Bud

One of the topics discussed by Rainelda Mata-Kelly during her talk was the matter of a government requirement that banks make available "beneficiary declaration forms" to be executed by bank customers desiring such. Such designation would be one method of avoid probate issues upon the passing of a bank customer. We stopped by our bank (Multibank) earlier this week, and they knew exactly what we were asking for. However, there is a charge of $112.00 for each beneficiary form that is executed. We opted not to go forward with this process.

The earlier postings in this thread were about the audio part of some of CableOnda's TV programming disappearing. Last night we were trying to watch channel 61 for the interesting news about events in the US, and this time the video signal disappeared. We first tried powering down the TV, and that was of no effect (it is a Sony TV and so we really don't expect any issue like that with the TV, but what the hey, we were trying everything). It was a process of elimination. And then we powered down the CableOnda box, waited 30 seconds, and brought it back online. The video and audio were good again. But that lasted only a few minutes. We did the power down thing several times with the CableOnda box, but with no joy. It was rather late in the evening, slightly before 9:00PPM, but I decided anyway to see if I could place a trouble call to CableOnda. Lo and behold, YES, they apparently answer their phones at other than normal business hours. There was a bit of a wait, but then I finally was able to chat with a nice voice, speaking English, and she asked me how she could help. I told her about the problem with channel 61, and she informed me immediately that they were already aware of the problem and working on fixing it. In fact, she said that the problem was happening with two specific channels, and she told me the other channel, but I don't recall which channel she mentioned. With all of the background voices in that call, I got the impression that this issue was rather widespread and lot of complaints were coming in. It was a somewhat new experience to "watch" a blank TV screen but still get the news via audio only. It worked. We really didn't need to see the people who were speaking, and so our news feed quota got filled last night, kinda like back in the older radio only era. The problem was not resolved when we decided to go to sleep, but this morning the video signal is back.

Here are two recent pictures of the barbershop mentioned above. First is Sr Lasso (on the right) and his business partner. Second is a street side view of the barbershop. This barbershop is on the same street as Melo here in Boquete, but a bit north, going toward the church.

Yupper. See their breakfast menu above.

Marcelyn and I attended a group meeting today at a relatively new eatery here in Boquete. We had not heard of this place until late yesterday when we were getting information about the group meeting / luncheon event. The name is Malu Café & Bakery. Little did we know that Boquete has a trailer park, and co-located on the same property is Malu. The trailer park is called Panama Camping Park. We understand that Malu has been open since January 2018. The ambiance was open, clean, refreshing, and inviting. Rina Samudio is the manager, and she checked on our group periodically to be sure that we all were being well taken care of. The food was good (Marcelyn and I shared a nacho plate with carne molida), and Marcelyn had an iced tea that she raved about (I did the Coke thing). Both of us had lunch for less than $10.00, and we did not ask for a jubilado discount. The service was very attentive, and always with a smile. Here are both sides of their business card. The email address is malucafepty@gmail.com. The telephones are 730-9251, 6747-0672, and 6777-7160. As to location, you can see from the map on the back of the business card that Malu is located one block farther east behind the Terpel (the one in Bajo Boquete) and Gymnasio del Cacho. Here is the Google Maps hotlink for Malu Café & Bakery: https://goo.gl/maps/8UMmwTSD7Xp, and also for Panama Camping Park: https://goo.gl/maps/hJ5xeU1sgZs. Actually, I believe there is an error in the map location for Malu in that it appears to be one block too far south on Google Maps. I've submitted a request to Google to correct this mistake. Here are some pictures taken during our group gathering today. First is the main entrance. Second is our group meeting. Next is a picture of Rina Samudio, the manager (left) and one of the employees. Next a shot of the kitchen area: And finally, both sides of both of their menus:

Interesting, and not the first time we have had such experiences (note use of the plural here).. To some, this aspect of life in Boqueteville is called its charm, and to others it is an irritant. To each his own. This topic has brought unexpected information to the table. Yeah for it because we all win! We plan to try Cafe Boquete in the near future.

Below is a picture of the laundry that we used. The sign over the door reads "Lavamatico." This business is next door to the Cafe Boquete breakfast place. Both are located immediately behind the Boquete Police Department, and in the same block (but opposite end) of the block where the CSS Policlinica is located.

Sad about the loss of life, but good that accountability resulted from the judicial system.

Wow, how stupid can some people really be? I guess this says there is no limit..... Or was this a joke?

I can understand why people would steal Tide. Such price gouging might make me think along those lines. Why get shot robbing a bank; just look at the gains to be made with selling Tide soap on the gray market.

Will check out Mandarin in the near future for laundry soap and other home consumables. Thanks for the referral.

