David van Harn

Stumbled on the photo at a old "library" page about Panama coffees at the Sweet Maria's Coffee website. The photo is near the bottom of the page. The discussion seems to range in dates from 2002-2006.

Anyone remember this establishment in Boquete? Did Starbucks get them to shut down or rename? Or did it die a typical poorly planned Boquete food business death?

It doesn't seem to be working too well - only four comments in the past 12 hours.

I see that this notice of the presence of a known criminal in a residential neighborhood set off a tirade by Olga at Boquete.ning. Apparently she cannot comprehend the difference between racial/ethnic profiling and neighborhood watch protocols. I countered with these words:

Bruce Dow - 6384-6593. I've turned some "back rollers" for him on my wood lathe.

Thanks Judy - will do.

One of the two big cypress trees serving as wind-breaks at my rental casa lost a big branch. Fortunately, no damage except to another smaller tree. The trees are old and over-mature and will likely have to be removed later this year. My absentee landlord asked me to take care of cutting and removing the big branch. Anyone know a local worker licensed to use a chainsaw who can do this quick and easy job? (Yes - licenses are required to use a chainsaw here in Panama - presumably to reduce illegal logging and clearing) Contact info for a knowledgeable arborist to evaluate the trees and quote on their removal would also be useful.

I read through the comments, and that Cuenca forum really does remind me of Boquete.ning under Lee's management. Lively and confrontational dialog that allows people to vent a bit and challenge each others comments and opinions. There are a few deleted comments, but the bar for comment deletion there seems to be quite high. The opinions in both the guest column and the comments section do indeed reflect some of the expat issues - and differences of opinion about them - that I see here in Chiriqui. And I also noticed some of the stereotypical displays of arrogance, ignorance, and entitlement that we see here in Chiriqui and elsewhere from American tourists and expats.

Sheesh! Tripped up again by that pesky "sometimes there is an apostrophe to indicate the possessive form - and sometimes there isn't." At least I don't say "me and her" instead of "she and I." And just where does that period belong - inside or outside the quotation mark?

¡Hola, mi amigos! Although I prefer the format of the Ning forum platform over this Invision Community Software platform, now that I stop by every day, I am beginning to realize that the content here is much more relevant for me as a "settled in" expat who loves living here. Plus, a lot of my friends hang out there Although I still occasionally visit to read and post at Boquete.ning, that community forum website is a shadow of it's former self without a strong sense of connection to the core expat community of Boquete. I am aware that many of you here were summarily excluded from ning, and the forums there now represents only a fraction of the community compared to the past. Indeed, the forum there would be pretty dead without admin postings of new discussions, many of which are not even related to the community. However, it does have a lot of informational content and links, and the word "Boquete" in the name will probably attract a number of people looking up Boquete for the first time. I look forward to contributing and participating more at Chiriqui Life.

I agree about MeteoEarth, Mark. It is a great weather tool for the general public. In trying to look for some details about that general forecast, I see a strong pressure gradient with higher barometric pressure in the northern Caribbean and a low pressure region near Columbia, but no evidence of anything that could be called a "storm." It appears that the cause of our persistent high winds is stronger than usual southern Caribbean trade winds enhanced by weather systems to the north. The typical "dry season" orographic precipitation is being pushed over the Talamanca Mount Range from Bocas del Toro (the Bajareque mist/drizzle and wind), and it has been much stronger than usual lately. That is what your map shows, and it matches the meteorology information sources that I use. Yesterday, on the other side of Volcan Baru, there was some heavy drizzle in Cerro Punta and Guadalupe - the lush green environment there is truly astounding. However, it was dry and only a bit windy in Volcan. Back on our side of Volcan Baru, the drizzle seems to be reaching Brisas Boqueteñas in the morning, but was backing off to San Francisco Plaza at Palmira Road by afternoon when I drove back to Boquete a couple of times this week. This is my 5th "dry and windy" season in Boquete, and the past couple of weeks seems to be windier and rainier than I remember during the past four years. I have a feeling that Alto Quiel, Palo Alto and Jaramillo are getting pretty wet, and I know that coffee growers - the smaller operations that don't have mechanical dryers - are taking their beans down the hill for outdoor drying But the morning rainbows towards Volcan Baru, and evening rainbows towards Jaramillo are gorgeous every day.

