A Day in Bocas Town

A dog died from eating rat poison.  Conflicts over running a restaurant.  Rumors and innuendo.  Helping a woman walk her bike down a three foot gentle ramp because she was too hungover at three p.m. to pull it off herself.  

Pleased with the new prop.  Changed the engine oil on the boat.

Hung out for dinner.

Shopped, back to get boat, ran into a former room-mate, talked with her for a while.  A distraught extremely drunk person walked over lamenting his woes and rebuffs.

"Dude, that boat is crashing into your boat, smashing the cowling."  The cowling is the engine cover, they cost $1,000.  Yup, some dickhead had improperly tied his boat right behind mine and it had smashed into my outboard, making a huge crack in the cover.  I started to move the other boat.  "What fuckhead owns this boat?"  "That's mine."  "Yeah, you smashed my cowling."  "I've only been here two minutes and I was watching it all the time.  "Dude, you were passed standing out for ten minutes.   You've been here half an hour."  "I didn't fuck up your outboard."  "We'll talk about it tomorrow when you might remember the conversation."

He hoped in his boat full bored it out, rocked all the boats in the slips and went home.

Great.  I'm sure I'm never gonna collect from this fuckstick.  Actually, usually he is a great guy.

I returned to my seat.  "Yeah, I saw it smash into your boat, but don't get me involved, XXXX is a good friend of mine."  Two other people, who had come to warn me went on at length about the boat smashing into me.  I got it I saw the damage.

Thanks, Dog

Two chicken thighs and drumsticks roasting in the oven.  I opened to the door took two steps to get a meat thermometer and Jessica ran through the front door, stood on the door, tipping the stove, scattering a greasy tray and chicken legs onto the floor, bending the shelf hooks, causing the glass burner cover to come crashing down, ripping the charger cord out of my laptop, which fortunately did not crash to the floor and ripping the outlet of the wall

Now We Know

I went to the closest resort to my house last Tuesday, Los Secretos, a wonderful place on a hill with panoramic views. with charming.  I met all the staff, hell I knew them already.  A woman named Lindsey had her hand splinted.  "What happened?"  "I punched somebody." I pried no further.

Today I was at Casa Verde talking to some guy.  He told me his head was sore as some woman had punched him in the head.  "What the hell?"  "Yeah, we were at the Bookstore and Dave offered to pay a woman $100 to punch someone in the head and I volunteered.  "And your head hurts?"  "Yeah, she's really buff, a surfer. "Lindsey Buchanan?"  "Yeah."  "Sweet little Lindsey?"

"She knocked out one guy, 6'3" and 260 pounds." It's Bocas, the truth is elusive, perhaps extinct, but anything is possible.

I don't think they sell books at the bookstore.  The shelves are full of books.  But the drinks start flowing heavily before noon.  It's a locals place, for professional drinkers and Canadians only.  Dave is ... well words escape me.

Fat Tuesday

Crawl off to town.  Nobody has a prop.  Electricity out, may as well check out Los Secretos.  "Don (the owner), just ordered a pizza for his wife and left without it, do you want a free pizza?"  Hanging out with Canadians and locals.  No rooms are being rented yet.

Visit some friends, back to Los Secretos for a sunset burger and then back home.  Nice quiet day.  One of the busiest days of the year and the electricity was out from 9 AM to well after I went to bed.

Loma Partida - Day 3

Jeb, in his infinite kindness offered to take the girl I escorted out here for a day of snorkeling.   Dude, the appropriate thing to do is discuss this with the guy who brought her.  I wouldn't have objected but not doing so is pretty sleazy.

We headed out to Rana Azul (blue frog) in Tierra Oscura on the mainland, way out of town.  This is "church" for the old gringos an excuse to eat a little mediocre pizza, consume massive amounts of alcohol, and shoot the shit.

Returning to the boat checking my email the power went out throughout the boat.  The inverter, which converts the battery power to alternating current tripped a circuit breaker.  A smell of burning wires filled the salon.  Scott shut off all the circuit breakers, reset the inverter and turned them on one at a time.  Something in the galley.  All appliances were unplugged and it still tripped.  Must be a short in the outlet.  To make things worse, why would it trip the inverter without tripping the circuit breaker?   To be fixed another day.  You know even if there wasn't a newly discovered rule that women could not live aboard the boat, this is too much for me to deal with.  Three days on the boat and three non trivial problems.

