I was born to drive in Panama City. In this compact metropolis with too many cars, almost not traffic signals and not enough road or parking space, ANYTHING GOES! And I love it.
All the stupid rules I dutifully followed in the states (even though did not always make sense) are out the window here. As long as you act like you know what you are doing it is fine to:
turn left from the right lane, or
pull out in front of a line of traffic causing them to stop so you can go through the intersection or
Drive over the center divider to hang a U turn anywhere or
Make a third lane of traffic when the other two stop.
And surprisingly I see only a few collisions. With all these crazy drivers, combined with the big Diablos (old US school buses painted up) roaring around you learn to pay close attention and move quickly when given the opening. It is like an adult go cart track with consequences. But once a week is enough. I would not like to do it every day.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Now I know what it means to be retired
It was not until early one morning this week that I realized that I was “retired” Linda was out of county, the animals were still asleep as was the town (no noise) and I was awake, mulling over what I had to do that day. First, I had to remember what day it was (Wednesday) and know that I had no commitments to be anywhere or do anything. It was then it dawned on me that I DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TODAY!
Therein also lay the problem. With no commitments my day was entirely up to me and I could:
Go back to sleep if I could live with the town noise
Go online and read the news
Study my Spanish
Take the dogs the beach
Clean or fix something around the house
Make some coffee and enjoy the morning
Well I did all of them during the day but did not leave the house except to run the dogs. Life is good!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The LONG Christmas Letter
A Christmas letter - an abreviated version was emailed to friends and family and here is the full novel
December 2008
The big year for the Monsons (Murdock/Johnson)
Almost every year I try to write you a pleasant short summary of the past year and some times it works and other times it doesn’t. This year there have been so many important events that I can actually remember all of them.
This was the year we had been working toward and all the pieces seemed to fall in place like we had planned them (which of course we were hoping for)
Let me list them in order by month.
April – We bought and set up a 5th wheel trailer on our property as an apartment to live in occasionally once we rented the house. There are also two sheds call “Closet” and “Garage” for the overflow from the trailer. So we have our very own campsite with a washer and dryer!
May I retired from the Authority and was given a wonderful send off from all the great people there. As a parting gift I was given “the shirt of our backs” and now am the proud owner of 25 Hawaiian shirts.
The going away plague with the greatest significance came from all the staff of the Authority and included all the ten business cards from my career (at the least the ones that had cards) along with a quote
And will you succeed?
Yes, you will indeed
(98 and ¾% guaranteed).
- Dr Suess
And, and, Linda sold Happy Dogs for a tidy profit and received the funds on the very same day of the Stephen’s retirement party. Good timing eh?
Then we started to “thin out” our stuff
June – We moved my mother, Lois, from Arkansas to an adult living place in Austin Texas. She is very happy there and does not have to drive a car any more. At 93 that is a good thing.
Mom is in a facility for about 120 people. She is busier than I have seen her in years and close to Brother Michael and Mary. And Michael and wife May have taken on the duties of watching over mom in addition to doing all the things connected to running an art store and a life coaching businesses. Thanks Michael and Mary!
July- I worked a little for the Authority and started doing some volunteer time with the Clinton Climate Initiative.
We got serious on getting rid of stuff and planning to get to Panama by fall.
August
We saw Tyler and his girlfriend Amber once this year and are happy to see both of them moving in a lot of good new directions in Portland last year. I've asked Tyler to write his own blurb and here it is:
I'm still living in Portland (Oregon, not Maine), though now with my girlfriend Amber. In case the dish hasn't made it to your inbox before now, she's a special ed teacher, currently going back to school for her master's degree, so that she can win all our arguments on the basis of her higher education. We also have a new dog, an old house we rent, and a real love for the city where we live.
Merry Christmas, all.
September – I took a last trip to the Sierras (for a while) as well as fishing trip with Leo and Rich on the Rogue River in Oregon. And Linda stayed home and packed.
October – We scurried around to move out of our home in Aromas, give away or sell most of our stuff and move into the trailer. By this time we were saying “We are actually going to do this!” No turning back now! Holy cow we are really changing our lives!
