Girls Will Be Girls

I arrived home as the last 2 ladies were leaving Yella's breakfast brunch party. I asked how it went and she said, "I'll tell you as soon as the last 2 are gone...there was an incident."

Mysterious....

As it turns out, the party was a huge success with most...most...of them having a ball with no issues.

But...

They arrived with 5 bottles of wine and 3 bottles of champagne, for 11 women of which 2 don't drink and most of the others drink very little.

You do the math. One lady apparently imbibed the lions share of the booze. And she is a skinny thing to boot.

As the drinking progressed, the lady in question became more and more fond of "wolf whistling" to get everyone's attention. This became a moment by moment event, shattering the ear drums of anyone with in 25 feet of the lady. Not something that made the girls happy!

I will stop referring to her as "lady" now.

During a particularly fierce bout of dancing, she fell into an end table, toppling a speaker onto the floor and shattering a tile, as well as destroying a lamp and the end table.

At this point, Yella banished her to the porch where several party goers were gathered. But she kept returning for more dancing. Yella would once again usher her out as she pouted in protest.

I am so glad some of the poor behavior in the world falls on the female side of life! And all before noon!

I howled through the story as Yella told it.

I suspect Yella will get an apology call tomorrow from the vixen.

Girls will be girls!

The Land of Plenty

I have complained vociferously over the past year about how hard it is to get certain things...most of the time impossible to get them.

This is not entirely accurate.

As we are finding out, many things are available, but it is a real scavenger hunt to find them.

There are no Yellow Pages, there is no MLS system for real estate, there are no house numbers or addresses on buildings, and, of course, there is the language problem.

All in all, it is near impossible to find things.

The only way is to talk to someone who has RECENTLY found the same thing. Hopefully, they can give you directions by landmarks to the location.

This is tricky! I am constantly driving around memorizing landmarks so I can tell someone else how to find it.

We have heard about or found some good stuff. I found the bicycle shop, and we heard of a new young lady MD right in Boquete that charges $5 a visit.

Plus when you find it, normally it is cheap. Yella and I went to a medical lab yesterday and got a complete work up for a thorough physical for $102...for both. And, the blood letting tech was better than anyone if been too! The results were ready in 2 hours!

On the down side, finding simple things can drive you nuts!

I have been looking for a highlighter. I need it to mark my lines in the play. As we are rehearsing, moving around on stage, reciting lines, it is hard to know where you are unless your lines are highlighted.

Yesterday, it went to 4 stores with no luck. I did know that I could go all the way to David to PriceMart and buy a case of 144 highlighters but give me a break!

Finally I remembered a school supply store way off the beaten path. They had them.

It is the little things that drive you nuts!

On to another subject...

Our road from the highway to our farm lane has been patched! No more potholes. These were potholes on steroids and thousands of them in a 4 kilometer stretch. Bad roads are something that you put up with here.

What a joy to have a functional road!

Now, don't get the wrong idea. These are ROUGH patches...we still have to keep our speed down to about 20 miles per hour but who cares! Dodging the potholes reduced our speed to 5 miles an hour and less.

I have to leave now. Yella is having the girls over. I have been bansished out of the house.

I going out to see what trouble I can get into...

Panama Cars

Yella went to the beach with the girls leaving me with the gardener.

This is normally no big deal but I had to pick him up and return him plus 2 additional trips to get rocks so, in the end, mucho time.

In between all the trips with the gardener, I went to help the director of the play start his car which is stored at another friends house.

Now, I am not stupid...I know about doing anything around cars...it is NEVER just one thing. So I was prepared.

Starting the car was easy. As we drove down the road to the mechanics, he got a flat tire.

If you have followed this blog since the beginning, you know the issues around changing a flat here.

Nothing in the car fits. That's if there is anything in the car.

Thank God I had my set up for changing a tire.

But it is never easy. Our biggest problem was getting the jack under something that would hold. We had the car fall off the jack twice before we found a good jacking point.

Then, the jack wouldn't work. This one was our fault. We hadn't tightened the release valve firm enough.

We were thoroughly beat up after 2 hours of this crap. BUT, we got it done.

Anytime, and I mean anytime, you get something accomplished in Panama it is time to PARTY!

We dropped the car off at the mechanic and went on our way.

After a couple more trips into town, and a rehearsal for the play, I will be back home about 8 tonight.

A long day...but successful so it's OK!