Where lies the truth? Does anyone know the facts?

• •  Do you think Solarte can sustain 4 or 5 deluxe over the water cabins in front of my house? The east end of Solarte is getting more and more attention, due in no small part to Los Secretos.
• 8 hours ago

  Xxxxx  Xxxxxx

  • No The new rules for building over the water with the taxes and requirements from Maritimo make it very very difficult for in this close to town.
    
    
    
    
    I am positive that if you present your business plan as a small resort you should be able to make it happen.
    
    
    bocas del Toro is no.1 on the government's tourism master plan because of the potential for ecotourism that according to tourism experts is seen more growth than beach tourism which I still don't understand....
    
    
    ARAP the Aquatic Resources Department overseas everything that has to do with water resources in Panama.
    
    
    http://arap.gob.pa/ 
    
    
    start by presenting a letter requesting an inspection in front of your property, they might ask you for business proposal and will have to explain how will handle solid, liquid, and septic waste.
    
    
    Luis in Almirante would lead you to the Director for Bocas del Toro that is based in Almirante.
    
    
    The Maratime Authority will have to come and perform an inspection too.
    
    
    The Environmental office will perform an inspection as well.
    
    
    The Ministry of Health will approve your plumbing and sewer.
    
    
    The Fire Department will approve your electric system.
    
    
    Building and permit to occupy the houses will be granted by the Bocas del Toro Municipality.

    ---

Loma Partida - Day 2

Eladio showed up at Scott's boat at the appointed hour in my boat, an overnight usage to return home has turned into a multiple day affair.  The boat was filled with children and women and one worker.  What happened to the eight guys that were going to be clearing land?   They took their cayucos.  Eladio was now offering transport and shuttle services on my boat, second time I lent my boat out in a month that this happened.  When will I learn?   Charlotte left with them with the intention of participating in the machete work

Scott was heading into town to tend to some business and Ken and I tagged along for the ride.  Lunched at Gringos, the only Tex-Mex place in town.  Their killer margaritas primed the pump for two while I simply rehydrated with water.

I bought a used prop for only $20 more than the price written on the prop.   A new aluminum prop is $125, I bought an overpitched one for $100.  But it is far better than replacing my whole lower unit which would require taking the unit off, shipping to the Pacific, waiting interminably, shipping it back and having it reinstalled.  I am sure I am going to drop my top end four or five knots while running at far higher RPMs.   Scott went to check on a boat he was renting out to some coke head.   While renting this boat the lower unit off the outboard had been stolen along with all the gear on the boat.

We then went to check out an inflatable that was for sale by my neighbors at the Garden of Eden.  This tiny boat with a 50 hp moved significantly slower than my boat even with the engine wound out.  Nope, this isn't going to work.  The Garden of Eden is a tiny resort, with but three cabins on a spec of land, at most three eighths of an acre, but it is wonderfully landscaped and has 270 degree spectacular views.   Many cuba libre doubles were consumed over the course of 90 minutes.  Again I stuck with water. The happy hour commander had primed the pump. Eladio called to say that the boat wouldn't start.  He had consumed about $60 in gas while running his little taxi service and depleted the tank.   He was advised that there was a five gallon tank of spare fuel, to put it in the tank and pump the priming bulb. No good deed goes unpunished. About four o'clock we headed back around the east end of Solarte, across the bay and back to Scott's boat.

Upon return I was teased by my boat mates, "Surely Jeb wouldn't have left your 'girlfriend' on the boat by herself."  with a nudge, nudge, wink, wink.  Charlotte was sunning on the front deck of the boat and shameless Jeb had done little more than deliver a quart of water.   Put a cute 21 year old girl with a bunch of men in their mid fifties in a sparsely populated area and I guess it's each man to himself.     Charlotte had spent the day with the Indian workers who were clearing the land I bought.  They did not seem impressed to have a girl doing manual labor and they certainly weren't going to entrust here with a  machete,  but they relegated her to gathering the cut grass, sticks and saplings.

We walked into the salon and Scott immediately streamed forth a torrent of expletives, announcing that the boat had lost 500 gallons of water in our absence.  Charlotte and I sat in the salon while Scott checked out the boat.  No, no faucets had been left on.  Well at least we were not accountable.  I got my flashlight, Scott went down in the bilge and after half an hour found a hose had blown off a 5 micron water filter.   The hose had been clamped to a 3/8" copper pipe fitting with no serations to facilitate grip.   The water pump was far too hot to touch maybe it burned out running dry.   The generator was fired up and the 20 hour process of refilling the tanks began.