October – We rented the house, packed our two big suitcases each along with five boxes and a dog and a cat and moved to San Carlos Panama. On the way we visited with lots of people important in our lives; Michelle in Templeton, Jack & Susan, Jules & Neal, Mike & Amy in Solvang, Wilbur & Alby in Woodland Hills and Pam at the airport.
November – having forgotten a few things and given the opportunity to fly back for free (to speak at conference) I went back to 11 days and left Linda to keep on nest building.
There were some sad things as well this year as well.
We went from three dogs to one and three cats to one of each. Our two old dogs, Sarah and Thunder (both 15) were not up for the trip or life in Panama so we had them relieved of their troubles in October. It was really hard but best for both them and us. It’s just not fair that dogs don’t live as long as us.
The two cats we did not take with us faired much better. Gracie, the youngest, went to live with Wendy Welkom and her two girls and has more playmates than ever. Ranger, our old semi feral cat stayed in Aromas under the care of our tenants. Hope that works out.
So now, here we are in our little house in Panama, learning a new culture and a language I should have learned 50 years ago (read embarrassed). Our days are filled with little things that seem to take a way long time by North American standards but that is the way it is in the tropics. I started a little blog if you want follow our adventure.
http://panamamove.blogspot.com/
I try to add something once a week, when the Internet is working.
Linda the SurferDawg alternates between the heaven of “surfing in champagne” to depression of not even getting in the water. This is not the best time of the year for surf in Panama and she has a lot of other things to get done as well. I know those other things will drop away when the surf gets better.
And as we end of this eighth year of the millennium, with the world spinning out of control, our new president will face daunting foreign-policy tasks as well as a mother-in-law of a recession, we hope you all take time to listen to the trees and hug your loved ones. And to be very very nice to everyone you meet. And stay in touch.
Happy Holidays
Linda & Stephen
Murdock/Johnson
PTY 14079
10000 NW 25th Street Unit 1
Miami, FL 33172-2204
Home phone 011 507 240 9984
December 2008
The big year for the Monsons (Murdock/Johnson)
Almost every year I try to write you a pleasant short summary of the past year and some times it works and other times it doesn’t. This year there have been so many important events that I can actually remember all of them.
This was the year we had been working toward and all the pieces seemed to fall in place like we had planned them (which of course we were hoping for)
Let me list them in order by month.
April – We bought and set up a 5th wheel trailer on our property as an apartment to live in occasionally once we rented the house. There are also two sheds call “Closet” and “Garage” for the overflow from the trailer. So we have our very own campsite with a washer and dryer!
May I retired from the Authority and was given a wonderful send off from all the great people there. As a parting gift I was given “the shirt of our backs” and now am the proud owner of 25 Hawaiian shirts.
The going away plague with the greatest significance came from all the staff of the Authority and included all the ten business cards from my career (at the least the ones that had cards) along with a quote
And will you succeed?
Yes, you will indeed
(98 and ¾% guaranteed).
- Dr Suess
And, and, Linda sold Happy Dogs for a tidy profit and received the funds on the very same day of the Stephen’s retirement party. Good timing eh?
Then we started to “thin out” our stuff
June – We moved my mother, Lois, from Arkansas to an adult living place in Austin Texas. She is very happy there and does not have to drive a car any more. At 93 that is a good thing.
Mom is in a facility for about 120 people. She is busier than I have seen her in years and close to Brother Michael and Mary. And Michael and wife May have taken on the duties of watching over mom in addition to doing all the things connected to running an art store and a life coaching businesses. Thanks Michael and Mary!
July- I worked a little for the Authority and started doing some volunteer time with the Clinton Climate Initiative.
We got serious on getting rid of stuff and planning to get to Panama by fall.
August
We saw Tyler and his girlfriend Amber once this year and are happy to see both of them moving in a lot of good new directions in Portland last year. I've asked Tyler to write his own blurb and here it is:
I'm still living in Portland (Oregon, not Maine), though now with my girlfriend Amber. In case the dish hasn't made it to your inbox before now, she's a special ed teacher, currently going back to school for her master's degree, so that she can win all our arguments on the basis of her higher education. We also have a new dog, an old house we rent, and a real love for the city where we live.