It's Getting Busy Down Here

I left this morning at 7:30 on my bike for breakfast.

Once again meeting very intriguing people at Olga's. I had to tear myself away to make it in time for the Rotary meeting. This was followed by Improv comedy, which was followed by lunch with friends, then a rehearsal for music at the Valentines Day Dinner Party.....

I do like being busy!

We had our second rehearsal for the play last night. One of the primary reasons I started nibbling around acting was the director.

This guy was a pro in Hollywood for 30 years as an actor then he directed theater in Washington State for about 8 years.

So he is a pro and the plays he has directed here in Boquete have been over-the-top fantastic. He has taken actors that were marginal in other plays and elicited great performances from them.

I am as interested in how he does this as I am in acting in the play.

Good coaches are rare. When one shows up, I am interested.

The way he works is simple. We read a piece of the play. He stops us from time to time and tells us WHAT TO DO...not what not to do. He adds interpretations of the characters. At the end of the reading, he reviews his notes with us and we re-read small pieces of the play.

Then we do it again.

Now that is simple.

Deceptively simple. Because I am starting to learn how thoroughly he KNOWS the play. He actually knows what EACH word is for...how it is used...what is the intention behind it...where the character is coming from.

He slowly moves us toward the performance that he see and wants.

He has stated many times, this is a process, working the lines, a little by little, toward the final product.

Last night, I watched a 6'-5" bald guy, who is playing a women in drag, evolve into a hilarious character in 2 hours...falsetto and high giggles and all. The transformation was incredible!

I trust him. So it is his problem to get us in shape for the play. All we have to do is do the work.

The pressure is off. And, it is HIS problem to get me to the point where I know my lines. I will do the work but he can do the worrying..

Does this sound a little like wishful thinking? A little boy whistling in the dark to ward off the demons?

Well, the "I trust him" part is real. And I love watching him coach. We'll see about the "learning the lines" stuff.

A Day in Paradise

When I got up yesterday morning, the wind was blowing, but not too bad.

So I got on my bike and rode to the gym. A big part of the gym is catching up on the local gossip from the lady who runs the gym. It is amazing the number of people that go through this place each day.

Big time jungle drums on the gossip line!

After a little huffing and puffing, I started to ride North to Boquete. The wind was light for a while then it really kicked up. I struggled into town, taking 30 minutes more to make it. That is a 60 minute ride vs. the normal 30 minute ride.

When I got to Olga's I was battered.

But I found one of my favorite couples eating and we yukked it up for an hilarious breakfast. And they bought my meal.

Just doesn't get much better than that!

I wandered around and found a few more friends, then rode home. Yella had just returned from a David supply run.

I worked on the play for a while. Hard work so I put it down. No sense in doing today what can be put off till tomorrow!

This is going to cost me big time in a few weeks.

But the highlight of the day was learning how to play the guitar for "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver.

I YouTube'd it and watch him play it...about 6 times. I got a good chart of the chords off the Internet. And lo and behold, I had it in about an hour.

Wow! This song is fun to play!

And it sounds great. That is the joy of learning a guitar song from an artist that is used to accompanying himself solo. He work out the supporting music full and interesting.

I played it for Yella and she declared it good too. Ha ha! Now she has to learn the lyrics.

We may have enough music for a full set (45-60Minutes). Our goal is to get 2 sets before we venture out as an act.

Most of my time now is spent on the arts. Not bad for a guy with a degree in Physics.

Retirement is quite a trip!

The Beach & More

We've out of touch from the Internet for 3 days.

Once again, I must say there is something magical about the beach.

It was busy this weekend meaning that there were about 30 people on 5 miles of beach. We bumped into one gringo who was always smiling. He asked us why everyone is always smiling. What was in the water? What was in the air?

It's simple...the beach.

We watched a flock of Pelicans fly over. These large, ungainly birds fly in a "V" formation. They have a huge beak, head and neck with a wide wing spread.

And they fly s-l-o-w-l-y. They were flying into a head wind of maybe 10 knots, a light breeze. It took them forever to pass us so we watched for quite a while.

The lead bird flaps it's wings once and only once. The two birds behind the lead one on each leg of the "V" then flap once. This proceeds down the two wings of the "V" until mid way.

Midway, the birds flap twice. Then toward the end, the birds have to flap 4 or 5 times.

Then it all starts again with the lead bird flapping once. The lead bird is changed out every couple of flaps.

