The gracious hostess at my Panama City lodgings called the computer technician, he wanted $45 to install my replacement keyboard. Yeah, right. I decided to go to the Super 99 (a huge supermarket chain owned by President Martinelli) in San Francisco and call on a technician with a small stall. I walked three blocks to an area near the well known Waikiki restaurant to catch a taxi. Traffic was at a standstill, a big problem in Panama City and it's only going to be worse for the next two years. After 15 minutes I got a taxi and I arrived at my destination in short order. The technician said he could install the replacement keyboard in my laptop in an hour for $15, giving a grimace after viewing the abuse to which the keyboard had been subjected at the airport. We'll see what happens.

A couple blocks down the street I found a restaurant. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch but they were open. I asked for the key for the WiFi and was advised that they had none. After pointing out a WiFi connection with maximum signal strength with a network name "Antonio's Pizza" he went out back and asked the owner and promptly returned with a key. Almost out of power on my netbook, (doesn't everybody walk around with a backpack with two computers in it?) he ran an extension cord across the floor and up to the ceiling. Very accommodating. Now I wait for my sopa marisco to finish.

I returned to inspect the computer work. The keys all worked but the surface undulated in consequence of the the abuse suffered in the hands of airport personnel, but this is merely an aesthetic deficiency. I found no difficulty securing a cab to my dentist and was quickly accommodated there. Leaving I stood on the street and tried in vain to hail a taxi to Albrook Mall. First I stood in front of traffic that didn't move for five minutes. When cars started moving I couldn't get a taxi to stop. I walked down to the corner, with the hope that doubling the traffic would result in some interest. Taxis on the larger street stopped but I failed time and again to find someone interested in transporting me. Apparently taxi drivers in Panama take a course in gestures as each request was met with a wagging of the right index finger to reinforce the verbal expressions which all conveyed an adamant refusal to consider the request as worthy of merit. A junker of a car stopped and two enormous men asked me where I was going. These people looked like something out of a missing persons show in the states. Where would I end up? Just bloodied on the side of the road, in the canal, or were they more imaginative and would find some wild pigs to which my corpse could be fed? "No thanks, I'll wait for a taxi." Asking passers by I was advised with the usual certainty that I was on the wrong side of the street and that I would have better luck on the other as taxis would be heading toward my destination. After that failed I returned to the original side of the street. Text messages kept arriving from someone who was expressing interest in a particularly odd boat I had seen the day before, a massive aluminum hull catamaran. Time was running short, no way I could shop for a smoker or a grill, I just needed to get to the airport.

Finally I spotted a diablo rojo (red devil) the notorious colorful buses of Panama City. I believe these buses are remnants from a vehicular spinoff of "Night of the Living Dead." After buses are seen unfit to transport school children in the U.S. the zombified version is brightly painted in a rainbow of colors, half the windshield is obscured with the destination and other graphics. Seemingly mandatory signs of Christianity are affixed, possibly to remind passengers to prepare for the ultimate destination of the good. I paid my quarter and made my way to the back of the bus in the only seat available and started playing a game on my netbook. After a while a youth approached me and said something I didn't understand. I looked up and said "No comprende." wishing that he would sell his wares or do his begging elsewhere, but he was adamant. I finally understood, looked up and realized that I was in an empty bus at the mall. "Hey, dickhead, get off now or take another trip around the city." I got off and quickly grabbed a taxi to the nearby airport. When asked the fare the driver replied "What do you want to pay?" It's a very short ride, necessitated by the fact that the route is nothing but narrow ramps with no walkways. I handed him two bucks and he was pleased.

Having purchased my ticket online I was left to merely get my boarding pass which took but a minute. Rather than the plastic slabs used in Bocas, this was a bookmarker sized piece of flexible plastic. Taking a seat I availed myself of the free WiFi, No reply from the guy who brings boats down from Florida. I had been advised that if he responds too quickly to my email, it must be a scam as it means he has nothing else to do. Either my contact knew the game or he actually was working on other deals.

Immediately after purchasing a couple of coffees the waiting room started emptying out as people filed through security. We finished our coffees as people were boarding the plane. The X-ray attendant noticed a cigarette lighter in my day pack but couldn't find it and started digging through my bag. Great! Now she'll get to the bottom and find the roll of crocodile hide I didn't really want and I would find myself in high demand as the recipient of some unwanted attention in a urine soaked hell hole. Well, I guess I had pissed her off. She insisted on xraying my hat and shoes a bit of attention no one else warranted. Finally she found a lighter and I was on my way, sans my boarding pass. Looking out the window I saw but one person left to climb the stairs and board the plane. Just not my day. I managed to get an airline employee to assist me, he counted the boarding passes that had been gathered and found that he was one short, checked my passport and escorted me to the plane. The woman who had given me my boarding pass having communicated via two way radio stood at the bottom of the ramp and allowed me to board without my pass.

My daypack was overloaded and couldn't fit under the seat in front of me so my right leg stuck out into the aisle. After we took off the man across the aisle asked me "Are you Jungle Jim?" "Many people call me that, but I don't recall your name." Actually I had no idea who he was but this seemed a little less dismissive. It turns out that he was kidding, he was just commenting on my attire. He turned out to be an amiable guy who had grown up in Colon and was coming to see Bocas for the first time. We talked about our favorite westerns for most of the flight, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rifleman. American black and white broadcasts were a staple of his childhood. After disembarking, the woman who gave me my boarding pass on my outbound trip advised me that I had to return the boarding pass or pay $5. "Do you know where I live?" "No." "Then I guess I need do neither." was tendered with a smile. "I''ll check my luggage, but if it doesn't show up in Panama, I'll come by and pay you."

After arriving, Walter waited for his luggage, which held four shock absorbers for the infamous red minivan while I walked back to my apartment. I don't think any of the shock absorbers that remained on the van were secured on each end. Walter and Flaco found me on the street on my way to town and picked me up, my little dog in the back seat, who greeted me with a "mehh, I've got other friends, I'm not pissed but don't expect back flips." We headed to our usual venue where I was greeted immediately with something close to "Our notebook is dead, can you work some magic on it?" while my second foot was hitting the street. What horrible things have been inflicted on this aged piece of hardware now? Believe it or not I don't always walk around with CD's, screwdrivers, cables and drive cases. As a spare was in place this was not urgent I replied with an inscrutable, "I'll get to it right after my meeting with the president."

The restaurant started to fill up, people were coming from other provinces for the Saturday pig roast and Friday Fish Taco night was an apparent success in strong contrast to the nearly vacant night on Wednesday. Yet another quiet and peaceful night on the dock with the usual suspects.