Merry Christmas, all.
September – I took a last trip to the Sierras (for a while) as well as fishing trip with Leo and Rich on the Rogue River in Oregon. And Linda stayed home and packed.
October – We scurried around to move out of our home in Aromas, give away or sell most of our stuff and move into the trailer. By this time we were saying “We are actually going to do this!” No turning back now! Holy cow we are really changing our lives!
October – We rented the house, packed our two big suitcases each along with five boxes and a dog and a cat and moved to San Carlos Panama. On the way we visited with lots of people important in our lives; Michelle in Templeton, Jack & Susan, Jules & Neal, Mike & Amy in Solvang, Wilbur & Alby in Woodland Hills and Pam at the airport.
November – having forgotten a few things and given the opportunity to fly back for free (to speak at conference) I went back to 11 days and left Linda to keep on nest building.
There were some sad things as well this year as well.
We went from three dogs to one and three cats to one of each. Our two old dogs, Sarah and Thunder (both 15) were not up for the trip or life in Panama so we had them relieved of their troubles in October. It was really hard but best for both them and us. It’s just not fair that dogs don’t live as long as us.
The two cats we did not take with us faired much better. Gracie, the youngest, went to live with Wendy Welkom and her two girls and has more playmates than ever. Ranger, our old semi feral cat stayed in Aromas under the care of our tenants. Hope that works out.
So now, here we are in our little house in Panama, learning a new culture and a language I should have learned 50 years ago (read embarrassed). Our days are filled with little things that seem to take a way long time by North American standards but that is the way it is in the tropics. I started a little blog if you want follow our adventure.
http://panamamove.blogspot.com/
I try to add something once a week, when the Internet is working.
Linda the SurferDawg alternates between the heaven of “surfing in champagne” to depression of not even getting in the water. This is not the best time of the year for surf in Panama and she has a lot of other things to get done as well. I know those other things will drop away when the surf gets better.
And as we end of this eighth year of the millennium, with the world spinning out of control, our new president will face daunting foreign-policy tasks as well as a mother-in-law of a recession, we hope you all take time to listen to the trees and hug your loved ones. And to be very very nice to everyone you meet. And stay in touch.
Happy Holidays
Linda & Stephen
Murdock/Johnson
PTY 14079
10000 NW 25th Street Unit 1
Miami, FL 33172-2204
Home phone 011 507 240 9984
Monday, December 8, 2008
Got a new Fridge!
Linda's new stove and frig as well as the buffet before we ate.You probably don’t know this since most news we received is only close to our part of the world. But there have been horrendous rainstorms all over Central America for the past two weeks. The damage is wide spread, especially the mountains of Panama and even affecting the only two bridges spanning the canal.
And suddenly this week lots and lots of 5-foot Douglas fir Christmas trees have appeared for sale. Now, you know they have made a long long trip to shed their needles on warm floors all over Panama. The tree lots are often under a big tree (appropriated) and the merchandise is hung by twine from the branches. So it looks like a lot of dancing
Christmas trees under the boughs of the mother tree.
As we were driving on the main highway we came across an Atlas Beer truck which had crossed the road, hit a bus and tipped over. Several people were killed and all the carnage was gone by the time we arrive. What was amazing was that there were dozens of cars and truck stopped by the wreck with everyone rushing to take as many cases of beer as they could carry. There was police there but they were just directing traffic and making no effort to stop the looting of the truck. I have to get used to this.
I have spent my first week as a volunteer teacher at an international school. My job is to do as I am told and have a good time. And I am teaching English to Spanish, New Zealand, Mexican and Dutch kids. Then I get to do Spanish vocabulary with some of the English speaking older kids. It is fun to be in that environment 8 hours a week and the only homework is preparing for the Spanish lessons since I already know English pretty well (or is it good?).
