David van Harn

Richar Huisa is the artist, and the egg vendors phone number is in graphic. 

I am not involved with the vendor, nor am I knowledgeable enough or qualified to comment on the "goodness" of organic eggs.  I assume that those who are interested in and prefer organic food will be the ones to respond to advertising for such food items.   

My woodturning days are done due to nerve degeneration and the mobility and numbness issues associated with it, so I closed my shop and sold my tools.  I will no longer be selling my woodturning at the Tuesday if and when it resumes at a new location after losing the BCP facility as its venue.  In recent years, I barely covered my costs, but did set up a table at the market every week to enjoy the international atmosphere and promote my fellow artisans and food vendors.  This post is about people like me with pensions and other retirement incomes reaching out to help hardworking younger residents during this time while they are shut down and unable to sell their goods and offer their services.  If this is the wrong forum - please advise on where to post.

One artist whose family has become like my own is Richar Huisa, a multi-talented Peruvian expat artist with a wife and two young daughters.  A couple of friends and I will help them financially through this crises, and recommend that others do the same for artists and vendors they know and like.  I recently gave my old, but powerful, Lenovo PC to Richar and advised him on free, open-source software to get him started with graphic design for local businesses.  Below is his first piece of commercial computer-based graphic.  Please help him out by buying eggs from the vendor and suggesting other potential clients for his graphic arts services - and offering any suggestions in this thread about ideas for more business.  His WhatsApp/Cell number is in the graphic (6462-9959) and his English is good.  And please do the same for other local artists and artisans you might know. 

The screening of "Brooklyn" scheduled for today has been cancelled.

We were notified at the last moment that La Villa Coffee Lounge will be closed Sunday and Monday.   

The BCP Board of directors assures me that we will be back on track this week with new cafe management.

If all goes well, I will verify the moving out the schedule one week, and hope to show "Brooklyn" next Sunday. 

As they say in radio, stay tuned for details. 

We apologize for the short notice.

f you are interested in helping out and joining the enthusiastic group of Jazz Festival volunteers, contact Lori Hart via e-mail at (LLHART160 at aol.com).  You don't need to be available every day or all day.

SUV's are best, If you have one and want to help out and personally meet some of the musicians, this is a fun opportunity. 

Lori Hart - who filled in for me last year when a mild heart attack put me in the hospital during the festival - is the transportation coordinator again this year. 

David van Harn

$200 - includes original remote control.  An excellent Sony product - and has always been used with a surge protector. 

I bought this high-quality Sony Bravia LCD-TV new in the box shortly after I moved to Boquete here in 2012.  This TV has seen light usage, and is in like new condition.  (I don't subscribe to cable TV, and used it only for movies, videos and music in the evenings.) 
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Contact:  David van Harn - 6706-7236 (voice or text) or email [dvanharn at gmail dot com]

.

And what will the increase in the Medicare deduction be?  My SS pension net payment has gone down the past couple of years.

However, according to this October 4,2016 Money Magazine article:

"The majority of Medicare beneficiaries have nothing to worry about. Most people who have their premiums deducted from their Social Security checks are protected by what’s called the “hold harmless” rule: Their Medicare charges can’t increase by any more than their Social Security income goes up."

Bottom line, I don't expect to see any increase in my SS retirement benefit payments in 2017.

Tank is full again - water must have come back on in the past couple of hours. 

Interesting - I thought my barrio in Volcancito abajo got its water from up the hill - didn't realize that it was pumped up the hill from down below.  A truck was distributing potable water to local residents across the street from the Food Box about an hour ago.  

I have agricultural water still flowing - using buckets of that for flushing toilets - but it is nasty looking stuff full of sediment and stringy things. 

Bottled water, paper plates and personal deodorant will have to do until potable water is flowing again. 

I rent a house on the side street off Volcancito Road just past the entrance to Santa Lucia - a dead end lane lane that heads back down the hill towards Bajo Boquete. 

My water supply has been iffy for several days, but now I have no water flow & my reserve tank is empty - first time in three years of living at this location.  

I also understand that Bajo Boquete is having water pressure problems. 

Anyone have a clue as to what is happening?

As a former corporate IT desktop and network administrator, my computer and e-mail security practices and habits mean that I very rarely get e-mail scam messages, but I got one this morning, as did friends who also use good security.  The scam e-mail "appears" to originate be from the account of Robby Robinson at "Real Panama Tours."

