Its a beautifull morning .....

I have come to the definite opinion that around these towns, cities, valleys and highlands, getting the job done means doing the least possible that you can get away with. Some may call it "La ley del menor esfuerzo ", it is that and more. You may work for somebody and feel that compensation is not adequate or even  that you are being exploited, I have been in that boat, but my observation is not directed to those at the receiving end of directives and benefits, but to the ones that provide them. Years ago Holiday Inn had a commercial about a salesman checking in for the night, jumping in joy about obtaining a contract that he was after. That moment of personal accomplishment remind me when they offered a  job that I was after, when an important presentation went better than expected or just feeling good about finishing something. It is about getting the job done. Done right, one time. M anagement around service outfits here means that I will pay you, if you sho...

We are always learning, it does not matter where are you, when does it happen or how old are you. The important aspect is how do you handle it; It can be an incident, a rumor or expression. This is about a common saying around these parts by which I am left saying .... "Señorita buenos días ....... ...   ... ...? Vengo a recoger mi ropa ..  Aquí esta el recibo ..  Oiga aquí faltan los pañuelos ..!!?" Como va se' ? I will not jump to judgement, and just consider it an exception to an otherwise .... "Siguiente .. setenta y cuatro .. siguiente ... !! Aquí  mi recibo .. el expediente de .. .... Oiga ese expediente no esta .. anda extraviado .. Señorita  lo he presentado hace dos horas ...!? Como va se' ? Are you saying?   ...  Just be cool, you are retired old man  .. "Oiga y la cervecita  .. Si .. una Soberana Le tomaron el pedido  ? Si  .. hace 20 minutos ...!? Como va s...

Ofi .... Oficial  .. June 6  PTY bound

El Comercio of Lima has 2 interesting videos today.  I like dogs, and this one is very sharp. They claim she recognizes over 1000 words ... Lets see Moka ... Let us start with ... sit ... come on ... sit .... I said sit ...SIT  SIT !!!! http://elcomercio.pe/mundo/689421/noticia-chaster-perro-que-reconoce-mas-mil-palabras A father took about 3000 photos of his daughter over 10 years, showing a progression of her age, from baby to young girl. I have to admit that some people just have too much time on their hands. http://elcomercio.pe/tecnologia/689464/noticia-papa-fotografio-su-hija-todos-dias-durante-diez-anos It a slow news day even for me. Where are Sharon, Michelle, Sarah, Christine ... when you need them .. . !!!  ???

Just looking for the origin of a word - vandal - and came upon a curious history event, full of violence, race and stereotyping in ancient Rome. So Roman.   The Vandals were a tribe from today's Germany that entered the late Roman empire during the 5th century, perhaps best known for their sack of Rome in 455. Although they were not notably more destructive than other invaders of ancient times, Renaissance and Early Modern writers who idealized Rome tended to blame the Vandals for its destruction. This led to the coinage of "vandalism", meaning senseless destruction, particularly the defacing of artworks that were completed with great effort. Later Alaric and the Visigoths invaded Italy, capturing much of the peninsula in the south. Vandal auxiliary general Flavius Stilicho defends and saves Rome, eventually defeating Alaric at Pollentia and the battle of Verona, forcing him to retire from the peninsula. You may think the inhabitants of Rome were ...

As you may have many versions of a song .... Here you get the flavor from different places .... One is the original - The European "elegante" version from Sergio y Estibaliz of Spain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtgb1VZYt7Y&feature=related El Cubano .. con el ultimo gran cantante de la Matancera - Welfo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOZWZ-KDMV4&feature=related De cana, ron y agua marina .....

The town of Kusapin is located in the Valiente peninsula in the Ngöbe-Buglé region. It is isolated, and protected from  development by the Chiriquí lake. Got to go there.

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...

Sometimes you can't match reality with imagination. That is imagination,  and balls of an attorney in Lima. In the past month they had a few stories concerning pets, owners and people that provide services to pets. Some headlines: "La mascota del jefe del Ejército fue robada de la veterinaria Rondon" "Delincuentes asaltaron una veterinaria y se llevaron hasta los perros"   " Pretendan pedir dinero a los dueños de estas mascotas" Then some good news and then some ...  "La mascota del general Guibovich fue rescatada" "Denuncian que perros fueron a bañarse en veterinaria y los entregaron muertos"  I could not have made this up ..... "Luis Balcázar, asesor legal de Conan’s Pet admitió que hubo negligencia pero minimizó la situación. Bañamos cerca de 250 perros semanales y no muere ninguno.  Negligencias hay en todo sitio, anotó". Fallecieron producto de los golpes que le aplicaron en dicho local, supuestamente par...

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.   

