The Island is OUT OF ROOT BEER!

While preparing to move to Guam, the prospect of living without some of the things of normal everyday life crossed my mind. What kind of clothing would we find here. Did everyone own cars, bicycles, scooters or walk to wherever they were going. Gas, tires, furniture, Internet.
What if they don't have cable TV!
Would there be more than one grocery store on the Island? How different would the food be. I wasn't sure what to expect.
I remember a friend, a young doctor, who went to the missionary field in Africa for a short time. He came back about 40lbs lighter. No one told him food was scarce and he would need to bring some with him. He declared he would never be able to look at a can of Spam again. (an island breakfast favorite by the way)
Guam may be missing a couple of things, but you would hardly notice. See, the nice thing about it is, only about 20% of the people here are Chamarro. (native Guamanian) The rest are from all over the world, mostly Asia. That diversity has infused Guam with so many more choices, even if something were missing....you can easily find something else to take it's place. For example, while there are McDonald's, Taco Bell and TGIFriday's and Ruby Tuesday and the sort,  there really are very few American style restaurants. But if you ate at a different Asian eatery every day of your life it would take you a few years to hit them all.
The general cost of living is higher. Almost everything here has to be brought by container ship. Milk, almost $6 a gallon. If you can find it in gallons. Mostly it is sold in half gallons at $4.
Gas, it was $3.74 a gallon the day I got off the plane and it has stayed unwaveringly there for 7 weeks. Not a penny higher, not a penny lower. Ever. Every single gas station on the Island. Hmmm......A more conspiracy minded person might make more out of that. But I digress....
Internet is fast and available to probably 95% or more of the people on the island. So is cable TV. (collective sigh) And cell phone coverage is very good.

Automobiles are a different story. We brought one with us and have been looking earnestly for another. Used cars are virtually non-existent. I have found only 2 used car lots on the Island. They drive them till they are dead and then park them in the yard and get a new one. I did manage to scrounge up a "Guam Bomb" as they are affectionately know and will start saving money for it's eventual successor. At least I can get the boys to school and start looking for a job.
So really everything here is pretty much like it was at home. With the marked exception of some missing faces, we have everything we need.

Although........funny thing....a couple of weeks ago I noticed our favorite Taco Bell's root beer dispenser was out of order, so was the other Taco Bell down the street, and the KFC and Subway, and the movie theater! Every place that sells Pepsi products has no root beer syrup for the pop machines!

 !!!OH NOOO! THE ISLAND IS OUT OF ROOT BEER!!!