Catching Up . . .

Welcome International Living Friends!

International Living has featured an article I wrote in the new issue of the Panama Newsletter which has a lot of good things to say about Valle Escondido, which my friend Sam should like.  It doesn’t mention the house that I have for sale in Valle Escondido, but you can read all about it . . . here . . . Sam may take issue with this, but neither he, nor Valle Escondido are perfect, and like any diverse community we have issues and opinions, but Valle Escondido is a reality, not a pipe dream.  Buy in Valle Escondido and you see what you are getting . . . and you’re not going to spend your retirement in a perpetual construction zone, as I have while much of Valle Escondido was being completed.  Many of these proposed developments will become reality, but I predict that many also will not happen and folks will be left out in the cold, particularly as some of the developers have been hit where it hurts over the past few weeks.  If I were now looking to come to Panama, and especially if I were not going to live here full time, Valle Escondido would look pretty good.

In our case we had a farm further up the mountain that we love, three big dogs that needed room to roam, and after four years living in Boquete we felt comfortable leaving the security of Valle Escondido and moving into the community.

Anyone know how to put in an Ariston stove door???

The guys who did our granite managed to movethe stove by the oven door handle pulling the door off.  They never said anything: I guess they didn’t think I’d notice.  Nor did they put it back andI can’t figure out how to do it or find anything online to help or any way to contact Ariston, other than in Italian.  Any ideas?? PLEASE let me know!

OK, what happened with Capital One MasterCharge?

I told you the horrible experience I had with Capital One and MasterCharge.  Well someone must have picked up on that post and fed it to the right department and I got an email on September 30thfrom a Kathy Adkins at the “Executive Response Center” at Capital One setting up a time to call me and apologizing. She arranged for a new card to be messengered to me, but unfortunately due to the original delay andmishandling (my request for a new card was approved: it just wasn’t done) the new card didn’t arrive until October 2nd . . . a day late since we needed it for the hospital in Panama City for my wife’s angioplasty. Although Capitol One faxed an authorization to the Centro Medico Paitilla to charge the procedure to my credit card, Centro Medico Paitilla stubbornly refused to accept credit card payment unless they had an actual credit card in their hand to run through their machine. Talk about living in the dark ages! Centro Medico Paitilla wants to get involved in the “medical tourism” business, but, believe me, these guys aren’t ready for “prime time.” Anyone coming to Panama for medical treatment is going to expect front office efficiency and lack of that will, rightly or wrongly, cast the pall of uncertainty on all hospital procedures. So, as if my wife wasn’t under enough stress, the hospital added a whole new layer of stress due to their inefficiency and uncooperativeness. So we had to go through a whole lot of hassle to come up with another way.

Ms. Adkins did insist on crediting $200 to my account for the hassle . . . and she didn’t have to insist very long . . . and that has happened. She also promised to credit me 20,000 air miles, and I am waiting for that to show up.

So Capital One did get it’s act together and thanks to Kathy Adkins who “gets” customer service, which is probably why she has the job she does, I have a credit card: it was just physically impossible to get it here on time. But I appreciate her efforts. I wish Master Card would standardize proceedures for its merchants and bring their Panamanian merchants and banks into the 21st Century.

From Marcia . . .

great blog…just finished building a home here int he mexican caribbean……construction problems galore…our architect and builder was a neighbor and friend? Well, we were royally fleeced ….have had a very similar story to yours ..in third world countries we are at the mercy of our own assumptions of trust in professionals….

Now we are considering Boquete…it is always so hot here…and we are ready for a change…glad to read your honest thoughts of your new country…

Sometimes it takes a while to find the “right” place on the planet to call home.

Welcome on Board, Brenda!

We plan on taking the Embera excursion from the ZuiderdamNovember 25. Do you recommend any special inoculations since we’ll be going up the river into the jungle?

You’ll be on the ship at that time? Perhaps we’ll run into you.

Hi Brenda! Look forward to meeting you! No inoculations are necessary. We never know which Embera Village will be used. It depends on the amount of water in the river, although there should be lots since this is the height of our rainy season, and the Embera chiefs divide up the business to share the income and also not to overwhelm any one village. So the time on the river varies greatly. All I suggest is maybe take some OFF! along and leave the bright tropical clothing to the Embera. If you’re interested in baskets and craft items take along some cash since they don’t take credit cards! Baskets run from $20 to $500 for the large ones that are works of art. Carvings run from $15 up . . . and I’m hoping Fernando still has my cocobolo dolphins that are spectacular and run about $200. I fell in love with this carving the first time I saw it, but didn’t havethe cash with me, andhe promised to save it, but we just haven’t connected. Since he lives in the jungle I asked him, “How did you know what dolphins looked like to make this so realistic?” He saw a Wyland painting in a Panama City store and remembered the image. If I manage to get it, I’ll definitely have it at my desk on the ship. Regards, Richard

Thanks for your prompt answer. I was concerned about needing yellow fever shots. We are anticipating this Embera excursion being the highlight of our cruise! And what better way to spend Thanksgiving – on a HAL cruise.