Lucky you! :-( Have you contacted Intuit/TurboTax Tech Support? I guess there's more than one issue that doesn't automatically generate an error message.

That is the core of my story Judy - the Intuit/TurboTax system didn't tell me why they my e-filing attempt was rejected. It took a lot of Google searching to find out that my income was under the threshold for e-filing. I only had my SS and no "wages" income. I wasn't issued a pin - and no reason was given. From the Intuit/TurboTax website:

Heck, I can't even file a return with the IRS. And I am amazed by the level of wealth among my Boquete expat friends and acquaintances. I tried filing a return my first year here, but the EFS (Electronic Filing System) ignored me without comment - I was actually rejected and ignored by the IRS. I was sooo depressed! (Apparently those who live on a modest to moderate Social Security income, and have less than $10,000 additional income, cannot even submit a return electronically.) La vida es buena en Boquete!

Actually, the winter mid-latitude storm named Jonas (but called "Snowzilla by many in the U.S.) never came close to Boquete. However, some jetstream-driven mid to high-level atmospheric moisture - not the low-level moisture that massively increases precipitation- was transported north from the tropics to the storm off the mid Atlantic coast. That high-level moisture created the long plume (or streak) of water vapor in the above images. The huge lazy, often slow-moving loops of the jet stream that can cause severe winter weather are believed by many climate scientists to be result of global warming. A scientific paper and comments by Dr. Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University is an important component of this area of intense study. [LINK] Our weather in Boquete has remained within normal ranges, although that may change with the coming La Niña this spring and summer. Currently, I have seen no deviation from our typical dry-season strong trade-winds off the Caribbean driving low-level moisture over Panama's continental divide from the north. This gives Alto Quiel, Los Naranjos, Jaramillo and other nearby north-side neighborhoods typical Bajareque rain and mist - and south of the rain line - lots of wind. Here in Volcancito and next door in Alto Boquete, it has been mostly clear and very windy with the Bajareque mist occasionally reaching this far south, although the Bajareque was weaker and the winds lighter this season until about a week or so ago. At my rental house in lower Volcancito, it is noon and quite windy - 15mph with gusts to 30mph according to Lloyd Cripe's Palmira weather station. The temperature at my house is 75°F both inside and out - just another day in paradise. Today is just a bit cooler than the low-wind days when it usually gets up to 80-82°F outside. --- For those interested in more information: The moisture that fed "Snowzilla" or Jonas and created record snowfalls at many locations in the eastern U.S. is low-level moisture. As the storm first developed in NE Texas, it drew moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. It dropped rain as it moved across the southern U.S. and up towards the mid-Atlantic region. Then the storm's core - a low pressure region - moved just offshore into the Atlantic Ocean, and stalled there for a couple of days. The much warmer than normal waters there allowed the storm to pick up copious amounts of moisture. Those high levels of atmospheric moisture are due to warmer than normal ocean waters that are caused by both global warming and climate change, and boosted by the current very strong El Niño. The storm used the ocean's heat to re-strengthened, and delivered heavy amounts of snow to the mid Atlantic region, where they are digging out today. Winter storm Jonas finally left the region lastnight, and is now heading quickly across the Atlantic Ocean towards the British Isles. When it arrives, it is expected to bring severe weather and more flooding to that already soaked and recently flooded region. (I get much of my information about climate and weather information from meteorologists Dr. Jeff Masters and his co-blogger Bob Henson, and from climate scientist Dr. Ricky Rood at Weather Underground. I spent many hours the past few days following this significant winter storm at their blog - where many meteorologists, scientists, and weather buffs participate. [LINK]