We all stripped down to our skivvies, excepting Charlotte who donned a swimsuit and refreshed ourselves in the clear water.  Charlotte and I headed off for shore, but the water became very shallow and I was getting cut up by the coral so we returned.  That girl can swim!  Turns out she is on a swim team.

Dinner was beef tips and lobster tails, cole slaw and yucca.   We ate to the point of bursting and didn't even start on the giant pot of crabs.  A quick clean up and for some reason I was ready to crash at nine.  Not wanting to consume the precious water I didn't shower.

I woke up this morning (Sunday) to find that my dry peeling hands had improved enormously overnight.  One would think that salt water would dehydrate, but this has not been my experience, it seems to work wonders for the skin.  My legs are brown, with pink patches in the recovering areas and still a few scaly and scabby areas but it is nowhere near the freak show of three weeks ago.   I can flex my left foot maybe an inch and a half.   Recovery is steady and I am pleased with the rate.  For a week I wondered if I could ever walk normally again, now there is hope.

With but one day to seek accommodations here, I might find myself reneging on renting out my house. If this proves necessary, I will house the volunteers until such time as they can find another place to rent.

Carnivale ends on Wednesday after which the Ngobe Indians will probably block the roads precluding delivery of fuel and food to Bocas for a long time.   When things get desperate hopefully staples will be shipped out from Colon.

Internet Radio

Got an iPhone?   Get Tunein radio app and give http://www.opsinjoor.be/page.php?id=1 a shot.  We have had it on non stop for the last two days.   Some announcements in Dutch, but mostly American music from the 60s excellent mix of songs you probably haven't heard in decades.

Loma Partida - Day 1

Scott had a little adventure here yesterday.  He fired up the generator and the diesel return started flooding the bilge with diesel fuel.   He called the factory and fixed it with a friend who was out to fix another boat that wouldn't start.   He then returned to the original problem, finding that the brush cap on the starter motor needed to be tightened down after working his way back from the battery.  He does all his own maintenance as all the locals are hacks.   Unfortunately I am not so proficient with mechanics.

We await Eladio, the Indian from whom I bought my land in nearby Aguacate to return with my boat.  He took it home with the preservatives for the decking on the dock and my dogs last night.  He saw me cruise by and paddled over in his cayuco then took my boat home.  Sitting on the aft deck, "Scott, this is wonderful coffee."  "Thanks I grow it myself at 4,500 feet on a finca I own near Boquette and have my workers roast it.  A short discussion on coffee growing and roasting ensued.  Breakfasts of eggs with canned meat by products and beans.

Eladio showed up with my boat and we headed off to inspect the dock.  He indicated that he was 48 posts short.  Apparently he just made and estimate of the length of the mangroves and wasn't near close.   The posts cost $12.50 each and if sufficiently thick should last around 7 years.  Many of those installed were not sufficiently thick.  The property was to have been cleared but not near enough had been, just a rise and a spot on the top of the first hill.  No way to check out any potential building sites.  We left, I had a hell of a time descending the hill with my gimpy left foot.   It's getting better, but I am not the guy who climbed Mayan temples with aplomb 18 months ago.   We toured around, went over and viewed the house of"Wild Bill"  the notorious gringo serial killer who went on a rampage for a year starting about three years ago.   We then toured around and returned to Scott's boat.   Damn it, I wanted this land cleared.  It was with this expectation and agreement that $60 was paid at the time I put a down payment on the property.   Ok, bring out 8 guys tomorrow and tear it up.   I would like to be able to walk through the place.   Eladio was not impressed with having Charlotte participate but I insisted.   Scott is heading to Bocas tomorrow with a couple of buddies, I think I'll ask if I can tag along.  I don't feel inclined to sit on this boat by myself.

Scott suggested that I hire Eladio full time.  That's $90 twice a month.  Eladio indicated he could build a suitable house on the property at a cost of $400 and that he could use the well.  The "well" is a hole in the ground.  I'm not sure but I think it is just an underground plastic tank that catches surface rainwater. I am sure it would be an interesting biology lesson to study all of the life forms that inhabit that water.  No electricity, they sleep on the wooden floors.  Not sure what they would do for toilets.  Keep the land clear, plant banana, avocado, plantain, papaya, yucca, otoy, yellow and white pineapples, limes, lemons, pepino, tomatoes, chickens, maybe a few goats.  I'll think about it.

