Don't Pump Gas
There is once again a movement under way to boycott gas stations on
Tuesday, May 15. This is spreading to Panama. While it sounds like a
good idea, there are problems. Most of us can delay a day in buying
gas, or buy a day early, but in Panama, many people buy gas from day to
day. It is not uncommon for a taxi driver to ask his fare for a dollar
or two in advance, then pull into a gas station to buy gas so he can
get to the fare's destination.
For a gas boycott to be effective, drivers need to actually reduce
consumption. If you plan to participate in the 'Don't Pump Gas'
campaign, and Nora and I do, then you also need to make sure you don't
do any unnecessary driving. Consolidate your trips to the supermarket,
etc. Don't go out for a sightseeing drive that day. If you have more
than one car, use the most economical one. We retired folks can plan
our trips during times of the day when traffic is most likely to be
lighter. Avoid driving from 6:30 ~ 9:00 am and from 4:00 ~ 7:00 pm in
Panama City, for example.
If nothing else is accomplished next Tuesday, you can at least feel you've done something to combat high gas prices.
Magic Show
If you like good, old-fashioned 'Wave the Wand' Magic, here's your
chance to have a ball. Marko, 'The Master of Illusion' will present
four performances on May 10, 11, and 12 at 8:00 pm and a matinee on
Sunday May 13, at 4:00 pm in the 'Teatro la Quadra'. Sponsored by
Bob Stiff, Lizeth Esquivel, and Marko, this should be great family
entertainment. Tickets are available from Ticket Center in CD Place or
AudioFoto. Adults $10.00, children $8.00.
Radio
Enjoy great music, pleasant chat, and frequent prizes on 98.9 Ultra
Stereo with Bob and Lizeth beginning at 8:00 am weekdays. The shows are
in English and aimed at the Boomer crowd. No Rap or Reggaeton to annoy
you here. Email them at ultracafe@yahoo.com
Pandora Access Cut Off
Pandora (http://www.pandora.com) was one of my favorite music sites. It
allows a listener to design his/her own music format and I enjoyed many
of my favorites from the 50s/60s. Alas, no more. Most listeners outside
the United States have been blocked from access. Instead of music, I
now get this message;
Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing
constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for most
listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work
diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the
time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have
to do this, but there is no other alternative.
I'm not going to get on a (very high) soapbox over this, but this
is a direct result of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of
America) campaign to force everyome to pay to hear music. Most of their
tactics involve coercion or threat, and they have the entusiastic
cooperation of the US Congress. I only wish the US government would pay
as much attention to preserving freedom and fighting crime as they do
to protecting the income of the entertainment industry.
Thanks to Don Ray, who beat me to this. Read his and other's comments at http://tinyurl.com/2w34ns
Note: The above link was produced by http://tinyurl.com which is great for converting long links to short ones.
Computer Stuff
I just finished building a new computer for the office, so Nora won't
have to lug our laptop up and down stairs every day. Because one of our
essential apps (ClaroLite) works only with Windows, I was forced to
install Windows on it, and I bought a fresh copy of Windows XP Home.
Our laptop came with XP Home installed and I expected pretty much the
same performance, since it and the new desktop have very similar specs.
(1.8 Mhz AMD processor, 80 Gbyte HD, and 512K memory) The desktop is
much faster than the laptop and faster than more powerful computers
I've fiddled with in the stores. Why?
It finally dawned on me. My fresh install of XP has none of the
garbageware that is installed on OEM computers. At least part of Win
XP's bad rep comes not from the OS itself, but from the garbage that
OEMs install with it. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not going to abandon
Linux and start using MS. I'd rather go out in the back yard and eat
worms, but for those of you who are stuck with Windows, buying a retail
version of your OS and doing a clean install may be the best
performance investment you can make in your computer.
Updates to Website
I finally got those new Altos de Cerro Azul listings up, and there are
some really nice houses there. If you want to live in the highlands
close to the City, you owe it to yourself to take a look.