This must be uber efficient because they glide throughout the whole process of one bird after another flapping their wings, in a flock of maybe 75 birds...maybe 20 seconds.

Well, are you bored now?

On to Olga's.

I met a couple of interesting guys this morning.

One was an MD who specialized in exotic disease. He spent the better part of his life living in huts with mud floors in some remote corner of the world. He also is the father of 3 prominent guys living in the community.

The next guy taught people how to climb trees...that's right...trees.

Apparently there is a big demand for this from the scientists that study life at the top of the canopy in the jungle and forests of the world.

Now there is a kids' grown up type of job.

Equally amazing is that he started when he was 40. His main climbing instructor is 70.

We had a spirited discussion about almost everything. I had to tear myself away to get back home to pick up Yella for the day's activities.

This will be an interesting day. Tonight, I start play rehearsals.

HHMMMM?????? Houston, we have a problem....

Hell Froze Over Today

I was asked to return for a second audition for the play and read for the lead male part.

You could have knocked me over with a feather...

I'm pretty sure all the real male actors were out of town, leaving us schmucks to fumble along.

So I read a piece of the big part first with one lady and then, to my great surprise, I read it with one of my favorite women in Boquete. Neither of us have ever been in a play before.

We both got the parts. She got a female lead and I got the male lead.

Now what?

While I am humbled, scared and overwhelmed by all this, I now have to memorize 133 pages of lines.

Shit! Am I in trouble or what?

Putting aside the work for a moment, this is one of those "the stars lined up perfectly" type of opportunities. The director is a pro with a career in L.A. and more, who has put on the most amazing plays in Boquete. You just don't get this kind of experience in life often.

If I was back in the States, first, I wouldn't even considered acting and, second, wouldn't have the opportunity to work with such a renowned director.

I guess there are benefits to going way out on a limb and moving to paradise in a 3rd World Nation!

At this point, I get to revel in the opportunity. This will quickly pass as the work begins.

I can't imagine memorizing all those lines! I am in deep, deep trouble here.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Well, to hell with it all...we are going to the beach for 2 days.

Adious!

Hanging Up My Thespian Shoes

I thought I hung up my thespian shoes...no more acting or rather, taking acting lessons since I never made it to an actual play. It doesn't appeal to me.

I get a call today from our premier director asking me to audition for a small part in the up coming play, Sylvia. He drones on about how he will make sure I don't make a fool of my self, thinking that is what is stopping me from auditioning.

I have no fear of making a fool of myself...I've been doing it all my life...no big deal.

What I fear is work!

Memorizing all those lines...it is terrible. I never was good at memorizing and I despise it. Now that I am older, it is even worse. NO MORE MEMORIZING!!!!

He says it is only a little bit of memorizing and he thinks I will do well with the part.

Those were the magic words...only a little work.

So I go to the auditions tonight. I've never been to auditions. I didn't know what to expect.

This play is hilarious. Sylvia is a dog played by a female actor. Sarah Jessica Parker played the role on Broadway and it was the role that catapulted her into fame.

I ended up reading parts for a hour.

It order to help the main lady read for Sylvia, I read the husband, one of the main parts. This lady was good and funny, sometimes I couldn't get through the lines...too much laughter.

I read for the husband's friend, the role I want because it has so few lines.

Then I read for two characters that are small roles that are played by either a man or a woman. The roles are androgonous, meaning that they are played as the sex opposite to your sex...so I played them as a woman.

Now that's confronting. I don't think I did very well.

Who knows? I am OK getting the part or not.

The best thing about getting a part is that you get to hang out with the production, actors and director and participate in entertainment.

Earlier in the day, we also rehearsed music for a little 3 song thing at a Valentines Day party.

I do like it!

Who would think that my retired life would be so immersed in the arts?

Landslide

Yella told me last week that her singing partner wanted to do the song "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks with Lindsey Buckingham on guitar.

I said "no way!" Buckingham is of the best finger picking guitar players ever and I in no way wanted to play such a beloved rock ballad, done to perfection by the original artists.

So I forgot about it and went on my unconscious way.

Last night, Yella says she is going to set up a rehearsal time and was I going to learn "Landslide." Didn't she hear me the first time? Damn it.

For what ever reason, I said "let me look at it."