We had our first house party today with about fifteen people. Linda decided since we don’t currently have a table to seat more than 4 that we should have a luncheon. And when we began planning the party we had a very old and dysfunctional stove and a tiny tiny fridge. So on top of scurrying around to at least five stores to find the stuff we needed (since grocery stores in Panama do not stock the same items all the time) we shopped for a stove and frig. After looking at the large chains and not striking any deal, we found a small independent store that had a wonderful stove made in Ecuador with electric sparker and a great large fridge to match. We bought it the day before the party and it was delivered at 8 that night so we were just like newlyweds with a new kitchen outfit and me outside with a fresh red weed whacker making the front steps spiffy.
Anyway as we go into month two here, Linda left for Guatemala for a one week Spanish immersion program so I am here with our two dogs and a cat. Oh yeah, we have a fresh dog. She is small black street dog named Negrita who Linda rescued along with a nice man in town. She has now been spade and is learning the joys of regular meals and getting Grayson to stop growling and starting to play.
I gotta go take the dogs to the beach.
And suddenly this week lots and lots of 5-foot Douglas fir Christmas trees have appeared for sale. Now, you know they have made a long long trip to shed their needles on warm floors all over Panama. The tree lots are often under a big tree (appropriated) and the merchandise is hung by twine from the branches. So it looks like a lot of dancing
Christmas trees under the boughs of the mother tree.
As we were driving on the main highway we came across an Atlas Beer truck which had crossed the road, hit a bus and tipped over. Several people were killed and all the carnage was gone by the time we arrive. What was amazing was that there were dozens of cars and truck stopped by the wreck with everyone rushing to take as many cases of beer as they could carry. There was police there but they were just directing traffic and making no effort to stop the looting of the truck. I have to get used to this.
I have spent my first week as a volunteer teacher at an international school. My job is to do as I am told and have a good time. And I am teaching English to Spanish, New Zealand, Mexican and Dutch kids. Then I get to do Spanish vocabulary with some of the English speaking older kids. It is fun to be in that environment 8 hours a week and the only homework is preparing for the Spanish lessons since I already know English pretty well (or is it good?).
We had our first house party today with about fifteen people. Linda decided since we don’t currently have a table to seat more than 4 that we should have a luncheon. And when we began planning the party we had a very old and dysfunctional stove and a tiny tiny fridge. So on top of scurrying around to at least five stores to find the stuff we needed (since grocery stores in Panama do not stock the same items all the time) we shopped for a stove and frig. After looking at the large chains and not striking any deal, we found a small independent store that had a wonderful stove made in Ecuador with electric sparker and a great large fridge to match. We bought it the day before the party and it was delivered at 8 that night so we were just like newlyweds with a new kitchen outfit and me outside with a fresh red weed whacker making the front steps spiffy.
Anyway as we go into month two here, Linda left for Guatemala for a one week Spanish immersion program so I am here with our two dogs and a cat. Oh yeah, we have a fresh dog. She is small black street dog named Negrita who Linda rescued along with a nice man in town. She has now been spade and is learning the joys of regular meals and getting Grayson to stop growling and starting to play.
I gotta go take the dogs to the beach.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A quick trip to California
No sooner were we just settling into the routines of being imigrants in a strange and wonderful new land WHEN I had to go back!
Yes, there was some fire insurance stuff on our house in Aromas that I had to take care of fast and there was a corporate sponsor who offered to pay my way to a conference in San Diego. Well I think I already told you all that but my memory fades fast and I guess in a blog it is better to have continuity by telling things twice so you don't have go back and read everything.
Anyway, I went and spent a week in Aromas, limbing trees, paying bills, working a little at the Authority and camping in the trailer. This was the first time I had spent any extended time alone in the "campsite" and everything worked well. Ranger, the cat we left behind popped in every night and all the neighborhood dogs came by looking for Linda.
Well, I had a huge list of stuff to bring back with me and I needed some way to carry it. So I went out and bought the World's Biggest Suitcase. It is large enough to swallow what had previously been my biggest bag. Now I have spent my life being critical of travelers who wheel in these behemoths and now I am one. But it worked........Inside was a printer, hair rollers, books, lots of liquids from the drug store, and more. 62 pounds of stuff.