If you get this e-mail, delete it immediately - it is a scam that is "phishing" - trying to get you to give someone your private information and e-mail password so they can steal your e-mail contact list.

The subject line is "Re: Signed Document." and in the e-mail is this graphic: 

Don't follow the included link.

I also echo the thanks given to Bud and Marcelyn. 

I dropped by Boquete.ning this morning after a couple of weeks of totally ignoring it, and saw that the global warming denialists there were trying to bait me again.  Since in general, willfully ignorant people and conspiracists do not accept understand science and rational thinking, and they don't accept evidence and reason, I merely posted some silliness, and then quickly left without engaging the instigators. 

I have also given upon posting my artisan woodturning "event" notices there because no one seems to monitor the requests and approve them in a timely manner and post them promptly as Fran did in the "old days."  (The News.Boquete e-mails listserve and the posting of them here is a much better option - and certainly more reliable.) 

And now it's time to try out some new ideas for artistic woodturnings...

Although I do like to get out and about and enjoy Boquete's local tourist-town Panamanian culture and day-to-day life, I also enjoy the unique experience of Restaurante La Villa and its park-like setting at the BCP Center.  It's nice to hang out for a while and enjoy some coffee or other drink and occasionally a light breakfast or lunch.   When there is no event in progress, the place is peaceful and serene with the river burbling quietly in the background.  There are a couple of hammocks and hanging fabric chairs on the back terrace in addition to tables and regular chairs.  Elizabeth and her staff in cooperation with the regular BCP staff have done a great job of cleaning up the facility and its grounds, and Elizabeth is constantly planting new and interesting things such as herbs, flowers and even a few pineapple plants. 

I have been a friend of Elizabeth (a.k.a. Lucy) for sometime, and now stop by La Villa hang regularly. She and her staff serve a nice - and always changing - selection of food and drinks, including excellent coffee that is fire roasted weekly right there at the BCP Center.  La Villa usually has a small selection of delicious - and healthy - breakfast and lunch items as well. 

I have been talking to Elizabeth, as well as BCP Board of Directors members Bernie and Carol, about showing art house, foreign, documentary, and perhaps classic films (not main-stream movies or sports) weekly at La Villa.  A new large flat-screen TV is being installed this week, and I hope to schedule a first showing very soon.  

I am starting an informal "Boquete Film Club" that will include a blog which I hope to set up today.  I hope to utilize the new blog, as well as this forum, and perhaps an informal gathering at La Villa to discuss ideas for the film screening events.

Keep your eyes and ears on alert - the local "arts" community is about to have some new events and opportunities.  

My condolences, Bonnie.  You and Larry put together a good life for a retired couple here in Boquete, and were a good example for other expat couples thinking about living here. 

I used to sell very high quality solar hot water and home heating systems, including home and commercial pool heating.  The owner and founder of the company was a Swiss born Ph.D. Economist/statistician/engineer, and he was fanatical about making sure that the engineering and technical information was correct.  We always recommended a pool cover to reduce evaporation, and in Northern California, many people could simply used a good pool cover for a three-month summer swimming season.  The cost of a solar system could not be justified except except to extend their swimming season. 

Like operating a passive solar house which often requires active manipulation of ventilation window covers/shades, passive pool heating requires active participation, which many people reject as too much bother.  The opaque foam blankets have to be removed during the day to allow the sun to heat the pool, and put back on the pool to prevent night-time heat loss.  The transparent solar "bubble blankets" which can be used in warmer climates like ours, can be left on day and night, and only removed when the pool is to be used.   

There are a myriad of factors affecting temperature control in swimming pools.  Heat loss from swimming pools is primarily via evaporation (which also causes pool chemical loss) and radiation, especially to cold air and clear night skies.  Conduction losses through the pool walls are relatively insignificant, and short of insulating behind the concrete when you build a pool, is ignored. 

Years ago, there was much resistance to pool covers based on aesthetics - many people wanted to see the water like a lake or pond on their property, and would spend a fortune on pool heating to preserve that aesthetic. 

Foam Insulating covers were the best in cooler climates where spring and fall temps were chilly, especially at night, but I am guessing that the lowest cost and most effective solution here in the Boquete would be a "solar pool blanket" or "bubble blanket."  "Bubble blankets" are made of a material that is similar to bubble wrap but is much more rugged, and the material is formulated to be UV resistant to delay degradation from sunlight.  The Home Depot home improvement centers in the U.S. sells solar pool blankets for a reasonable price, but I don't know if they are available in Panama. 

