Day 232 Monday (Lunes) - Panama City
It was a ride and visit with some beach friends as we had a few loose ends to gather and clean the condo as it seemed we left in a hurry for some reason a couple of weeks ago. Had afew errands as my lovely wife wanted to food shop since we were there as prices are relatively cheaper on products we buy. We also needed to drop off a key for someone and meet up with some friends from Venezuela. O and clean the condo of course, which was our main mission.
We realized when we lived at the beach and drove to the city to do errands we were exhausted when we got home, probably due to the hectic pace and traffic, but when you drive from the city to the beaches and do errands it is a lot more relaxingupon your return.
Safe and sound back on the 12th floor and off to pet sitting duty for 2 weeks starting tomorrow - dentist today, $15 for a cleaning, love those prices.
Is Panama The New America
Panama fun facts.
1 - Panama has NO hurricanes
2 - Panama has a thriving Metropolitan city in Panama City
3 - Panama has secure banking institutions
4 - Panama has a climate for everyone, city, beaches, mountains
5 - Panama uses the US Dollar as its currency
6 - Panama is a short flight from many major cities in the USA
7 - Panama has many English speaking folks, Spanish is the main language
8 - Panama welcomes foreigners to live and work.
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Monday, May 21, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Found the Panama DQ
Day 231 Sunday (Domingo) - Panama City
Out Saturday night for dinner, then a stroll thru the Multi Plaza Mall and found an ole American stomping ground, Dairy Queen. This brought back a lot of good memories.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
On the lighter side
Day 230 - Saturday (Sabado) - Panama City
A few things cropped up today, first the maid came and took care of our sloppiness, OK we are not that sloppy but it was nice to have someone else come and clean the place for us for a change. A few days ago we talked about the challenge of communicating via the phone to a Spanish lady who was cleaning this apartment before, well we overcame that challenge and she showed up as scheduled on Friday around 10am.
Second on the list was a few hours in the park to take the dog and get out of the apartment while the maid took care of her business, Reese greeted her with some loud barking, as she usually does, but we needed to get out so off to Parque Omar one block up the street. We hung out in this beautiful park in the center of Panama City and watched the walkers and runners, watched the folks exercising at the free outside gym equipment (Yes Free), watched a children's play in the park as one of the schools had a field trip and put on a performance, and finally stopped by the fruits and vegetable guy and bought a Pineapple for a buck.
Next stop bring the dog back to the apartment, maid was complete - 2 hours and the place was sparkling. Off to do some errands, needed a new micro SD chip for my new phone, O yeah, my other phone of only 8 months was swimming one day in the Pacific Ocean (NOT a good idea by the way) so that phone is gone and onto a new phone.
Then the rains came, and came, and came, and came, this was the first time in a very long time that we had a few hours of rain that were relentless, it was fun watching it from the balcony as we sat and played cards and drank wine. Supper you say? Yes we have a knack for cooking for some reason, well I guess we both like to do it so it makes it fun. SO after a few glasses of Vino it was time to make some homemade pizza. Started off with a Shell from Mama Mia (OK their homemade shell but the rest is on us I promise), then poured on some homemade sauce, courtesy of my wife, then chopped garlic, onions, green peppers, and pineapple for our toppings, sprinkled on a 4 cheese mix and away we go.
Topped of with homemade Cappuccino from the maker that my wife received for her birthday.
Pizza and a Litre of Wine and Cappuccino's - $6.00 in total. I love this place
A few things cropped up today, first the maid came and took care of our sloppiness, OK we are not that sloppy but it was nice to have someone else come and clean the place for us for a change. A few days ago we talked about the challenge of communicating via the phone to a Spanish lady who was cleaning this apartment before, well we overcame that challenge and she showed up as scheduled on Friday around 10am.
Second on the list was a few hours in the park to take the dog and get out of the apartment while the maid took care of her business, Reese greeted her with some loud barking, as she usually does, but we needed to get out so off to Parque Omar one block up the street. We hung out in this beautiful park in the center of Panama City and watched the walkers and runners, watched the folks exercising at the free outside gym equipment (Yes Free), watched a children's play in the park as one of the schools had a field trip and put on a performance, and finally stopped by the fruits and vegetable guy and bought a Pineapple for a buck.
