Bud

I had not thought of that possibility, but if so that would NOT have happened. It would've been about a $10 propina, and in a situation where propinas are not appropriate.

I had another experience this morning of wanting to buy some items at a local store here in Boquete, but at the check out counter being told that the store had no change. I didn't either. Bluntly speaking, I do not view it as my job to estimate what a bill will be (even if I could do so), and then take sufficient change to complete a purchase. End result here was no sale, and loss of their time and energy to put all merchandise back on the shelves where they belonged. The really bad aspect of this not infrequent experience is that the clerk apparently really didn't care that they were losing a sale. Maybe she was upset that she had to work on the Saturday before Easter.

I find the number of Panamanians who assist in my Spanish skills to be increasing. Just two days ago at our primary bank, the manager corrected my Spanish, and with a wink in her eye. I acknowledged (in Spanish) her assistance and thanked her. [Gracias para ayudarme seems to work well in this situation.] It seems to be more of an attitude on my part that tells them that it is not only okay but actually desired that they help. Seems to work for me.

Thanks for this information. We keep hearing really good things about the mercado at Alto Dorado. Will give it a look-see in the near future. The word is that they have incredibly good customer service. Your comments about the debit machine seem to support the assertions of good customer service. The name Melissa keeps being mentioned as the main driving force at that store.

My [admittedly limited] translation skills tells me that you are writing "Chiricancos would say 'you are talking yucca'." I suspect the last phrase is an idiom meaning something more like "nonsense", or perhaps something stronger in a negative direction. I would appreciate clarification or correction, as appropriate, if you would be so kind. The primary subject here in this topic is community integration. That is important to me, as one significant purpose of my efforts regarding CL is the integration of the various communities (personally speaking I prefer the word 'cultures' here, but we are talking about the same concept) that are converging in our area. Just look at the second section about the goals for CL in the "Welcome Aboard" posting. For completeness, there are two main goals of our efforts here with CL, one is the integration item mentioned above, and the other is service to those who live, work, or visit here. The words in the Welcome Aboard were written in September 2015 while CL was being planned, and before it went live. Glad that Keith started this topic. A bit curious what triggered this topic.

Marcelyn and I took Renny's "Crash Course" this past January and February. It was two days a week for eight weeks. If you are willing to work and are serious about learning Spanish, this is a very good course. It was the first time Marcelyn had taken a Spanish class. It was my third (having been here for many years). I learned things in Renny's class that I had never learned in the other two classes. I'm NOT dissing the other courses, but Renny really knows her stuff. Will you be certified as a UN translator after finishing this course? Of course not. But you will have a good foundation to get to that level if you so choose. In other words, if you are serious about learning Spanish, here's an opportunity.

A couple of years ago I needed a permit to remove a tree, but got my contractor to do the paperwork for me. He had the permit the next day. I looked at the ANAM website (www.miambiente.gob.pa) but found it not very helpful. I was able to get a couple of telephone numbers for Chiriqui ANAM: 774-6671 and 775-3163. Hope this helps a bit.

Roger, I don't consider your postings here to be rants. You are always well informed and informative. Thank you for sharing.

Marcelyn and I were delayed in our return home yesterday evening because of this accident. It was a few minutes after 7:00pm, and traffic was really snarled. We did see the white SUV at an angle across the road. Eventually we were able to divert on a side road behind La Casa de Mi Abuela to continue our northbound leg. Had we been a few minutes earlier in our journey home, this could have been us. We could tell it was a serious accident, and are saddened to learn of a fatality. In a related matter, given that you mentioned a motorcycle was involved, there was some kind of motorcycle event in Boquete yesterday. We commented on our southbound leg (we live north of Bajo Boquete) earlier in the day that some of the motorcyclists were racing, dangerously fast (and with lots of noise). We have no idea if speed was involved in this accident. Just adding a sidebar comment here.

I continue to learn, having thought until coming across this bit of news from last January, that coffee, and specifically the specialty coffees of Boquete, were the primary agricultural export commodity. That is what I have been led to believe. Apparently not so.

Just curious. Was this a pet snake, or a random incident of a wandering snake? I ask that question because I have read that some people keep boa constrictors as pets to control mice and other critter infestations.