Some people use a few smaller bubble blankets - the "lily pad" concept.  These are safer for children and pets who might fall into the pool.  Dogs have been known to jump on pool blankets not realizing what they are.  These are rare occurrences - but they do occasionally happen, and then the animal can panic and get trapped under a full-pool blanket.  

The various diameter above-ground covers sold by Amazon look like a great bargain - and can be used as large "lily pad" solar blankets.  LINK 

Pool blankets can also trap debris, and when pulled off the pool, they can be swept or rinsed off - which would probably be helpful here during the dry windy season here.   

Adding some random silliness - considering two of our great local products... 

I also just hear the news from a Panamanian friend and neighbor who knows Ralph's landlady - who lived next door to him.  Marta told me on Tuesday that Ralph had been in an auto accident while driving home from the airport in David, and was in serious condition at Chiriqui Hospital.  It is not easy to recover from serious injuries when you are in your 80's.  I was saddened when Marta called me a few minutes ago to tell me that Ralph had died during the night. 

Ralph had invited me over for a traditional afternoon tea a couple of times, and we had long discussions about our lives and respective interests in nature- in particular, his love of birds, especially hummingbirds.  Ralph lived not far from me in Volcancito - near the entrance to Santa Lucia in a very, very modest little rental house.  He told me that he was of Danish descent - raised in a wealthy family with servants, and an engineer in the U.S. during his working days.  He also said that he was spending a lot to provide care for his wife, who was in a full-care facility for people with Alzheimer's Disease in the U.S. 

I admired and respected Ralph, and will miss his presence here.  If anyone wants something to remember him and his contributions to bird lore during his days in Boquete, I believe that Piggy Press Books has some of his books available at the Tuesday Morning Market.

From the above link:  " It does recognize that transgenic resistance to certain herbicides is causing ‘a major agricultural problem’, as other plants and insects are developing immunity to the herbicides used in the GMOs fields."

I am not really concerned about the direct health effects of eating GMO foods, but rather other issues such as the brutal, small farmer destroying tactics of Monsanto and others and their legions of attorneys, and known and potential environmental issues. 

Selling things like "Roundup-resistant" GMO's do indeed benefit corporate requirements for maximizing short-term return on investments, but may have lingering negative effects on the environment. Remember that in addition to changing the character of the crop or increasing yields, many GMO crops are engineered to be resistant to herbicides and designed to kill pests or harm them in a way to reduce or minimize the damage they do to crops.  Roundup kills the most vulnerable weeds, but resistant individual weeds then survive, and natural selection leads to "super-weeds" developing.  Then, even more Roundup is needed to kill the super-weeds.  Rather then suffer losses due to super-weeds, farmers, in their desperation, use ever-increasing amounts of Roundup until the cost/benefit ratio kills the economic viabiliby of growing a particular crop. It's a vicious cycle.  (LINK)

From an additional link: 

First of all, it is important to understand what a GMO is precisely. The World Heath Organization (WHO) defines them as organisms whose DNA has been altered in a non-natural way. GM plants are usually changed to be insect resistant, virus resistant, or herbicide tolerant. With these changes come some potentially problematic environmental challenges.

Firstly, toxicity is a huge issue surrounding chemical pesticides and herbicides, used commonly with GMOs, in addition to the toxicity inherent to these plants. GMOs may be toxic to non-target organisms, bees and butterflies being the most talked-about examples currently. Bees are hugely important in the pollination of many food crops, but are unfortunately extremely endangered by modern agricultural techniques, such as GM crops. Monarch butterflies are specifically at risk from GMO maize plants. In addition to bees and butterflies, birds are also at risk from pesticides, and work as biological control agents and pollinators, again, like bees.

Furthermore, the long term effects of GMOs are not certain. Pests that are targeted by these agricultural methods can adapt to pesticides and herbicides, in addition to the DNA changes in GM plants to make them ¨resistant.¨ This means that they will not always be effective, but their toxic legacies will remain.

Cumulative effects of products such as GMOs are important to take into consideration. Evidence also suggests that small genetic changes in plants may produce even larger ecological shifts, meaning that there is potential for GMO´s to become persistent and weedy in agricultural conditions, since they are modified to be resistant to some modern agricultural techniques. This can also mean being invasive in natural settings, where GMOs, of course, do not occur naturally. It is not impossible for new, human modified, plants to become invasive species in delicate, natural ecosystems.