Scott was heading off to a local builder's house, Jeb.  I had brought a shitload of food but the yacht is more than deficient for food preparation.  There is no gas grill, the electric stove is tiny and requires the generator to be running to operate.   Scott called Jeb and got us invited. Then he invited Michelle and Ken , the local who ostensibly can fix damn near anything from generators, boat engines, air conditioning, computers, solar power systems, pumps, anything electrical or mechanical.    We took along 8 large chicken thighs and drumsticks, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, onions and garlic that I had bought.  Great!   What am I going to eat for the next three days if we eat all the food I brought?

Scott and Charlotte snorkeled.  Apparently I had damaged my prop on the way out here and Scott told me I needed to get it replaced immediately before I wore out the bearings and seals in my lower unit.  Great, maybe I can catch a ride and buy one in town.  More likely I'll catch a ride and they won't have one in town and if they do, it will be the wrong pitch.

Dinner time, packed up a cooler with the food and the gallon of "Salsa Englisa", Worcestershire sauce and some spices that I had bought before heading out and some adobo all purpose seasoning.   Charlotte was inundated by attention from Jeb and Ken.   For some reason an attractive 21 year old girl garners a great deal of attention from guys in their mid fifties.

Long discussion on provisioning, stock up on everything, propane, gasoline, non perishable foods.  Right after Carnivale the Indians will be blocking the roads in force in protest of mining and damming of rivers in their area for hydroelectric projects.   The last protest, about a week ago left several dead, many police stations were torched, scorched earth.   It only ended with the agreement to release the protesters that had been arrested.  Well, that sure didn't solve the core issue, so it was certain to raise its ugly head soon.

The alcohol consumption varied from pretty extreme to a pleasant buzz.  I abstained.   Dinner was excellent.  We left with one person passed out on the dock, returned to the boat and went to bed.

I laid there wondering what my future held for me and to what extent my destiny was a place I would drive myself to or fall into.

Powerless

I tried to check my email first thing in the morning but it wasn't working.   Off to town.  What the hell?  There was no power in town.  They were replacing a generator with a larger unit and it was scheduled to be up by noon.

I tried to borrow money from a friend until I could get an ATM card down here, but with no power the bank was closed and most of the restaurants as without power there was no running water.

On one of my many trips in and out of Casa Verde I ran across a girl who was looking at a poster for a Chocolate Tour.  I gave her an unsolicited thumbs up on the tour, then went into the restaurant to talk with a builder about the price of building a 40' x 40' rancho over the water in front of my house.  This lasted many an hour.  We discussed the cost of buying a tree, cutting it down, slicing it into boards, transporting out of the jungle, transport to town, getting it planed, transporting to house.  Similar deal on concrete filled  PVC posts.  I started to build a bill of materials.  This seems to be a lot cheaper than I had anticipated.   After looking at the bill Kilo created I noted that beams and joists had been omitted, a not insignificant cost.   In order to provide water to the rancho I must add water collection, which can readily achieved by building a steel roofed boat house.

The girl, Charlotte was from Belgium and mention her experiences on wwoof.org.   In order to find details of organic farms there is a $20 fee per farm.  After paying for many farms and getting no reply she gave up.   I checked with my friend Michelle who hosts volunteers, but she said she had 10 and couldn't sustain any more.  I contacted Eladio, the Indian from whom I bought a parcel of land in Aguacate near Loma Partida to see if he could host her for a couple of weeks but neither of us understood his response.   Hmmmm.   I figured if worst came to worst I could put her up on the boat, but when I contacted the boat owner I got this response:

Where is "the girl" going to stay?  One extra person essentially doubles the demands on the systems of the boat.  Women use a lot of water and fuck up marine toilets.  We are converting diesel at $4 something a gallon to water out here.  I don't even use water to brush my teeth.  You are a boater...right?  Have cruised?  I was looking for one really competent single guy who is an experienced boater to live on board.  It is not easy living for someone  who is not an expert at this.  You don't want a woman living aboard who has not done it.  It will be a disaster.  Let's re-think.