I pulled out the incredible tools now available to musicians, YouTube and Google. I got a chart and tab of the song. (A tab is a chart that describes where to play the notes on the guitar neck. This is important because any note can be played in several places on various strings on the neck and it makes a difference. And YouTube lets you see how the artist actually plays it.)

I gave it a stab and much to my surprise, it sounded good.

A little aside on guitar playing...if you are bored by this, skip down a little.

There are figure pickers and flat pickers on guitar. I am a flat picker and my finger picking skills are weak.

A flat picker strikes the strings with a small triangle of thin plastic...only one strike per stroke.

A finger picker uses the thumb and 2 or 3 fingers to strike the strings.

Two very different sounds and techniques.

I tried playing the song with a flat pick, because that is how I like to play, and was shocked when it sounded good.

All of this took less than 15 minutes.

Wow! That felt good!

Anytime a song can be worked up in a few minutes is amazing. I have to admit it was much easier to play than I thought.

Now, Buckingham plays alot more in the song that I play for sure. It will take me a long time to come close to playing what he plays.

But, I play enough so it sounds good.

Fortifyied by that experience, I launch into learning an old John Denver song, "Rocky Mountain High".

The thing about John Denver is that you never want to admit you like him, because he was so sappy but, in the end, the man wrote some fantastic music, and played it well too.

I have noticed that as time goes on, I am more prone to admit I like him.

Back to YouTube and Google and I get a good, thorough chart and tab of the song...with all the fancy tuning and chord/phrasing. I have wanted to learn how to play this song properly for over 30 years.

Now I get to do it.

It's going to sound great!

Car's Fixed

Maybe.

We tried a new mechanic. Mechanics come in The Flavor of The Day.

A mechanic will do good work for a while, then he goes down hill. Don't know why. That's the way it is.

My friend Keith the Car Guy frequently uses mechanics because he buys cars for people and gets maintenance on the cars before he turns them over to the buyer. Plus, he is the resource for getting your car fixed and he will supervise the repairs if he got the car for you.

So all in all, he knows about more mechanics from here to David that anyone. He will find a good one...for a while...then the mechanic will go south and start to do bad work.

I don't know what part of the culture produces this phenomena but it is common.

The mechanic we used, now on the "I'm doing great work" part of the cycle, went through ALL the electronics, and cleaned and re-connected them.

We drove the car for about 2 hours this morning and all is well.

Poor Keith. Every time he sees my phone number come up on his phone, he cringes thinking my car is broken again.

We went to Olga's for breakfast and ended up eating with some good friends. The food was great as always and the company was even better.

This is football playoff Sunday. I am going to watch the San Diego Chargers this afternoon. Now that we get US TV, I can do that!!!!

It is the small things in life that make a huge difference!

Life's a Full Time Job

I rode my bike to the gym this morning. It was beautiful, a little breezy, clear, sunny, cool. The road had been freshly graded above the Wilson Bridge which was a joy to ride. The bike was performing perfectly.

All in all, life was good.

I rode from the gym up hill into the wind to get to Boquete for breakfast. The wind was now stiff so I was walking as much as riding, but it was OK.

I got to Olga's, ready for a breakfast with friends and I got the dreaded phone call.

Yella saying the car quit running...just like that, while she was moving, it quit. And wouldn't start again.

Now the problems begin...no Spanish, a poor pool of mechanics to draw on.

I call Keith the Car Guy who I bought the car from. We meet at the Boquete Hostel at their restaurant on the river. I whole gang of friends are having coffee.

So it is time to stop, pause and have some fun before getting on with the car stuff.

(If you are worrying about Yella, the car stopped about a quarter mile from our house and she walked home)

We got to the car and, of course, it started right up.

Now what?

I hate intermittent problems. How do you fix them?

I drove to a store and got Coca Cola to clean the battery terminals.

This is the old standby, "brush you off" explanation for any electrical problem in Boquete. This was the diagnosis for the problem by my friends.

In order to shut people up, I cleaned the battery.

And the car stopped running again...of course. Does anyone really buy the "it's your corroded battery terminals" story anymore?

Ya, ya...I know they have to been cleaned but it is not the cause of all problems electrical.

I met Keith at a mechanics shop on Volcancito Road. He will keep it tonight and work on it.

I hope he finds something.

It may be time to say "Uncle" and give up on this car. It is a constant problem. Sooner or later, you have to admit "it's a lemon!"

Problem: no money. HHMMMM?????

