JimAndNena

Los chiricanos dirían, "estás hablando yuca". Of course they would not say that TO you. Regardless, be well and enjoy. jim

Good deal. Sometimes google for David is useful, sometimes not. These days I need a GPS just to get down the driveway. I liked the old way, with MAPS! :-) jim

Is this the place, Dottie? https://goo.gl/maps/bPxVret4K5G2 jim

It does not seem like I am that far out of touch. Here is another view. The worker access took a few years of legal battles to clear up before the workers were given access to Valle Escondido. As to Panamanian ownership, that was after Sam's death. As for expats participating in any local events, that requires some measure of Spanish for appreciation or to even read the announcement. The sad part is that the expats are missing out on most of what Panama and Panamanians have to offer by not learning the language. Best way to do that is to immerse in the local population. jim

This is a fairly standard repair to remove the dash on current models. Luckily, the dash mostly just snaps out and is not part of the structure of the car. One item to check before heading to the repair shop is the cabin air filter common to cars built in the last decade. When it becomes clogged, it can seem like the A/C has quit working at full capacity. Checking/changing the filter is simple requiring a screwdriver at most. The access and location is model specific but generally it is located behind the glove box (does anyone carry gloves in there?). Here's a good reference: https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/05/whats-a-cabin-air-filter-and-when-should-you-replace-it/ jim

Not good, but not surprising. Lots of advertising for Boquete claims it is a retirement community with lots of English speaking expats. The gated and guarded enclave in the center of town does not welcome anyone except those with a pass. Even the workers going to the Finca up the valley were denied access to get to work after decades of using the camino real.

Air conditioning problems are not new to the hospital. They also have periods of quarantine due to infections which could be connected to inadequate filtering in the ventilation systems. Generally, staying out of the government run hospitals is a good idea. jim Panamá Internacional Economía Deportes Espectáculos Curiosidades Opinión Crónica roja Temas del día Panamá Quinto piso del Hospital Regional Rafael Hernández sin aire acondicionado martes 16 de agosto de 2016 - 1:22 p.m. Edni Sánchez edni.sanchez@elsiglo.com Las autoridades del hospital tienen conocimiento de la situación, pero el problema se mantiene. Los pacientes de la sala de Estados Especiales, en el quinto piso del Hospital Regional Dr Rafael Fernández de David, Chiriquí, están pasando páramos por la falta de aire acondicionado. Llevan seis meses sin aire acondicionado y son 36 pacientes que tienen que soportar las altas temperaturas que se desata al transcurrir el día. Delia Pineda, una de las afectadas, manifestó que es preocupante la situación debido a que los enfermos se la pasan sofocados por el calor. "Tengo un hijo en esa sala y por su salud tuve que comprar un abanico para poder mantener el ambiente fresco en el cuarto donde se encuentra, pero algunos no cuentan con los recursos", explicó Pineda. Portada lunes 10 de abril de 2017 © 2017 - Todos los derechos reservados

I hope they captured and removed the literally thousands of stray cats roaming there. With people tossing trash everywhere, the cat and rat populations exploded.

A failure rate of 1 to 2 percent from an article I found: http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2013/02/elder-fingerprint-failure.html ”...fingerprinting did have significant engineering issues,' according to Ross Anderson, professor in security engineering at the University of Cambridge [England] Computer Laboratory. ‘There are some people whose fingerprints you can’t scan,' he said, 'people like bricklayers and tilers whose fingers have been worn flat. “‘Old people tend to have much less distinct fingerprints than young people for similar reasons,' he continued. 'The equal error rate in fingerprints is about one per cent if everything goes well.’” The Scientific American website reports that the failure rate for scanned fingerprints is about one to two percent and further notes, ”...the elasticity of skin decreases with age, so a lot of senior citizens have prints that are difficult to capture. The ridges get thicker; the height between the top of the ridge and the bottom of the furrow gets narrow, so there's less prominence. So if there's any pressure at all [on the scanner], the print just tends to smear.” That's what happened with my first set of prints – smeared, unreadable. The FBI website has instructions for taking fingerprints of elders and others with impaired “ridges in the pattern area.” ”Apply light pressure and use very little ink to record these types of fingerprint impressions. A technique known as "milking the finger" can be used to raise the fingerprint ridges prior to printing. This technique involves applying pressure or rubbing the fingers in a downward motion from palm to fingertip.” In my case, it's a scanner not ink, but when I discussed what I learned with the technician – different from the one who was there in January – she was way ahead of me in regard to the difficulty with old people and took a lot of time repeating scans to get my prints right this time ---------------------- There were a couple of interesting weblinks as well: https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/fingerprints-and-other-biometrics/recording-legible-fingerprints https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/fingerprints-and-other-biometrics jim

One of the safety riding classes I attended had an ER nurse, Noreen Valentine. She said they called the bike riders perfect organ donors: 19 to 25, healthy, and no electrical brain activity. She rode a Harley and rode to Austin to protest every try to get a helmet law passed. I never got near a bike without gearing up. She is still a mystery me me.

