Penny

And I agree with Judy and Two Sailors and other members of our community for Animales to periodically (quarterly?) publish a complete income and expense statement. In all the boards and charities I've been involved with, I always liked to err on the side of transparency.

I posted on FB this morning about the new socks I bought.

It's a piss-poor day you don't learn something (but rarely from the Potentate of Potrerillos).

Micro-brewed beer and burgers and ribs from Smokin' Mama's. What could be better and that's what I'm going for.

They are obviously two different places. I know where the new big public market is but where is Galleria Central??? Is it on the Via Rapida (the one way street terminating on the Pan American by Cochez) ??

The water park is about half way to the Costa Rican border. I have gone every year but missed it this year for some reason. Tom and Carolyn Bot (the Bots of the Castle) always pay the admission fee and the cost for a full lunch and snacks for the handicapped members of the foundation and their immediate families.

Just a reminder to all of you out there. BCP is still evaluating the profitability of the monthly foodie market. If you would like it to continue, you must patronize it at least for the next couple of months. Please don't assume it will continue without your support.

Jo I tried to call you yesterday. Brad Abajian knows something in Valle Escondido in your price range. Bottom half of a villa that has been converted to a two-unit. Contact Brad at Bradsteven62@yahoo.com

I just received word that George Schultz, owner of the German Restaurant Zum Emsleander in Plaza San Francisco died this afternoon (August 15). RIP George.

I live in Jaramillo Arriba and my water bill is $20 a year. Back in Michigan (13 years ago) I was paying about $55 a month for water. For some reason my electrical bill is also much less here. Maybe because I don't need to run a blower on a gas furnace in the winter and maybe because of the approximately $18 pensionado discount I get every month on my electrical bill. I think my bill for weekly garbage pickup here is about $40/year. I wonder how much bananas are selling for at Walmart in the U.S.

I'm going to taste them all. Will bring my bottle of tums and sell them for one balboa per tum.

When I came to Panama in 2003, bananas were 3 for $.10. In the last several years they've been $.10 each. This morning my produce clerk told me he had to start selling them be the pound for $.50/lb. How many bananas in a pound I asked. The answer is 3 or 4. This is a 500% increase in the price of bananas in the last 13 years. The same is true for other commodities. Rice had doubled in price until price controls were introduced. I honestly can't understand how a $400/month employee feeds his family. These price increases are just a nuisance to most of us who draw a social security check. However, to Panamanians, they are devastating. One of the small things we can do is to support the Buenos Vecinos de Boquete food distribution program. Rising prices have badly hurt their ability to provide a subsistence quantity of food to their desperately poor and handicapped clients. They are an all volunteer organization and stretch every donated dollar. They deliver food to more than 100 local families monthly. The next time they send out their "Family of the Month" plea for donations. Please reach into your heart and your pocketbook. You can adopt a family, get to know that family, and provide other assistance on a face to face basis. So much better (up close and personal) than a routine donation to United Way in your native country.

Actually, I believe the corrigadora who is located in Jaramillo Arriba serves all of the Jaramillo district . . . which is huge. Take the first right after you pass Hotel Ladera and drive up the hill past the Jaramillo Centro road. There is a basketball court on the left side and the corrigadora's office is the next house past the basketball court.

Rather than a link I'll just state what I know. You can renew in your birthday month before the actual birthday day. But you can't renew in a prior month.

Always make the small investment in a new battery or batteries before you call the repairman. You can tell a lot from how strong and loud the click, click, click of the ignition. Also, take the regulator off the gas tank and firmly reset it on the tank.

The transformer in my neighborhood has been making very loud explosions this morning. Three in a row with the electricity going out for about 10 seconds each time before coming back on. This booming has all the dogs in the neighborhood cowering and is very disconcerting. Plus my neighbors report that flames shoot out of their electrical outlets each time it happens. My experience in the past is that Union Fenosa is not real responsive to calls for help. This morning I decided to put the matter into Rodny's hands. Union Fenosa was on my street within 30 minutes searching for my house. Between calls between me, Rodny, and the Union Fenosa driver we got him to the right spot and they're here right now with their ladder up the pole. Good work Rodny !!!!

There are many, many perpetual tourists residing in Panama. They own cars and drive on their U.S. drivers licenses. Their only requirement is to leave the country every 90 days to reset their visa and keep their driving privileges.

Anybody know anything about a protest or large accident that would have traffic backed up on the road between Volcan and Concepcion?

Jose Arias just emailed me that they are now open in David and his prices for a cremation run from $800 to $1300 depending on the type of urn.

I am in contact with Jose Arias, the owner of the new crematorium in David. He has been delayed time and again in getting all the permits and the protests. He is confident that he will have the final go ahead soon and then he will come and speak at the Tuesday Talks at BCP

My guests have told me they picked up a brochure when entering Panama that says they have 90 days of free health and accident insurance. I thought that law had expired and had not been renewed by President Varela. Who knows anything about this?

Running this kind of forum is not cheap. And Bud is also well aware of the liability issues and has had to pay to protect himself from those who might want to sue him for what somebody posts here. This is a labor of love for Bud and Marcelyn and we need to respect that by keeping this forum "clean" and helpful.

Tim Duncklee has offered this solution to the problem: To solve this problem, go to https://www.google.com/voice and sign up for a free USA telephone number that can receive text messages.