We'll have to wait and see.

By a stoke of luck, I had my bicycle in the car so I was able to ride home. A good ride. Now it's hot though. I am having trouble cooling off.

But it was a great day for bike riding!

Sticker Shock

I got up early this morning so I could get a few things done.

One of them was to go to Union Fenosa and pay the December electric bill. The clerk was new. First she got the wrong account. When she finally got my account, I owed $126.

No way!

The bill for November was $35. I paid it because, even if it was too much, it will roll over to pay future bills.

When I got home, I read my meter to get the kwatt useage and much to my puzzlement, it was right. So now we are trying to figure out what in the world is eating up so much electric power.

Couldn't be us!

If it's not one thing, it's another down here.

On the bright side, I picked up my bicycle from the David bicycle shop. It was done, on time.

The bike was spotless...like new. They replaced my disc brake pads and adjusted the bike.

$6 labor and $4 for the pads. Now that's not bad.

I will try it out today and let you know if they did a good job.

This morning I visited the Rotary International group. Several of my friends have recommended this group as an effective, active service organization that does more than collect money. Their list of projects is impressive.

I need some activity that serves someone else other than my own selfish needs. That gets old fast. Hopefully, this may be the ticket.

We had our improv comedy group again today..

Once again, it was a hoot! I really enjoy improv. Where else can you be a smart ass and people appreciate it.

I will say that it is more fun doing it than watching it as an audience. Our small audience was entertained from time to time but improv is a spotty thing.

So there you have it...another slice of life in paradise.

It's A Dog's World

Our dog, Emmy, turns out to be a good dog.

She doesn't bark when other dogs bark, she barks and gets threatening when people encroach on our land, she is loving and affectionate, and trainable.

At this point, we don't tie her up at night. She sleeps in the garage, which is open, or out on the patio without running off.

When I drive off, she runs a hundred feet down the road, stops and comes back.

I will confess that we tie her up when both of us leave together. It seems like to much to expect from a 9 month old dog to stay put when the house is vacant.

All of this has lulled us to sleep.

Yella got in the car this morning without Emmy. That pissed her off! She loves Yella and wants to do whatever Yella is doing.

As Yella drove down our road (translate: farm path), Emmy went about 100 feet and stopped. Just like she always does...

Then, she looked back over her shoulder at me...making eye contact...I believe I saw defiance in her gaze...turned around and rocketed down the road after Yella.

I didn't believe she could move that fast...like she was shot out of a canon. There was no way I even considered running after her.

She was gone!

Damn dog! Just when I was singing her praises.

Oh well, Yella will see her on the way home and all will be alright.

Yella returns without the dog.

Uh oh!

We lined the new gardener out on his first day with us and plan on driving out to find the damn dog. (Notice how "Emmy" is now "the damn dog")

Just as we are about to load up in the car, she returns.

Impressive! She was gone a good 30 minutes to where ever.

All in all, this is one good dog. I hope she doesn't screw it up.

Dodged a Bullet

I have been worried about our electric service for over a month.

We haven't received any invoices or bills.

Typically, once a month, a guy rides a dirt motorcycle up to the electric meter and reads it. He returns in a day or two with an invoice which he puts God knows where...and that's the problem.

It can blow away, get picked up be someone else, thrown away by a passing kid or whatever.

It our rental house, the invoice was always put in a different place and frequently we had to go looking for it. It may be on another house or on the ground.

So I was worried because I know how Union Fenosa works. No pay, they cut you off...fast!

It doesn't matter to them if they GAVE you a bill, you have to divine the amount and pay it...no matter what.

I asked a Panamanian friend to go to their office in Boquete with me to translate. I had little hope that the local office would be able to help.

We arrived and sure enough, I was on the disconnect list, just issued yesterday.

It is always interesting here. Their computers were down, probably for a couple more days. Somehow, she got the David office to fax the October and November bill and we paid it.

The added a $10 charge for the disconnect. I pointed out that they didn't actually disconnect it but this makes no difference.

Somehow, after being here for a year, this made sense.

I didn't care as long as they didn't turn the power off.

Dodged that bullet...whew!!!!! Who knows how long it would take to reconnect the power once off.

Then I headed to David for an action packed day.

I paid the annual corporation taxes. I saw the lawyer about a problem some friends of ours in the US have on their property in Coronado. She can help.

Now the big one...I actually found the bicycle shop!

