Pat and Susan

We think that people are following Rodny because he has a proven track record handling emergency situations.  He has long established relationships with the necessary key people. He knows the landscape. 

In times of an emergency, we don't want someone on a learning curve handling our call.

People are following Rodny for his services, wherever he goes. 

We wish AAC all the best, but we followed Rodny to Rodny Direct, and so have many of our friends. 

We are very proud of Rodny's accomplishments, and support him in his efforts to rise above his physical limitations.  He is a role model and we are proud to support him. 

1 hour ago, Bonnie said:

The following was on Facebook in the Boquete Community Group today:

Hi Everyone,

I have decided to resign from my position at Valle Escondido..The internal politics become more than i could do there, the job for me was all about the food experience, and when it became beyond that, i decided to move forward.. i thank all yall for your support in the last year there, and look forward to seeing u at my next venture, that will be my own, and will have no restrictions in the cusine!!

why not just say ....I've moved on to new adventures and challenges 

• 20.9 MP 1"-type Exmor R CMOS sensor
• 28-100mm equivalent F/1.8-4.9 lens
• Continuous shooting up to 10 FPS
• ISO 160-12800, expandable ISO 100, 125, and 25,600
• 3.0 inch tiltable TFT LCD with 1,229,000 dots
• 1080 60p/24p HD video with full exposure control (MPEG-4/AVCHD)
• Raw/JPEG/ Raw+JPEG
• Steady-Shot image stabilization
• Rear control dial and customizable front control ring
• Includes expandable Smart Accessory Shoe for system accessories
• Built-in WiFi and NFC for sharing and remote camera control
• 1-Inch 20.2 MP Exmor R sensor for extreme low-light shots
• Bright F1.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T lens w/3.6x zoom
• Simple connectivity to smartphones via Wi-Fi or NFC
• Recording Media Types: PRO Duo / Pro-HG Duo media Memory Stick, SD, SDHC and SDXC Memory Card

Also included:

• leather camera case ($80.00 value)
• 4 GB memory card
• battery charger and spare battery
• car adapter

Paid $650 for camera only - asking $400 

info @ finca tierra pura boquete .com

thanks

2 hours ago, Keith Woolford said:

Guilty.

I griped when I posted a Classified Ad for some of Dave's cars for sale and Lynnie jumped all over it.

If someone attacks you on your post, does not contribute anything positive but so disagrees with the content or the person that they cannot reply in a constructive manner, then it would seem that the person who attacked you should have been reprimanded and the posts removed but not remove the ability of others to reply.

I am still learning this site, but what I am seeing is the ability to customize your feeds.  

Is this similar to News Boquete discussion and the suggestions offered by Bonnie on how to avoid those posts in your feeds?  Can this be done with the classified posts if someone does not wish to see the replies? 

And it appears that all of the topics in the Classifieds are not the "same".  Some posts will be generated by the person selling an item or the business and some posts will be made by those trying to share resources. For example, I would like to post about Boquete Gardening Services and I am sure that when others see the post about Nemesio and his group, they will also comment on the services he provided to them.  Here is where you build the credibility of the business or service. 

Thanks for your replies.  

I can understand not wanting to read the banter for someone selling an item but it seems to me that there are instances when dialogue within the classifieds would be be helpful to the membership.

And sometimes rules are made and then a situation arises which may require a revisit to the rules.

I can answer Dottie's questions but I cannot reply to her post.  I can send her a private email but then that info is not shared with the members. 

I have collected many resources over the years that I am willing to share, but my past experience is that someone will ask me a specific question about the resource and the answer is of benefit to all of the members.  In the current system I can only reply to individual.

When I created the Rolodex in Ning, with some posts but not all, someone would post a question or an additional comment supporting the reference and this contributed to the overall quality of the post.  If the only option in this situation is to reply privately, then information gets fragmented. 

Just my observation mind you.

Thanks again.