Finally, biodiversity, while it is critical in all ecosystems and to the sustainability of all species, is put at risk by GMOs. When GM crops are planted, generally in a mono-crop fashion, many heritage seeds are no longer used. The nature of GMOs means fewer weed flowers and, therefore, less nectar for pollinators. Toxins released into the soil through the plants´ routes mean fewer soil bacteria, which are integral to healthy soil for plants to grow without the use of chemical fertilizers. Toxic residues are left in the soil of GM crops. Nutrients are not returned to the soil in mono crops and from GMO foods, meaning that soil is becoming dry and void of all nutrients, generally integral to the growing process. A cycle of dependence on GMO seeds and chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides is then created in order to grow a single crop. In addition to soil issues, the irrigation used to grow GM foods naturally carries all of these problems into water sources and into the air. This exposes different bacteria, insects, and animals to the same problems.

At least they are changing most of the traffic lights to LEDs - much brighter with very saturated colors - easy to see even in bright sunlight. 

A friend and I stopped at the office at the El Frances development several months ago when the building was near completion.  A nicely dressed Panamanian businessman - I forget his name - who claimed to represent the developer came out and talked to us.  He said that the houses would start at about $120K, that they would preserve most of the trees and build a divided boulevard into the development just north of the office and model home.   I liked his attitude and ideas, but recently have been curious about why the place has appeared to be deserted for several months. 

Roger, that seems to be very true with restaurants in Boquete. 

Many fail to thrive and eventually close after being sold - especially to people who are not foodies - and/or have no restaurant experience.  They often have no idea how to keep it fresh and appealing, and don't know how to do the regular advertising that is often needed. 

As of 2:15 pm, the ning system is back up.

Marc Andreesen (LINK), multi-millionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist was a co-creator of the early internet browsers Mosaic and Netscape, and was a co-founder of the of ning social websites company in 2004.

Over two million ning sites have been created since then.

Boquete.ning is just one of many ning sites, and the entire system was down today. 

5 hours ago, JudyS said:

David, if you can go to the U.S. and have a follow-up echo, that wouldn't be a bad idea.  A friend of many people here was grossly misdiagnosed because of very poor images from crappy equipment.  The doctor, patient, and hospital will remain unnamed.  It was not your doctor or your hospital.

I am confident in Dr. Anguizola and his equipment, but I truly appreciate your concern and suggestion, Judy. 

Dr. Anguizola's echo-cardiogram instrument in his office at Mae Lewis Hospital is modern, and he was there handling the probe and doing most of the imaging himself. 

While in the hospital, a fellow patient in my room had an echo-cardiogram done, and I could watch the procedure from my bed.  It was set up by a medical technician and then the cardiologist stepped in to do the exam.  It was an amazing instrument that looked to be brand new and state-of-the art.   The combination of heart pumping sounds sound and image quality was truly remarkable. 

(In my younger days, I was a U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman for four years.  Later, I worked as a lead technician in the development of dual-lumen cardiac catheters for one the world's first direct-reading blood oximeters.  Later still, I worked in sales and tech support for Jandel Scientific's scientific graphing, statistics and video measurement software, and communicated with research doctors around the world.  I am comfortable with my assessment of the equipment and the doctor's.)

Someone asked about Dr. Anguizola at Ning, but I decided to cross-post my response here.  Hopefully, this will be useful to those who do not have medical insurance here in Panama. 

Dr. Anguizola's office is at Mae Lewis Hospital.  He became my cardiologist when I was admitted to Regional Hospital in David on February 23 of this year.  He is now my regular cardiologist.  I have great respect for Dr. Anguizola - I think he is an excellent cardiologist.  His office phone number is 774-2453 - but his staff speaks only Spanish. 

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For those who are interested in my experience related to my mild heart attack in February of this year, here is my story...

I am a 74 y/o expat who moved here from Sonoma County in Northern California in early 2012.  I am a permanent legal resident of Panama, and have an E-Cedula (Panama's national ID card for non-citizen foreigners).  I have have no medical insurance in Panama.  My Medicare Supplement plan includes a $2,500 deductible, and I would have to go to Florida or elsewhere in the U.S. to use it.

