other companies are doing this, but also providing a way for people to get honest information about getting solar on your home. And it's, you know, a lot of the benefits that the government's providing right now, the incentives that you have, there's a lot of people not being honest about the way those work. And so like True Texas Solar wants to be your company, your go-to solar company about getting the truth exposed about solar. You can give them a call at, let's see here, where is it? It's 936. Oh, go ahead.

Go ahead. 936-286-8325. That's 936-286-8325. 286-8325. You can also go straight to their website, uh, truetexasolar.com, and schedule a consultation with them that way. And, uh, you never know. I mean, it's one of those things where you, you may be a perfect candidate to, to get solar.

Right.

And if you are, um, it can save you a lot of money down the road and, uh, just give you that independent mind. I mean, I'll tell you right now, like, And it seems that we currently just live in an area where the grid system is not very good.

Right.

And I don't know about you, but when the storms are rolling through a week or so ago when the flooding was so bad, like, our, our electricity went— came on and off multiple times. Now, it wasn't, it wasn't off ever for more than a moment.

Yeah.

But you, you just know. I mean, there's, there's a possibility. And we're, we're probably— you and I are probably in a better situation than some because we're in a co-op. And the co-op's nice just Because, uh, there's a different level of investment in getting it back up and running.

Yeah.

Than, you know, if you're on NRG or some of these other, uh, companies. And so being able to kind of control and know I've got power is, uh, is really, really important. So just give them a call, 936-286-8325. They will take care of you.

Yeah. And so one of the things I'll tell you that I saw on the island that was super cool is I saw a lot of sailboats with solar.

Oh, really? Yeah.

And not like when, like, when I say solar, I'm saying like, they weren't like the straight square panels. They were curved.

Really? Yeah.

And so they had, they were custom built or designed. I don't know how it works. But like custom solar panels designed to be the canopy of the boat.

Interesting.

So it was like, you know, we're like, I don't know how much you've been on sailboats or whatever. But like, not much on the back end. There's usually like the spot where you kind of get down in the boat where you actually drive the boat from.

Okay.

Um, and there's usually like a vinyl cover or like a plastic and something, right, over you. These, these were curved solar panels really sitting on the top, and that's like— and they were big.

Yeah.

And so I was like, oh dang, they're powering that whole boat. That's cool for electricity with that.

Yeah, that's really cool. I just, I actually just bought a device, um, which you don't really have to deal with this too much because you have a cover over your pool. Um, but one of the things that's like the bane of my existence is skimming our pool. And we have an above-ground pool, so it's a big above-ground pool. But, um, the problem is like getting that, that skimmer net up. I mean, it's just a lot of work.

Yeah.

You know, the ones that are in the ground are just a little bit easier to do. But, uh, there's a lot of times where I just spend a lot of time skimming, and we're under trees too, so, um, I bought a robot skimmer.

Uh-huh.

And it's, it's solar powered.

Nice.

You can plug it in, but it's also solar powered and, uh, it'll run 24/7.

So does it sit underneath the water and just—

Yeah, it like sits on top of the water.

It sits on top of the water.

So it's got a— as it, as it— yeah, it's like floats along the top of the water and just skims the top and it does a great job. It'll be real interesting. We can, we can do a, uh, Uh, podcast on it soon. Uh, okay, as soon as I get everything back up and running. I was cleaning out our pool yesterday and found a rip in the liner or something. I don't know, it should be fairly easy to fix, but I got to fix it.

Actually, I took a peek in there when I was over there the other day.

Oh, it was gross. Oh yeah, it was. Yeah, well, so what I think happened is we had a pretty decent-sized tree limb that had fallen. I think it, it jabbed through. Um, but yeah, we got it all cleaned out. It's— it'll be good to go in a couple days, uh, once I can actually you know, once the rain subsides, actually, actually get in there and, uh, finish cleaning it. But, um, it's all, all the stuff from the bottom that you saw is all cleaned out. But anyway, it'll be real interesting because now we've got the robot that, that like cleans the, the floor, and then we'll have the skimmer that will keep the floor much cleaner because as, you know, as it kind of

skims along the top, it— stuff won't get down to the bottom quite as easily. So yeah, it'll be interesting. see how that works.

