Woody

12 hours ago, Bud said:

you will find MBE Boquete to be very responsive (and friendly as well)

After 6 years here, sadly we will be departing soon.  So, I want to give a shout out about MBE.  They provided us with great service during our entire time here, and they're a super nice bunch of people on top of that.

For Mary, the Miami operation is simply a mail consolidation and distribution operation for the MBE offices in Mexico, Central America, and South America.   Customer service on your account will come from the Boquete MBE office.

2 hours ago, Bonnie said:

If it's a Stihl, and I recall that you have a Stihl, I believe Superiores offers Stihl service. If not, it's the Stihl store in David. It is advised that you not allow anyone else to work on it.

Second that.  The service at the Stihl store in David is top notch.

51 minutes ago, Panawanna said:

It was interesting that Fidelity asked for our overseas address and our mail forwarding address and stated that the only access we would not have, once living in Panama, was to buy and sell mutual funds (which we don't).  All other activities such as trading stocks and accessing our money via ATM or wire transfer is good with no restrictions. 

The restrictions are only for the situation where Fidelity is managing the trading of stocks and bonds trading in your portfolio.  In our case, this was applicable to 401K and IRA accounts where I had entrusted them with trading.  If you manage your own trading it's not an issue except that Fidelity cannot "advise" you on potential trades.

A couple of quick thoughts based on my own experiences.

Legal residence may affect your Fidelity accounts.  Fidelity will not provide any managed account services if you are living outside of the US (or if they suspect you are because you are using a mail forwarding address).  You can maintain self-directed accounts with them.

If you have intentions to divorce yourself from California state income taxes, you will need to have a really clean break on things like banking, investments, drivers license, and utilities.  It will not be an amicable divorce.

Good luck.

1 hour ago, Bonnie said:

I don't think you have any idea how much work goes into News Boquete

Since we arrived here, News Boquete has been an invaluable source of daily information.  I can't begin to imagine life without it.  But, these posts have reminded me that this resource is a labor of love provided by someone who volunteers their time and energy to help us all.  Please don't nitpick it.

41 minutes ago, JudyS said:

Is there ever a day in David that is not very hot?

Yep, there is.  I was in the Novey parking lot at noon yesterday and glanced at my car thermometer.  74 F. 

21 minutes ago, Pantah said:

Good news for me. Now the police will be reassigned to actually where crime are occuring. I had to wait 25 minutes for a serious crime in progress (attempted home invasion) in Bajo Boquete. I am sure the tow company operators are bummed though. Better optics for tourism (no Norieaga like garitas). Makes the point moot of staffing a second checkpoint when the Potrerillos - Palmira road is completed.

PS: crime in my neighborhood actually went up after checkpoint was installed, probably caused by the 20k persons that live north of it.

PPS: there has always been 2 routes to circumvent the checkpoint.

I don't think any of us believed that the checkpoint could last indefinitely, but there is no doubt in my mind that it has been a great deterrent.

2 hours ago, Keith Woolford said:

Oh well, bully for them Bonnie, you certainly made the effort.

It seems they would rather put out the usual doublespeak on a singular basis.

 

I put the Embassy message into google translate:

Like some others, I found the posed question to be quite pretentious.  But, the discussion has evolved toward one very important reason why this village is so appealing to us.  Chiriqui and Boquete, in particular, is very cosmopolitan for its size.  It's a delight to constantly meet people who live here that came from so many different places around the globe.

I’m going to chime in because every restaurant has its good days and its bad days.  I had a bad meal at Fish House about a year ago and didn’t go back to it for the past year.  Then about two weeks ago I said “what the heck” and gave it a try again.  The amberjack that night may have been the best fish I have ever put in my mouth.  It was so good in fact that I went back again last week --- and ate old, gray cole slaw and French fries that had been blanched many days before.  Will I go back again?  Probably – but not soon.  In the meantime, I am just going to stay thankful that we have a lot of great choices here and I’m soooooo happy when Fish House is open and their food is fresh.  It's a roll of the dice, but when it's good, it's really, really good.

Yep, you're on the right track.  If you are going to count on that, you need to explicitly describe your planned living circumstance to Blue Shield and then get an equally explicit response from them that they will cover you at Mae Lewis for any condition by any doctor.  Otherwise, you are rolling the dice.

57 minutes ago, Brundageba said:

Yes.  My Ngobe friends call me, hang up and anticipate I'll call them back.  They are always out of minutes...or almost always

On at least a dozen occasions since we have been here, repairmen have shown up at the house on unexpected days or times.  They will use the gas to drive out here not knowing if I am at home or not, but they will not use their minutes to call first.  Los minutos son preciosos.

Now I anticipate a hundred replies telling me that I don't understand the culture.  OK, I plead guilty.

Good food, comfortable seating, pleasant atmosphere, soft music, outstanding service, and a very warm welcome from the owners when you arrive.  That's a pretty good formula for success and it works because the place is usually full at 7 PM.

The last time we were there, David said they planned on opening a grill-type restaurant in the spot previously occupied by Ingana.  But, I haven't noticed any remodeling activity, so that plan may have changed.  

Whoever owns that vacant lot next to the church should turn it into an hourly parking lot.

On 6/22/2017 at 2:49 PM, Keith Woolford said:

In any number of situations here, periods of enforcing regulations to the letter generally only take place after abuse is caught. Other examples might be recent crackdowns on perpetual tourism, and parking at the BCP.

Concerning medications and pharmaceuticals, there have been recent busts of both real and fake medications entering the country for resale, so my guess is that authorities are tightening up on enforcement of procedures in response.