This is a real feat. It was in a part of town I have never seen. They didn't speak any English and my Spanish, as you know, is inadequate.

After much hand and arm waiving, finger pointing and a smattering of Spanglish words, they are going to fix it.

I had little hope that anyone could do this. I have disc brakes, not something I have seen here. I pick it up tomorrow so I will see how it goes.

Then on to the doctor's office. I tried calling them but no one speaks any English anymore. Of course, when I got there, someone spoke English so I made an appointment.

Then on to Super Baru, which sells the best soup bones for dogs. Noooooooo!!!!!!! You can't just get any bones! They have to be special!

I ate at the Steak House, a Chinese restaurant. Why is it called a steak house? I don't know.
The food almost tastes like Chinese but that is as close as you get outside Panama City.

Then home.

A good day in David and Boquete!

Wind!

I'm ready for the wind to stop blowing.

Each year, we have a windy season from December through February. The wind is particularly fierce in January and part of February.

The wind ranges from a breeze to a gale depending on where you are. Our house has a mid range of wind...just enough to drive you crazy.

These are the Trade Winds, those much awaited breezes of sailing schooners in days of yore.

The Trade Winds are constant but visit us once a year because the earth does not rotate vertically on it's axis, it is tipped a little bit. Thus the seasonal Trade Winds blow across us for a couple of months.

This is exacerbated by the continental divide mountains to the north, the direction of the wind. The valleys and canyons focus and channel the wind so some get hit bad while others have only a breeze...those lucky devils.

We had a plastic downspout pipe resonating with the wind, putting up a mighty howl during the night. I got out my trusty 8 foot ladder, baling wire...that's right, baling wire...and a screw and strapped that baby down. No more howling, for now at least.

The dog is hanging out in the garage most of the time. Even she is tired of the wind.

Yella went to the hospital in David this morning to give blood. There are no blood banks here. If you need blood, someone has to give it. A lady had a car accident and needed some.

As is typical of Panama, she got there and they were not open for blood donations...it's Sunday. You would think someone would know that but NOOOOOO!!!!! They sent her all the way to David without knowing.

Information and advice in Boquete are frequently plain old WRONG.

I bring this up because I have been tied to the house while Yella is gone because we have a dog. A new dog that we don't trust yet to stay here alone.

The dog is cute but it is a dog. Translate: just another thing to make life more complex and restrictive.

Got to go...the dog needs something...who's house is this anywhay!

It's the Flower Fair Time

For 10 days in January, the BIG EVENT of Boquete happens.

It is the Flower and Coffee Fair. Primarily, Panamanians attend the fair. About 10,000 people will pay to get into the fair and I don't know if that counts the disco. For some perspective, there are only about 15,000 in the whole county.

It has a split personality.

During the day, it is a family affair. People visit the flowers and food vendors and mill around.

During the evening and until dawn, it is party, party, party with a disco on steroids. The music pounds down the valley for miles and miles.

An unsavory element is attracted to the area during the fair... thieves.

This year, the national police have set up road blocks a few miles outside of Boquete. Every car is checked. Drivers have to show papers to get through.

I have no idea if this will help but it is a clear message that the police are on alert.

The Panamanians are as outraged by theft as are the gringos. And, they get hit as often as we do. Everyone, except the thieves of course, want this to stop.

This is also the time of year that the snowbirds return.

I have mixed feelings about this. Last year I spent a lot of time developing friendships with the snowbirds, not thinking that they will be gone for the better part of the year. Consequently, I got very lonely after they left.

I vowed to make more friends with the permanent residents. They are harder to find though. They don't hang out in public places as often so you have to dig them out.

And I did it and I'm still doing it.

So, do I want to derail my efforts to befriend full time residence by spending my time with snowbirds? HMMMMM????

Some of them are good friends.

I think I will just watch it and make sure that I don't stop my work making full time friends.

I miss my computer! There are many uses of it that I can't do on Yella's computer, like music. If I mess with iTunes on her computer, it will update my iPod from a different database and completely screw up my iPod. .

I just miss having my own.

Looks like it will be late February before I get one for myself.

Improv at Boquete

I took a couple of acting lessons in September...it damn near killed me!

All that memorizing. And it was awkward. Acting is a very contained way of being, where as I am used to projecting out into the audience in music and public speaking. Acting just doesn't seem to fit for me.