Next stop bring the dog back to the apartment, maid was complete - 2 hours and the place was sparkling. Off to do some errands, needed a new micro SD chip for my new phone, O yeah, my other phone of only 8 months was swimming one day in the Pacific Ocean (NOT a good idea by the way) so that phone is gone and onto a new phone.
Then the rains came, and came, and came, and came, this was the first time in a very long time that we had a few hours of rain that were relentless, it was fun watching it from the balcony as we sat and played cards and drank wine. Supper you say? Yes we have a knack for cooking for some reason, well I guess we both like to do it so it makes it fun. SO after a few glasses of Vino it was time to make some homemade pizza. Started off with a Shell from Mama Mia (OK their homemade shell but the rest is on us I promise), then poured on some homemade sauce, courtesy of my wife, then chopped garlic, onions, green peppers, and pineapple for our toppings, sprinkled on a 4 cheese mix and away we go.
Topped of with homemade Cappuccino from the maker that my wife received for her birthday.
Pizza and a Litre of Wine and Cappuccino's - $6.00 in total. I love this place
Friday, May 18, 2012
Too important NOT to repeat
Day 229 Friday (Viernes) - Panama CIty
I came across this article from Sovereign Man, notes from the field, and found it worth repeating on this blog as it really bothered me as to what the US and other governments are really doing. Pay attention folks, this can get ugly
Here goes...................................and thanks to our friend Simon Black for keeping things like this in front of us.
I came across this article from Sovereign Man, notes from the field, and found it worth repeating on this blog as it really bothered me as to what the US and other governments are really doing. Pay attention folks, this can get ugly
Here goes...................................and thanks to our friend Simon Black for keeping things like this in front of us.
Date: May 17, 2012 Reporting From: Undisclosed location, United States
I've been in the US for a little more than 24-hours. And having flipped through the TV channels trying to figure out what useless drivel big media is passing off as 'news', I realized that I'm going to vomit if I hear the word "fair" one more time.
This concept of 'fair' seems to be dominating discussion of the US government's dismal fiscal condition. The talking heads say that it's 'fair' for wealthy Americans to pay higher taxes and bail the country out... or that everyone needs to pay his/her 'fair' share.
The whole logic is absurd: you do not 'fix' the country's fiscal imbalances by giving the idiots in charge even more resources to squander... it's like dumping gasoline on a forest fire. Somehow the debate seems to have missed this point.
This 'fair' nonsense is also very dangerous. Just ask any three-year old-- 'fair' is completely arbitrary. It's like a Wiki version morality... if enough people agree on it, it's fair.
In this case, 'fair' is defined in the sole discretion of those who are the direct beneficiaries of confiscating other people's money. But let's look at the numbers:
According to the IRS statistical database, the top 1% of income earners in the United States pays roughly 40% of all US individual income tax. They also get audited at least 5-times more than anyone else. Fair?
The other major complaint seems to be that the wealthy are 'abusing' capital gains rules in order to pay a 15% rate instead of a 35% rate. Duh. That's why they're wealthy, and stay wealthy... they don't WORK for a living, they OWN assets which are subject to capital gains.
It seems so bizarre that a country once regarded as the freest, most economically enviable in the world would treat its productive citizens with such hostility.
This is where Eduardo Saverin comes in. The Facebook co-founder, who finds himself a few billion dollars richer this week, recently renounced his US citizenship. And, to the intelligentsia, it's not 'fair'.
'Saverin needs to pay his fair share! He owes America more,' they whine, completely ignorant that the 30-year old is already forking over a $500+ million exit tax (which may end up in the billions).
Apparently it's not good enough that the company Saverin co-founded has created tens of thousands of jobs, spawned entire industries, and produced oodles of new millionaires. Oh yeah, it's also made things damn easy for the CIA, NSA, and FBI. You'd think Uncle Sam would pin a medal on his chest.