I was in David thirty-seven years ago when the only access was by boat or plane, no roads! Or perhaps David was the closest town at the time. We were at a banana processing plant/village on the coast. Another comment, my husband worked in Ventura County and lived in Oxnard for thirty-four years.

Six weeks andour cruise starts! We will look forward to chatting with you on the Zuiderdam. Where might we find your desk aboard ship?

I don’t know where my desk is . . . other than they promised me one! It will be in the Daily Program. If you find it first, let me know! Probably behind the laundry on Jules Verne Deck. Regards, Richard

Cheeky Canadian Volunteer for VP . . .

Richard: Being Canadian I cannot, of course, vote in the American election. I do however, have the privilege of voting next week (Oct. 14) in the National Canadian election. Unlike the States, the writ was dropped on Sept. 7th and we vote on Oct. 14th! Easy peasy! You should try it in the U.S. It sure saves a lot of time and money and doesn’t allow enough time for the candidates to turn into complete homogenized milk!

Just a question however. Since I live on the Gulf Islands just outside of Victoria, B.C. and am about 2 km from the San Juan Islands of Washington State and on an average day can see Mt. Baker and the Olympic Mtns. (both in Washington State) then, following Ms. Palin’s and the Republican party’s logic (?) , shouldn’t I also be allowed to run on someone’s ticket? The fact that I’ve carried a passport for at least 40 years, havetravelled extensively in both the U.S. and all over the world, stay abreast of American issues and politics and have been exposed to Canadian schooling which covers issues from all the countries of the world (not just U.S.) …would just be a bonus!

I just couldn’t resist the cheeky urge to reply. Garth Liseth

Enjoying the rainbows when they are there . . .

Linda McKee writes,

Richard, You do make me smile and remember as a Realtor in Florida during the boom clients would ask for assistance in regards to buying a resale home or building their own. As I remember it the discussion very quickly turned to marriage counseling (will they make it through this) before giving them a contractor’s card. Building a home under any circumstances can be one of the most stressful projects in life; let alone where good workers are hard to find as they also were in Florida. It will all turn out just fine in the end and we do get the “forced” opportunity to alter our perspective daily in our new country.

Yesterday our van broke down and we discovered that our insurance was great and that we have road side assistance.We had some wine and paper cups in the van so while waiting for the tow truck we had a glass of wine, pulled out a big garbage bag and cleaned the litter from the side of the road, the cell phone worked fine, mechanic was on duty and it didn’t rain until we had packed up all our treasures from our trip to David and gotten on the bus. Then as whipped cream on the top of our sundae; the tow truck driver actually brought a flatbed big enough to do the job and the bus came 2 minutes after the flatbed pulled away. We were home, dry, having dinner (fresh camarones from the side of the road within 1 hour of breaking down.

Some days there are just rainbows everywhere.

Pantah also thinks you should carefully consider building in Panama:

I share your sentiments. I REALLY REALLY wish that anybody considering building here read all your blog. I did a small fixer upper myself and was present most of the time and avoided a lot of problems, but so many screw ups got past me as I couldn’t constantly look over everybody’s shoulder. I did hire a contractor with a good rep to put in a driveway. Although the work was adequate, he had to redo work at his cost for his workers screw ups. I fully realize that the labor pool is dismal and that is the best he could do. It is stretched even thinner now. And its not just the bad labor pool, add in hassles with the utilities, vendors, vendors suppliers, working with any legal matters and the little things start to pile up, as it just never ends.

Panama is enjoying a building boom, with much, MUCH more to come as the expansion of the Canal gets into high gear and potentially an even bigger project, the oil refinery in Chiriqui, comes on line. Anyone who wants to work in Boquete can work. The question with the building boom going on is where are the skilled workers going to come from?

This too shall pass . . .

Richard, First , three things to be grateful for. Your house (What is done )looks wonderful, your wife is doing well, and you are living in a beautiful place. As for the rest, well, this too shall pass! Keep on keepin’ on! Kristy

Thanks Kristy, and you remind me of a blog I must remember to write!

And finally . . .

I was over at our friends house the other night watching the Presidential Debate.

Obama: “Now, let’s be clear . . . “, waving his fingers and looking like a school teacher.

Mc Cain: “My friends . . . “, sounding like the politician he is . . . one hand on your back and the other in your pocket.

Brokaw: “You made the rules, so obey them!”, looking a LOT older than we remembered him.

Brad andJackie were safe to watch the debate with. Jackie is from Taiwan, so he doesn’t vote in the US, and Brad likes Obama and thinks John Mc Cain and Sarah Palin . . . well, I won’t say since we all have a lot of Republican friends who think Mc Cain and Palin are the best slate since . . . Bush and Cheney! Anyway Brad has been in his new home two years, and almost has “everything done.” That’s scary! But what is reassuring is that I remember when their home was late, and they didn’t have any place to stay so stayed with us for two months. I also remember when they moved in and had only one room that was barely liveable and construction workers and dust everywhere . . . and is is knock-dead beautiful today . . . so that gives me hope!