Bonnie

The Apple website does not list this as an authorized service center. But I'll certainly try it anyway.

No, because I didn't know there was one, and the customer service rep implied that the only one is in PC. (I told her I live in Chiriqui and that David is the biggest city there.) Thanks! That's what I'll try first.

I don't see a category for electronics, and my question doesn't quite seem to relate to Communications, so I'm going to try it here. (I'm confident that the administrators will move it to a more appropriate forum, if there is one.) I have had an iPad mini for about three months. Today, while photographing flowers in my garden, the protective cover came loose in my hand and the iPad fell face first onto a concrete walkway, shattering the screen. (*&#^@!!) I had an online chat with an Apple customer service rep who said that, even though I purchased it online from Apple in the U.S., Apple could not return it to me if I sent it there for repair because they do not mail to mail forwarding companies. The only alternative offered was sending it to the Mac Store in the Albrook Mall in Panama City. I'm not completely happy with this solution because I know difficult it can be fully communicate on things like this in Panama if issues arise or things are delayed. A friend who is going to the States shortly has graciously offered to take it with her, take it to an Apple store there, and mail it back to me or bring it back to me in about six weeks. Of course I would like to have it back as soon as possible, but I have heard stories about how expensive electronic products like iPads and iPhones are prone to go missing in the customs process. With that background, I ask whether any of you have faced a similar Apple issue and/or have any advice to offer as to what decision I should make.

Hil, in many areas there are lines for potable water and lines for agricultural water. Dan, Grupo Aguas put in our water purifying system: five filters and a UV unit. If memory serves, it was about $700. Not cheap, but we figured we're getting too old to risk a bout of giardia.

It is not Keith's site. He no longer moderates the Ning forum.

For reasons stated in my response to Judy's post above, I do not consider this to be a "news" item. It lacks much in the way of facts and is rife with misunderstandings about how things work here.

I think it's important to take a close look at who the reporter is in this case: someone who has lived here for only a few weeks. She offers no factual underpinnings for her statements about water quality in specific areas and even suggests that filtration alone will guard against giardia, which it will not; that requires UV treatment. The "news" item itself is based on the case of Oriana's water which, I note, the authorities have stepped in to rectify. I am not suggesting that there aren't water issues, as your own experience suggests, Judy. But the particular problems noted are not necessarily widespread. Moreover, it should be understood that expats are more vulnerable to water borne illnesses here because they haven't grown up drinking the water and their bodies therefore are not accommodated to it. We therefore are to a great extent responsible for our own water, that it be appropriately sanitized to protect our health. Most people who have lived here a while recognize that this may require a sophisticated filtration system with UV treatment. Finally, the Mayor's authority with respect to water is limited to the municipal system, so confrontations with him may not be productive and may strain community relations between expats and government. As John writes, problems in areas governed by other water juntas should be taken to those authorities. In short, these issues should be approached rationally, with an attention to facts and realities as opposed to ill-considered public alerts and proposals.

Pretty soon most of us who have been around the longest and therefore have the best information and advice to offer will be gone from boquete.ning. That's a loss not only to ning but also to newcomers and to those exploring Boquete as a possible retirement destination. It looks as though it soon will enter the ranks of International Living and other publications that unconscionably, unethically entice people abroad without being honest about the realities.

Doug, I have lots of the common yellow and one sort of dusty rose. You're welcome to cuttings if you want to send Ricardo over. I understand they root easily. No red, unfortunately.

Bid 4 Boquete learned that when giving money to fund a particular local project, it is best to buy the materials and pay any workers directly.

Steve, were his charges reasonable?

Dan, the "real" names are not identified in the abbreviated profile available to other members. There are lots of aliases or online names here, and those are the same names that appear in the profile. Again, presumably the administrators are in possession of more complete profiles, i.e., information required when registering. Is that correct Bud? But Keith's question is a good one. Registration requires the submission of real names, but how do the administrators know that the name submitted is real?

By the way, presumably this isn't the list of members because, pursuant to the rules, that would contain the member's real name, email address, etc. But it contains enough information to find their posts, and that's what matters to me.

Thanks, Dan. It's a little cumbersome in that it requires several steps, but it works.

Bud probably understands what I'm saying, but I'm not sure everyone else does. So I'll offer an example. Let's say I recall a post made by Dottie that I would like to reread. I can reach her profile containing all her messages by hovering over her avatar, but her avatar appears onscreen only if she is the most recent poster in a topic. If she is not and I have no avatar to hover over, I have to scroll through numerous posts in numerous forums to locate the post I'm looking for. If Dottie's profile can be seen one way, why not another, i.e., by having direct access to her profile? I'm suggesting that we need to be able to access each others' profiles to search each others' posts. (And I would note that the only personal information contained in one's profile is very generally where he or she lives.)

I don't have a great desire to randomly access members' pages, but it does appear inconsistent to allow the page of those who currently posted last in a forum (and therefore have their avatar displayed) but not to be able to find posts made earlier by members. With so many different topics, it's a real hardship to have to scroll back through all of them, or all of them that just might be relevant to the post sought. My thought is that it should be relatively easy to seek out a prior post via the poster. (It's not that the profiles contain any really personal information anyway.) Just my opinion.

I love "inciting people to move here."

There's no way this possibly happen SOON, given the negotiations and then construction that would be required. We all likely would be in our graves or urns. However, it certainly would be a good thing for Panama, particularly for David and surrounding communities.

Nanette, I have downloaded your book but I can't find maps anywhere. I've looked at the Table of Contents and paged through the entire book without success. Help!

The guy who installed it (Juan Arauz) was here late yesterday afternoon. He installed a more powerful router for us to try, but it was worse than ever last night. Juan thinks it's problems with Internet capacity. Whether this can be resolved is anybody's guess. Very frustrating.

Dottie, that's exactly what I mean re moving to word: opening a word document. The text I paste has no gray background. It's in your system, but I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable to help you.

Thank you, Bud. But how do I find the Display Names of other members? (I see those of members of have recently responded to a questions, but how do I find other members?)

Unfortunately, I have no idea how to "clear the cache."

Bud, is it possible to access all the posts of another member? Sometimes I remember that a particular person had a post of interest, and I want to reaccess it but can't remember the forum it appeared under.

Dottie, I am not having this problem. I highlight the text I want in Chiriqui Life, right click and scroll down to Copy, move to Word, right click and scroll down to Paste. Bingo. Clear as a bell in Word.