Marcelyn and I ate at La Casa Mexicana for the first time yesterday while in David.. We arrived a bit after 12 noon and found ample parking. Upon entering (there is a security door that has to be released by an employee) we were greeted by a smiling employee who showed us to our table. La Casa Mexicana is basically two businesses linked together. The right side is dry goods, etc., and the left side is the restaurant. Two other tables were already occupied, one of which was friends from Boquete there to celebrate a birthday. That was a pleasant surprise for us. We had very quick service, and had placed our orders within a few minutes. Marcelyn chose a beef tostada plate and I chose a beef burrito. We both had lemonade for our drinks. While waiting for our food to arrive, I was wanting to use my iPad to take care of some business matters, and the manager saw that I was accessing my iPad. He came over to the table to offer their WiFi access code, and then waited for me to enter the code to be sure that we got connected to the Internet. In short order the drinks and entrees were in front of us. Large servings (too large for either of us) and very, very tasty. The facility was clean, air conditioned (but not freezing, which pleased us even more), was quiet, prompt service, etc. And really tasty food. The bill is closed out on the right side of the facility at the check out counter. The manager asked if we qualified for a jubilado discount (we did not initiate that dialog). Very reasonable prices, great food, great service, warm and engaging ambiance, etc. What more could anyone ask for? We then chatted with the manager, Rafael, who told us that they have been open for about nine months. We thanked him for the good dining experience and ended with a "and we will be back". That put an extra large smile on his face. Here is the business card that Rafael provided:

This is a complaint about outrageous prices for certain items in Panama. I would assume that most gringos have a clothes washing machine in their home. We do. It is an energy efficient model and works very well. It requires the use of what is called "HE" soap. I believe "HE" stands for high efficiency. We typically use the liquid Tide brand that we get at PriceSmart. Yesterday we went to David (first trip in many weeks) because we were out of just about everything, including laundry soap. We purchased one container of Tide laundry detergent, and the price now is $31.99, not including tax. It wasn't that long ago that it was in the mid $20s, and few months before that in the lower $20s. Last fall we were in the US and stopped by a large and well-known grocery store chain, but not a warehouse business. The same bottle of Tide HE soap was under $14.00. The price now in Panama is more than double. It must have arrived via private chartered airplane with dedicated attendants. This is outrageous price gouging, in my opinion.

Here are two pictures of Dra Monica Sanjur's office and sign.

Curious if anyone knows what Ron McGrew did after his release? Did he "move on", stay here, or what?

We have found four (4) folding TV trays hidden in the crevices of our garage. (Curses on you for bringing light to an area in our garage that I wish did not exist. ) Anyway, if you are interested, we would be willing to let them go. Contact information is in my signature block.

According to my trusty 14-digit printing calculator: the USA has 0.007,907,048,949,6 accidents per day per square mile, whereas Panama has 0.004,031,987,097,6 accidents per day per square mile. My opinion is that accidents per day per capita would be a more meaningful statistic, to wit: the USA has 0.000,092,850,510,6 accidents per day per capita, whereas Panama has 0.000,029,747,149,2 accidents per day per capita. P.S., for those who do not know me well, I am known as a numbers guy. P.P.S., two different fonts were used so as to make the digits line up properly.

Here is a picture of Sastreria Domingo:

Marcelyn and I were out in the yard playing with Anouk when this afternoon rainbow made its presence known. A shot taken from our front yard looking toward Palo Alto. Simply gorgeous. It lasted only about two minutes.

I am always fascinated by the beauty of a rainbow. This morning while heading into Bajo Boquete I snapped this picture. This is a grab shot taken with an old'ish iPhone, and not exactly vertical orientation, but you can get the idea.

We have a policy of not disclosing our business affairs, but in general ASEP has provided information about how things work here in Panama, and made recommendations as to how to deal with public utilities (e.g., electric utility and cable service, etc.), and then interfaced with the utilities once we had done our job with documentation. We found the ASEP staff cooperative and friendly, never in a hurry, and conversations always in Spanish/Spanglish (but we were successful and I am definitely not fluent). In one case we actually got back a refund from a utility based on the interaction between ASEP and the utility. For those who may not be aware, ACODECO and ASEP are two totally different governmental agencies. ACODECO deals with consumer rights and issues. ASEP is the Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Publicos -- in other words, the governmental oversight over public utilities (other than water/sewer related, which is IDAAN in many cases). We hear people frequently confusing the two agencies. Our experiences with ACODECO have been disappointing, but ASEP does a good job, in our opinion. The main thing for customers to do when dealing with either agency is to document everything. For instance, with ASEP bring in written documentation of every telephone call to the utility (e.g., Gas Natural will provide you with a ticket number for each outage/trouble report). Include summaries of who you talked with, scheduled service calls, who showed up when, and what was accomplished if anything. Etc., etc. Granted, it is a bit of a hassle, but doing the documentation thing has worked well for us when dealing with ASEP and the utilities. As an example, with sufficient documentation at hand, the manager of the ASEP branch in David actually called the utility and had a "frank" conversation (my terminology) with management level people at that utility. In summary, our approach of going in with a smile and a statement to the effect that "I need your help" (along with written documentation) works wonders. Leave the bad attitude at home. This approach seems to work well for us in almost all cases.

Good question. I have never even thought about this being an issue. Awaiting some feedback. A related question now is about the use of Chlorox or chlorine-based products in things like a clothes washer or to disinfect a toilet, etc. What is the right thing to do here regarding septic tanks?

Good on the them, bad on the him. Yes, I know I am being judgmental. Does anyone object to my assessments?