But no. Saverin left behind a lot of value and decided to move on to greener pastures in Singapore. Now the do-gooders in Congress are cooking up new legislation (the EX-PATRIOT Act) designed to permanently bar 'renunciants' like Saverin from re-entering the United States.
It's interesting that, rather than change their ways of doing business and introducing legislation that provides incentives for productive people to come here and stay here, they maintain policies that chase people away, and introduce new ones to lock the door after they're gone.
The lesson here (especially for natural-born citizens) is this: simply by accident of birth, you are born with a lifelong obligation that you never signed up for to finance the corrupt misdealings of the political class. And if you choose to abandon this obligation, they will bar you from ever entering your homeland again.
Regardless of what the propaganda says, this is not how a free society treats people. It might look and feel like a representative democracy on the surface, but under the hood it's the modern day equivalent of feudal serfdom.
The land of the free has certainly fallen a long way.
This concept of 'fair' seems to be dominating discussion of the US government's dismal fiscal condition. The talking heads say that it's 'fair' for wealthy Americans to pay higher taxes and bail the country out... or that everyone needs to pay his/her 'fair' share.
The whole logic is absurd: you do not 'fix' the country's fiscal imbalances by giving the idiots in charge even more resources to squander... it's like dumping gasoline on a forest fire. Somehow the debate seems to have missed this point.
This 'fair' nonsense is also very dangerous. Just ask any three-year old-- 'fair' is completely arbitrary. It's like a Wiki version morality... if enough people agree on it, it's fair.
In this case, 'fair' is defined in the sole discretion of those who are the direct beneficiaries of confiscating other people's money. But let's look at the numbers:
According to the IRS statistical database, the top 1% of income earners in the United States pays roughly 40% of all US individual income tax. They also get audited at least 5-times more than anyone else. Fair?
The other major complaint seems to be that the wealthy are 'abusing' capital gains rules in order to pay a 15% rate instead of a 35% rate. Duh. That's why they're wealthy, and stay wealthy... they don't WORK for a living, they OWN assets which are subject to capital gains.
It seems so bizarre that a country once regarded as the freest, most economically enviable in the world would treat its productive citizens with such hostility.
This is where Eduardo Saverin comes in. The Facebook co-founder, who finds himself a few billion dollars richer this week, recently renounced his US citizenship. And, to the intelligentsia, it's not 'fair'.
'Saverin needs to pay his fair share! He owes America more,' they whine, completely ignorant that the 30-year old is already forking over a $500+ million exit tax (which may end up in the billions).
Apparently it's not good enough that the company Saverin co-founded has created tens of thousands of jobs, spawned entire industries, and produced oodles of new millionaires. Oh yeah, it's also made things damn easy for the CIA, NSA, and FBI. You'd think Uncle Sam would pin a medal on his chest.
But no. Saverin left behind a lot of value and decided to move on to greener pastures in Singapore. Now the do-gooders in Congress are cooking up new legislation (the EX-PATRIOT Act) designed to permanently bar 'renunciants' like Saverin from re-entering the United States.
It's interesting that, rather than change their ways of doing business and introducing legislation that provides incentives for productive people to come here and stay here, they maintain policies that chase people away, and introduce new ones to lock the door after they're gone.
The lesson here (especially for natural-born citizens) is this: simply by accident of birth, you are born with a lifelong obligation that you never signed up for to finance the corrupt misdealings of the political class. And if you choose to abandon this obligation, they will bar you from ever entering your homeland again.
Regardless of what the propaganda says, this is not how a free society treats people. It might look and feel like a representative democracy on the surface, but under the hood it's the modern day equivalent of feudal serfdom.
The land of the free has certainly fallen a long way.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Corps and Foundations
Day 228 Thursday (Jueves) - Panama City
Yesterday was one of those business days where you just have to have appointments and spend money. For us one of those appointments was with our attorney to pay our annual fees Setting up a Corporation is a sensible idea if you want to conduct any type of business or buy property in Panama, yet there are fee's involved to setup and to pay annually. Foundations are another sensible way to protect assets as an additional layer to your corporation. There is a wealth of information online on the best way to set these things up, so if you are coming to Panama do your research, all law firms are not created equal, and you need one to get these things accomplished. I can also help you out as we have vetted a few attorneys ourselves and know the proverbial ropes to make it easier.
