Chiriquí Chatter

If you have lived in Panama for a while, you know that each new day will probably bring some new challenges to over come. Today was one of those days. I have a short trip scheduled to go to Costa Rica. What were the odds that today the regulations changed for driving to Costa Rica.

As of today your documents for the car you are driving must be sent to Panama, authenticated, signed and returned with a signature from the Panama City office. That process took from 9:00 AM this morning until 5:00PB this evening.

I understand the reason for the change is to prevent stolen cars in Panama from being able to be taken into Costa Rica. All I really know is that it is a pain in the A**. If you are planing on driving from Panama into CR, you better give yourself a couple of days to get the paperwork done. Then assume that the day you go, there will be one more thing you weren’t told.

Tags: Rants

I decided to install XP SP3 update today. It went on without a hitch. It has been some time since I have booted up windows and I had forgotten how long it takes to boot. While I had Windows up, I also updated all other software to the latest version.

With that task being complete, I am now back on Linux. Sometimes it is good to visit old friends, but it is always good to return home to familiar surroundings.

I consider XP an old friend. We spent so much time together. Now that MS has finally gotten XP to the point where it is basically a very good system, they are going to put it out to pasture.

I doubt seriously that Windows Vista will ever come up to the level that XP has finally reached. Better luck to MS the next time. In the meantime, Linux continues to move forward. With each step it moves more and more into the desktop arena.

While I was downtown yesterday, I stopped at the new ice cream store (El Rey del Helado). Continue Reading »

Tags: Businesses, Restaurants

Saturday I stopped by a new organic store in David. It is in Plaza Mallorca and to the right of Dental Estetic. I spent some time talking to Brittany Wilhelm and took some photos in the store.

I asked Brittany to send me a short email and I told her I would put it in the blog along with the photos.

Today, I received her email. Continue Reading »

Tags: Businesses, Super Markets

Saturday was my day for eating out. I was in in the Concepcion area at lunch time and the best place, that I know of in that area, is Sol de Mar. If you are on the Interamerican Highway, going toward Costa Rica, you will find Sol de Mar on the right side of the road, just as you leave Concepcion.

Continue Reading »

Tags: Restaurants

I was sent a link for a new blog in Potrerillos. I have added the new blog (Living in Potrerillos) to the Chiriquí Chatter link list. Its current article (Living with Inflation) is is a very timely topic for this area.

The rising expenses of farmers is translating to higher prices in all produce all over the world. Panama is not immune to this problem. As the article shows, it is also causing all of us to give more consideration to how we spend our monthly fuel budget.

Tags: Blogs