I'm interested to hear about that thing. I mean, because like, one, I couldn't use it because I don't have—

You don't need it. But let me— the other thing is like, it was very reasonably priced for what I thought it— well, it was on sale. I bought it on sale and it was on a flash sale on top of that. So, um, I got it for a decent price. But, uh, if it works the way it is touted to work, I'm going to be very happy.

So, okay, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna run through some One, I'm gonna— I wanna finish telling everybody why we stayed at where we stayed at, because there's several amenities that we could take advantage of. Um, one, I also wanna tell everybody that if you wanna— if you just wanna check out, I'll go ahead and send Kevin this link. Um, but if you just did a search, because this is how I found it real quick, is I just did a search for, uh, Jack and Julie USVI, and the very first result is their place on VRBO.

Okay.

Um, so I'm gonna send this over to Kevin real quick. Um, anyway, and like the very first picture is actually our, our patio that we, that we stayed on.

Okay.

Um, so that, that is our place. Uh, pulling it up right now. Oh, sweet. Uh, anyway, part of the other reason that we stay there, one is access to the, the Jeep.

Yeah.

Um, And then, uh, oh yeah, there it is. Um, 2 is Julie is a, uh, semi-retired chef.

Oh.

That lives there. And before you come, she will typically give you a list of menu items that she's willing to prepare dinners and/or lunches for you, and she lists the costs for them.

Okay.

Um, and everything. They are amazing.

Really?

They are absolutely Incredible. She does an amazing job. And there may even be pictures on there of some of the food that she's prepared. Um, but yeah, that's, that's our place, man. And, and, uh, it's just—

You have access to this kitchen?

Yes. Yeah. Well, so that's, that's the one we stayed in this time. Okay. There are 2 other units in the same building that are like, kind of like, almost like honeymoon suites.

Okay.

That are like a 1-bedroom, 1-bath.

Okay. You don't have the kitchen.

Don't have the kitchen.

Okay.

But again, you're staying there. I just recommend getting her to cook you dinner. I mean, because it's private, right? And every, every room has a private patio with a table and chairs on it. So you can have all your meals there. And you have access to a grill if you want to do your own kind of thing. We actually ended up doing a deal with her where— and I'm going to talk about this in a minute because we chartered a boat while we were there.

Okay.

We were hoping to catch our own fish. We ended up not being able to do that, but she made contingency plans for us had we not been able to catch our own fish, which ended up coming to fruition. She had local fishermen have fish ready for us.

Really?

And so she actually prepared all the sauces and the sides and then let us grill the fish.

Okay.

And, and then just have that be our meal one night. Oh, that's awesome. So anyway, staying there is a huge, huge advantage because no one else gets those meals.

Right.

And if you, if you go follow me on Instagram or Facebook or something like that, you can, you can see some of the meals that, that we had sitting on there. I mean, they're just absolutely incredible. And she can, she can do stuff other than fish.

Here's one of the meals right here.

So I don't see if the live feed, but Looks pretty good.

Oh, it's lobster.

Oh yeah, she does do a lobster. Like, we had mahi, we had grouper, we had diver sea scallops. That's what this is. And all of it was just so good. But like, our kids, they're not big fish eaters.

Yeah.

And so she made them steak tacos.

Really?

Which were really good.

I'm sure they were.

So anyway, just, just an absolutely incredible place to stay. It also has access— there's 2 grocery stores really close to their place, as well as some of the better restaurants on the island. And so that one, I'll tell you real quick, you know, just as far— there's, there's a couple places I would check out if I go to St. John. One would be the St. John's Brewery, which is in Cruz Bay.

Okay.

It's worth checking just because it's a local brew. They brew all their beer there, and they actually have a restaurant, and it's got like pizza and burgers, and the food's pretty good too. And it's in this cool little town center that has a bunch of other little shops around it, so you can kind of get, you know, you can check out some of the local fare that's not directly in Cruz Bay, which is more touristy. And so the brewery is a good place to check out. There is a really cool bar at the Westin that just sits right on the beach.

Oh.

It's a real pretty bar. And so like, if you're just into having like an evening cocktail, cocktail, or a, you know, a glass of wine at the end of the day. Yeah, it's a real pretty place to sit and have a glass. Um, there's also, uh, Skinny Legs. Skinny Legs, uh, we love Skinny Legs.

It's—

I mean, you could walk to it from where we stayed at in Coral Bay. Um, it's where a lot of locals will tell you to go check out.

Okay.

