Chiriquí Chatter

I went to get money from the ATM today and learned that Clave is now charging $3.00 for each transaction that is for banks outside of Panama.

I still think it is better for me than having an account in a Panama bank, but it does cause one to think about it a little more. Up until now, I was having no charges using any ATM. Oh well, nothing is forever.

I should add that none of the three different ATMs I tried today gave any money even though I authorized the transaction. This change in policy may be causing other problems as well.

Tags: Banks

What A Great Morning

It is so nice out this morning. Breakfast on the balcony was so pleasant. The new house construction always has some nice music playing and it helps to start the day.

If you are in David around 2, remember that the gringos will be meeting at a local restaurant today. I will try to drop by for a bit..

Tags: Events

July 1 marks the first day of Ricardo Martinelli taking control of the Presidency of Panama. My hope is that he takes aim at the negative changes that I have seen occur over the last five years. The highest on my list would be the increase in crime.

This may be a tough task and I would expect some crime increase because of the world economic situation. However, if he can focus on removing corruption from the police force and seeing that they are properly paid, that would help. I would also like to see changes in the laws that allow the juveniles to commit crimes, including murder, and get away with just a slap on the wrist.

Certainly, President Martinelli will have a lot on his plate. I wish him well and I have high hopes (desires) for his presidency.

I now can say that I have had a photo published in La Prensa.

The last two months of disruptions, culminated with the Web host shutting down Chiriquí Chatter for a period of time yesterday, has led me to believe I need to start researching other potential hosting options.

Currently, I use HostMDS and they have been reasonable for the price. I am in a shared environment, which means that my IP address is shared with other websites. When I started with VistaPages, now HostMDS, Chiriquí Chatter shared its IP address with less than 100 other domains. Today, using DNSQUIRES, to determine how many other domains shared my IP address, I found 294.

That appears to be a little excessive.

Panama Guide has 2.
Boquete Guide has 5
The Panama News has 96.

I use the Google Page Rank to monitor Chiriquí Chatter’s relevance on the Internet. This is one indicator of how popular a site is.

Chiriquí Chatter has its Google Page Rank on the right Sidebar and I included it in this post as well. Continue Reading »

Tags: Blog, Technology, Web Host Related

Pino E Rinzo Pizza is now called Popeye’s Pizza. Same great pizza. Renzo is no longer associated with the restaurant, but Pino was the one that was responsible for the great pizza anyway. The pizza is brick oven fired and I guarantee you will love it.

Popeye’s is closed on Wednesday and open all other days.

Natalie is back and was hungry for pizza, so we went to Pino’s – oops Popeye’s.

We got the Cuatro Estaciones – this is about my favorite. Continue Reading »

I received a request to post the following:

SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES

Join us this Sunday, July 5 at 1:00 PM at Hotel Fundadores in Boquete for a showing of THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1992) starring Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugh Weaving.  A discussion will follow the movie for those who are interested.

Donation: $2.00.

Parking in the back of the hotel

Please, Adults Only.

MOVIE:  THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT

SYNOPSIS: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, is an Academy Award winning, Australian comedy/drama about three drag queens who travel across the Australian Outback from Sidney to Alice Springs in a large bus which they have named Priscilla.  While on the road trip, they meet a variety of characters and have a variety of experiences.  The film is regarded as a camp classic; and portrays Australia’s Outback in an idyllic way, showcasing its beauty and remoteness. The film was ranked #11 on Logo’s 50 Greatest Films.   It’s fun, daring, life-affirming, over-the-top and unforgettable, a road movie with attitude.

(From Wikipedia/ IMDB.com)

Look for Sunday at the Movies every first Sunday of the month.  Arrive by 12:45 pm to secure a good seat.  Bring your friends.

Our next movie, scheduled for August 2, is “Smoke” (1995).

SEE YOU SUNDAY, AT THE MOVIES!

Tags: Boquete, Entertainment, Events