So what happens now for those seventeen displaced families? The story seems to have ended with the report that is shown above from News Room Panama. I'm reminded of Paul Harvey's radio broadcasts that were called The Rest of the Story. What is the rest of this story? Who are they? Where did they live? Etc., etc. For them, this is only the beginning of their story of trying to bring order and normalcy out of chaos. I have a zillion questions, but all unanswered at this juncture. What resources are available -- be they public, private, or NGO -- to provide assistance? I presume that none of them had insurance, and likely no reserve assets to repair or replace their home. Even if they did, it takes time. As a gringo, I have the inbred instinct and motivation to want to do SOMETHING. But what? To be displaced from a home, as happened to seventeen families, could have included me. I thank God that it was not the case ... this time.

While running errands in David today, we drove by the Buffalo Wings place on the Inter-American Highway. It no longer exists. Closed up tight, and all signs and furniture removed. A favorite place for wings has disappeared. RIP.

The recognition event at the library last night was well attended. My estimation is at least 150 people. All seats were taken, and people were standing at the back of the room. The event started promptly at 7:30PM and ended about 9:00PM, then adjourned to the ground floor for refreshments. The topic of Price's talk was the state of education in Panama, and areas where it might be improved. One of the statistics that he recited placed Panama pretty much at the bottom of the list of successful educational systems. Other main speakers besides the emcee, etc., included Carlos Enrique Landau, Anayansi Menéndez, and the Vice Mayor of David (but I couldn't get her name). I'm including a couple of pictures from the event, but state up front that they are very poor quality because all I had was my cell phone and we were at the back of the room. Hopefully good quality images will be forthcoming because there were a lot of photographers there last night. Most attendees were Panamanian, and the entire event was in Spanish. This was a somewhat formal event, and Marcelyn commented about how well-dressed the women were. A well-deserved recognition of and award for Price's contributions in our community.

Frequently the issue arises for someone who has handled a lot of paperwork during their working years. Apparently the paper fibers wear down the ridges on the fingertips (so we are led to believe).

Yes. The kind of UPS that was serviced yesterday is approximately $200.00 (or just a bit less). The two lead-acid batteries, installation, tax, etc., was less than $53.00. So, YES, service is much cheaper than replacement. Further, the model that was worked on yesterday is no longer locally available, and is a unit that is more robust in its control circuity than what I can now find locally. I prefer it over the models that are available at PriceSmart nowadays. (Not saying anything bad about those newer models, but I just prefer the stuff that I know that works well.)

We had a totally pleasant experience at La Casa de Las Baterías yesterday while in David running errands. We were there because one of our UPS systems had started chirping, indicating that the internal lead-acid batteries were beginning to fail. To our knowledge, La Casa de Las Baterías has two stores in David, one is close to the downtown area on a corner of the original one-way street, and the other near the McDonald's on the Inter-American Hwy. (There may be other stores, but we are not aware of any.) We opted for the downtown store since we were just blocks away when that item queued up. There were seven people waiting for their battery needs to be taken care of when we arrived at the store. I took a number, and was called on within ten minutes. Marko was the technician who took care of our needs. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and kept me informed of what was being done at each of the steps. For example, testing the old batteries to establish their condition before simply replacing them. After putting the UPS back together, Marko then tested the UPS to be sure it was in tip-top shape, which it was. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. They do accept credit cards. If you have battery needs (not talking about the usual alkaline AAA, AA, C or D size batteries here, but lead-acid, deep discharge, gel, and AGM batteries, etc.) for your car, boat or specialty items then La Casa de Las Baterías is the place to go.

Marcelyn and I had to spend most of yesterday in David for business maters. It was a generally productive day, in spite of the heat and humidity. Anyway, the reason for this topic is that we stopped by Hotel Nacional for their buffet luncheon. It had been quite a while since last dining there. We arrived about 12:15PM, and immediately were invited into the dining area. We were the first to arrive for the buffet luncheon, and so they opened the door for us and invited us in. It only got better from that warm greeting. The food was excellent, especially the pumpkin soup. There was the usual wide selection of food items. We both had rice and the chicken entree, etc. The service was impeccable, even to include helping me get the WiFi security code for my cell phone working (I must have been in "klutz" mode right then). All things considered, it was such a pleasant experience with excellent food, great service, and fair pricing that I mentioned to Marcelyn that I would not request the jubilado discount. Low and behold, when the waiter brought the bill, he indicated that he had already applied the jubilado discount but did need to view our cédulas. I guess we can't hide our advancing years. We left a larger than normal tip. If you haven't dined at the Hotel Nacional at lunch time, you might want to treat yourself to an excellent dining experience.