Well, everything went well on the Southwest flight to San Diego. The bag was overweight and I paid the charge. But when I left San Diego on Continental three days later I learned that contrary to their website (with a max weight of 70 pounds) there is "holiday embargo" on overweight suitcases and I had to get both bags down to 50 pounds. That meant I had to open all my bags on the floor in front of the ticket desk and pull out and heft those heaviest items and then cram them into my carry on bag. Well my carry on now weighed 25 pounts but I made the flight with all the stuff still going the right direction, just in different containers.
I thought my adventures were over. After all I just had to change planes in Houston and then jet home to Panama. But I was mistaken. Just past the ticket taker for the Panama Flight were four Customs agents questioning everyone getting on the flight. You may not know that it is a big no no to carry more than $10,000 out of the country and these guys were looking for any money smugglers. They also had dog with them sniffing but not for money (since we all had some of that). I could only think it was a drug dog looking for really dumb crooks trying to smuggle drugs OUT of the US.
Anyway when I got up to the chief customs guy, he looked me right in the eye and cited the statue the makes it a no no to take money out of the country and and asked me if I was carrying more than $10,000. I looked him back in the eye and said "no". He then asked me how much money I WAS carrying and I told him it was none of his business since I just said that I was not carrying too much. Well we went around a couple of times and I finally said defiantly that I was carrying a hundred bucks. He moved me to the side and said "I will handle you over here". So then his cronies took apart all my carry on. Yes, that one which had 25 pounds of everything carefully packed in a small space. When I asked them why, if the new currency has RFID strips in it so the money can be detected electronically, they did not know what I was talking about. Anyway they found no extra stash of cash, just lots of stuff I would not rather show to anyone but close friends. BUT they did not even pat me down so If I was harboring a wad of $100's in my crotch they would never have found it.
Oh, the measures our government goes to in an effort to keep us paying taxes.
And now back home in Panama we had a very productive day. We almost got another bank account (we need few more papers), we paid our cable bill all by ourselves and we arranged to have a cabinet maker come to the house later. Big day eh?
Live well and be very very nice to everyone you meet.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Panama in the early morn
I had to make a 10:00 am flight to Houston Monday so arranged to get a ride from Alex, our former tenant. Alex is Venezuelan working on project developing a resort on the Caribbean side and a very dynamic guy. After one year in San Carlos he knows and is liked by everyone in town. Anyway, Alex had a change in plan and was not going into Panama City that morning but arrange for a taxi driver and friend named Nene to drive me in, at Alex’s expense.
I was a little concerned knowing the Panamanian penchant for being late (sometimes really late) but Nene showed up at 5:31 and off we went.
This was the first time I have seen the road to Panama City while not driving and very early in the morning. The sun rises at 6:15 and sets at 6:05 all year round. Remember it is Latitude 8 and there are very little season changes in the sun.
As we drove along I watched Panama wake up on a holiday Monday. It was like being in downtown LA at 7:00 Sunday morning. A few people walking on the highway or waiting for bus, very few cars, trucks or busses on the road. In fact Nene said there were no police either and we cruised at 115 km/hr all the way in. The sun was coming up in our faces and low clouds hung on the mountains until we crossed the Bridge of the Americas (La Puente de la Americas). There are only two bridges over the Canal and until two years ago there was only one, the new one Centurillo which was built by a German firm and is beautiful with a fan of support cables holding up the span. How is that for a run on sentence?
Even in Panama City it was very very quiet compared all the other times I have seen it. You see, anyone with any money at all has a house in the “interior” where they go for long holiday weekends. Places such as San Carlos and all the surrounding beach development double in size on a fiesta weekend.
So we cruised through the city and I got to the airport 2 hours before my flight. I will have to consider flying again on a Panamanian holiday.
And if you think US TSA is illogical consider this one………I go through security (X-ray, pull out the laptop, all but the toothpaste and face creams in plastic bag bit), have a bit of breakfast in the secure area and then queue up to board. At the gate are four nice young Panamanians in uniform, physically checking inside every carry on bag? And when they find I have bottle of water I just bought I am told I can drink it there but not on the plane. Ya just gotta laugh at the way things happen.
