Newsletter #99

Manolo's Caracol

Right up front, this is not the cheapest place in town to eat. Expect to pay $45.00 per person if you have wine with the meal. However, if you want a great meal in charming Casco Viejo, you will like this place. Located a few doors from the Police Station this is not a large restaurant, so seating capacity is limited. Reservations are just about a must, especially on weekends. You won't waste any time figuring out what you want from the menu, because there isn't one. Like an old-west boarding house table, you eat what they serve you. Unlike an old-west boarding house table, this is gourmet fare, and we had 10 courses, not counting dessert. Naturally, I don't remember everything we had, but it hardly matters since the menu changes from time to time. There were lots of small appetizers and fish and shrimp and mushooms and clams and plenty of really good bread.

There were only two downsides. The clams were a bit gritty and the place has terrible acoustics and is therefore quite noisy, though noise is just one of the prices you pay for being in crowded places. To be fair, I admit that our group of nine contributed more than its share of the noise. At one point, the conversation turned to breast augmentation. This led to (for me at least) the highlight of the evening when one member of our group, who shall remain nameless, then proceeded to demonstrate how she might look after such surgery by stuffing two grapefruit into her brasierre. Friends, it doesn't get much better than this; a great meal in a tropical paradise, good friends, good wine, and breast augmentation. I give Manolo's Caracol three thumbs up!

Satellite TV

A friend recently bought a 'Free to Air' satellite TV receiver/antenna package. It worked fine when installed and demonstrated by the seller, receiving many English language channels, HBO, and others. Then there was a power outage, and everything was gone. The seller of the equipment proved to be an elusive fellow, so my friend started trying to track down the supplier and finally located a seller of 'FtA' equipment. The store is located in the large shopping mall opposite Machetazo where Transistmica intersects Tumba Muerto (airport highway) The store is called 'Free Zone' and the satellite receiver section is on the upper floor.

I got interested when I saw that a 70 cm dish with LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) and receiver cost under $300.00. I lost interest when I saw the list of FtA channels you could pick up with this package. Lots of middle east and Latin stations, and almost nothing in English. So, the search for a way to receive US stations goes on. We know that there are folks in Panama who sell and install systems that receive the Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands signals, but learning their identity has been a difficult task.

Cool Internet Sites

Instructables at http://www.instructables.com/
Hundreds of user-made instructions, many with videos, for do it yourself projects. How-tos on everything from shaving your legs to complex electronics projects.

EarthBox at http://www.earthbox.com/
Grow your own vegetables even if you have no arable land. Though there are no EarthBox dealers in Panama, there are lots of good tips here and you can make your own box. See how I did it at http://www.panamaretire.net/living/earthbox/

Daily Comics at http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComics.mpl
Miss your daily comic strips? Here are 103 of the best, and you can customize your list so you are automatically shown only the ones you want to see.

Red State Update http://www.redstateupdate.com/
Two good old boys from Tennessee with hilarious comment on politics, the news, and life in general. Some language may not be appropriate for children.

Bring Back the Magic