Bud

Marcelyn and I have gone through the registration procedure for Global Entry documentation. Global Entry is a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program that expedites entry into the US at certain airports and other land-based points. We have used it once so far, and it worked as advertised. Upon reentering Panama recently we noticed a brochure regarding the Panama equivalent "trusted traveler" program. Here is a scan of that brochure in case anyone might be interested.

Good luck. We've been down this path before and finally "surrendered" to their procedure by taking care of the credit card change at their office in downtown David. Our experience at the office on the corner across from Multibank is that it is Western Union and Union Fenosa only. One can pay a CableOnda bill (using cash) at Romeros if you can provide your "subscriber" number and the amount due. If anyone is aware of a different solution for the change of credit card, please post here.

Brandy, Like Penny, we have voted muchas veces. Will someone (you?) let the community know when the voting closes and the final result?

Marcelyn and I recently became acquainted with a fairly new specialty food store in Alto Boquete -- La Casa del Jamón. I am calling it a specialty food store rather than a grocery store because it does not stock the typical items found in a super market, such as bread, eggs, cereals, butter, lettuce, canned veggies, etc. Their inventory is primarily imported items of high quality, such as meats (beef, pork, fish, etc.), condiments, spices, etc. They do carry a small inventory of local coffees (both beans and ground). They are in a new, white colored building across from the Alto Dorado strip mall on the main road into Boquete. You will see the word "Gago" on the building and on their roadside sign. La Casa del Jamón is owned by Hermanos Gago S.A. We understand La Casa del Jamón to be a chain, with stores in PC. We don't know if they have a store in David. The store was clean and well laid out. The staff was friendly and offered assistance even though we did not ask. All items were labeled with item names, dates, and prices, etc. The majority of the meats are frozen and vacuum packed. They do accept credit cards. We believe La Casa del Jamón is not affiliated with another pork store in Boquete that is discussed at http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/2497-pork-store-in-boquete. Here is a scan of their business card:

I may start protesting the disruptions in traffic because of the water/sewer works. Add to it the [unknown to me] parade yesterday afternoon, and we almost couldn't get home. The good news was that I got practice my Spanish with a lady driver going the other direction. Given that we were simply stuck there on the street, I lowered my window (it was misting; not good for a parade!) and I wished her well. She was pleased that a gringo would speak Spanish (Spanglish in my case).

Background: I recently was able to take advantage of about 35 hours of professional training on Windows 10. These were separate one-hour sessions in a classroom environment using new computers running the latest version of Windows 10, which is called Windows 10 Anniversary Update. The classroom had 16 stations, but at most of the training sessions there were students at chairs looking over the shoulders of those fortunate enough to get a station. (Nice hardware, BTW.) The instructor, Kristin, was a Microsoft employee with about ten years tenure with Microsoft. Two motivators for Microsoft to bring out a new operating system are (a) industry trends toward the use of touch technology (as opposed to man-machine interfaces based on a keyboard or mouse), and (b) the movement from programs to apps, or the incorporation of both. Apps are modern, dedicated applications running under what Kristin called a "metropolitan operating system concept". Please do not ask me to explain that term. A program and an app are different beasts. The subject of Windows 10 crashing (actually the word 'trashing' was used many times) the computers that were being upgraded from prior versions of the Windows OS came up (many times). Kristin explained that almost all cases experiencing crashing/trashing were the result of hardware and/or software driver incompatibilities. Only Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems were candidates for an upgrade to Windows 10. In other words, Windows Vista and XP could not be upgraded, and more than likely would not have hardware compatible with Windows 10. The biggie news here is that Windows 10 must have very new hardware in order to function properly. Video cards and drivers are a primary culprit. If you have a computer more than 2 or 3 years age, there likely will be hardware problems. Microsoft provides a free program (available on its website) to test and report compatibility of a machine prior to upgrading. It is my understanding that that program does not test peripheral compatibility. Further on the 'driver' comment in the prior paragraphs: once a machine is upgraded, then there likely will be driver incompatibility issues that cause major heartburn. For example, after upgrading a machine that had a common consumer grade ink jet or laser printer attached, then even the drivers that interface between the computer and the printer need to be upgraded as well -- providing such a driver upgrade exists. Ouch. Those who upgrade and do so successfully are indeed lucky people (my terminology, not Microsoft's terminology). My own experiences with upgrading were not something I choose to repeat. The best situation would be either (1) to use a fairly new machine that is known to be hardware compatible, and rather than upgrade to 'reimage' the system {that means to wipe it clean and basically create a new computer}, or (2) to buy a new machine with Windows 10 already installed. To close on a positive note, I was really impressed with what Windows 10 can do. I found myself saying "Wow, I really like that" many times during these training sessions. My current think is to go into Windows 10 in 2017 based on new hardware.