More in a couple of weeks
sj
I was a little concerned knowing the Panamanian penchant for being late (sometimes really late) but Nene showed up at 5:31 and off we went.
This was the first time I have seen the road to Panama City while not driving and very early in the morning. The sun rises at 6:15 and sets at 6:05 all year round. Remember it is Latitude 8 and there are very little season changes in the sun.
As we drove along I watched Panama wake up on a holiday Monday. It was like being in downtown LA at 7:00 Sunday morning. A few people walking on the highway or waiting for bus, very few cars, trucks or busses on the road. In fact Nene said there were no police either and we cruised at 115 km/hr all the way in. The sun was coming up in our faces and low clouds hung on the mountains until we crossed the Bridge of the Americas (La Puente de la Americas). There are only two bridges over the Canal and until two years ago there was only one, the new one Centurillo which was built by a German firm and is beautiful with a fan of support cables holding up the span. How is that for a run on sentence?
Even in Panama City it was very very quiet compared all the other times I have seen it. You see, anyone with any money at all has a house in the “interior” where they go for long holiday weekends. Places such as San Carlos and all the surrounding beach development double in size on a fiesta weekend.
So we cruised through the city and I got to the airport 2 hours before my flight. I will have to consider flying again on a Panamanian holiday.
And if you think US TSA is illogical consider this one………I go through security (X-ray, pull out the laptop, all but the toothpaste and face creams in plastic bag bit), have a bit of breakfast in the secure area and then queue up to board. At the gate are four nice young Panamanians in uniform, physically checking inside every carry on bag? And when they find I have bottle of water I just bought I am told I can drink it there but not on the plane. Ya just gotta laugh at the way things happen.
More in a couple of weeks
sj
Saturday, November 8, 2008
A dogs trip to the beach
Twice a day now either I or Linda and I take Grayson on the 10 minute walk through town to the beach to run his ass off for 40 minutes and cause him to be civil for the day. Otherwise it is like living with a 15 year old boy. I took some pictures today to show the trip.
Let me know what you would like to know or see about our new town, pronounced locally as San Carlo.
Now I gotta go lock up and take a snooze
sj
Friday, November 7, 2008
A regular Friday in San Carlos
Two weeks have passed since we landed in our new home and a little of routine is beginning to take shape. Still I marvel at how casual life is and the size of the trees but here are the events of the day. Notice how trivial they are to some of the major events in yours.
- 6:30 get up, make coffee and watch the town wake up
- 7:30 Walk Grayson, our Weimeriener, to the beach and throw the tennis ball for 40 minutes into the small surf. I am the only person on the beach.
- 9:00 attend a casual Spanish class of expats
- 11:00 arrive home and meet the housecleaner ($10/day $15 if she does the windows)
- 11:15 A new acquaitenance pops in and asks for me to go help him get his car started 8 miles away
- First we have lunch at the Chinese restraunt across the street
- 1:30 return home and spend 2 hours painting our walkin closet in my underwear(I have no paint clothes)
- 4:00 I get a lesson from a retired hairdresser on how to do Linda's hair.
- 5:00 got to the beach with Linda and Grayson
- 6:00 watch sunset from the beach while it begins to rain.
- drive home in the rain
- 7:00 have dinner of ceviche, salad and soup while watching old versions of Three Men and Boy while Grayson is already sound asleep
- 9:00 go to be with all the widows open and the ceiling fans on
So you see our lives sometimes can be pretty mundane but still it feels like a vacation with a lot less expense and plenty of clothes an gadgets to play with.
What I did not metion was the holiday celebration that took place right in front of our house. You see November 2nd is one of the Independence celebrations in Panama. It is always a really big one because everyone in Panama City get paid on the 1st and 15th so they were flush. And really big in San Carlos because it is the government and social center of the region and the place of the parade. We had heard several bands practicing for days with snare and base drums, a few trumpets and lots of marchinng girls. Well the parade was seven hours long! It had bands from every little school in the region, with the kids in band uniforms and the girls dressed to the nines. The last two days have seemed very quiet in comparison. Next holiday is Nov 10th the Colon independence celebration.
