Living in Panama has lots of pluses, but also a few minus. On the minus side, especially if you are a news junkie, is the difficultly in keeping up with what's going in the world. English language broadcasts (TV or radio) are pretty rare and the English print media even rarer in Panama. The result is that we get a lot of our news and information on the internet - all the big (traditional) outlets have a web presence, as well as smaller web only "publications". We follow what's happening in such diverse places as St. Croix (The Saint Croix Source) and Bardstown Kentucky (Kentucky Standard) along with our old hometown's Charlotte Observer.

Getting your news and information on the internet usually means a free site that's trying to pay their bills by selling ads - sometimes a LOT of ads. Can't really fault the sites, somebody has to foot the bill, but it certainly doesn't make for a great reading experience. When you read as much internet content as I do, having a TIVO like option for avoiding the clutter sure would be nice. Well . . . I may have found some help. Read More...

Tags: Tech

If you are a frequent visitor you may have noticed that the sidebar has moved from the right to left side on this page. It also remains in a fixed position as you scroll the main content - something I've been trying to accomplish for some time. Occasionally these kind of changes have unforeseen consequences so please let me know if you encounter any display issues and what browser you are using. Also. if you have a strong preference - old vs new layout, let me know.

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Tags: Tech

I've had a couple of people ask how we get our mail in Panama and what our address is, so I thought I would tell you about our "system". Be warned - it's not easy to explain so this post is WAY longer than this subject might be if I could just tell you "send our mail here".

First a couple of interesting (maybe) tidbits - Panama has a postal service, but they don't provide mail delivery to your home (might sound strange - but that's what we had on St. Croix, even with the USPS). You can get a box at the local Post Office, if you have one nearby (we don't) and they have a box available (not likely, because of the demand). We don't really have "normal" street addresses - no 435 Main Street type addresses in Panama (gee, just like St. Croix, again). Panama, like many countries in the world, has never instituted a traditional address system, even in the big cities. It's much more akin to the rural areas of the U.S. where directions are given using landmarks. Lastly the "courier" business in Panama is big, correspondence (and bills) are all delivered "En mano" - by hand. Read More...

Tags: Tech • Services