Retro-Access

Conditions are returning to what passes as normal here in the condo complex after an extended weekend of more people than I had ever seen here. We met the people from the condo next to ours for the first time since we moved in. Carnivale is a national holiday in Panama that ran out yesterday. The complex emptied quickly and by the end of the day we were back down to the two “gringo” families. While I bemoaned the extreme reduction in the “thong quotient”, it was nice to finally get reliable internet connections available. The more people in residence has a direct effect on the speed of the connection.

Sunset Time

The internet was so slow over the weekend that I gave up trying to watch the super streamer. Of course, there are worse places to be cursed with slow bandwidth, note earlier comment on thongs. I was reminded of what internet access used to be like, back in the dim past of the late 20^th century, where we all had to dial in and listen to that electronic buzz as we were connected through phone lines. You had to be patient as web sites ponderously loaded and your mouse clicks eventually caught up with you. It’s a reminder of how spoiled we have become with today’s instant gratification.

Jupiter and Venus Next to the Moon

We went in search of lunch out yesterday and were thwarted with our first choice of the down beach Plinio’s. They had some Carnivale remnants there which meant a 40-minute wait just to get our order in. The food there isn’t good enough to warrant that wait, so we wandered further down the beach. I’d never been down this far and it was interesting to see the variety of houses, ranging from hovels to mansions. We couldn’t find anything open so it was back to the village and the pizza place. My Favorite Panamanian wasn’t too upset since it is right next door to the gelato emporium.

The sunset ceremony was reduced to our upstairs neighbors and us, along with the visiting PanaGal and mom-in-law. We were blessed with yet another fantastic descent of the sun into the waves. It was cooler than usual since we also had an exceptionally high tide. We learned what we thought were the first two stars to appear each night turned out to be Jupiter and Venus nearing alignment near a sliver of moon. Apparently we’re approaching a very rare alignment of earth and those two planets. I’ve seen enough sci-fi movies to worry about what a planet alignment means.

Riggins Working on his "Pathetic" Look

BR3 Ready to Recite

We received some brief updates from back in the suddenly frigid “world”. Riggins had his seventh birthday and continues to perfect his look of absolute pained suffering with the BRS and BR3. You can actually see his longing for the days when he was the only game in town before moving down the household pecking order with the arrival of the two granddaughters. It doesn’t help that they love him so much. BR3 was also extremely pleased with donning her dance recital dress, reminding me totally of her abuela who reacts similarly when garbed for dancing.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course