Um, they are— they're just a different kind of a restaurant. There's no deep fat fryers there.

Ah.

And so like no French fries or anything like that, but they have really good burgers. Probably the best burger I had on the island. And they usually, they have a rotating special every day with a different burger or chicken sandwich or something like that. Everything we've had there has been great. Everything's fresh. I even had a salad there that was just perfect. And, but the other reason I really love Skinny Legs is they have the, in my opinion, they have the best painkiller on the island.

Oh. Nice.

Which, I don't—

are you—

have you ever had pain?

I've never had one, but I'm aware of what it is. Yes.

So like, I'm not a big like sweet cocktail drinker kind of a guy, um, but when I go to an island, I want a painkiller. Yeah, uh, it's pineapple, coconut, rum. It's just— and then they put nutmeg on the top.

Oh wow.

It's just good. I love it. And it's like every restaurant on the island has one.

Okay.

Skinny Legs is sort of famous for not having blenders.

Oh.

So they handshake every single cocktail that they make.

Interesting.

So it's just, I mean, like, it's not weird to be sitting there and have like a bunch of chickens underneath your feet. I mean, it's just, it's a different kind of a place.

Yeah, it's a different vibe.

But it's one of the ones you got to check out. It's kind of off the beaten path.

Okay.

But like, you know, when it opens, because everybody that knows about it, they go there. Yep.

Interesting.

So The other thing was, is we came across this guy, Drift Charters.

Okay.

Uh, I love this guy.

All right.

He was fantastic. Let me tell you why this is a unique find. If you go to the island and you charter a boat, you're gonna do one of two things. You're gonna go snorkeling or you're gonna go fishing. Okay, one of those two.

Yeah.

Um, and on that fishing and/or snorkel boat You're gonna have drinks and cocktails provided or you're not.

Oh.

Um, and you may or may not have the option to go to Limeout, which it's kind of pricey to take a little shuttle out to Limeout because it's a floating taco bar, right? You can only get to it by boat. So if you don't have a boat, you can't go. So you got to like either charter like a little float boat to get out there or be on a big boat that's willing to take you there.

Okay.

Drift Charters was the only company that we found that was willing to do all of it.

Okay.

The only one.

Interesting.

And so he had drinks on the boat for us. He was willing to take us out and go fishing. He had all the gear ready to go. He knew exactly what he was doing, but he also knew all the snorkeling spots.

Okay.

And so we went out fishing that morning. Oh, you'd be on the website.

Good for you.

Yeah. And, uh, the water was super choppy. I mean, the wind was like 20, 25 knots. And so like pretty good-sized waves. It's not a huge boat. And I loved it. Like I've, I've been out in that kind of stuff before. I, I live for it, man. I'm there for it. People were getting seasick.

Sure.

Um, and not enjoying themselves. Um, and we'd only been out there 20 minutes. And it was like, hey, we're not enjoying this.

Yeah.

Like, we're paying a bunch of money to have this boat.

Are you doing a half day or full day? Full day. Okay.

Full day on the boat. Um, because we were going to try and get everything in. Um, and so anyway, I just, I, I went to the captain and I was like, hey man, like, I don't think this is gonna work. I mean, I really want to fish, but like, there's a bunch of people getting seasick, right? My wife's kind of worried about my kids. The water's kind of choppy.

Yeah.

Which I know it's fine, but, you know, it's like scary.

It's scary, especially when they got kids.

Yes. And he's like, no problem, man. I got you. So we pulled in all the lines, hightailed it back into the island, and he was like, let's go snorkeling.

Okay.

And we, I mean, we just started doing it, and he was just so accommodating. Accommodating, man. Yes. I mean, he was just, he was just ready for us to have a great day.

Sure.

And he really made it happen. He took us to some spots, you know, spots you can't get to just from the land.

Yeah.

Some really cool, cool spots. And the other thing was, one, my kids are, especially my younger 2, are fish and they are really, really good swimmers.

Yeah.

And it kind of freaks some people out sometimes because they're like, should he be doing that? Are they okay? Because I mean, like, they'll dive down and you won't see them for a while. Oh yeah. And like, they're I mean, as soon as you stop, they're ready to get in the water.

Yeah.

I mean, like, you'll, you'll run into like experienced, you know, like beachgoers who are like, they want like a pool noodle on them before they get in the water. Sure. My kids, no way. They're in the water.