I suffered a mild heart attack on February while carrying my stuff in to the BCP Center for the Tuesday Morning Market.  I became weak and dizzy, so I took everything back out to my car, and drove to Dr. Chen's office.  Dr. Gomez quickly had me lie down on the patient bed, ran an EKG, determined that I was having a cardiac "ischemic event"  - reduced blood flow to the heart muscles.  That visit cost $120.  Dr.Gomez called the 911 ambulance (my choice - minimal equipment, but a free ride).  They arrived soon, took me to the Regional Hospital in David.  (A better-equipped private ambulance would cost $250.)

After another EKG in the "coronaria" (coronary emergency unit), it was determined that my condition was not that serious, so I was on a bed in the very crowded coronary emergency area for about 12 hours.  (A new, bigger hospital is being built on the property, which will be a big help with the capacity problem.)

Although the coronary emergency doctor at first thought I might go home the next day, it was later decided to admit me.  I was moved upstairs to a six-bed coronary care room and confined to bed with not even bathroom privileges.  I was hooked up to a modern, high-tech heart monitoring machine.  After three days, I was disconnected from the heart monitor, and moved to a regular room on the cardio floor, still confined to bed.  On the 5th day, I was allowed to get out of bed and discharged after my sixth day.  Hospital cost for six days - just under $900. 

Dr. Anguizola's discharge orders for me included 30 days of not driving, resting at home, and not doing any kind of exercise of work.  My 30-day supply of 7 different cardiac medications cost $44 at the regional hospital pharmacy. 

My first follow-up appointment with Dr. Anguizola at his Mae Lewis Hospital office including an EKG and 1/2 hour consultation cost $75. Future appointments at 3-month intervals for now will be $50 or $60, and getting prescription renewals without seeing him costs $10.

My next appointment was for an echocardiogram (ultrasound), which cost $175, and no issues were found. 

A week later, my last follow-up appointment included a  stress test (EKG while walking on a treadmill) and some irregularities were found.  Dr. Anguizola recommended that I have an angiogram done.  I was quoted approximately $4,000 for an angiogram here in David, and $15,000 for an angioplasty if necessary.  He also said that I could probably get by with longer-tern medications, which I am doing for now. 

I am pretty much back to normal, and very impressed with the medical system and the medical professionals here in Chiriqui.  I am currently taking cardio aspirin ($7 for 30 tabs at Farmicia Revilla, $8 for 1,000 tabs via Amazon, which is $7 per month vs about $5 per year.)  My very low dose statin (Vastatina) is available at the public clinic pharmacy for $1.20 per month, and I had to show my cedula to get it.  (I don't know if having a cedula is a requirement.)  However, they don't carry my angina med, which is $15 per month at Farmacia Revilla.  My drug costs will be about $18 per month after I get the cardio-aspirin from Amazon. 

I am the first I know of in my family to have a heart attack, but the care and medical services here in Chiriqui are excellent, and I appreciate what they offer for such a reasonable cost. 

22 hours ago, Roger B said:

David

If the company does not repair the pole in a normal time you could report this incident to the ASEP.  It is like the ACODECO for the utilities companies.

 

 

Actually, the streetlight that is not working is down the short dead-end lane on the way to some small houses of my Panamanian neighbors.  If they want it replaced, I assume that they know how to notify the utility company.  

The light in front of my casa is working properly. 

Although I don't have the ASUS problem, I did have problems with "upgrade to Windows 10" spamming and Microsoft updates running spyware on my Toshiba laptop during a very long boot time - up to ten minutes before all the background tasks were completed and my applications would load and run normally.

I was atone time a "Microsoft Certified Professional" for Windows desktop and server software, but now my skills are old, rusty and way outdated.  However, I don't like the heavy-handed Windows 10 update spamming and Microsoft's spying tricks (which they call "telemetry)." Every time I booted my Toshiba laptop, Microsoft's spyware would spend up to 5 minutes or more looking through my hard drive and sending information back to their servers.  I could see the high processor utilization with the Windows "Performance Monitor" and also see that MS telemetry was the process hogging the processor and making it nearly impossible to run any applications for up to 10 minutes.  

A bit of internet searching turned up a simple solution.  It is a command utility that has to be run "as supervisor."  Those who can download, unzip, and right-click on a ".cmd" file and run it "as supervisor" can run this cleanup utility. 

The upgrade cleanup utility is from VOAT Technology [LINK] and is called "Aegis for Windows 7/8.x - Block all known Microsoft spying and Windows 10 upgrade elements."  The utility is well documented for those who are interested, and it uninstalls all necessary Microsoft updates and marks them to not be reinstalled. 

My laptop now completely finishes booting and running background applications in 3 minutes.