Luise

So, two separate events from two directions in about 3 hours, each about 150 km away... with an intervening tremor felt here. Wonder whether we should expect more?

I have been researching flaviviridae, of which Dengue, Chikungyunga and Zika are the most notable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavivirus They are all carried by Aedes Aegypti. Guess which plant type is most attractive to flaviviridae? Unfortunately, bromeliads.... including presumably our orchideas.

Felt one at 9:13 PM and a stronger one at 9:41 PM in Valle Escondido. There was a 4.8 about 3 hours ago somewhere in the direction of Bocas. Perhaps these are aftershocks?

Tiggy is also a champion lizard catcher. She seems to have adapted somewhat to the annoying little puppy we adopted to test her adaptability, even when the puppy got so sick she required almost all my attention. We are leaving on TUESDAY so are still praying for a loving home for her. Otherwise she will go into foster care with many other cats. I predict that she will not be amused, having been an "only child" for quite a few months...I'm only sorry she could not already have adopted people who live here year 'round! She will make a great pet, if only she can find someone else to love her. 16 Tiggy in Garden window

I consulted several doctors in an emergency involving a pediatric spayed puppy who nearly died of tick fever. Batista was the only one who not only responded but also gave me some concrete suggestions of medications to start since he would not be back to Boquete until several days later. He spoke perfect English, his medical advice seemed sound to me (I'm a people emergency physician) and I would consult him again in a heartbeat. The puppy has survived, TG.

I took Uber again on my return from PC. Summoned them via internet while checking out of a Balboa Ave Hotel and the driver was waiting at the door. Clean, cool, fresh smelling Prius (no "pine freshener") and a smiling driver. Took me to Allbrook with a stop en route to pick up a kitty treat at the wonderful American pet shop at Allbrook strip, all in the cost was $3.43. Of course many of us have drivers for multiple stops, important missions, all day sightseeing with guests etc. But at $35 a pop for a private driver, there's no question that I will use Uber whenever I have internet access to summon them. My only complaint was that I didn't know how much the stop would cost me because the drivers don't know themselves; but then, we do know that it's metered, and I was told to expect about $1 more than a standard cab who actually uses the government stipulated rate. If taxi drivers are not happy and are losing work, well, they have made their own bed by gouging those they assume to be tourists, stopping to pick up additional fares (who may in fact be accomplices) and refusing fares which is also supposed to be illegal. I wish we had Uber in Boquete for those of us who are dependent on cabs and get gouged for being gringos.

Are you "wiry" as well as wry and awry? Here's to action!

I have done a little further checking on the legal services situation here in Panama. The largest association to which R M-K alluded is the Collegio Nacionale de Abogados en Panama. You can go to their website cnapanama.com and get a Google translation of the Minimum Rate of Professional Fees for Lawyers in the Republic of Panama, which was approved by the National Congress of Lawyers (sounds like a trade association meeting to me, not the Assemblea) and published in its official gazette May 21.2001. The arguments behind that resolution could have been interesting reading! Here you can find the list Now, as R M-K said, anyone who charges less than these fees could be subject to an ethics violation. I asked my neighbor, a lawyer, who would complain and to whom if they were charged less than the minimum fees by their lawyer? The answer, not surprisingly was "other lawyers might complain". I asked what would happen if someone complained and the answer was, "they might send them a letter". Even if they were not a member of that particular association. Wow, sounds intimidating! When I called the Collegio about another matter, one phone did not answer, the second no one spoke English. They understood my Spanish perfectly but would not take a message, instead asking me to call back repeatedly to see if/when anyone who spoke English was back from lunch. They do at least list an address... So, how can one use this information? You can compare the prices on the list to the prices that your lawyer is charging for the given service. If it is greatly in excess, you can at least let it be known that you know about the list and about the ethics policies of the Collegio Nacionale. Of course, they will probably then tell you either that this is a MINIMUM price list, or that THEIR service was way above the norm and included lots of things that the list does not consider. I suppose if they charged you less than the minimum and you got bad or harmful advice, you could complain to the CNAP. Then they might send a letter to the lawyer, and tell you you should have gone to a lawyer that charged more than the minimum! Ultimate answer I suppose is that here is a bit of trivia that probably won't help you in the long run unless you needed more convincing that lawyers are a seedy bunch...here as everywhere else.

Has this been the experience of others? We never did anything like that the first time but it was 10-12 years ago. Also, any idea why you required a physical exam? Have others had this requirement? Again, it wasn't required 10 years ago but they did require a random blood sugar, which is rather unsupportable scientifically.

What about a LOST DL? Has anyone tried to have it replaced? Does their computer system even register a previously obtained, twice renewed but probably by now expired license?