They're there.

So we started finding conch while we were out, which is a harvestable— I don't even know what they are. I guess they're a cephalopod. Yeah. Like the big conch shells that you see.

Yeah.

You seen those? Yeah, so one of the things that you eat on the island while you're there is conch fritters. Everyone usually— restaurants have conch fritters on the menu.

Interesting.

Have you ever had those?

Are they fried? Yeah, most of them.

They're like— if you haven't ever had them, they're kind of like hush puppies. Okay, but like they just got conch meat in them. Usually have like corn in them, and you usually dip them in like a remoulade. Okay, really, really yummy. Um, but anyway, you can, you can actually get them, harvest them off the ocean floor.

Okay.

But they have to be at minimum 9 inches.

Oh, that's huge.

It's huge for a shell.

Yeah.

So all the ones that we found were under 9 inches.

Yeah.

But my kids, like, once I found the first one and it was, it was like maybe 6.5, 7 inches long. Sure. But I was just like, look what I found. Yeah. You know, of course, once I found that, that's all they wanted to do.

That's it.

And so they were diving down like 12, 15 feet.

Oh my gosh.

When they— one, you could see them.

Yeah.

At that depth. Yeah. But 2, like, they were diving down down and getting these conch and bringing them up, and they wanted to measure them because they were like, let's go home and make conch fritters. And I'm like, I'm in there, let's do it.

Yeah, right.

I didn't get to fish anything. I want to kill a conch.

Sure.

Um, we never, we never got one that was big enough, but we did— we had a blast diving for them. And, and so as soon as they knew that we could pick something up, um, they were like, well, let's go to the next one, let's go to the next one. And then they started like, okay, well, I— last time I saw one, it was in a spot like this, and so like be looking for that at the next one. You're like, they're like They're like a school of shark, man.

Yeah, that's right.

They were coordinating.

Yeah, they were hunting.

But, and so we, we did that and then we went to Limeout and just ate gobs of tacos.

I'm sure you're starving at that point.

Oh, we were. Yeah. Well, and here's the thing, man, you tell everybody you're going to Limeout and everyone's like, well, just be prepared, it's the most expensive taco you'll have in your life. That was not true. Okay, but they're not cheap. I mean, most of the tacos are between $10 and $14 apiece.

Have you been to Torchy's?

Yes. Look, I mean, Torchy's, you're gonna pay like, what, $4 to $6 per taco?

But around here, that's a pretty pricey taco.

Yeah. But you know, for what you're doing, the experience that you're getting, it is what it is. It is what it is, man. And like, it like, and they were good.

You gotta, you gotta kind of take that type of thing and go, look, what you're getting, you'll never get again. Yeah, this is not a normal thing. So you are not just paying for the taco, you're paying for the experience. And you kind of got to look at it that way, you know? Yeah.

And I would say, like, look, don't ruin everyone else's experience by being a cheap ass.

It's so true.

It's just like, why, why put that stain on that day?

Right. It's like the people that wear the most expensive day ever shirts at Disney. I do too.

I hate those people.

I mean, everybody knows it's expensive.

And I know that you're being slightly sarcastic when— not you, but like people are being slightly sarcastic wearing the shirts.

I don't care. Still, you're just like, you didn't pay any different amount than I did. Yeah, we all know how much it costs. Yeah. And it probably wasn't your most expensive day ever.

Oh, definitely not. I've had Look, man, when your AC goes out— Car issues.

Yeah, your AC goes out, you got a roof that goes, you know, got hail damage on the roof, you got a tree falls on your house. There's a lot of more expensive days.

That could actually be like a fun marketing ploy for Jehu and JoJo over there. Oh, that's true. Hand out most expensive day ever t-shirts.

That would be hilarious. JoJo, if you're listening right now, get on that. That's a great idea.

It's like you show up to do the job, it's like, I'm sorry, but we got you this t-shirt.

We got you this. I know it's a small consolation, But, you know, it'd be great advertising.

That's right.

That's funny.

Or they could do like the, the contrary t-shirt. Oh, you know, where it's like, it's the one that they'll give you that you can wear to Disney that says like, no, jackass, this was the most expensive day.