Susan

Hola

I notice that you cannot reply to the Classified Ads.  I tried to reply to Dottie's question in the Miscellaneous section but there is no reply feature.  

Then I started looking at some of the other ads, ads where people were selling items, and there is no reply feature in these posts either. 

Is this by design?

Thanks

Susan

14 hours ago, Val said:

I am a little afraid of saying something wrong here since I am not sure how this site works. I try to say something nice and get immediate dislikes? 

However, I will reiterate a very positive experience with ACODECO.  Having proper documentation in a case of approx. a $5K settlement - l am legally bound to not disclose the details. They were professional, prompt, and clearly on the side of the consumer - us. The vendor tried to take advantage of us since in good faith, we made a sizeable down payment while the vendor never ordered the product, which is illegal but we wanted to move on.  We were refunded our money since having the documentation in this case was relatively straightforward. 

Best Regards and wish everyone the same experience.

Even with the proper documentation and good Spanish communications skills, collusion in a foreign country is very difficult to fight against. 

2 hours ago, Querencia said:

Possibly a little off topic but what was the model of the Samsung fridge please. I plan to buy a fridge soon.

I will try to find the model number, it is a three door with the freezer on the bottom, 26 cf.  Audiophoto and Panaphoto have this model.

The other point is that we've had smaller items break down and we just decide what is worth our time and aggravation - this refrig was $1800.00 so it was initially worth our time and aggravation but this experience was so bad, we decided to walk away from it.  It was taking up time that we'd never get back.

Yes we did everything that Roger suggested and more.  This wasn't our first rodeo and you need to know when to just walk away.

Roger heard about our plight and started a Twitter campaign and got the attention of Samsung and ACODECO.  We are very grateful to Roger for helping us to get resolution of this problem.  

I posted this as an advisory so that people will be aware.  I have also heard a few good stories about ACODECO which is why we were surprised about our dealings with them. 

I only posted the main highlights, there were other absurd and aggravating interactions with ACODECO and Audiophoto. 

The worse was when the ACODECO rep and the Audiophoto rep spoke in Spanish in front of us thinking we would not understand and they made derogatory comments about us being "Americanos" and they were not going to negotiate with us.  We've never experienced that before in Panama.  

Apologies were eventually given by ACODECO and Audiophoto but it shouldn't have been this bad of a situation in the first place.

We wish your friend luck in dealing with ACODECO.

We had a terrible experience and after a year or so we gave up.  Roger Bellido heard about our experience and started tweeting to key Twitter accounts and created a lot of noise for us.  We finally were able to get our refund and we purchased a refrigerator at another store.

This was a nightmare and the excuses, now, are laughable. Below is a correspondence during this time. 

____________________________________________

We purchased the refrigerator in December 2013 and it was delivered in December.

We plugged the refrigerator in and about a week later it starts to make a loud banging noise at random times.  Sounds like a hammer on a metal pot.  Loud.  Twice the food in the freezer partially melted.

In January 2014 we went to Audiophoto and we were told to contact Samsung.

In February a Samsung technician came to the house, heard the noise, said it is a common problem with this refrigerator, it cannot be repaired.  A search on the internet and Youtube shows the numerous complaints this model of refrigerator has. We waited for Samsung to send us the report and no replies.

We went to Audiophoto several times and first asked for a replacement with a different refrigerator that was not the Samsung.  They said no. We then asked both Samsung and Audiophoto for a refund and we were denied.  We have been ignored by Audiophoto and we no longer want to conduct business with them.  We want a refund.

We also contacted Samsung and we were told that the loud banging noise is normal for a refrigerator.  We were then told to make a video recording of the noise and send to them.  This is absurd.

We exhausted all efforts and decided to file with ACODECO.

XXXXX at ACODECO told us that the law states that Audiphoto has 30 days to make some type of offer to settle this problem.  Since they ignored us and let the 30 days lapse, ACODECO told us that they have essentially lost their case / rights and must refund our money.