Power went out around nine was restored at one then finally the bank was attended to at three.

We finally headed out after getting some cash, shopping for a friend a some heavy provisioning.   The gas dock was closed, we found another.  A friend called, "Did you make it ok?"  Hell, we haven't left town left and I still have to go to my house to get the dogs and pack.  One hour of daylight left.   Stopped by the house.  It took longer to climb the stairs than to pack.  Onto the boat.   With her gear, my gear, two dogs, 30 gallons of insect treatment for the dock wood we peaked out at 14.7 knots.   I tried to take a more direct route around the east end of my island and down, but we were at low tide through shallow water.  We arrived at dusk.  Cutting things pretty close for a moonless night in waters with which I am not intimately familiar.   Lots of shallows.  No oven, no stove, no cooker?   Ok, chica can you make us some salad wraps?   Cucumber in yogurt dressing, peppers, lettuce, onions, garlic it was pretty damn good followed by some late night talking on the fore deck under a starry sky.

Changuinola

Yesterday I knocked off a bunch of tasks. I fixed the pressure switch on my pump so that I don't have to turn on the shower, run out, turn on the pump, take a shower, run out and unplug the pump and turn off the shower. I replaced the bilge pump on my boat which was shot and assembled the loose parts on my refrigerator. Good, really starting to knock things off. While I was waiting for the hardware store to open, they have a 12 – 2 siesta I was working on my computer. It died and refused to turn back on. So much for that repair job I got in David.

Taking advantage of the fact that I now had hot running water I washed all my clothes except a ratty pair of pants I seldom wear as the pockets don't zipper and I have a tendency to have things fall out of my pants when I am sitting down. My wallet contained $40, my driver's license, which had been missing two weeks but found by my real estate agent in one of his files, an expired credit card and a debit card.

Today I decided to head out to Changuinola, get the computer repaired and get a document to travel inside Panama without a passport so that I could get to Panama City without a passport. First stop was the computer repair place. I explained to the owner that I had spilled half a glass of pineapple juice on my keyboard, that the computer had been clicking loudly a very annoying metronome that filled the house with sounds of techno death. Sometimes it would go away, then return. Finally it stopped making the annoying sound but I wanted the mother board and components cleaned. Yes I had somebody disassemble and wash all the components with solvents three days ago. He turned it on. It fired right up, something I hadn't managed to accomplish then quickly died. Good. I left it with him and went off in pursuit of my travel document.

As I was down to $40 I stopped by an ATM a block away and withdrew $500. No point in taking out less than the max, the transaction fee is the same. Everybody had a different idea as to the location of the immigration office. Some said it was at the airport, some said it was in the police station, others, next to the super market. I stopped in the market and bought $8 worth of 10% urea skin cream for $30. At least they had it. Then I bought a seafood pizza for $10 and gave a $1 tip.

Hobbling down the street on my gimpy left leg, which I have been told by my neurologist could take up to a year to heal in the sweltering heat I found a couple of taxi drivers who agreed on the location. Great, can I get a ride? They said it was only 400 meters. I was hot, tired and frustrated. I really didn't give a shit. You can get a ride across town for a buck. They both refused to take me, saying it wasn't far enough. They wouldn't take two bucks. I finally found the place and the guard didn't want to admit me as I was wearing shorts. I explained I live on a remote island in Bocas and it took me three hours to get here. He acquiesced and we walked down a hall, around a corner into an eight foot by twelve foot room with two desks and three waiting chairs. At least it was air conditioned. In order to give me the document the woman said I needed a copy of my passport. I told her I didn't have one. I last entered the country through Guabito, in November. She putzed around with a large stack of paper that had nothing to with my request for about half an hour.

She went out and obtained a “carga” credit for the prepaid cell phone and called immigration in Guabito who found the hand written record of me entering the country November 14 and proceeded to pull up a word document and start editing it, changing the information about entry date, the person with the missing passport, my place of residence, etc.