Yeah. Yeah. But have your— has your AC ever gone out? That's funny. That's— I think I've mentioned it before, but one of my favorite advertising for AC company is a massive billboard going down Highway 75 in Dallas, and it said, your wife is hot. Massive. And right underneath it said, get your AC checked. That's right. So funny. So funny. Very eye-catching. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Well, you know, ad did its job.

Exactly.

So Well, man, I don't, I don't think I have anything else about— do you have any questions about any of that?

I mean, I think we answered most of them. I mean, I, I— so you— the biggest thing I know, you gotta, you gotta fly to St. Thomas and then get over to St. John. But, you know, I, I think just doing your research and, and honestly, look, you can do your research, but just stay at this place. I mean, why wouldn't you at this point?

It, it's not, it's not any more expensive than any other place that you're going to stay on the island.

Sure.

And in fact, it's less than others.

And at that point, you're getting, you're getting a great, a great atmosphere, tried and true, you know, and it's an Airbnb. It's what it is.

It is what it is, man.

Yeah.

So, okay. So while I have one, one parting story before we, we turn this thing off. Okay. So while I'm there, I meet this dude from Connecticut.

All right.

And Connecticut. Anyway, super nice guy. He owns, he owns a house there on the island.

Oh.

And he was telling me, I mean, we just got to chatting at one of the beaches where he was there with his grandkids.

Okay.

His son and their children. And he was telling me that he owns the place. And I asked him, so how often do you come? He goes, I'm usually here about 1 month out of the year.

Oh, nice.

And I was like, oh, that's awesome.

And then he's what, like Airbnb-ing the place? Yeah.

And I was like, so it's a vacation rental the rest of the time? He goes, oh yeah. And I said, how's that doing for you? And he goes, oh, it does pretty well. I said, really? I was like, give me an idea. And he goes, I'll tell you this. He goes, I usually pay around a million dollars every year in HOA fees.

Okay, okay, what? Yeah.

And I was like, holy crap, dude. Yeah, that's crazy. And I said, you're still cash flowing on this thing? He goes, oh yeah, it's doing pretty good.

Oh my goodness.

I was like, oh my gosh. And like, not only that, he's taking a month off the calendar every year, right? So like, for him, for him.

Geez.

So while I'm talking with him, he's asking me about what I do and, you know, like where I'm from, what I do, all this kind of stuff. I'm from Texas, I kill bugs, um, no big deal. And he goes, oh, so did you hear about the, the big scandal here? And I was like, no, what are you talking about? And he goes, you didn't hear about the company that killed all those people?

What?

And I was like, what are you talking about? He goes, yeah, there was this, uh, this vacation rental, uh, that this company was treating and there was a family staying in the unit above and they killed a bunch of them.

What?

And, and now they're being sued and—

Well, yeah. And all this kind of stuff.

And I was like, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. And so like, I was telling— talking to my wife about it and she goes, well, that sounds insane. I mean, surely we would have heard something about that. And I was like, I don't know, but I'm gonna research it when I get home.

Yeah.

So I did.

And here it is.

And here it is. So, so this was kind of like a game of telephone. No one was killed.

Okay.

But the father in the family was permanently disabled. And what is it where you can't walk? And what's it called?

Cerebral palsy? No, no, no.

It's like when you— like when you—

There's so many options.

No, it's— it's—

go with—

I can't think of the word. Anyway, he can't— he can't ever walk again.

Yeah, he's like a paraplegic.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. And like, he's— it looks like he's got like severe, like arthritis in his hands and all paralyzed. Thank you. Paralyzed. Oh, anyway. And then the kids were paralyzed for a good long while and recovered somewhat. But like everyone in the family was, was injured in some form or fashion. So all that, all that was true.

This was Terminix.

Terminix.

I'm going to put it out there.

So it says it right here. It's in the article. So we're not, we're not like— no.

Anyway, I'm not defaming them.

No. Uh, and the case was, it happened back in 2015. Okay.

Right.

The case with the family, I don't think was settled until 2018, and they ended up having to pay them $96 million.

Sheesh.

And the reason it was so bad is not just because they injured the family and they did an improper treatment that caused the injury, But they use— they were using a pesticide that had been banned.

Ooh.

And it hadn't just, like, been banned, like—

Methyl bromide.

Yeah. It hadn't just been banned, like, a month before. It'd been banned for years.

Oh, man.

And, and so the guy that was, like, the manager of that Terminix branch was—

Oh, deep doo-doo. Yeah.