ACODECO was finally able to get the technician's report from Samsung.  XXXXXX said that a video recording of a noise is not admissible evidence.  He said he would schedule us to appear before the ACODECO "judge".

We had many delays in getting the appointment but we finally were given an appointment on September 15th.  We were told to arrive early so we could complete the paperwork giving permission for Nancy Burgess to act as an interpreter/translator.   Nancy was told to bring a copy of her passport so that she could complete the paperwork that gives her permission to interpret for us.

We arrived at 2 PM for the 3 PM meeting and twice asked for the paperwork and twice were denied.  They claimed they were busy however they were just sitting at the desk.

We were then taken into an office with an ACODECO representative, a female who did not give us her name.  The meeting was suppose to be with XXXXX.  We never could get an answer why we were not appearing in front of the ACODECO judge.  The ACODECO woman made it very clear to us that she wanted nothing to do with resolving this situation.  She would not answer our questions about why we were not in front of the judge, what the law states in regards to the 30 day limit, or anything.  Both the ACODECO person and the representative from Audiophoto made derogatory comments about us being "Americanos" thinking we did not understand Spanish, even though we had an interpreter with us fluent in Spanish.  

The ACODECO woman made us sign a paper that said we will reschedule because we do not have the paperwork completed allowing for the interpreter.  We said that we were denied the paperwork at the front desk.  She ignored us.She would not look at us and or answers questions.

On our own we attempted to settle this with the Audiphoto representative.  Audiophoto said that Samsung said they do not trust the judgment of their own technician and they want us to record the sound.  We asked how do I record a sound that is random.  A sound that occurs at 2 AM.  She said when I hear the noise at night, to get up and record it.  I said that is after the noise occurred.  She laughed at us.  I said that ACODECO/ XXXXXX told us that a video of a noise is not admissible.  When question the ACODECO woman would not answer us to as whether this is true.  We then said that Pat could stand in the background and make the noise with a hammer.  The Audiophoto person laughed and nodded her head (yes).

We asked how do we get this video to you.  How to record?  On what format?  The Audiophoto rep had no real answers because the request was so absurd.  Then both the ACODECO person and the Audiophoto person said to bring the recording to the store in David and they will decide.

We said that is not a compromise.  And we did not agree to be bound by the decision made by Audiophoto after viewing the video.  They wanted us to agree to this but we would have done this silly task, Audiphoto would listen to the tape and say nope and then that would be perceived as an agreed upon settlement.

We refused.  We were told to schedule another meeting.

Our interpreter had a difficult time getting the appointment.   They kept telling her that ACODECO has done all they can do.  Nancy replied that ACODECO has done nothing and has not even attempted to mediate this claim.

We contacted our attorney and he also ran into problems and we then decided to let this drop.  Too much time and aggravation.

Then Roger Bellido intervened and we were able to sort this out with ACODECO and Audiophoto.  During this time, we were told that the case was closed because they scheduled us for another meeting but we never showed up.  We were never contacted. There were many half-baked excuses offered.

_______________________________________

Bring lots of documentation with you.

Good luck.

http://www.acodeco.gob.pa/acodeco/Chiriqui.php

has the exact address and you can pull it up on Google maps

parking is terrible so park in El Campeon, do some shopping there and then walk over to ACODECO 

looks like all of the photos did not come over with the notice and the formatting changed

here are the Moringa photos that went out with the notice

I am still navigating this site, here is a message I sent to Bud, but it seems appropriate to post it here now.

____________________________________________________________________

hola Bud

We greatly appreciate you creating Chiriqui Life Forum.  

I do not know if there was a previous post about this, but for what it's worth, we enjoy having the News Boquete and other notices in the Activity Stream.  If it is in the Activity Stream, then we get an immediate notice instead of going to the individual areas to look and see if anything new is posted.  We believe it will be a disservice to those who send out these notices, as it is likely that many will not go to search for these notices, and many notices are sent out only a day before the event.