Finally I had my travel document in hand. One of the women told me I had to file a missing passport report with the police, who happened to be in the same building. This turned out to be very interesting as he rapid fired stuff to me in Spanish and spoke not a word of English. But I could read enough of the screen to write down the information that was pertinent to the various sections. He stamped and signed the document but couldn't find the captain so he created a different version with the name of an individual that was available. Then he kept my travel document. What the fuck? I went back to the woman who issued my travel document and she asked when I was going to travel. I don't know. After I get my birth certificate sent down from the states, god knows how long that is going to take. Well, I would have to come back when I was ready to go to Panama City and travel that day. I wandered around in the heat trying to locate the computer store, again hot, limping and frustrated. I finally found it. The guy was nowhere near done. He told me the last guy had washed the sugar all around the electrodes of the chips and he had to clean them off one at a time. I tried to kill a little time at an internet cafe but the computers all sucked. The guy told me none of them was good enough to run the gmail web interface. Nice place.

Eventually I went back to the shop. It was getting late. The computer was working fine, except for the electronic button to open the drive. I can manually open it but the button doesn't work and the command line interface instruction fails to open it. Catch the bus too late and you miss the last water taxi back to Bocas. I couldn't hail a cab. Just as I limped up to the bus a passenger boarded and the conductor indicated there was no room for more. A big fat guy in a yellow Luxman double cab pick, pretty common taxi fare said he would take me to Almirante for $20. Well at least I could make it home tonight. We had a good laugh about a good many things. He stopped at a Chino and I bought another bottle of water. Minutes later we were at Bocas Marine Tours. I took out my wallet, gave him the $20, grabbed my backpack and walked the 20 feet to the counter. No fucking wallet. No money, no ID, no way to get money. A taxi driver offered to chase down the other driver, I explained I had no money. He said if he catches him and he has my wallet I pay standard fare else I owe him nothing. What a hell of a guy. We raced through the hills at speed of up to 140 km/h passing on blind curves and rises. Eventually we caught up with our driver after half an hour of frantic driving. No wallet in the truck. On the ride I tried to check in my fanny pack, an unlikely place to put it for a four second walk. One zipper pulled off the track and the pull on the other came off.

Fuck me. Twenty feet. If it fell out of my pants it was snatched in 30 seconds. Else I was pick pocketed. Now I have to replace my driver's license, my debit card and I am out over $400 dollars with no ready way to get more. My usual service, BMT had already dispatched their last boat at 6:30 but Taxi 25 had reopened and offered transport at 8 as the owner was on a shopping trip to David and would be transported home at that time. My driver asked how much money I had and just gave me the difference.

To top it off, the dickhead who was watching my dogs for less than two weeks, who received nearly $400 in compensation and then ran all the gas out of my boat while he was operating a tour service tried to extort $360 from me and told me he was going to take me to the labor board. That is not a good thing in Panama.

This has not been a good year.

Almost Back Home

The police have agreed to release some demonstrators held in jail in exchange for the protestors unblocking the roads.  Driving around David I see scorched earth, scorched asphalt on the Pan American Highway.  This isn't over yet.  I don't believe the mining operation situation has been resolved.  Never the less it is possible to drive back to Bocas and there is gas when I get there.

Had my medical treatment not been so urgent for the cost I could have flown to Cuba, spent a luxurious three months, flown back into Tocumen where one gets a free month of health insurance for no cost.   Not really an option anyway as somebody absconded with my driver's license and passport.   What a pain in the ass.  It will take me about two months to get a replacement driver's license which I can then use to apply for a replacement passport.   In the mean time I can't leave this country or travel by plane within it.  I am using a PADI dive card as my ID as it is the only thing I have with my name and picture on it.

Most of the time I can flex my left foot almost an inch and with concentration I can walk up and down stairs and ramps and step up and down off curbs.  This is substantial improvement after 7 days of intense medication and three days of out of hospital on expensive drugs.   Man I hope I fully recover and that this doesn't take a year.

I am supposed to be off to Volcan today to see what a house looks like that is constructed out of bamboo boards.   A slit is made on one side of the bamboo, lengthwise, it is soaked for a week in water and then flattened out, treated with Penta Green, an insecticide and varnished.   If this works I can have a substantial reduction in one of the most expensive components of these cabins.  I am going to take this computer in today, have them take it apart and use solvent on every part; it is not a big fan of cranberry juice.  God I hope this year gets better in a hurry.

Shit in Storage

Well, I just got another bill for $1,800 for the stuff I have in storage in Dallas.  I got a quote, without duty for $3,690 to bring this stuff down here.  And that's just to Panama City then I'd have to get it all the way accross the country twice, to the extreme west and then the extreme north. So I guess I have just pissed away $3,000 for absolutely nothing because I sure as hell as am not paying $5,000 for that stuff.