Marcelyn and I have just returned to our home in Boquete after traveling internationally. We both have legal residency, and cédulas for identification/documentation purposes. Upon arrival at Tocumen we decided to go through the citizen/resident line (as opposed to the visitor line) as we have done for years. This time I was photographed but not fingerprinted. Marcelyn was both photographed and fingerprinted. The extra procedures added at most one minute to our processing time. I cannot explain why I was not fingerprinted. There was no explanation (signs, verbal discourse, etc.) as to these entry documentation changes. The immigration lady behind the stand was friendly and professional, and ended the processing with a smile and welcoming us home.

Sassey, You seem to have hit a hot topic for those of us who live in the Chiriqui Province. Thanks. We "vote" for bringing back the English muffins. Just curious if PriceSmart will be open this coming Thursday, November 10th? November 10th is part of the round of national holidays related to independence.

Sassey and Keith, It seems as if Sassey has hit on a hot topic of high interest to a lot of people. And then Keith's list of the points-of-contact within PriceSmart is also good info. Thanks for this information.

Does this apply to [legal] residents with cédulas? We have already been photo'd and fingerprinted, etc.

We have used the laundry services provided by Sunshine Laundry for many years. They used to be located on Calle Principal, but relocated to the condo building that houses the Dollar Store about a year ago. Never had a problem. They do NOT do "dry cleaning", but will steam clean ("limpiar al vapor") things, which works just as well for our needs. Always found the proprietress to be very friendly and accommodating. One time I did not have change for the laundry, and she said "don't worry, just pay me next time". I call that customer service.

Quoting from my reply to an ARF posting, I repeat for your posting:

My complements to the ARF group, not only for the work that you do, but also for your transparency. To my way of thinking, this is a very good report, including all of the information that I like to see. By posting this, I am not wishing to discount the good work that other animal groups (AdA, the rescuers [M&J, etc.], and the clinics, etc.) in the Boquete and Volcan areas do, because you collectively are doing a lot of very good work. It just struck me that this posting was exceptionally well done, informative, and open. Thank you not only for doing what you do, but also how you do it.

Thanks for the clarification. Wasn't trying to be critical, but it probably came across that way. It was just a case of a mind-stopping set of words that just didn't work in my mind; I had to stop and ponder what the real message was supposed to be. I should have considered the possibility of an automated translation as the cause.

Being a bit picky here, but this sentence would have more impact if it were to say "...because AS time passes...". Time passing is not an option; time always and without exception passes. It is kind of like the law of gravity. No exemptions. Really fantastic images. I have seen a few other articles on this topic, but not focused just on Panama. I read somewhere a couple of years ago that on average approximately twelve species within the animal kingdom go extinct every month. That was a shocking number to me. When a species is gone, it is gone forever. I have yet to read about any new species coming into existence, although researchers do continue to find species that were previously unknown. Apparently that happens a lot in the forest regions of Brazil.

Be sure that you use the "EMS" class of service if you ship via the local postal service. EMS is the equivalent of Express Mail in the USPS system, which means it includes a tracking number. By use of the term "registered", I believe Keith is referring to EMS. Once an EMS letter or package arrives in Miami, the tracking information then goes into the USPS website so that you can see the progress and ultimate delivery information. Like Keith, I have used the EMS service many times over the years and have never had a lost or damaged package. Just do not expect overnight delivery. Think in terms of a week, más o menos. MBE Boquete can assist in packaging up fragile items, and I believe they will even interface with the Panamanian post service on your behalf. Arturo and Velkys are very accommodating in these matters. EMS rates start at $13.50 and go up from there. Ken and Becky's suggestion is also a good idea.

