I know it's been a long time since the last Newsletter, but I haven't felt much like writing lately. What I have written is not very cheerful, so be warned. If you are looking for glowing praise about Panama, you might want to skip this letter.

Cable & Wireless ADSL

Long-time readers know that I have had a series of unpleasant experiences with C&W Technical Support. Despite what I consider unacceptable performance from Tech Service, C&W remains the best internet option for me. From what I've heard, the other services are no better and their support is even worse. I look at it as just another tax on living in paradise.

Our last outage was on May 25th when lightning whacked our ADSL modem. C&W finally got around to us on Sunday June 7th. We had a 4 port modem/router, and when the tech told me he had only 1 port modems, I told him to go ahead and install it and I would use my own router to connect my home network. Better than waiting another two weeks for someone to show up with the proper equipment. This is an example of the haphazard service you can expect from just about any of the local ISP/Cable tech support.

Fortunately for my sanity, I have a Wipet modem, so all I had to do was purchase a prepaid card and get access again. I won't again buy a $20.00 card, though. 128 Kb is simply too slow for my needs, though it is a lot better than nothing.

In the good news department, I happened to notice that C&W are offering 1 Mb ADSL for $40.00/month (we were paying $59.95) along with a netbook computer for $99.00. I already have a netbook, and would not have agreed to the terms in any case, but armed with that information we got our speed increased to 2 Mb and monthly fees lowered to $49.95.

How Safe is Panama?

For years, Panama has been touted by people trying to sell you something as the safest place in Latin America, and much safer than your average US city. I never have believed the hype, although I also don't feel that I am at more risk than I would be back in the States.

The murder rate for the United States is 5.6 per 100,000, in Panama it's 11.3. I can't find any figures with locality breakdowns, but Panama City and Colon must be higher than the nationwide average.

Anecdotal evidence is not reassuring. Reports on the Yahoo Panama groups indicate a rise in armed home invasions, muggings, petty theft, and "express" kidnappings, where the victim is kidnapped and forced to withdraw money from ATM machines. Not a day goes by that local TV doesn't report armed robberies of commercial businesses and shootouts are an almost daily occurance.

This doesn't mean that Panama is turning into the wild, wild, west or Gangsterland Chicago, but you should take with a grain of salt any claims that Panama is safer than wherever you are.

Not Too Clear on the Concept.

In May, MOP installed much needed stoplights at two busy intersections near my home. I applauded. In early June, they turned them on, but in flashing mode, so that the main street flashed yellow, while the side street flashed red. We are now going into the third month since the lights were turned on, and they still flash red/yellow. I fail to see any advantage in flashing lights over none at all. Maybe I'm missing something here.

ID Card for Your Car

OK, everyone knows that stupid ideas get implemented by government, happens all over the world. Now it seems that Panama's Legislature has outdone itself. There is a new document which you must have when using your car. It's not enough that you carry copies of your car title, current license plate receipt, inspection, and insurance policy, you will need also a plastic card the same size as your driver's license that has a picture of the car and your personal information. According to my wife, this card is supposed to be carried on your person, so whenever your spouse uses your car, you have to make sure to give him/her the card or your car may be seized and towed to impound at your expense. Among the requirements to get this card are copy of your cedula for Panamanians, or copy of your passport and immigration document for foreigners. One of the possibly unintended consequences is that tourists will no longer be able to buy a car in Panama. I don't know when this new law will be start to be enforced, but we have two cars for which the cards will not be available until February, 2010. To find out when your car's ID card will be ready go to:

http://www.tarjeta.com.pa/consultatpv/

and type in your license plate number.

Car Taxes, Unpaid License Fees.

When I renewed the plates for my Chevrolet Vivant, the lady at Municipio informed me that I had two cars in the system for which I had not bought license plates in recent years. One was the 1993 Tempo that I had removed from the system last year, after paying two year's fees, and for which I have a certificate that it is no longer in the system. The other was for a 1979 Mustang
which I sold in 1996. It seems that the new owner failed to use the signed power of attorney I gave him and never transferred the title. Now the city of Panama wants $360.00 in back tag fees and fines from me. If I don't pay the extortion I will not be able to get my license plates renewed next year, nor will I be able to sell my car until it is paid. A word to the wise. When you sell a car do not
turn it over to the new owner until you have both gone to municipio and transferred the title.

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