Lottery Rip-off

Sunday noon I decided to buy a few lottery tickets. The last vendor in front of  Arrochas in Los Pueblos was just closing down, but he told me there was a vendor down the street. I found him and asked if he had 5 of one number left. I picked out a number I liked, he gave me the five tickets and I handed him a twenty dollar bill. Then he fanned the remaining tickets, asking if I wanted another number. I said no and waited for my change. The twenty had magically become a one and he asked for four dollars more. I told him that I had given him a twenty, but he emptied one pocket and insisted he needed $4.00 more. Recognizing a hopeless situation, I paid the $4.00, but made it clear I knew what he had done. This had happened to me once before years ago, but I forgot about it. Lesson? DO NOT buy lottery tickets from ambulatory vendors.

Whenever you pay for anything on the street, say the amount, 'Billete de veinte (This is a Twenty)' when you hand the seller your money. DO NOT allow the seller to distract you while paying. Most important of all, don't get excited and make a stink. Nothing will be done about it, and most of the bystanders will think you deserved to be robbed for not paying attention. Juega Vivo!!

New Computer

Nora and I decided, or rather I convinced her, that we needed a laptop computer so we could show prospective clients all our listings at any time and anywhere, and to take notes on the road. Since the business is still very much on a budget, price was an important consideration, so the Apple iBook that I wanted was out of the question. We needed a modem, wireless, and ethernet ports and the OS and keyboard had to be English. Even though I do not want to have anything to do with Dell, I found their low-end laptop price attractive at $489.00 delivered to a US address, which was no problem since my brother could bring it down for me. That price is at the military exchange on-line store (http://www.aafes.com/), so you civilians will have to pay a bit more.  While browsing the AAFES catalog, I saw a very nice white-case 12 inch screen computer from Averatec that looks superficially like an iBook, so I made a comparison of it with the Dell, and found that by the time I upgraded the Dell to match the Averatec specifications, it cost just as much. The bureaucracy involved (Dell wanted me to fill out a questionnaire and sign a non-export statement) was also a lot less, so I chose the Averatec.

I've now had a week to play with it, and used it the first time to show properties, and aside from the horrible Windows XP operating system, I really like it.. I have never before used XP to any extent, but I find its constant interruptions and security notices and reminders to be a serious detriment to getting any work done. Fortunately, many of the most annoying 'features' can be shut off. A major, and seemingly unsolveable, problem remains in Microsoft's insistence that I install Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), a highly intrusive piece of software that calls Microsoft each and every time you boot the computer and reports, among other things, your IP address and the serial number of your hard drive. It has caused a number of legitimate users to be labeled 'pirates' and prevented them from updating. I've been unable to find even one single reference to something positive this software does for the customer. I'm sufficiently ticked off by it that I will probably wipe the hard drive and install Linux as soon as I find the drivers for my wireless card. To be absolutely fair, there are two parts to WGA, Verification and Notification. Verification is the part that can prevent you from using the computer if it decides your copy of XP is pirated and it is mandatory. Notification is included in the updates and you CAN decline it, but if you use autoupdates, it's too late, you've already got it.

An Electrifying Story

I complain often about the electric service in Panama and how the same fuse on the same power transformer keeps blowing and all that is ever done is to replace the fuse. The following story from my daughter in law, who lives in South Africa helps to put things in perspective a bit. Maybe things aren't so bad after all.

Tonight was Prayer Meeting/Bible Study in our home which is always interesting but this had to be the wildest.  One of our lady's car broke down on the way to the house so the men went to fetch her.  It never is safe for a woman to be stranded on the roadside by herself and especially at nighttime.
 
While gone, the wife of another man began to tell me this TRUE story.  I thought I would die with laughter and in my mind I can just image it all.  Bro. Edward works for a furniture store and he is in charge of handling disgruntled  customers.  He was sent out to the Cross Roads (a township) to check on this man who had purchased a TV.  The man told him that the TV would just go out by itself at weird times and it had to be messed up. He wanted a new one.
 
They took the TV back to the store, hooked it up, and left it playing for the customers for a whole week and to their amazement the TV never once turned off.  Bro. Edward then returned the TV to the house.  A few days later the man calls back again.  The TV is still turning off at random times so Bro. Edward returns for a chat with the owner.
 
He looked around the house and ask the man, "Where exactly are you plugging the TV in?" He thought maybe the plug was faulty but was shocked at what the man said.  He pointed to a small fridge and said, "See de fridge over there, it is plugged into the lamp post on the street and de TV is hooked up to a wire that runs through the yard, down the road to the stop light."
 
Bro. Edward began to get the whole picture at this point.  It seems that  when the light was green, the TV worked but when the light began to turn yellow and then red, the TV would turn off.  There was nothing at all wrong with the TV but there was definitely something wrong with the owner.
 
There are many who steal electricity by hooking up to overhead power lines, street lights and as we just learned, stop lights.    This is the first time that we've heard of that but we can now only image what else they might try to hook into. Only in Africa!  Have a wonderful day and many blessings.
 
The Karl Smith Family,
Karl, Mary, Ryan and Gavin Wayne
visit us on the web at www.southafricaupc.org

Service and Assistance for Retirees Who Want to Live in Panama