Yella invited me to a weekly improv class on Thursday. She said it was great fun, didn't take any memorizing and anybody could do it.

All right! This sounds like it's for me.

I went with some apprehension. After all, you do get up in front of people and perform.

I used to watch a little known program on TV several years ago called, "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" This started as a BBC program and was snatched up by US TV.

Four comics were given various improv situations and they ad libbed the skit. They, of course, were talented. And, it was a funny show.

I mention this because the set ups in the show are similar to what is used in improv classes. So, I was familiar with some of the situations.

The class is lead by a professional actress and comedian in her 70's. She is still full of it and a hand full. She is also the best, most skilled actress for dramatic plays.

Improv may be right up my alley. All it takes is the willingness to make a fool of yourself and wise ass remarks.

Perfect!

I really enjoyed the class and it wasn't too confronting.

Yella and I did a bit together where every statement has to be a question. Try that sometime...where your conversation is all in questions. Once you have the mind set, it's a lot of fun and frequenetly hillarious.

We hit a good, funny riff of several lines that cracked the crew up. That was fun!

I have seen a couple of the set ups before in personal growth workshops in the 80's. They were used to get people up in front of the room, drive fear up (from public speaking which is feared more than death for most people) and pierce through the personality shell.

Back then, it was terrifying. Not now. It was fun.

Maybe age is transformational.

We will perform for 30 minutes at a cocktail hour later this month. Now that may drive the fear up!

The Joys of US TV

Well, well, well!!!

It is really strange what you can learn on US TV.

We have been without standard TV for a while. We haven't scene a commercial in a year. A good thing, you say?

The satellite TV here is the Spanish feed, about 95% Spanish without commercials. The commercial time is filled with clips of the future programing. We saw the same clips over and over for a year. You get really tired of that for sure.

I will admit that we have not been numbed by the constant barrage of commercials for a while.

It is absolutely amazing what they try to slip past the public.

I saw a commercial that that suggested that Taco Bell is good food for a diet plan...to loose weight...to slim down!!!

Don't they have any shame?

Ya, that's it, I'm going to run right down to Taco Bell to slim down...and on the way I will pass the gym, Whole Foods, the health food store and Overeaters Anonymous.

A friend of mine, with a marketing degree, says that marketers are professional liars. I believe he is right.

The audacity of saying that Taco Bell, the land of beans and corn, is remotely close to a weight loss program is ludicrous!

How in the hell can anyone suggest that Taco Bell is appropriate for losing weight? Oh, I know, you juggle the calories on a few select items and get the math to work, but P-L-E-A-S-E!!!!

And, if this message is scene enough, those numbed by the repetition, will believe it. Of course, as the weight doesn't come off, they will have to go more often, eat more to get things going...and it goes on and on.

Tricky, huh?

Well...just a thought from a foreign perspective on the state of the US.

Meet Emmy

We got our new dog today.

She is 9 months old and a natural guard dog with a quick bark for strangers. She was also rescued and has been abused in her earlier life.

We wanted a Panamanian dog.

Why?

Because US dogs don't last too long down here. They tend to eat the poisonous frogs, don't look both ways before crossing the street and get all kinds of other maladies. With a Panama mutt, much of this can be avoided...we hope.

It will be interesting to see how she integrates with the local dog population.

Yella has taken on training the dog...a big project although her previous owner has done well with her. Yella has been sitting out on the porch with the dog all day and will continue for a few days.

Hhhmmm??? Who is training who?

This is an outside dog. I am allergic to dogs so she can't come in. Come to think of it, I'm allergic to a few people too and I won't let them in either.

I went to David to get a new hot water heater. I am biting the bullet and putting in a new one.

At 4:45 pm I started the project, a dangerous time to start any home improvement stuff.

I got the old one off the wall...a real bitch because the mounting screws were stripped so I had to drill them out. But the old one came off the wall with a little hammer help.

I got the new one mounted. Then I tried to put the batteries in and I thought they were the wrong size.

Damn! Back to town.

But, before I left, I tried again and they worked. Phew! A wasted trip averted.

Then I tried to fire it up and NO LUCK. Gggrrrr!!

I had the same problem with the first one. So I started to fiddle with it. Try this, try that, then try this again and so forth.

And, it fired up!

Preliminary indications are that this one will be better. I got the SMALLEST heater I could find. This is counter intuitive but them everything here is that way.