I think we see why it is a nation of lawyers. jim

I commuted to work daily for 45 years in the US on a motorcycle. One wreck in all those years so I was skilled or lucky. I have never driven a bike in Panama even when it was much less dangerous. Luck and skill only get one so far. If the drivers don't get you, the bad roads or bad weather will. jim

Earthquake measurements can be all over the map. The only true measurement is how it affects one personally. Like tornado measurements, the damage reviewed after the event is more useful than just reading the seismic data reported. Here are two of the measurements used: Magnitude and Intensity. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/mag_vs_int.php Stay safe, everyone! jim

The grand opening will be Ladies' Night, 2fer on drinks for the ladies. Mostly looks like just another watering hole for the bar crowd. Good food would be a plus. jim

I totally agree with Alison. When I discussed moving back to Boquete with Nena after our retirement, she said no. I pointed out that our first 40 years together were mostly spent in the States with only annual trips to Panama to visit family (plus the trips her family made to visit us in the U.S.). I figured the next 40 years in Panama was only fair but she had become very adjusted to everything the US has to offer that Panama does not. She was born in Boquete but spent all the time she could in David with her aunts and cousins. She and her older sister moved to Panama City soon after and started jobs there. Her brothers and sisters all did the same when their chance came. While we love to visit, living there just does not interest her. In her words, there just isn't much to do there. As for chores, since the kids are gone, she and I can keep the house and yard maintained with almost no effort. We clean up after ourselves and the yard work is our hobby. It is tough to get the farm out of a farm girl. Then of course, there are the projects for the four grand kids we see every week. I spent a couple months leisurely building a playground and treehouse out back and the grands helped on the weekends. They had as much fun helping build it as playing on it. They added a request for a zip line! (we added one.) If your "quality of life" is suffering from having to do chores, then you might not want to add managing your hired help to the chore list. jim

Film at 11. I agree about the driving skill in Panama City versus in the countryside. Outside the city they lack "rhythm". Here is a video I took a few years back in Panama City. We watched this "dance" during the week we were there and only saw one minor bumper-to-bumper incident. Notice the lack of speed as the major factor in merging easily. No signals, no cops. Try doing this in the USA! jim

Hola Roger, We usually take the express bus to David, then rent a car the next day for transportation to see Nena's primas and tias around Chiriqui. Been doing it that way for 40 years. The last several trips have always provided "nail biter" experiences on the road, especially during Feria and leading into Semana Santa. The road traffic is many times the normal amount and everyone is in a hurry to be first. Panama City traffic is bad but since we just take taxis, we don't worry about the driving. All our taxi rides have been first class and certainly less stress than driving in the city. Sorry about the friend of your cuñado, condolences. jim

I have a grand niece who drove for Uber while she was between jobs awhile back. It was a good way to learn some income and she enjoyed meeting most of the folks she transported. Nena and I always take taxis since we have no problem negotiating the fare. When my sister came with us on her first trip to Panama, we had one driver for the whole day as we showed her the sights from the Causeway to Ancon Hill to Panama Viejo to Miraflores. The driver had lunch with us and we paid him 35 bucks. Well worth it and it made it possible to see so much of the city in a short time. Both services have their pluses if one can speak the language. By the end of the week my sister was bargaining fares. We collect phone numbers of the drivers we like in the first couple of days and call them as we need them. jim

From one of Eric Jackson's articles above: The first outage left the Panama City – San Miguelito – Colon metro are without electricity for about 16 hours, and also turned out the lights in large parts of Nicaragua and most of Honduras. I remember reading about additions to the grid which allowed increasing amounts of electrical power to be sold to the rest of Central America. The opposition to new hydro projects may play a part in the future production. Government involvement always adds a level of transparency, NOT. Then there's the new Metro line planned across the canal. I haven't found any data on electrical usage by the Metro system but with air conditioned stations, electronic surveillance, and fare kioskis the electrical consumption must be considerable. Just fixing a few transformers at the substation doesn't look like a long term solution. jim

So, overstaying a visa is not a crime reported to the National Police, resulting in a clean police report? Still confused. jim

The locals who live in Boquete feel that many gringos want to live like gringos but on a Panamanian budget. The businesses that cater to gringo tastes want to charge gringo prices without the lawful Panamanian discount being applied and those businesses can be very creative when denying the discount. This is not my opinion; it is based on discussions with Panamanians who have lived in Boquete for decades. I mostly agree with their views. jim

I have reached the age (and appearance) where I am given the discount without asking for it. The restaurant will ALWAYS provide a receipt showing the discount, a copy of which is sent to the government at tax time. The government approved (DGi) cash registers are supposed to track sales for tax purposes. I assume those registers are in use? jim

Go to the plumbing department and look or ask for faucet parts. The seals for faucets are in various sizes and will work as bumpers for cabinet doors. jim

My all-time favorite!