 

On the surface, it would seem like a reasonable explanation Keith.  But, when your meds arrive with an invoice from a reputable pharmacy with Rx # and doctors name you would think it would be a good start in verification that the meds weren't knock off.  But, that's not enough.  So, the customs agent asks for a letter from you verifying your identity, cedula, and intent to be the sole user of the meds.  You give it, and that's not enough.  So, then the customs agent asks for the prescription to be verified by a Panamanian doctor.  I don't know yet if that will be enough, but I do know b.s. when I see it.

2 hours ago, Whskyman said:

We are "guests" here .... it's pretty simple - we must adapt to the culture and play by the rules.  If that is too much for folks, then go elsewhere.  I, myself, love it here!

Whysky, most of us try to abide by the laws of Panama.  But, the problem here is that these rules seem to be invented by a bureaucrat based on his daily whims.  As near as I can tell, all of the mail forwarding services were surprised by these new requirements.

On any given day, you may or may not be able to obtain needed pharmaceuticals in Panama.  These bureaucratic "whims" have a callous disregard for the health of people who are receiving prescriptions by mail.  

Your premise of adapting to and accepting the culture is quite similar to some comments that were made in a discussion last month regarding driving safety.  When something is clearly screwed up, the right thing to do is to try to fix it.  Death or departure are two alternatives that I prefer to avoid.  

1 hour ago, Uncle Doug said:

Oh, covered parking!  When I saw the construction, I feared that it was a new building being erected and the parking spots for Super Baru would be lost entirely.  

Now, if the store would sell frozen chicken pot pies, my life would complete...

One Tuesday market vendor sells frozen chicken pot pies.  But, they're super simple to make, except for the pie crust which is easy, but messy.  Shred one of the roasted chickens that you can buy in any market and the rest is just up to your particular taste.  You can make 5-6 nice sized pies with one chicken.  Saute veggies of your choice, add seasonings of your choice, and use a can of cream of mushroom soup to help make the sauce which is nothing more than a simple béchamel of butter, flour, and milk.  Voila, about 5 or 6 chicken pies in an hour of prep time and about $15 total.

7 minutes ago, Brundageba said:

( Wonder if it affects the price of the ham they sell.......whatcha think.?!?)  

The pricing at Gago is really interesting.  Some things are priced in the ozone and other things are low compared to anywhere else in Chiriqui.  There is one item that we buy there regularly that is half the price of any other stores selling it.  I won't tell what it is because they would jack the price if they read CL.

Taiwan has been generous to those countries that have recognized their sovereignty, but they can't match what China is offering in foreign assistance and trade.  It's admirable that Panama stuck to its principles for as long as it did, but selling out was inevitable.

35 minutes ago, JimAndNena said:

(I'll wait for the deluge of "down" arrows now.)

You got mine.

Wow!  This is going to become a pet peeve topic real quick.  It's not just erratic and unsafe driving.  It's also automobile condition.  How many cars do you see driving around with bald tires, wobbly rims, cracked windshields, and broken turn signals and headlights?  The owners of those vehicles don't repair anything important for safety, but somehow they find the money to put in some flashy blue LED lights and 3000 watt woofers.  Bolotin needs to add this to his "negatives" list.

I enjoyed the article.  Far too many people were enticed to move to Panama because they were led to believe they could live above their means here.  Those people have been gravely disappointed.  Other people didn't do enough due diligence about what you should expect from roads, utilities, and emergency services here.  They have been gravely disappointed.  Other people didn't understand the bureaucratic complexities for all things from immigration to car registration.  They have been gravely disappointed.

But, the people who come here and can go with the flow and adjust their expectations will find a beautiful country with some wonderful people.  There is an old saying that one man's trash is another man's treasure.  Our decision to move here was a good one.

Hola Bud,

I couldn't get the Hospital Brisas link to work.  Can you put it up one more time please?  Thanks.

I bought one from Gray River Farms at the monthly flea market two years ago.  It was grafted, but, alas, it didn't survive.  I'm not sure why.

2 hours ago, Bonnie said:

I received the following last night from MBE:

Good Evening

 

There is a package for you at Customs. The description is CREMA  and we will need you to send to us the order confirmation or the commercial invoice, a copy of your ID and you will need to sign a letter (we have a copy of it) that we will address to the Panamanian Health Department in order to let them know that you are bringing that for personal use. 

 

This kind of procedure can take 2-4 weeks and it is applicable to packages that contain MEDICINES, SKIN CREAMS, MAKEUP, SHAMPOO, COSMETICS, FOOD

 

Regards

MBE Boquete,

I'm going to go off on a rant in a minute, but before I do: I have received this notice previously from MBE, and after supplying the requested documentation, the medicines were eventually delivered 3 or 4 weeks later.  Like Bonnie, I received another notice yesterday.

So, on to the rant.  First, my medications come with an invoice and a prescription number inside the package.  Second, most people know that many medications are not available in Panama, and even if they are available, they may not be available when you need a refill.  The doctors in Panama have had their own protests concerning problems with availability of pharmaceuticals.  Most of us have found alternative ways to stay alive.

So, this is just more bs where stamps, process, and bureaucratic laziness trump common sense.  Rant done.

2 hours ago, JimAndNena said:

Hola Panawanna,

Part A and Part B information is available here:

https://www.medicare.gov/

Unusual for a government website, this one is surprisingly clear with its explanations.  There is even an "I'm outside the U.S." explanation.

jim

Just some food for thought on things that can happen:

We went back to the USA for a family visit last September.  Three days after we got there, my aorta ruptured and I had emergency surgery.  After that, I developed complications with pneumonia and renal failure.  I was in the hospital for almost four months.  Fortunately, I had made the decision to pay Part B premiums and I even had a Medicare supplement.       

I have seen the total costs billed, and my opinion is that the Medicare premiums are the best investment I ever made.