I’m back. I am sure that once our plans really get moving towards our move, I will have more interesting things to write about, but since we are not really at that point yet, I just figured no one really wants to hear about my boring day to day activities. Anyway, I can explain at least a few weeks of my absence from posting new material. We are slowly remodeling our home in case we decide that we must sell it to move to St. Croix. Last winter, we tackled all the bedrooms and two of the bathrooms. A couple of months ago we started on the other third of the house – the office, laundry room and third bathroom. We totally redid the office which included new flooring, removing the paneling from the walls, new lighting and new furniture. In doing all this work, it was necessary to unplug “my” computer and move it to another room where it remained unplugged. So that’s where I was for about a month. Then I had my appendix taken out – nothing that would have really kept me from posting here, but I didn’t have very much exciting info to write about other than bodily functions.

So now I’m back, and I have learned some disturbing news. There are apparently not any tattoo shops on St. Croix. I know – it’s life threatening and upsetting news. Here’s the thing: I really like tattoos, and I have often said that if I didn’t have a “normal” job, I would have more tattoos, and they would certainly be more prominent. I have promised H after the last tattoo which was last summer (and rather large) that I would not get any more tattoos, but who knows? He might change his mind and want one himself.

Here’s what I have learned. There was a recent post on the moving forum where someone was inquiring about this very topic. The consensus was: no shops on St. Croix. Someone suggested that they might do tattoos at Ruel’s Risqué Wear. I looked them up in the VI phone book – they are listed under “Exotic Apparel”. Now I am not trying to imply that a shop that provides exotic apparel cannot also perform killer tattoo work, but I must admit I am skeptical. (they don’t sell exotic apparel on LA Ink, but Kat Von D does have a stripper pole – coincidence?) I have not always been tattooed in the nicest of shops – the shop where I got my first tattoo was down an alley in a sketchy part of town and a guy was passed out on a pool table – but my tastes have evolved. The artist who has done my last two pieces is extremely professional – he sets up a consultation where you discuss exactly what you want, he draws it up and you come back a week later – no drunken, late night decisions here.

I Googled “tattoos” and “Virgin Islands.” There were no hits for tattoo shops, but luckily you do get a description of the tattoos on the Virgin Islands’ Most Wanted. I looked in the phone book again – this time under “Tattoos”. There were two places listed, but they were both in St. Thomas. Jimmy Buffham’s Exotic (again with the “exotic”) Piercing and Tattoo had a really nice ad so I guess there is hope for the Virgin Islands. For now, I’m going to stick with Tim – my tattoo artist. That’s one of my tattoos pictured first on his tattoo portfolio. I’ll keep an open mind though and check out Ruel’s on our next visit. You never know what I might find there.