So he's— he went to prison, but he only went to prison for, like, 12 months.

What?

Yeah.

Um, she killed a group of people.

He didn't kill anybody.

Oh, he didn't kill anybody. Okay, let's wind that back.

Yeah, the story I initially got—

Severely hurt people.

Yeah, permanently severely hurt people. Um, on vacation and, uh, just, just insane, man. Yeah, I also understand how it happened. I like— I know exactly what happened.

Sure.

But without even having to read the article, I knew what had happened. Because while I was there, there are termite colonies everywhere.

Oh, really? Everywhere.

They're in the trees, man. Oh, there's a, there's a video I'm going to be posting not too long from now of one that I found that I poked.

Okay.

And they are, I believe they are, they're either dampwood or drywood termites. I don't know which ones they are, but it's one of the two.

Okay.

And it's these— there are these kinds of termites. They actually have them in the Heights. in here in Houston.

Really? Yeah.

Okay. They are these termites that come up out of the ground and then they go up and build their colony above. Oh.

And then that—

and then they just, they just, they draw from the ground and then build their carton up.

Geez.

And the only way to get rid of them is to fumigate.

Okay.

And so what happened is the building below had termites in it and they were fumigating it and those fumes got up into that top unit and just waxed those people, man. And because methyl bromide is nothing to mess around with, man, it's got the skull and crossbones on that stuff. kill you, right?

Well, yeah.

Um, and, and so come to find out, like, I, I started reading a bunch of articles on the issue because it's been— it's 2015. I mean, there's been a lot of information. The case was just settled with the Virgin Islands. Termin— the Virgin Islands actually ended up suing Terminix.

Okay.

And Terminix had to pay the Virgin Islands $3 million. Oh my goodness. And part of the reason was because Terminix hadn't— wasn't just operating on St. John. They were in St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Puerto Rico.

Wow.

I mean, like, he was managing all those and using methyl bromide. They were able to backtrack and see that he had used it all over those islands.

Oh my goodness.

For years. And he just, he just claimed ignorance. He's like, I didn't know.

What?

I didn't know.

That, that doesn't work.

What? Clearly.

Yeah, that's like that's like walking up to someone shooting them and going, "I didn't know that would happen." It's like it's the George syndrome. Was that wrong?

Was that wrong? Because if I would have known that was wrong, right? Should I not have done that?

Yeah, exactly. Come on, George.

Isn't that the one where he sleeps with the secretary?

Yes.

Or the no, it's the cleaning lady.

Yeah, the cleaning lady. Yeah, he's a cleaning lady in his office. Was that wrong? That's so funny. Oh man.

So anyway, that, that was a story that I came across while I was there. Just absolutely insane.

Yeah.

Um, and, uh, let's see, what's the name of this? Oh, I'm sorry, I said $97 million. It was $87 million.

It was $87 million. And then, but then they had to pay $10,000 in fines. Yes. On top of the settlement. And then there was also the $3 million to the Virgin Islands. To the Virgin Islands. So you're, you're at $100 million. Yeah, they, they— that's, that's where that number $100 million came from. Yeah, they were like, we're gonna make this $100 million.

Well, and let me tell you, they're not there anymore. I found it. I found an article several years later about Terminix decides to end its relationship with the Virgin Islands, and I'm like, I wonder why.

No, I, I think they ended your relationship more than you ended your relationship.

Well, I mean, look, even, even if you wanted to stay, I mean, one, that's I mean, you know, 87 million is a bloodbath.

Sure.

To just the fact that a guy who lives there one month out of the year is talking about it almost 10 years later.

Yep.

And, you know, the only part of the story he got wrong was that they killed them, right? Everything else he knew exactly right.

Wow.

Um, and they're still talking about it.

Yep.

That's crazy.

That's a big deal.

So reputation is gone. Like those. And here's the other thing, man, is, you know, obviously Terminix is doing fine. They're a big company. And, and like, I've, I've worked with a lot of guys that have come out of Terminix. They do good training. Sure, they have good people over there. Yeah. Um, but what would concern me more than anything is the Virgin Islands is a tourist destination, right? Where now everybody that lives there thinks of them as evil. and will take the opportunity when given to tell you that story.

Good luck.

Yeah. And so like those people who go to that island and hear those stories are taking those stories back to their hometown. Yeah. And so that bad reputation is infected across the United States, man. Yeah. And like, we're not trying to like bolster that at all. It was just crazy that that's the story I heard while I was on the island.

