Final Steps

I’ll admit. I’ve had a lot of fun this first week in Panama. That goes without saying. Despite all the rain, I’ve been able to torture frozen New Englanders with three spectacular sunsets. However. There was still a bunch a work left to do to consider ourselves actually moved into the condo for 2025. Arriving on the cusp of New Years Eve meant that several tasks were shelved until the debris from that holiday had finally settled. That happened this week. Starting on Monday our dedicated handyman showed up to install the balcony sun shades, the blackout curtains, a new shower head, and, most importantly, install new running wheels on the two balcony doors.

Dinner Tonight

In way of explanation; the salt air from the adjacent Pacific Ocean plays hell with all that is mechanical over time. That’s probably why owning a boat is so work intensive. Anyway, we have doors to the balcony from the living room and the master bedroom. Those doors move with a set of small wheels underneath. They have to be replaced every couple years due to that salt aided corrosion. It was a real workout having to open those doors when we arrived. He had to literally cut the old ones out before replacing them and now they open with a single finger.

In Our Bedroom Wife Jumps in to Clean underneath where the Doors Were

Blackout Curtains Go Up

In a further major development, we now have hot water to shower with and I owe it all to the sunsets. I installed new batteries upon arrival but the wall mounted hot water heater wasn’t sparking. We added it to the list of repairs for that handman. During our nightly sunset convocation, the upstairs neighbor mentioned he had the same problem and fixed it by bending a couple contact points. Once again proving the absolute importance of the sunset social gatherings. On our way upstairs, he stopped by our condo to bend our contacts and whoosh, we had hot water. I should opine that the water here is never that cold, certainly not New England cold, but, still, hot showers are so much better.

Sunset Crew , My Hot Water Hero in the Back

After Monday’s sunset my Favorite Panamanian pried me away from the beach to drive back to David. We spent Monday night in my mother in law’s house so we could hit the required tasks first thing this morning. We had a pretty tight schedule before an appointment in the early afternoon for the annual car service and inspection. We got off to our typical mildly late start when my Favorite Panamanian decided the car was too dirty to undergo the scheduled service. I told her the inspection was on the internal aspects of the car. She would hear none of that since a photo of the car was part of the paperwork.

Good Sized Iguana Charged Across the Beach Yesterday

We borrowed her sister’s car and dropped off our car for a thorough wash. The major task of the day was getting the car paperwork ready for registration renewal. Our first stop was our insurance company where they did the seemingly requisite stamping (Panamanian officialdom loves stamps) and signing of the required documents. We then stopped by TIGO to get my wife’s Panamanian phone activated. Yes, she operates two phones down here and has been known to be on both at the same time. We retrieved our car at this point and headed out for some dedicated grocery shopping.

One of Those Sunsets

Whatever my faults are (and they are legion), I have a pretty good sense of direction. My wife, a native of David, is not similarly blessed (coming from the Great Aunt school bewildered wandering) and relies on me to navigate. That came into play when we had to get the car to the service center. She and Tia Loca had a heated discussion about where the place was located. I’d been there once, last year, and told them to follow me. They were a little chagrined that the gringo knew his way around their hometown better than they did. I paid for my success by being summarily dismissed from their presence while the car was being serviced. I didn’t mind since they were going shopping. 

I Guess This is Kind of Cruel

But So Beautiful, I have to Share

I spent the afternoon back at the house reading (I’ve started my annual foray through the Travis McGee novels again – 4^th year in a row). We ended the day with all the paperwork we need to renew the car registration which will happen next week. Here’s to hoping there’s a good movie playing on that day. I couldn’t convince my wife to see Nosferatu today (she didn’t buy my description of a love story based in Transylvania). The true highlight of the day was a hot wings dinner with all my wife’s siblings and her brother’s partner. As tedious as the day was, I didn’t have a single concern about wind chill. So there’s that.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course