Feels good to get another of the big repairs done successfully.

Maybe I should wait for a few weeks until it proves itself before I celebrate!

One Year In Panama Today!

It is hard to think I've been here a year.

We have earned it...this was no cake walk.

Many told us that the first year would be difficult. This was an understatement of the nth degree.

The first month was an eye opener. It slapped me awake to the upcoming problems that actually got magnified over this first month.

I re--read some of my blog entries and I feel that they accurately chronicle the move so I won't go into all of that stuff.

But, I am struck by how different the reality of the move was from the dream. I thought I could handle just about anything...and I was wrong.

My behavior over the last year has been awful at times. I threw more fits in one year than a murder of crows should squawk about in a life time.

Now, starting when we returned from Colorado in early December, the move starts to pay off.

Thanks God for small favors.

Life here starts now.

We have handled enough of the issues and problems so we can see the life we envisioned. The beach...lazy days with plenty of friends...meaningful activity to satisfy the need to contribute...assimilation into the culture and language (a long way to go in this)...music, music and more music...and welcoming friends to come visit.

What are you waiting for? Get on a plane and get your ass down here!

Oh, you were waiting for us to settle down, huh.

Done. Can't wait to see you in paradise.

We had a couple over for lunch today. They were some of the first people we met before we moved. They were part of the reason we felt comfortable moving here. They are dear, precious friends...and plenty quirky and interesting...and fun, fun, fun!

It was good to celebrate my first year with them...and fitting.

After they left, I made a trash run. We don't get weekly trash pickup because we are too remote so I take it into town on Sunday only and pitch it up into a truck parked at the Bomberos just for this purpose.

Now I am back home, kicking back on Sunday afternoon, debating whether to watch some football, read or nap...maybe all three.

Ahhhh...FINALLY!!!!

Fireworks Heaven

Have you wondered where all the fireworks have gone?

Probably not, but I'm going to tell...Panama!

You can buy MAJOR fireworks anywhere in Panama...roadside stands, stores, you name it. I wondered when they were going to set them off.

Midnight, New Years Eve!

We went to a party in Dolega, about 15 miles south of Boquete, for an early party. When we arrived, I knew almost no one. This is a group of people that I have not met.

There are many groups of people in Boquete that are tight knit and I don't know them. I wonder how many gringos are actually here? I have no idea.

This particular group have children. Most gringos are older, more the retirement crowd. These are working parents in Panama with kids.

This is a big deal here. Apparently, it is difficult to assimilate kids into the school system and the culture, so these parents have found each other for support and resources.

They are generally in their thirties and early forties, not young 20-something parents.

Normally in Panama, if you walk into a group of people that you don't know, they introduce themselves and include you...fast. This is one of the warmest communities I have experienced.

But not this group with kids.

I walked through the group, making eye contact and smiling, and not one introduced themselves. Maybe I had some lettuce stuck to my front teeth. Or a bugger hanging out of my nose. Or three eyes.

Fortunately, I knew a couple of people and was able to enjoy the evening.

They had fireworks...a lot of fireworks.

The show started at about 8 pm.

This reminded me of the 50's when I was a kid. We used to have neighborhood parties where several families pooled their money and someone bought wholesale fireworks...the big stuff.

Remember when you could buy the good stuff in the US?

Every year, the fireworks got out of hand and someone got hurt. A kid would get scared and dropped a Roman Candle spraying the crowd with fireballs, or it backfired into the kid, or a fountain would explode rather than spray.
Something went wrong.

This happened at this party too, just like when I was a kid. A memory that I had forgotten.

At this party, they were shooting off massive bundles of mortar style, commercial grade stuff. It comes in 25, 50 ,75 and up to 250 bundles of mortars.

The are spectacular for sure!

Soon, one tipped over, spraying the crowd with fire balls. That got everyone scurrying around! A few people experienced minor burns...just like in the old days in the US.

Beautiful fireworks at an interesting party.

We skipped the next party and went home. At midnight the most amazing thing happened.

People started setting off fireworks EVERYWHERE!

We look down on about a 15 mile stretch of the valley. Fireworks, the big stuff with multiple mortars, where going off all over the valley.

Neither Yella nor I have ever scene this many fireworks.

Panama goes crazy with fireworks for New Years. Wow! Amazing!

There was a smoky haze over the valley from all the fireworks.

What a display of pyrotechnics!

Happy New Year to everyone!