FYI, we went back to the same restaurant since our visit to ACODECO. Did not indicate anything unusual or introduce ourselves, etc., but simply ordered our drinks and meal, etc. Wonderful service, very good food, and when it came to the bill, we asked for the jubilado discount. There was no push back, other than their request for our IDs, which is a totally legitimate request on their part. We provided our cédulas, and the jubilado discount was taken care of. A pleasant experience. Matter closed as far as we are concerned.

Roger, Well said. We are in total agreement. Unfortunately, defensive driving is at times not sufficient to protect life and limb.

Yupper. C&W's Mas Movil office (NOT the main C&W office) is directly across the street from MultiBank (and immediately next to the Gas Natural Fenosa office). I believe the Box Shop is off of that same street but a few blocks toward the north. (We have an account with the Box Shop, but every time we go there it is from the opposite direction). Catercorner (diagonally) from the MultiBank is a water equipment business, but I do not remember its name. This is all not very far from Hotel Nacional. I got on Google Maps, and found the place. The streets are Calle Aristides Romero and Avenida Central. If you go to Google Maps, just look up "ASEP David Panama".

ASEP (Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos) has an office in David. That office is in the same building complex as the main MultiBank, which is across the street from the Gas Natural Fenosa service center. The telephone at that office is 775-9623/24, or 800-3683. Be advised that you must speak Spanish at that office. They are friendly and will try Spanglish, but for detailed technical facts, you best have competent language resources at hand, meaning either yourself, a family member, or a translator.

The credit card bill is apparently the only documentation that survived the internal gauntlet within ACODECO. Without the actual factura for goods and services purchased, then the resulting ACODECO position is the only reasonable position to be taken. Read the next to the last paragraph of my original posting on this incident. That says it all, to wit: Without the actual factura then there is no legitimate case.

We've had some inquiries about how ACODECO responded to our denuncia, and for more details about what the restaurant said. Regarding request #1, ACODECO called to make an appointment for us to come to their office in David to receive the final report, which was a two page, legal size typed (and stamped) "resolution" that I had to sign for. Regarding request #2, I have extracted and redacted a section of the two page "resolution" that was delivered to us. The staff at ACODECO was friendly and professional, but absent smiles and not very talkative. It was late on a Friday afternoon, however, and I suspect they were just ready to shut down. Here is the extracted text in Spanish: And here is an automated translation:

Marcelyn and I patronized an upscale, local Boquete restaurant in April 2016, a bit short of a year ago. I am not naming that restaurant here, but it is one that we would label as a "high end gringo style" restaurant, with pretty good food and service, but disdain for the letter of the law regarding jubilado discounts. Note that we have a personal policy of not requesting a jubilado discount when the total cost per person is less than $10.00, nor when it is a tipico, nor when we feel that the value received for the price paid is adequate. While this instance was a good meal and with good service, the price was quite high, which admittedly is a subjective assessment on our part. And so, last April off to ACODECO in David we go. That denuncia was filed in April 2016. We learned that the ACODECO investigation began in September 2016. And then last Friday (March 24th) we were summoned for the final report. The result was a denial of our claim. Without going into a lot of the details here, the essence of the comments by the representative of the restaurant was that they did not remember the incident and that they have many satisfied customers. They also claimed that since we had paid with a credit card that there was no way to trace back to the specific transaction (which doesn't make any sense to me since we included copies of the receipt along with the credit card charge in the filing of the denuncia). It appears that we have five days from last Friday to appeal this decision. We are going to let this specific incident go. Should we file another denuncia against another restaurant -- and hopefully that will not be necessary -- then we are going to be more meticulous in documenting the transaction with the business that denies the jubilado discount. I cannot prove it, but methinks part of the paperwork that we submitted somehow got "lost" in the paperwork caverns of the bureaucracy. Not bitter, but again disappointed that the ACODECO complaint system doesn't seem to work, or perhaps is stacked in favor of the business.