Uncle Doug

In order for this to make any sense at all, this would have to apply to all border crossings.

Well, there goes one of the benefits of having permanent residency.

Is that a location map for this earthquake? That dot obviously is not in Costa Rica. I definitely felt it in Palo Alto. A dish or two rattled in the cupboard .

That is an excellent idea. Thanks for suggesting it.

My problem isn't maps; it's that there isn't any such thing as a street address. Looking sideways out the side window while driving, hoping to spot a business destination, is somewhat out of my comfort zone.

Good info. I will check them out.

Parking for 300 cars is not enough for a capacity crowd of 8500, but it's way better than just ignoring the logistics entirely.

I hope it's not too much to hope that they plan to build a parking lot....

Bud, it's not just that the animals on the storefront are dogs, but also that every product pictured is for dogs. I have two cats as pets, so it wasn't as deep a question as it may have appeared. Perhaps I should have phrased the question as "Does this pet store carry products for pets that are not canine?"

I am surmising that "pet" means "dog", correct?

To be fair, the survey admits to only covering 38 countries, ignoring India, and virtually all of Africa and Asia. Panama is skewed because the overwhelming number of Waze users are in Panama City, which is a challenging place to drive. But if you've ever driven in Rome, Italy, it's not substantially easier. The survey is necessarily weighted by the experience of Waze users within a country. But Rome makes up 5% of the Italian population, and Panama City is perhaps a third or more of the Panamanian population? Panama definitely needs to improve (and it's certainly attempting to bring mass transit to improve transportation). But it's certainly not the fourth worst in the world. It's easily in the top half. Imagine driving in Pakistan or in Nigeria.

Angel passed out a brochure at the end of the presentation about Baru, which included a map of the hazard areas in the case of an eruption. The full map, with a legend of the hazard zones depending on the volume of the eruption, can be viewed or downloaded here . The full 2007 USGS report on Volcan Baru, its history and the hazards, is here. There are a lot of variables, including the size of an eruption and the prevailing winds at the time. In general, lower-lying areas near existing channels or waterways are higher risk. Bajo Boquete is far more likely to become inundated than Alto Boquete, for example. Volcan faces a different threat. It's all very interesting reading. One other interesting tidbit from the presentation: A few years ago Angel was able to spot active fumeroles (volcanic vents) within the crater of Baru. Those are no longer active, and everything seems quiet. For now.

Excellent information.

I attended Angel's talk, which was excellent. He did, in fact, say that the government seismic monitoring stations on Baru are no longer functional and have been abandoned. But that's not equivalent to saying that there will be no forewarning. Angel has his own seismographic equipment monitoring Baru, and he showed how individuals can obtain their own seismic stations which are connected to the internet to provide a rich database of seismic information for analysis. I should have asked him how many stations are currently in place, but it's at least several. In addition, Angel described the mechanism for another volcanic eruption at Baru. Not only would there be many detectable earthquakes in advance, but hot water springs would appear. Steam eruptions would appear. Before any explosive event similar to Mt. St. Helens, there would be a swelling which would also be detectable. In short, although the government is not actively monitoring Baru today, a catastrophic explosion with no warning is highly improbable, although every volcano is unique. On the other hand, Angel did say that Baru is far more dangerous than Mt. St, Helens. and that we should assume that there will be more eruptions in the future. While unrelated to Baru. Angel also pointed out that the David fault, which we cross driving from Boquete to David, is a highly dangerous major fault line, fully capable of generating earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater. The danger is great to the city of David, but a quake of that magnitude would likely isolate Boquete without power, cellphone service, and HORRORS, the internet. Roads and bridges would also be impassable. I don't think we can expect any warning for such an event. It was a great talk and I believe everyone in attendance learned something new.

I imagine the Diputada now will be even more resolved to strengthen the law.

I thought the yellow part was an insect screen, but these little bees occasionally get behind them anyway. I'm going to either pop them out or color over the yellow somehow. Fortunately it doesn't appear that my bees have stingers, but I still don't want to be feeding them.

All the profits go to the shareholders including dividends. It's a publicly traded stock. Even Warren Buffet owns a sizeable share.

I fell and broke my hip in April of this year. Do not attempt this at home alone while your wife is out of the country! Prevention is the key.

That's a lot of birds!! I've put up two of them, one of which attracts primarily roufus-tailed hummingbirds, and the other primarily the violet sabrewing (assuming I'm IDing them correctly. However, one of them started attracting small bees about a week ago. And, yes, the feeders have a yellow center on the red flowers....

That sure doesn't sound like a local name. But then I read the original article in Spanish...

There has been speculation in recent months about a sign on a parcel of land in David, and whether it means that Walmart is coming to this area. I don't know why it didn't occur to me before now, but I have a good friend who is a manager in the real estate division at Walmart HQ in Arkansas. So I asked him about this over the weekend, and whether it's legitimate. He responded this morning. It is, in fact, a Walmart property. But it is NOT a retail outlet. It's for their sourcing side of the company. In other words, this is a facility for the buying of products which they will retail elsewhere. He did not have more specifics, but I'm guessing that it's for exporting agricultural products for sale in Walmart grocery aisles. I always prefer more choices, so I would be happy to see Walmart or any other retailer expand in this area. But this isn't a sign of that.

Thanks! Grocery or hardware? I'll go get one today.

I believe I've read that every vehicle must carry a booklet of the driving rules in Panama. Is that true, and might the answer be in that? And where are these booklets available? I don't have one, and I didn't see any available at the drivers license location in Chiriqui Mall.

It seems to me that if Panama decided in 1997 by law that the Police Director could have a military background, that pretty much settled it. And since it's been over 25 years since Panama even had a military, it seems less relevant each new day. How long of a military career would any candidate today really have had? Just pick a good new Director, please.

It would be quite unfair to discriminate against a veteran who honorably served at the time when Panama had a military.