If the notices are in the activity stream, more people are likely to see it, which supports the purpose of the notices. [And the purpose of the Activity Stream].

Just wanted to share our thoughts on this.

Gracias, 

Susan & Pat 

I am making a new post about our experience with Planet Telecom.  I initially posted this reply in response to a discussion about CableOnda and Mobilnet.  Within that post, a comment was made about buffering problems experienced with Planet Telecom with 3 Mbps.  I don't know the reasons for the posters' buffering problems, but our experience is with only 2 Mbps, and it is completely different. 

_________________________________________________________________________

We've had Planet Telecom up here in Volcancito for over three years.

We pay for 2 Mbps and we stream TV show, movies, music, Netflix and have a Vonage phone for business and personal calls back to the states. And we can do these simultaneously. 

In addition, we share the signal with two casitas on our property.  The rental casita streams similar to us.  Federico's casita primarily uses the internet for the children's schoolwork and his English lessons.

We've had minimal problems with buffering and this usually occurs on Sunday when everyone is watching a football games or during the typical slow time for everyone between 6 and 9 PM.  When people with CableOnda complained about buffering problems (on Ning) we rarely experienced those problems.

You may want to check your configurations (router + wifi + computer) and also see what else is using bandwidth such as VPN or other applications. Leaving an email program running and even FB can use bandwidth.

When we first rented here, we used MobilNet and paid for the upgrade to 2 Mbps and the buffering was terrible.

This is our experience with Planet Telecom.  Dave and Al have been easy to work with and have been very helpful in helping us configure our system. 

5 hours ago, PenRip said:

Bud...we are Planet Telecom users and pay $200 a month for 3 mb!!!!  This does NOT support streaming.   We cannot get CableOnda due to our remote location...although they are now wiring the entire Jaramillo loop, they won't come down our driveway which is 1/8 mile from the main cable, even though we offered to pay half of the cost.   We also have PR DirectTV and a MAC Mini that gives us Netflix and plays our movies, etc.   CableOnda has told us that they will be introducing 10 mb wireless starting in January for around $100 (price not firm).  This will be more than 3 times faster than Planet Telecom for half the price.  We can't wait!   I suppose that is why they bought MobilNet...so they can have the wireless backbone.  But I am curious....why you can't get enough bandwidth with CableOnda fibreoptic?  They offer up to 40 mb.  Seems like you'd just buy that.  Planet Telecom gives good service by are VERY expensive and I believe their highest capability is 4 mb for $250 a month.

We've had Planet Telecom up here in Volcancito for over three years.

We pay for 2 Mbps and we stream TV show, movies, music, Netflix and have a Vonage phone for business and personal calls back to the states. And we can do these simultaneously. 

In addition, we share the signal with two casitas on our property.  The rental casita streams similar to us.  Federico's casita primarily uses the internet for the children's schoolwork and his English lessons.

We've had minimal problems with buffering and this usually occurs on Sunday when everyone is watching a football games or during the typical slow time for everyone between 6 and 9 PM.  When people with CableOnda complained about buffering problems (on Ning) we rarely experienced those problems.

You may want to check your configurations (router + wifi + computer) and also see what else is using bandwidth such as VPN or other applications. Leaving an email program running and even FB can use bandwidth.

When we first rented here, we used MobilNet and paid for the upgrade to 2 MBPS and the buffering was terrible.

This is our experience with Planet Telecom.  Dave and Al have been easy to work with and have been very helpful in helping us configure our system. 

Agree Keith.  It is disheartening to see the posts about Ning and who did or knew what and when.  Who cares?  It amounts to gossip and speculation and is not at all interesting. 

Surely there are more important topics than picking at this scab?

Like this photo ...being grateful for the bounty from our greenhouse. 

Thank you Bud and Marcelyn for creating this site.  Wishing you all the best.

Pat & Susan