Penny

I also add my congratulations to the newly married couple. Drink a copa de vino for me guys.

It seems to me that Lynnie is starting to edge closer and closer to the behavior that got her banned from NING about 20 times. She's been pretty good for quite awhile but obviously can't keep it going.

There are 5 of these new, in-the-box large recessed lighting fixtures. They each can accomodate two bulbs. I think the retail price on these was more than $20 each. I'm selling them for $8 each or all 5 for $35. And, the best part, all of the proceeds will go to the Amigos de Animales spay/neuter clinic. Email me at pjbarrett@aol.com

The other very irritating thing was that folks left their garbage scattered about in the theater. Empty coffee cups, food wrappers, etc. I don't think most people realize that BCP doesn't own the facility and has to pay rent plus utilities plus maintenance (including cleaning). These expenses are substantial. Believe me BCP isn't getting rich on the $1 per person charged for the Tuesday talks. It seems that the early residents established all of the wonderful community support systems and the new residents just take them for granted and expect them as a right.

Today’s presentation at the BCP Tuesday talks was the culmination of much planning and work by Penny Ripple and her team. The speakers came from all over Panama; two of them rode the bus all night from Portebello arriving in Boquete (3 buses later) at 6 AM. It took a lot of work to put together the excellent slide show. What in the world motivates you people to stand up and start talking and heading to the exits about 10 minutes before the presentation is over. Did you not know the speaker was still trying to speak? This is unbelievable rudeness and I’m ashamed of all of you. I am the person responsible for getting great programs and great speakers into the BCP meetings and it’s no easy task. In the future, if you can’t stay to the end and give the presenters some respect, please don’t come. And, if you’re going to stand in the doorway blocking it while you argue about the $1 admission fee, please also don’t come. Penny Barrett

Today’s presentation at the BCP Tuesday talks was the culmination of much planning and work by Penny Ripple and her team. The speakers came from all over Panama; two of them rode the bus all night from Portebello arriving in Boquete (3 buses later) at 6 AM. It took a lot of work to put together the excellent slide show. What in the world motivates you people to stand up and start talking and heading to the exits about 10 minutes before the presentation is over. Did you not know the speaker was still trying to speak? This is unbelievable rudeness and I’m ashamed of all of you. I am the person responsible for getting great programs and great speakers into the BCP meetings and it’s no easy task. In the future, if you can’t stay to the end and give the presenters some respect, please don’t come. And, if you’re going to stand in the doorway blocking it while you argue about the $1 admission fee, please also don’t come. Penny Barrett

Cloudless is a woman.

The streets in Boquete are elevated because they've put layer after layer of asphalt on them to repair the pot holes. Also, they like the gutters for rain run off.

I don't know about CRAVE but today they had a conference for women at Chiriqui Farms. My guess is that it was for women who wanted to complain about their husbands . . . but that is only a guess.

Pat Nothing in my post about left turns. In fact I've had two tickets for illegal left turns and the fine increases every time. $50 the first time and $75 the 2nd time. A funny story . . . I protested my first illegal left turn stop to the policeman by saying there wasn't any sign that said I could not turn left. He quickly replied that there's no sign that said I could turn left.

Lots of funny answers in this topic. The real answer is that you can turn right on red in Panama. But not if you're turning into a one-way street going the opposite direction. Here's another couple of little driving tip for David. We all know that the one-way streets aren't well marked and that not all intersections where you are supposed to stop have stop signs. So here's some tips: 1. One way streets -- if the center line is yellow, it is a two way street and you have to stay on your side of the yellow line. If it's a one way street, the center line is white. The majority (not all) of parked cars will tell you which way the one way is going. 2. Stop signs -- if there isn't one on your side of the intersection always look diagonally across the intersection for the backside of a stop sign. Also know that streets parallel to the Pan American are through-fares (i.e., no stops) and streets perpendicular to the Pan American are stop streets. Sometimes difficult to figure out as the Pan American takes a big curve in David. Also, the Via Rapida is an exception. The Via Rapida is the one way street that runs from one side of David to the Pan American next to Cochez.

Gloria can sell you any kind of insurance as she is an independent agent. I buy my homeowner's and contents insurance from her. She can also sell health insurance. She and Pedro are the best. They've rescued me from car trouble on more than one occasion.

I looked at the big plaque in the BCP lobby a couple of weeks ago. It has the names of 60 or so expats who started the BCP theater 10+ years ago. These were all people who were deeply involved in the community here and we thought we'd all be here until they carried us out. The truth is that at least 60% or more of those folks who were entrenched in our community are no longer here. Most left voluntarily for health or family reasons. A few died. But the percentage of folks no longer here is staggering. As for me, I came in 2003 and can't think of any reason I would leave . . . as well as having no other place to go. Every time I come down the hill from Alto Boquete and see the beautiful little village of Boquete below, it truly is a magical moment. Those of us still here are just hoping the new people will adopt this community as their own and take over some of the ex-pat institutions like BCP, the spay-neuter clinic, etc as we're all getting old and tired.

Have been looking all over for these boots for my gardener. I've tried all the big hardware stores in David (Do It, Novey, Cochez, Franklin Jurado) and the Melo in Boquete. Any suggestions out there? Thanks

Doug Tyler Since you're "a little gun shy of the Tuesday market" and haven't been for ages I suggest you take a good look tomorrow. The market is booming with lots of great vendors. All of your friends and neighbors are there. Then at 10:30 about 90 of us adjourn to the theater for a great informational meeting with a speaker and lots of Q & A. I guarantee your safety. And this particular meeting with Rodny and Mark speaking is free admission for everybody . . . except we might charge you $1 as you've been absent for so long.

Lee donated a one year advertisement on NING to Bid 4 Boquete who sold that advertisement and a full (and not insignificant) price. The money received from the sale of that ad was distributed by Bid 4 Boquete to Boquete charities. The fact that NING deleted the ad with still one and a half months left on the contract shows their disregard for the sanctity of contracts, common ethics, and Boquete charities.

I get a notice every day saying I can upgrade to windows 10 for free. I currently have windows 7 and don't want any of the problems that people had with windows 8. I'm happy with windows 7. I'm inclined to think "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". What do the techies say?

Let's all pray that Walter doesn't get bounced and decide to wander over this way. I can actually deal better with meanness than the eternal drivel of Walter.

Contact Mary Ellen Watts who runs the art program for the children at the library: gmamamey@gmail.com

I just got Kodi which allows me to watch hundreds of U.S. TV stations via the internet. I'm still learning all of the capabilities and idiosyncrasies. I don't have a lot of time today but wanted to come home from Trivia tonight and watch the debate on the Fox Business Channel. Problem is that I don't know how to find the Fox Business Channel. Any help out there?: Thanks in advance.

I got banned today just because I know Bud

I have never posted anything disparaging about NING either on ning or on Chiriqui Life but I got banned today because I know Bud. Probably half the town knows Bud; can they ban them all?

Mi Jardin Es Su Jardin The new play at BCP (Nov 19 - 22) The Bajo Mono Loop with the waterfall and the castle A trip to Volcan to the Barilles Archeological dig. The Sunday flea market at Chiriqui Storage (or the smaller 3rd Saturday flea market) Lots of ideas for tours at the many tour businesses downtown.

I believe only one gringo in Boquete has been successful in turning her E- cedula into a N-cedula and getting a Panamanian passport. I've been told that Martinelli only signed that one application and Varela isn't interested in signing any. The new naturalized Panamanian citizen is Renae D'Oro.