When an organization like a church has to make a statement and take a position on any situation, you have to carefully read what and what not, they do recognize. Joseph Alois Ratzinger said : La Iglesia tenía una “necesidad muy profunda” de reconocer que debe hacer penitencia por sus pecados y aceptar la purificación”. The official position is ... Negar que existiera encubrimiento y calificando todo de “chismorreo mezquino”.  Give me a break!!!  I guess history is on that side of escape routes of responsibility. They said it, but do they believe in it? ... “El perdón no puede sustituir a la Justicia”

  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 !!!"   ...

Brother. In English or Spanish  is a powerful word in our social identification.  You have true blood bonded brothers, and you have the use of assumed relationships. Both are challenging. First, if you brother is also the son of your mother and father, it is kind of weird to know somebody else who has the same rights to YOUR mother and father. I have three brothers that have this claim, I talk with experience about this. But to settle any further considerations to fame or hidden treasures, I will follow the tradition of the most important royal houses of Europe .. "first out ... first in" . Now about this brother thing. Blacks have used it for a long time and you will also hear .. Bro ..  Young Latins  may have the mi broder use in a casual encounter. Mi hermano sounds more sincere. But, you also have ...  "Hermaniiiito ... que ha sido de tu vida?" "Hermanon del alma ... donde se ha perdido usted?"   "Oooiigaaa usted ... mi querido hermano" ...

Some of the names or chapas  we had on each other when young, could only be match by those that we had on each others parents. My mother was known as "gringa rosemary" and my father as "el coronel, militronche, el cachaco" ... Well, you get the idea. Occasionally you will be playing with a friend and ... "Mama !!,  se puede quedar mi amigo a almorzar?" Now, I was to be the guest. I enjoyed a  change  from the regular routine at home, but this time it was to be different ... The closest comparison with that luncheon  that I can find now, is like ... hitting a hot LZ in Nam. When you came in that chopper and shit is flying all over the place, you just don't have many options. I was invited to lunch ... No, No, I was set up for lunch. "Buenas tardes, senora" "Ahh ... educadiiiiito ... el muchacho, no como estos dos aqui .." I should have seen it coming. That tone with that Ironia  .. uhmm ..  It was too late. Around the table we h...

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? 

Around the Americas you will find that the same personal garment will have different names. Some easily understood others ...? Ajustadores vs, brassieres, calcetines vs. medias, cinto vs. correas, terno vs. traje, etc. As long as you are comfortable, that is all that matters.  Or is it? My brother Carlos in his latest emilio mentions  ... "La venta por $100 dolares del terno blanco, lo use una sola vez .." I sold him that suit. Is there a sense of regret?, remorse?, nostalgia?, gratitude? Lets get the facts ... I arrived in Hong Kong early December of 68 on R & R from Vietnam with plenty of information concerning lodging, female companionship and where to buy what. The tailor shop at the Imperial hotel in Kowloon was run by a Pakistani man. He was very good. First a drink .. any drink. Then, shirts? Endless variety of ready-made, half way or from scratch. Same with ties, vests, pants and suits. All deliver to your room by 9:00 am the following day. It was 6:30 Pm. Best...

Malvi called early this morning from the DC airport waiting to depart, she will joins us today for lunch. ... As I had  helped myself some fruit from La Tia next door .....  Hey girl when is the last time you had Nisperos ? ...    Ahh .. What? .....

We had a variety of ice cream vendors make their rounds in the neighborhood, some with push carts and others in tricycles. You could hear calls, bells or horns .. small horns. You could recognize some heladeros by the styled sound played in their cornetas . The pitch .. the wave of it all. Not all had it. The legend around Miraflores was "Pirata" , a one eye man with a black patch  that had been in the business all his life. I first saw him at  cine Leuro, he was not a thin person. At his age it must have been tough pedaling around. "How old is that man ? ... Older than dirt."   The call on weekends come from tamaleras . Mostly women, some men ... all black. Imagine starting early in the morning after cooking, a walk with a big basket of inventory. Those firm and distinctive voices:  "taaaamaaaaleeesss .. calientito los taaaamales" "humitassss  .. dulce las humitasss" "casera .. caserita .. los tamales ..  las humitas" !!! You have...

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?" ...

Walking around the poker room at the Venetian in my first visit to Vegas, I stopped to follow a $50 - $100  limit Hold em table. Big money. Then, I was advised of this other area for High rollers. Give me a break !! How much is high ... just more money? A lot more. Now I am witness to this final table of this high stakes tournament. It has been a long and demanding tourney. But, here we are ... Yes, as I look around the table ... there are 5 players left .... I can see that all stacks are about even. They saw the flop and the turn came and went, and everybody called a strong bet. No raises. The river card completed a mix board of color and rags. Right now you cannot discount anybody. Who may be ahead? Its really a tough guess. No clear tells right now. First, in the small blind is Malvi .... I am cheering for her, that is all I can do .... I think she does not have the "nuts", but ... will she check or raise?, She looks around ... Next to her is this lady that I think every...