I was moved recently when I saw the large number of people who came to the Prospect Playhouse on Remembrance Day Monday (9) to see the encore production of my last play “The 13th Apostle & the Disciple of Demons” [see also Top Story “13th Apostle”).

I received many cards wishing me well and thanking me for the many years of entertainment I have given them through not only my playwriting but also my acting and directing mostly with the Cayman Drama Society. I also had a couple bottles of wine ready for Christmas and even boxes of chocolates.

I was moved to tears with my thank you speech and forgot to thank some important members of the cast and crew.

I will NEVER forget the warmness and friendship that emanated from all corners of that theatre. No money and no gongs can come near to replacing that.

Then there was that other moving experience that also will never be forgotten for completely different reasons.

I really did physically move.

At the end of last month I moved with my dear wife from George Town to the far corners of the world – actually Newlands. But to us, at our age and having lived in George Town for my whole 33 years on Grand Cayman and Joan’s whole life (she is over 80 – except for twelve years in England), it might just as well be another place far away. Joan lived in the 7 Bedroom 2-storey house on nearly an acre of land we vacated just off the West Bay Road for nearly 50 years and me for over 30. The dwelling we are in now is single storey and a small 3 Bed – Joan calls it a bungalow – with a tiny garden. There is no gentle noise from the traffic and the persons who passed by throughout the day in George Town. Here at Newlands it is quiet except for the occasional noise of barking dogs. I have seen more dogs than actual people.

The biggest problem we are experiencing apart from the size adjustment is trying to find things. Some I fear will never be found. We have mountains of bags and cases to unload and if we do attempt this where do we stow the “treasures” we find away?

Even the ‘valuables’ we have unloaded and put away in drawers trying to remember what is there is and where they are is another exercise in frustration.

As Joan continually laments, “Why did this have to happen at our age?”

It is a challenge and the first week went like this.

Changing the address of our utilities that involves meter readings where applicable. The very worse that still hasn’t been resolved didn’t involve any readings. It was a fixed amount per month for sewerage. It didn’t need an address change just a new owner change. The rigmarole and form filling and ID and secrecy in trying to do this is just crazy. Three phone calls, three form to fill in, ID copies, a visit in person –TWICE – and now I have just been told by the new owner of our property – the Water Authority (yes I am going to name them) have said there is no record of us vacating and change of ownership! They want it all done again. This despite a call during the first week of being here in Newlands from a technician from The Water Authority asking us why we wanted our sewerage at our house in George Town disconnected!

We had better luck with the telephone company (FLOW) and also the company that supplied television/Internet.

All was well for the first couple of days.

Then:

The first Friday in our new home the hardline telephone was inexplicably disconnected by FLOW. After many phone calls talking to someone in a different country we finally got the phone line back on the Tuesday afternoon. Except the technician that came out showed me the work order that instructed him to disconnect the telephone line that had already been disconnected for no reason! Happily I was able to convince him of the mistake and he changed the work order and I signed it. Telephone fixed – hurrah!

On the same Tuesday we got the phone back the television suddenly went out. BLACK. Wednesday BLACK. Finally on the Thursday a technician came and after an hour or so he got us back with television- hurrah!

Two days later Internet went down at 9am. It stayed own all day. And part of the next day until on its own it came back – sort of. Slow speed and going down and coming back.

Two technicians came and it was up but very slow. They tut tutted and said where I was living we were lucky to get any Internet. The problem is too many persons on the Internet.

And that is how the Internet is to this day. Intermittently going down and most of the day so slow a snail would be hard pressed to move slower.

Move being the operative word.

I really was moved. But I wished I wasn’t!!