I feel constrained to point out that almost all the evidence suggests that there is virtually no value to an "Annual Physical" unless you have chronic conditions, in which case having good ongoing medical care and episodic care for new symptoms is now recommended. Of course, it's an individual decision. I do want to second Judy's suggestions about making appointments by phone. I used to write out exactly what I wanted, introduce myself, explain that my Spanish was not good and ask them to speak slowly. You can write it out and use Google translate or use a phrasebook that would include phonetic pronunciations. "Muy buenos dias, me llamo xxxx...yo vivo en yyyy y no hablo Espanol muy bien. Hablas Ingles? No? Entonce, Por favor, hable lentamente. Necesito una cita para examen (medicamentos, laboratorios, rayos-X etc). Quel dia es disponible? Y que hora?" Have a day (date)(s) and time(s) in mind to suggest. Ask them to repeat if you don't understand what they've said, or by this point they may have decided to hand you off to anyone who speaks English! OTOH, if they are local and you can go and ask in person you will have the benefit of sign language, pointing, they may even notice that you are green or yellow or ghostly and need to be seen quickly. I can speak to Dr. Digna Diaz's qualifications. She is Chiricano, but fully fluent in English, of course, well trained in internal medicine and with added qualification in aesthetic medicine. She has several offices that she uses both in Boquete and in David. I would recommend her without reservation (I'm a doc).

It's here:

This was an offshoot of the posting about Qualifications of Lawyers in Panama. This is a completely anonymous survey, I'm essentially just testing the system to see if anyone uses it....or cares!

Rainelda Mata-Kelly gave an interesting and informative talk last Tuesday at the BCP. Among the most interesting things she shared was how there got to be so many lawyers in Panama. According to her, there is about one lawyer for ever 83 people living in Panama. Lawyers don't go to college, just to a trade school right out of high school. Some of the newer schools are all online, essentially diploma mills. There is no such thing as a bar exam in Panama, be the last in your class at the diploma mill and you are fixed for life! There are several bar associations, membership is not required, no one association is predominant and although the largest one may have an ethical code, non members have no obligation to follow it. So nowhere to complain about unethical lawyer behavior. Nonetheless, she responded in answer to a question that a lawyer who charges less than the "mandatory minimum" fees is subject to ethics charges. (She didn't elaborate by whom, or how they would find out). This would be per se price fixing in the US under the Sherman Act based on SCOTUS decision in Goldfarb v Va. State Bar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfarb_v._Virginia_State_Bar. Imagine that, legalized price fixing! So in case you were ever wondering why some of the legal advice you may have received is expensive and relatively worthless, it must have SOMETHING to do with the makeup of the Assemblea. I wonder what could be the unifying feature? She also told some wonderful stories about Noriega. Everyone was late and missed their orders at the market, but it was well worth it.

I don't come here often but am finally noticing this post. My carnet was lost, probably at the D.L. office where I had foolishly tried to use it to renew my DL 2 or 3 years ago. I couldn't get the license because my passport had changed several times in the interim since immigracion. Of course, that office claimed never to have seen it. On the advice of a prominent lawyer, I did report it stolen to police in PC. I never needed this report and in fact never even got a copy of it. I don't remember how much I was charged to do this "required reporting". Fortunately, I had a high quality PDF of it with which a very well know local photographer who shall remain unnamed (thanks, M) made me two duplicates. They were ever only questioned once, at PTY, where the immigracons agent showed it to another and said "Copia?" or maybe it was "Copia!"... and then let me through anyway. I always carried both the high quality copy of the carnet and my Immigracion Resolucion when flying. No trouble with either domestic or international travel, including proof of eligibility for Jubilado descuento though a lawyer had assured me they would not let me fly without it. But I did feel somewhat insecure so went for my eCedula this year so as to finally be able to drive legally again. A transportation specialist known to some of you, Luis Arce (6536-1179---luistaxi777@gmail.com), then undertook to assist with getting my eCedula. There was never any request to see the original carnet or the oh so necessary police report. They only wanted a copy, which of course I could provide! It took a number of months simply because I only live here part time, and two very quick visits for me to the facility at La Tomba (several more very lengthy ones for him), but I finally got it. And the cost, all in, was about $235...compared with about $450 charged by the lawyer for the same service for my spouse. I could probably have managed the process with my level of Spanish proficiency, but waiting in colas to deal with bored public servants is not my idea of a fun time. And Luis is an expert at, shall we say, greasing the skids! Next hoop (DL) maybe next year. Or maybe now before they decide to add more risible requirements in addition to random blood sugar/HIV...

WAPO summarizes new Neurology journal article from Mayo regarding usefulness of mental exercise for staving off symptoms, if not disease of Alzheimers. I'm happy with the disease if I (and others) don't suffer from (my) symptoms!

Here's the AMA Zika Resource Center for anyone interested.

Hope everyone brings sunscreen, hats, and mosquito repellant. If there is no first aid station (hopefully there will be, anyone know?), you at least have two emergency physicians nearby at 720-2412.

If you have a simple health question, I can enthusiastically recommend http://www.wired.com/2014/07/healthtap-prime/, one of the largest telemedicine providers in the world. It is the only such service I am aware of that even has a free advice component. I have been a provider there for several years, in fact have been the leading Emergency Physician for the past year. You may join and ask a simple question for free, board certified US physicians will answer and there are all kinds of informational resources as well. There is an associated paid consultation service that allows you to have a 15-30 minute interaction with one of us for I believe now about $49 (some of which goes to the service), including the ability to transmit photos, radiographs, and other laboratory tests. Health Tap also offers special monthly rates for unlimited consultations.