Yesterday was one of those business days where you just have to have appointments and spend money. For us one of those appointments was with our attorney to pay our annual fees Setting up a Corporation is a sensible idea if you want to conduct any type of business or buy property in Panama, yet there are fee's involved to setup and to pay annually. Foundations are another sensible way to protect assets as an additional layer to your corporation. There is a wealth of information online on the best way to set these things up, so if you are coming to Panama do your research, all law firms are not created equal, and you need one to get these things accomplished. I can also help you out as we have vetted a few attorneys ourselves and know the proverbial ropes to make it easier.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Another new challenge
Day 227 Wednesday (Miercoles) - Panama City
Now that we are in the city in a bigger place we are in need of a housekeeper once a week. When we were in the beach apartment we would just give it a good sweep everyday and a quick dusting and within 30 minutes we were done. The city place is a bit bigger so we are exploring our options.
One option is to use the lady that the previous folks did in this same apartment, we know her name, we know her cell number, and we know she does not speak any English, so let the challenge begin. We want her to come on Fridays - that's easy (Viernes), we would like her to come around 10am - that's easy Diez, and we know how to tell her the apartment complex and number, so let's see if we can accomplish this over the phone to at least get her here, then we can go over what we want once she is here.
Sounds easy enough, if we get it done the cost will be $15.00/week for this nice 2 bedroom condo. I'll take it
Now that we are in the city in a bigger place we are in need of a housekeeper once a week. When we were in the beach apartment we would just give it a good sweep everyday and a quick dusting and within 30 minutes we were done. The city place is a bit bigger so we are exploring our options.
One option is to use the lady that the previous folks did in this same apartment, we know her name, we know her cell number, and we know she does not speak any English, so let the challenge begin. We want her to come on Fridays - that's easy (Viernes), we would like her to come around 10am - that's easy Diez, and we know how to tell her the apartment complex and number, so let's see if we can accomplish this over the phone to at least get her here, then we can go over what we want once she is here.
Sounds easy enough, if we get it done the cost will be $15.00/week for this nice 2 bedroom condo. I'll take it
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Trip to the Dentist
Day 226 Tuesday (Martes) - Panama City
Every one's favorite past time, a trip to your local dentist. In this case today we went to make an appointment only, but since we do not speak much Spanish yet, and the receptionist spoke no English, we started to fill out the paperwork for our appointment. Now this whole thing started about 1 month ago as we knew we would be in the city and tried to schedule our appointments via email as their website said you could, so today was only a check to verify A) where the place actually was, and B) verify the appointment for next Monday.
So we filled out the paperwork, all in Spanish so we were guessing alot, and then the dentist himself came out to introduce himself and he spoke perfect English, so of course it made it that much easier but we were up to the task no matter what. Once the confusion cleared he opened up his appointment and saw we were ready for next Monday. That was what we were looking for, plus now all of our paperwork is on file.
The best part, the cleaning is costing us a mere $15 each
Every one's favorite past time, a trip to your local dentist. In this case today we went to make an appointment only, but since we do not speak much Spanish yet, and the receptionist spoke no English, we started to fill out the paperwork for our appointment. Now this whole thing started about 1 month ago as we knew we would be in the city and tried to schedule our appointments via email as their website said you could, so today was only a check to verify A) where the place actually was, and B) verify the appointment for next Monday.
So we filled out the paperwork, all in Spanish so we were guessing alot, and then the dentist himself came out to introduce himself and he spoke perfect English, so of course it made it that much easier but we were up to the task no matter what. Once the confusion cleared he opened up his appointment and saw we were ready for next Monday. That was what we were looking for, plus now all of our paperwork is on file.
The best part, the cleaning is costing us a mere $15 each
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