The person you seek is a Penny Barrett. She is a CL member and accessible via PM (private message) at @Penny. Or you could just post a suggestion in some relevant forum here on CL. Your choice. P.S., the blue highlighted text is a "reference" hotlink. Just click on it and you will go to that profile. Look for the envelope icon, which is how you send a PM.

I'm shocked that those four Ticas skipped town. Who would've thunk it.

I got a follow-up email from a computer techie friend regarding the Yahoo! security breech that is the subject of this topic. That email brought to my attention a more recent issue with Dropbox, which is a cloud storage service that some CL members (like myself) may use. The original Dropbox breech occurred in 2012, involving 68 million Dropbox accounts. Read further about the Dropbox incident: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/31/dropbox-hack-passwords-68m-data-breach Note that the Dropbox breech was reported by many news sources; this is just one of many, but no need to be redundant here. I preface the remainder of this posting with a disclaimer that I am not under the employ of a Swiss-based company called Tresorit. What I am writing here may appear to be advertising; my goal simply is to provide information, and you get to decide what you do with that information, if anything. (As an aside, I have signed up for Tresorit service, and will be moving my cloud storage needs from Dropbox to Tresorit.) I am led to believe by trusted sources that Tresorit is [possibly] the only commercially available cloud storage service provider that has not been cracked [yet]. Tresorit asserts that they have "invited" or "challenged" the cracker community to try to break into their secure cloud storage, but as of this writing such a breech has not been achieved. I do not find Tresorit as user friendly as Dropbox, but I do get the impression that it is very secure. What makes it different from other services is that Tresorit encrypts everything before it leaves your computer, and the Tresorit systems have zero ability to decrypt anything because they have zero access to or knowledge of your encryption keys. That seems to be a two-edged sword -- total (!) data security, but absolutely catastrophic loss of your data should you forget your Tresorit passwords. You get to set your priorities. I quote here from a recent email (dated 28 September 2016) from Tresorit, primarily because there are some interesting links that provide additional information (click on the embedded hotlinks) regarding data security: I close with a repeat of my disclaimer that I am not trying to sell anyone on Tresorit. This is for informational purposes, and the reader gets to decide what is best for them. P.S., I use the LastPass application that is mentioned in Tresorit's above email as my password vault.

Penny, you may want to plan a trip to San Diego. That city labels and markets itself as "Beer City" with more than 100 breweries and brewpubs. They even have a "San Diego Beer Bus" that does brewery tours; after sampling so many beers you have a designated driver to get you safely back to your hotel. Neither Marcelyn nor I drink beer, so we can't give you any first hand feedback.

Marcelyn and I patronized this eatery earlier this year with friends based on their recommendation. We were glad that we did go there. Good service, good ambience - almost feeling like family based on the greeting of the staff, good tasting food, etc. Prices were very reasonable; did not ask for a jubilado discount because we have a policy of not asking when the price is less than $10.00. Not much English spoken, but Spanglish worked well. Mezcla is a -- not hidden but certainly unadvertised -- jewel.

You should talk with Keith Woolford. He is known as "the car guy". His display name here on CL is @Keith Woolford.

Before you get your hopes up, PriceSmart does NOT carry English language keyboards, only Spanish. PARS computer store in David definitely does carry English keyboards. PARS is across the street from Super 99 on the street that leads into the prison (which we call the McDonald's street). If you go there, say hi to Alvaro, the store manager.

Keith, thank you for this Aljazeera clip. Well done, informative, and an example (imo) of good reportage.

Hazel Bowling is the person who schedules and announces the monthly ham radio breakfast meetings. She can be reached here on CL via her "Display Name", which is @Hazel Bowling. Simply click on the blue hotlink, and then select "Message". That will take you to the PM (private message) function, and you can dialog with her privately. Hazel routinely reads CL and so it is likely that she will learn of your interest. 73, Bud