Its a beautifull morning .....

In Newsroom Panama I came across an article with this picture. Is this couple on the forefront just big? Big...big? Or their hosts in Guatemala just small? Small...small.   http://www.thedarienplan.com/

NICE: President George W. Bush under the 2007 Merida Initiative, promised Mexico $1.1 billion between 2008 and 2010 to make "an immediate and important impact" on surging drug cartel violence.  UGLY: The United States after bureaucratic tie-ups limited spending to $26 million in two years. Records show that in the third year of what was to be a three-year program, Washington is just starting to help. NICE: Nicolaus Copernicus the 16th-century astronomer whose work was condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical, will be reburied by Polish priests as a hero on Saturday, nearly 500 years after he was laid to rest in an unmarked grave. UGLY: Copernicus' major treatise "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres" was published at the very end of his life, and he only received a copy of the printed book on the day he died. WEIRD: Jackson fans in Japan to spend a night among his possessions. "The chance to spend the anniversary of Michael's passin...

I had never heard of this word or its use. The following info comes from  ...http://www.seashellsandsunflowers.blogspot.com/ The repulgue is the edge of the empanada . Much like an edge of a pie crust, the repulgue helps hold the empanada together. In Argentina, it also helps distinguish between different empanada flavors thus a means to ID the product.  In hand made operations the beef empanada will always have the same edge style, and many shops will provide a diagram showing the various repulgues and their corresponding fillings.   

  His name is Kanellos ...  The official GPD (Greek protest dog) has been spotted at every major public demonstration  in Athens for the past two years.

This November I will be  married 30 years. Following our wedding in Lima, we flew to Miami and after a couple of days, we flew to New York  for our honeymoon. I had not been to The City, plus there was some added bonuses of going there. Some known, and some not ... disclosed?  I have known Larry since 70/71 when I worked at his fathers shop in NW Miami for a few months. So I worked for him, and with him. We maintained a friendship afterward. Later, just a little later, I met Jill his wife to be, and when they moved to New York we  kept occasional contact. It was gracious of them to offer us to stay in their apartment in the city for our honeymoon. We were received at the airport, and giving a tour of town. Also, we had the opportunity for an off Broadway show, and some fine dining. First class man!! With my wife we visited the Met museum of Modern Art were Guernica was exhibited, prior to its return to Spain of couple of years later. It is now showcased at the Re...

T his is whats going on: My central a/c unit went down for the count and its time to replace the whole enchilada. Besides the investment ... hit,  there are those in between days from the total meltdown, and the arrival and installation of the new unit. It has been rough . I fall in the category of those people that are not very technical, I will read something about anything and at the end ... analyze more afterward than before. That is one extreme .  Lets say you spend $ XXXX upfront, and allow 5% interest on your money,  compounded annually, and you retain the unit for the factory warranty of the equipment, that is 10 years. Your cost will be ... But you also must allow for inspection / repair visits . About four at $ 100 a pop. We have about $1.50 every day for ten years ... "Flaca !! ... sabes cuanto nos va costar .. al dia por ....?" "Oye .... mira .... por favor ... dime nomas ...  que dia  vienen los del aire ? "El sabado .. el sabado !!!"   ...

Y ou know, when you buy something and it just "sits" there forever? It may happen with a book or magazine, or an accessory to anything that was never installed. How about a tool or exercise equipment? I had bought a can of asparagus tips, artichokes,  also some mushrooms and ,.. but then this ... "Oye que es esto? Como? espárragos ... hongos ... y  No puueess .. parala .. en lata? ..  Anda .. compra fresco y no ... " I was done. There was no room for compromise. So they just sat there. Until, ...  Hey Mama Mata !! How about some of this over the weekend? 

One important factor for success in life is how we face commitments. We may take on a task right on, sometimes delay and delay some more, or just don't get to it. The discipline to push yourself regularly and  "Do what you have to do. Now" is difficult to master. When the  commitment is a group goal then other factors come in to play. None easy. This is a paragraph on a news item from La Prensa, Panama: "Dos años y seis meses después de que la Concertación Nacional dejara en blanco y negro 163 metas y 483 estrategias y planes de acción para atacar problemas sociales, económicos y políticos que limitan el desarrollo del país, diversos actores de este diálogo concluyen en que no hay avances porque no se ha constituido un mecanismo de seguimiento de los acuerdos, y hace falta voluntad política."  Let's  be serious ...  Not even agreeing in how you will measure progress? ... this is dead. But why? ... We know why. "Y en todo esto que hay para mi?" ...

One time a customer buying a car insisted that he wanted an "additional discount" from the available quote. The manager said: I am at $ 1.00 over cost .... Where do you want me to go? 50 cents over?  ... There is a limit to everything. In Santiago de Veraguas this business offers copies for 2 cents ... A prize war could take this to ..... a penny?

If I could have a guest blogger to contribute an entry it would be for this one. You see it relates to bullfighting, and waitresses ...? A good friend in Miami, Mr. Bolas or Toñin that is, is a true ¨aficionado¨ who not only would understand the title but add with vivid detail to its meaning. Now in Panama you do not have bullfighting as we all know it; Here in regional fairs they will ride or chase a bull in a made up ring with people standing or sitting on fences, drinking, drinking a lot. The real thing takes place in two or three countries in South America and of course in Spain. ¨ Oye tu patita Bolas donde está ? ¨ ¨Allí ....." ¨Donde no lo veo ... en que tendido ? " " No allá .. en el medio del ruedo ... con Zileri ... y El Juli" There is a pass, or trick for you non purists, that matadors perform and it is called: Del Desprecio, now literally this could mean Despise, but I would qualify this on a more softer fashion. Looking away from the beast. The matador ...

If you can understand this word you have been around Latin America for a while, if you can pronounce it with no distinguishable accent you been around too long. Mostly used on the western seaboard of South America it denotes something that is; Beyond any doubt, without question, real, almost a fact, don't even doubt it, etc. Allow me a few samples ..... It is impajaritable that outside of Panama City 50% of lawyers cannot give you decent legal advice. The other 50% cannot spell " Consejo legal ". It is impajaritable that when you contact a lawyer he feels that all your business can be handle properly and without delay. Three weeks later you know how they make their living ..... "Bueno vea usted ... Esta coma cambia el sentido del documento, la cosa esta dificil, a ver déjeme ver la Ley"... Sir, you assured me that this was a simple legal procedure ..   "Si, pero eso fue antes de ver este acento , a ver si hablo con el Licenciado".... I t is impaj...