I gotta go
Saturday, November 1, 2008
A week into our adventure
Finally getting some pictures for you to look at. these are us shipping our boxes at LAX, Linda saying goodbye to our trailer in Aromas and us striking out in our rented van towards Los Angeles. More pics will follow soon as I learn how do this blog stuff.
You see that I have not posted anything for a while. That is because the beauty of Panama is that everything takes a while....longer than you would think. so in the first week we have been here we have accomplised a lot: we got our house cleaned, we got 2 cell phones to work (although we still can't retrieve messages) a printer and other computer stuff working and a number of trips to many stores.
The first big adventure was to go into Panama City to the airport to recover our 4 boxes of household goods we shipped air freight from LAX. After chasing the boxes by phone for three days we finally were assured there were there and off we went. Of course we took the dog, Grayson because he barks incessentaly if left alone. And a loud barking dog in the middle of town is not a good start with the neighbors. Anyway we found the air freight terminal and had to make 4 stops at three different buildings (collecting stamps on the paper) before we could get the stuff.
So now we have our SUV 2/3 full of boxes, with a little space for the dog and off we go to buy stuff for the house. It is now miday and hot and since we are not comforatble leaving the windows down while shopping one of us stays in the car and the other goes into the store.
Now the stuff we need is not small, printers, dishpans, utility racks, and all the other stuff we can get at the Do It center. By the time we left the back of the car was piled high so we could not see out the window. We got home after dark, which is a challenge because the used car we bought has a darkly tinted windshield and makes int really hard to see. But we made it.
Friday, October 24, 2008
All the planned worked....almost
So here I sit in our little house in San Carlos Panama after three long days of travel. We drove a rented van from Aromas to LAX so we could carry all our stuff and still not have a car on the departure end. So we saw friends along the way, spent 2 hours at the shippers location to get both Grayson the dog and some boxes of goods shipped down. And did I mention it was 95 F that day. Anyway we also rendevoused with a friend, Pam Hillman, who landed at LAX a few hours before our flight and had a fast talk and hug before she went home. Then we had to wait until 2:00 am before we left on the flight.
At the Panama City end all our luggage was on the carosel before we were through Immigration. But getting Grayson bailed out cost another hour and some bucks! Our property manager met us at the gate and had driven our car so we could fit all the baggage .
So here we were sleep deprived with a car full of baggage, a freaked out dog and a cat asleep on the floor driving through Panama City. We only missed one turn and got across the bridge pretty smoothly. The two bridges across the canal are the point where driving becomes very relaxed compared to the city and we whizzed home in what seemed like a very long hour.
Getting to our little house was a joy.....until we unlocked and learned that the power had been turned off. Linda melted down and I was pretty hot myself. That meant there was no AC or even fans and, or course, no lights. As a result we move to a hotel that night, paid by our apoligitic tenant.
So today was much better. I am writing you on a DSL connection in an air conditoned room after going to the beach twice, having a $12 Chinese dinner across the street and ice cream cones for dessert.
The image I have for the first day was a hummingbird that crossed my path. It was so irridescent green it seemed made of electric silk. I could not help but thinging this little bird had likely flown all the way from somewhere far north and had none of the trials we did in getting there. Yeah it is more of life and death journey for hummingbird!
Now I gotta sleep
At the Panama City end all our luggage was on the carosel before we were through Immigration. But getting Grayson bailed out cost another hour and some bucks! Our property manager met us at the gate and had driven our car so we could fit all the baggage .
So here we were sleep deprived with a car full of baggage, a freaked out dog and a cat asleep on the floor driving through Panama City. We only missed one turn and got across the bridge pretty smoothly. The two bridges across the canal are the point where driving becomes very relaxed compared to the city and we whizzed home in what seemed like a very long hour.
Getting to our little house was a joy.....until we unlocked and learned that the power had been turned off. Linda melted down and I was pretty hot myself. That meant there was no AC or even fans and, or course, no lights. As a result we move to a hotel that night, paid by our apoligitic tenant.
