Relocation Panama

A View for My <a href=”Panama“>Panama Retirement
Source: http://<a href=”Panama“>Panamajoeretirement.blogspot.com/2009/07/view-for-my-<a href=”Panama“>Panama-retirement.html
For all of those who are interested in retirement in <a href=”Panama“>Panama, I came up with a good question for you.Take a look at this photo of mine. Beach front. Mountains in the background. A view of the sea. The sun shimmers on the water. You can almost hear the water which gently laps against the white sand. The palm trees offer you their calm shade from the hot sun. You hear a few of the tropical
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Ultimate in recyling
Source: http://<a href=”travel“>travel<a href=”Panama“>Panamablog.com/2009/07/24/ultimate-in-recyling/
I love reading anything that shows people trying to make a difference for our planet. It is amazing how creative some folks can become when they are inspired by a cause. In this great article the “boat builders” have made their creation out of plastic bottles. Living in <a href=”Panama“>Panama I …
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Kitchen Cabinets
Source: http://duford.com/2009/07/25/kitchen-cabinets/

We finally have the kitchen cabinets installed in the main kitchen. Wolfgang did a beautiful job and the natural roble wood turned out really nice. We stayed with a simple, clean and natural look. Now we need to get the granite counter tops, which will be in “Peacock Green”, a very dark-green Brazilian granite. There will be two side-by-side refrigerators under the cabinets on the back wall. One unit is all-freezer, the other is all-fridge.

We should be able to use the kitchen and living-room by the end of August. Things have been really slow but picking up speed in recent weeks.

<img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-875″ title=”Kitchen Cabinets” src=”http://www.relocation<a href=”Panama“>Panama.com/info/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/06bbd_Kitchen-400×266.jpg” alt=”Kitchen Cabinets” width=”400″ height=”266″ />

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Time to go check out Bocas del Toro Real Estate
Source: http://<a href=”Panama“>Panamajoeretirement.blogspot.com/2009/07/time-to-go-check-out-bocas-del-toro.html
It was time for me to go to Bocas del Toro to check out the real esate in the town. We drove to Almirante and took the ferry. Stayed for a week. You can do this when you retire in <a href=”Panama“>Panama. I don’t have a schedule. I refuse to have a schedule for the rest of my retirement. I am not rushing anywhere. I do not have a schedule, that’s my rule. I might make it to catch a plane but that’s about
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Is everything in this world now made in China?
Source: http://duford.com/2009/07/17/is-everything-in-this-world-now-made-in-china/

I don’t like China’s politics and human rights record. I’m also unimpressed with the quality of the majority of what comes out of China these days. So I try very hard to avoid “Made in China” products out of principle, and out of concern for quality. Alas, it is becoming increasingly difficult not to buy products that are made in China, especially here in Panamá where price is king, and the Chinese seem to own every single hardware store.

It was with this in mind that I set out to shop online for a good quality tankless water heater, willing to pay for the extra shipping. So I settled on a commercial-grade “pro” Bosch water heater. I ordered it and had it shipped to Panamá via my Miami-based cargo aggregator. Once here it ended up costing four times as much as the locally sold chinese units. I was happy with my purchase, until I noticed the dreaded little line on the box: “Made in China”. And here I thought I was buying German quality… Turns out this unit seems to be very well made and it was obviously engineered in Germany and built to Bosch’s specifications. Still, I feel like I’ve been taken.

Next I decided to order some high-quality and energy efficient ceiling fans (a necessary item in every room here in Panamá). So I bought online and shipped to Panamá some of the best fans money can buy. I bought some Emerson fans whose tag line is: “The Original American Fan Company”. You guest it, the box says: “Made in China”. I also bought some Casablanca fans, this company’s tag line is: “The World’s Best Ceiling Fans”. Well, yeah, they are also “Made in China”.

This is getting very frustrating: everything is now “Made in China”. There is no way to entirely avoid Chinese products anymore. Reminds me of the little scandal in Ottawa a few years ago, when tourists discovered that their little Canadian Moose and Mounted Police effigies were manufactured in China.

If you ever had any doubts about China taking over the world, don’t! The American empire is in steep decline and China is just gathering steam.