By the way I got out of the hospital yesterday.  The skin is clearing up remarkably.  I can flex my left foot a little bit.  I can now walk up and down stairs and ramps without falling down if I concentrate.  It's nice to go outside for a walk.  The pace is sufficiently slow that I would be hard pressed to call it exercise.  Jaime, my driver, drove me to a bunch of places today and I priced out some of the materials for the resort.   This is going to be more expensive than I anticipated.  

In David Indefinitely - Resort

Even if I wanted to leave David, it would be impossible.  The roads in both directions are blocked by Ngobe Indians protesting a proposed mine.

My wonderful driver, Jaime was a builder in a former life and has a great many ideas on construction and will drive me around David so I can price some of these components.   We are going to draw up a bill of materials for the water catchment system and everything to build my new house in Loma Partida and have  everything shipped at once so we can get through construction.

So here's the plan, I flatten out a piece of land on the highest ground, may or may not lay a concrete foundation.   Build a chicken coop with a tin roof, add a catchment edge (consider gutter).  It will drain into one tank.  Two other 1,500 gallon tanks will be connected so all tanks will fill to the same height at the same time.  I have to check to see if the height of the second hill is sufficiently higher than the sea side hill that I could feed adequate pressure without a pump.   That would be 80 feet to get 40 PSI, I'm pretty sure that is not the case.

Looks like the most expensive part  of this operation is going to be solar power and refrigerators.

Well, it's super bowl Sunday.  I am going to try to watch the game by using a proxy to view it from the U.S. sight.   Why do they not want people in other countries to watch? That would increase the audience for the advertisements.

Jaime

Jaime is the guy who was supposed to drive me to David.  He called and came to visit two days ago.

Turns out he used to be a house builder.  He has an unfinished house on Carenero (ran out of cash) wanted to know if I would pay to finish it of then we could be equal partners in a bar there.   I told him there was no way we could compete with the Cosmic Crab as it is very famous and right over the water, why would somebody want to go drink on a porch a hundred feet from the water when you could sit right on the water, facing west and watch the sunset.   Then he wanted to finish off the upstairs, put in four rooms and rent them out for $50.  Jaime at Cosmic Crab for that money you can have a private cabin right over the water.  He looked very disappointed.  This also seems like an extraordinary request on a first meeting.

I told him about my development at Loma Partida.   I wanted simple cabinas to have composting toilets and a water tank.  No point in running PVC hundreds of feet so somebody can use 2 1/2 gallons to wash down a quart of pee. I think I'll add a urinal for guys too shy to piss outside.

I talked about constructing cabins out of bamboo.  Now things got interesting.   He told me to split it lengthwise through one side, not in two, soak it in water for a week, pound it flat,  treat it with penta green for permanent insect resistance and protect with 660 marine varnish for a beautiful board.   He is going to show me a house he built that way.   Not only would that fill in all the gaps but it would be awesome looking, hell, you'd even use less bamboo, not that bamboo is expensive.   Did you know you have to cut it on a full moon?

I don't know why he is so hung up on septic systems.   You use water, you have to run the water and when you are done, you have nothing.  

If that project wasn't big enough I've been offered the use of a water concession to build a bar and restaurant in town.   The guy loved my concept of a BBQ.

Sonogram

That was kind of cool, looking at all my guts on a screen.  Benign cycst on one kidney.  Everything else seems fine.

There are only 2 English TV channels, the CSI non stop and CNN.  Thank god I have the kindle.  Working my way through Tom Sawyer.

Somewhere a doll is feeling needles and IV.  Reverse voodoo.

11 prescriptions for a year.  They are releasing me into the wild tomorrow.  I'm going to stick in David for a bit.

Electromyogram

I had an electromyogram.  Electrodes are hooked up to the body and shocks are given, the speed at which the signals propagate is reported.  In good health a serious twitch or jerk can be expected at higher amperage.   I'm good from the knees up.   Below the knees I am a wreck.   I can point but not flex my left foot.   Lot's of diseases were ruled out.   I'm telling you, hypoglycemia and/or vitamin B12 deficiency is sufficient.

They decided to put me on a daily regimen of calcium and vitamin B12 delivered intravenously.  Ok, let's go.  I'd like to be able to walk out of here.