So today was much better. I am writing you on a DSL connection in an air conditoned room after going to the beach twice, having a $12 Chinese dinner across the street and ice cream cones for dessert.
The image I have for the first day was a hummingbird that crossed my path. It was so irridescent green it seemed made of electric silk. I could not help but thinging this little bird had likely flown all the way from somewhere far north and had none of the trials we did in getting there. Yeah it is more of life and death journey for hummingbird!
Now I gotta sleep
Monday, October 20, 2008
The night before we leave
We are now at the edge of our lives on the Central Coast of California. After spending almost 10 years in the same house in the same town at the same job, we are now jumping off and jetting to Panama on Wednesday nite. So let's see do we have everything we need?
passport, some money, shorts, vitamins, etc. We are taking so much stuff that we are shipping two big boxes 'cause it is too much to check as luggage. And because of that I had to make an inventory of the stuff. Here is what was in one of the boxes
Box 2 of 3
18 bottles of vitamins and supplements
4 dog leases
3 dog collars
1 small pillow
2 men’s shirts
1 plaque
3 pr sandals
1 GPS holder (no GPS)
2 kitchen knives
2 bags dog food
1 container spice call Spike
1 bag dog grooming tools
1 pkg disposable razors
6 settings of silverware
1 straw hat
4 tennis balls
1 electric timer
1 hurricane lamp
1 scissors
1 fiberglass repair kit
2 packets hair coloring
1 silk tapestry
There were some books and intelectual stuff in the other box.
So tomorow morning we close up the trailer, cover the cars and trucks, lock everything up and drive away from our life as we knew it.
passport, some money, shorts, vitamins, etc. We are taking so much stuff that we are shipping two big boxes 'cause it is too much to check as luggage. And because of that I had to make an inventory of the stuff. Here is what was in one of the boxes
Box 2 of 3
18 bottles of vitamins and supplements
4 dog leases
3 dog collars
1 small pillow
2 men’s shirts
1 plaque
3 pr sandals
1 GPS holder (no GPS)
2 kitchen knives
2 bags dog food
1 container spice call Spike
1 bag dog grooming tools
1 pkg disposable razors
6 settings of silverware
1 straw hat
4 tennis balls
1 electric timer
1 hurricane lamp
1 scissors
1 fiberglass repair kit
2 packets hair coloring
1 silk tapestry
There were some books and intelectual stuff in the other box.
So tomorow morning we close up the trailer, cover the cars and trucks, lock everything up and drive away from our life as we knew it.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Oct 9, 2008 We are moved out of the house
Since you are coming in on the middle of this adventure and because it is late and I am tired I will only say that we have moved all the big stuff out of our house into the garage and will sleep in the 5th wheel trailer for the first time tonight. In 10 days we leave for Panama and there is still a lot to do.
Gotta sleep
Gotta sleep
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Wednesday Oct 8th
I start this blob not knowing how it works or who will read it but it will be the only record of our journey from middle class middle America (even if it is on the Left Coast) to a little house in a little town on the South Coast of Panama.
Most of the big things are done: I retired, Linda sold her business, we have a reliable tenant for house, we got Mother moved to an adult living place near my brother.
But who thought the economy would melt down and leave us with a lot less than we had saved for. Nevertheless we are moving forward and may just not come back
We are in the middle of packing out of the house and moving into a little trailer until we leave for Panama on Oct 21. And last night we had to put down Sarah our 15 year old Aussie. It was time and she was ready but it is so final to have her looking in my eyes (as she always did) one minute and to be totally still the next. We buried her last night.
Most of the big things are done: I retired, Linda sold her business, we have a reliable tenant for house, we got Mother moved to an adult living place near my brother.
But who thought the economy would melt down and leave us with a lot less than we had saved for. Nevertheless we are moving forward and may just not come back
We are in the middle of packing out of the house and moving into a little trailer until we leave for Panama on Oct 21. And last night we had to put down Sarah our 15 year old Aussie. It was time and she was ready but it is so final to have her looking in my eyes (as she always did) one minute and to be totally still the next. We buried her last night.
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