Right. So Yeah. I mean, we'll we'll we'll take this down if Terminex wants us to, but they're gonna need to contact us first. Right.

I mean, call ABC and all the twenty other news stations that carry this.

We'll just do it for a fee. Is this just to say?

Oh, we're blackmailing.

We can be bribed. But it's it's less than eighty-seven million. I'll put it out there.

Dude, the pic the pictures of the dad and the wheelchair man.

Oh, I know, dude. Just breaks your heart.

That's okay. The part that pisses me off is this is something that's completely preventable, right? And shouldn't have— should have never happened. Nope.

Um, well, and what I— there's also like, yes, the, the person who is running it should have, should have known.

Yeah.

However, he's buying this chemical in droves.

He's getting it somewhere.

He's getting it somewhere, and it's coming across, uh, statement to Terminix.

Like, they, they know, they know they can't—

and surely that's where a lot of that, that money is like going. No, no, no, this goes straight up to the top.

Yeah, you know, and like, just, I mean, from, from a perspective of a guy that's in the industry, like, this is why it's so important to find a company that has been around a while.

Yeah.

And again, Terminix has been around a while, so they check that box.

Sure.

But like, But that someone that you can have a personal interaction with, that you can know that this is someone that's going to act with integrity and act in your best interest, right? Not necessarily because, look, there, there are chemicals in our industry that make our jobs way easier.

Sure.

And get quicker results. That doesn't mean that it's the best thing for your situation, right? Or that it's the most ethical thing because Look, there, there are still guys out there talking about chlorodane to this day. Chlorodane's been banned for more than 20 years.

Yeah.

And I still run across guys, right, I got some chlorodane hiding in the— in my grandpa's barn and I'm still using it. Yeah. And it's like, what is wrong with you?

Yeah, come on.

Like, no, was it a great product? Yeah, it was an incredible product.

Right.

But like, it sits in the soil forever, which is why they got rid of it.

Sure.

And so, like, you, you want somebody that's, that's gonna do right by you, but, like, is also looking out for, like, your family's health. I mean, this is, this is why, like, our onboarding process for some people is just, like, invasive, you know? Because, like, we ask a lot of personal questions before we come into your house.

Sure.

You know, and, and for some people that's surprising.

Sure.

For some people that's encouraging.

Yeah.

But for, for a lot of people who have had interactions with other companies, It's like, why are you asking me all these things?

Right.

It's like, because we care. Because we care and we don't want to do anything to like hurt you and your family.

Yeah, I mean, or your pets or your animals. Right, exactly. There's, there's so many things that, that you need to know. Yeah, yeah.

Or that I need to be made aware of so as to like take better care of you.

That's it. That's right.

And that, that's what it comes down to at the end of the day. So anyway, it's a great trip. I encourage everybody, if you have the means to get out there, go stay at, you know, Jack and Julie's. Go jump on a boat with Drift Charters. Go to Skinny Legs.

Yeah.

Do all those things.

Sure.

You know, just like, it's, it's kind of like going to Disney, man. Like, you're gonna be spending money no matter what.

Yeah.

Just spend it and enjoy it the way you want to.

Just know it's coming.

And then suffer through it for the next 3 to 4 years.

That's awesome.

So cool. That's it.

That's it. Well, thank you guys for downloading today's episode or listening to us live on the YouTubes and the Facebooks and all the places.

We're everywhere.

So if you've not already liked and subscribed, that's your fault. You should go ahead and do that. Click the clickety thing and leave us a 5-star rating and review. We would appreciate it very much. Tell your friends about us. We have fun on here and they will too. Thanks for listening. Till next time, we'll see you later.

See ya! Yeah, he gave us a bunch of stickers. I'm gonna put them on the door.

Cool.

Yeah, and he's from Georgia.

Really?

Yeah.

But he's in St. Thomas and St. Croix too. He's got a pretty decent-sized operation as far as that goes. Or he goes to those places. It's probably a better way.

Yeah, he does. He goes to those places.

He's only got one boat right now.

Yeah, well, he just got another one and he got a big one. No, not yet. Like, he's, he's got to go like pick it up and get it there still.

Okay.

Um, but he, uh, his wife is a, um— oh, hang on, let me stop this.