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My Daily Bread in <a href=”Panama“>Panama
Source: http://<a href=”Panama“>Panamajoeretirement.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-daily-bread-in-<a href=”Panama“>Panama.html
I suppose you might be wondering what the food is like down here in span style=”font-weight: bold;”<a href=”Panama“>Panama/span. I mostly eat the local food while enjoying my span style=”font-weight: bold;”retirement in <a href=”Panama“>Panama/span. Don’t miss much the food from back home because it didn’t seem so healthy when you think about it. When you retire you have to think more about your health and you have the time.br /br /I eat out a lot with friends at span style=”font-weight: bold;”restaurants in <a href=”Panama“>Panama/span City. It’s not that expensive. You can dine for about $20 for a full dinner. You will find that people like to go out a lot, celebrate, party, sing, drink, and eat together. It’s quite cheap to eat out in <a href=”Panama“>Panama, if you want it to be. I eat a lot of fresh fish, tropical fruits and okay, yes, beer. Add to that, the coffee is fantastic here. It’s grown on the slopes of Volcan Baru, Boquete, hand picked. I suppose you would call it organic coffee but it is delicious. No more Nescafe, on my <a href=”Panama“>Panama retirement. It’s so good in the morning as I take my coffee, read the newspaper and then head on over to my computer to check up on things, read emails etc.br /br /Okay, so let’s talk about the span style=”font-weight: bold;”<a href=”Panama“>Panama cuisine/span. As I mentioned, there’s a lot of fresh seafood ( a favourite is the exquisite <a href=”Panama“>Panama Seviche which is white fish and/or scallops). The fish is marinated with fresh lemon juice overnight, and then you add chopped green chilies, a dash of chili or Tabasco sauce, sliced onions, tomatoes chopped and cup of olive oil garnished with a little chopped pimiento and fresh coriander. It’s so damn good and tasty. Served cold. Cooking generally uses herbs and spices for taste. There’s also heavy Spanish influence to the cooking you will find.br /br /Some of the food I’ve found that’s really popular here in <a href=”Panama“>Panama are tortillas which consist of ground maize and then fried. Tamales are a local specialty, the corn is boiled, crushed with spices and then either pork or chicken is added, wrapped in a banana leaf and then boiled. Other things I like to eat are patacones, green fried plaintain. Empanadas are, well, pastry stuffed with cheese, meat or chicken and I try not to eat too many of them because I’m sure they’re responsible for expanding waistlines. Then there’s Tajadas which are plantain sliced length ways and baked with cinnamon. And, I cannot forget Carimañola, made from ground, then boiled yucca, which has minced meat and boiled eggs inside and then fried, Are you hungry yet?br /br /Other food we eat in <a href=”Panama“>Panama, which very popular recipes are things like Escabeche of corvine, Ceviche de pollo, Ceviche de corvina al curry, Ceviche de garbanzos, Arroz con pollo, Carimañolas and for dessert, there is my favourite <a href=”Panama“>Panamanian dessert Flan de caramelo, which is like a crème caramel custard. Also for dessert, I favour the Pie de limon which you might have already figured out is Lemon Pie.br /br /I’ve tried a little cooking myself and have become somewhat of a skilled <a href=”Panama“>Panamanian chef. It’s a hobby you could try taking up if you decide to retire to <a href=”Panama“>Panama. Thought I’d write about the food in <a href=”Panama“>Panama because it’s a part of my retirement. A big part of daily life, in fact, for me and for you if you decide to a href=”http://<a href=”Panama“>Panamajoeretirement.blogspot.com/”retire in <a href=”Panama“>Panama/a. I guess later, I could write about some of the restaurants in <a href=”Panama“>Panama where you can eat some of this delicious food. Gotta go, dinner is served!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3003003083057459712-4150486090155623818?l=<a href=”Panama“>Panamajoeretirement.blogspot.com’//div
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President Martinelli - will he make good on promises?
Source: http://<a href=”travel“>travel<a href=”Panama“>Panamablog.com/2009/07/13/president-martinelli-will-he-make-good-on-promises/
Here is a translation of <a href=”Panama“>Panama’s new president’s  inaugural speech. We all hope he can keep some if not all of his promises. He is a successful businessman with experience in efficiency and fiscal responsibility and sentiments are high that he can help <a href=”Panama“>Panama to benefit from his business acumen …
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Trip to Playa Blanca and Pedasi
Source: http://<a href=”travel“>travel<a href=”Panama“>Panamablog.com/2009/07/10/trip-to-playa-blanca-and-pedasi/
Happy July!
On Wednesday Eric & I set out for a few days at the beach. First stop about 4 ½ hours away was Playa Blanca Our friend Wendy has a new villa there and we were taking a few pieces of furniture and tools for her new place …
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The Baloney Detection Kit (updated July 1st)
Source: http://duford.com/2009/06/28/the-baloney-detection-kit/

I find that here in Altos del Maria, <a href=”Panama“>Panama, a lot of expats are into New Age, voodoo, anti-vaccine and other “Alternative” non-sense. I’m not sure if this is a generational thing or not, but it’s an all-too-real very real. Having a background in science and skepticism I find this all very annoying and I don’t like seeing people being exploited or worse, people making the wrong decisions when it comes to their health. Alas, it is almost impossible to discuss these things with believers without offending them.

So here is an excellent short video that explains how to use critical thinking and a bit of scientific method to cut through all the crap. Mind you, if someone has absolutely zero understanding of the basics of physics and biology they probably won’t be able to uses these tips. But I’m hoping that they will at least not accept everything thrown at them without questioning it first.

I often here people saying things like “we don’t believe in chemicals”, or “it’s natural therefore it is good for me”. These are two of the most empty and misleading assertions and they demonstrate just how naive people are. Because something is “chemical” doesn’t mean it’s bad. Water is a chemical: it is the most potent and versatile solvent in all of chemistry, yet it is also necessary for life. On the other hand, because something is “natural”, is no guarantee that it is actually good for you. The world is full of animal and plant substances that are toxic. Arsenic, opiates, anthrax, molds, poisonous mushrooms and snake venoms are all examples of natural but toxic substances.

Keep one thing in mind folks: by definition “Alternative Medicine” has either been proven not to work, or has not yet been proven to work. Once it’s been proven to work it is generally adopted quickly into the toolset of evidence-based medicine, and it is just called medicine with no “alternative” in front. Governments and insurance companies are always on the lookout for cheaper and better ways to provide healthcare, and pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of money looking for useful plant-derived compounds because it is a lot cheaper than developing drugs from scratch. Aspirin is a good example of that.

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