Today is a holiday, did I neglect to mention? The holiday is for the day way back in ’68 or so when the US still had occupation of the canal here. At that time, a group of Panamanians had decided they were going to steal the US flag from the pole on one of their military bases here, had made it into the base, and were shot by US troops climbing up the pole. Seems a little drastic to me, but in keeping with yankee history. So the Panamanian people never forget, they made a national holiday out of it.

This was told to me by Lee, whom I ran into tonight, telling me that perhaps tonight was a good night to just lay low. Interesting, and I got to borrow one of his books for my trip to Boca Brava. On loan is a book titled “Big Oil and Their Bankers in the Persian Gulf”, by Dean Henderson. Written in 2005 and signed by the author, no less, it’s a good 430 pages in relatively small print, and indicative of the Library of Lee. It is from his collection that I first set eyes on a book titled The Creature From Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, I forget the author at this point. I felt it such an important summation of current events that each member of my family now has a copy. He tells me they have finally finished paving the road all the way out there. That’s a relief. They were working hard on it last year, but had only made it about 60% of the way there. This should make for a much better drive.

I had a small pizza just around the corner from here for $3.25. It was good, but I should have gone to the little place down the road for my chicken and rice. More food, and less than half the price.

I’m just sort of laying low tonight waiting for tomorrow when things are open. I should probably check into getting a new plate for the car as well.

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Tuesday January the 13th. Typical Panamanian style, I didn’t get done all that I wanted, but made headway nonetheless. I awoke around 10 well rested and made my way to what I thought was going to be an AA meeting down here in David. Breakfast around the corner, and off I went to a local restaurant called Multi-Centro. It is popular with the locals here, a buffet style service, and rather famous for ripping you off if you are not watching. I paid 75c for a large coffee which was mostly coffee grounds, but knowing better, I dumped the bad half of it and went out onto the patio to refill from the coffee urn out there.

I didn’t see any action as far as a meeting was concerned, but was sure I was in the right place. The way things seem to run down here with AA is they take space made available to them… as long as nothing better comes along. So as soon as there is a “better” need for the space at that time, the meetings are bumped with no notice. You would think that folks who live here would learn about things like this and simply rent a space for themselves so as not to be at the whim of some other interest. It’s not like they couldn’t afford it with the daily donations.

So after waiting to be sure, I carried on to Dr. Angulo’s office to inquire about my bearer shares, and had a pleasant talk with his secretary, Sonia. She is always a pleasure to talk to. Smart, pretty, and wanting to learn English. It can be hard to keep focused when talking to her. She asked for my cell number and said she would call me later in the day after she had talked to Dr. Angulo.

From there, I went to look for the only woman that has been able to cut my hair properly down here. Mrs. Blanco of Casa Blanco. She was busy but said come back in 45 minutes, so I thought I would get my car and take it over to the used tire place to see what was what.

All was going smoothly. A tube would cost me $8.50 plus a buk to put it in. Used tires would cost me 24.50 a piece, I’d be lucky to get four of the same brand, and new ones $49 or so. So I opted for the tube for now to solve any problems while being stored, and started back to the hair salon. That is when the problems started, or should I say, didn’t start.

My car decided that it wasn’t going to go anywhere. Turn the key and nada, just enough to turn the motor a bit, but not turn it over. Oh, what a monkey wrench. One thing I hadn’t put in the kit when I left Canada was a set of jumper cables, so there I was in front of a tire shop that didn’t have any cables, and… she just wouldn’t turn.

Luckily, there was a guy there getting work done on his truck that actually pulled one of his batteries out, and brought it right over to my car. A little bit of finagling with clamps, a set of pliers, and some thick wire, and I was started. I thanked him profusely, and head off to AutoCentro (a store I detest for their bad attitude and shitty service) to look for some jumper cables so I wouldn’t be stuck like this again.

Being glad that I can remove the key out of most of my Chevy’s while they are running, I locked it, left the car running outside, and went in to experience the same shitty service they are famous for. I looked around for a bit, approached a desk, waited while being ignored, walked around some more looking harder, went back to the desk, asked a guy who came out of the back if they sold cables only to be told to go to the desk, walked around a little bit more, and then said “Fuk it.” I’m not going to beg to give them my money.

From there into town a bit, stopped at another store doing the same with my car, and found a charger for 48 buks. Nope, on I went to another place. They had no cables, but had a charger for 28 buks, but this time I forgot to leave the car running. Doh! Now it HAD to work, and luckily, it did. Whew.

Off to get my hair cut, certainly late by now. She was still there, waiting for me, and even remembered my name from last year. She’s about 60 years old, and sharp as a tack. We chatted, her correcting my Spanish, and me learning and grateful, as she casually cut my hair to a more manageable length. I really enjoy talking to the old timers down here. The youth, not so much, as they are a TV generation, but there is hope. Perhaps it’s the wisdom that comes with their years that allows them to see past the things a younger generation has been told by the TV. It is a given that I see the TV as a destructive force aiming, however subtlety, to pit people against one another, through suggestion and misinformation.

Anyways…. my car started again for me and I was off to get my tire fixed. While they were doing that, I borrowed their outlet and charged the battery for a while as I watched these guys change truck tires with sledgehammer, pry bar, and skill. There is and old carpenter’s creed that says, “Your best two tools are your eyes and your ears”, and I learned a lot for myself just by doing that.

Now that that was finished, it brought relief. The tire was leaking around the rim, not at the patch, and a tube remedies that permanently. Maybe I should buy 3 more…

Off to get a smoke or two, drove down to another store, shut the car off and went in. Came back out, Robert Burns in hand, and it wouldn’t start!! Ugh!!! Oh me, oh my. Cruel tragedy inflicted upon me. Waaaaa! So I tried it again, foot to the floor, and voila. Gremlins. I drove back to the hotel, left it running, went in to tell them to open the gate for the parking, and parked it right by an outlet. The charger is on it now, after tossing the lame 7.5 Amp fuse for a 25 Amp, and we’ll see what the morning brings.

It could be that there is an internal problem with the battery, in that the connections to the side posts are not as durable as the top posts. Also, to not move a battery around but let it sit for months is certain death. They need to be agitated to disperse the internal scale from the lead plates. I’m not sure if charging it overnight will resurrect it or not, as this wouldn’t be the first time. Every time I have left my car down here it has been neglected to the point of a dead battery upon my return, and I am ever more grateful that I have found somebody who actually seems to give a damn about cars and keeping them in shape.

I haven’t heard back from Sonia yet, but that is no surprise at all. The habit down here tends to be to tell you what you want to hear instead of news which may possibly upset you. This can be a frustrating impediment. I have my fears that my affiliation with Ken has hampered me here as well. Angulo is well respected around here, and is connected to all the big players, both good and bad. His reputation is in the quality of his work, not the company he keeps, but should he decide against you as a person, you will get nowhere fast. This is what I fear has happened simply because assumptions have been made. I will make it a point to try to meet with him personally and have a discussion about this, although I’m not sure what I will say. I’ll leave it to other forces to guide my path. It’s just easier that way.

I should probably go use an internet cafe to test the waters for a flight back home. Seems like a good plan for now.

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Yechhhhh! I’m not someone that gets grossed out easily, but roaches are disgusting. Blehhh. I got a bag out of the trunk of the car, which I now have left open for the night to air out, and brought it into the room. Thinking nothing, I went about my business. Down to the store to get some munchies for possible hunger pangs late at night. When I made my way back to the room there was a roach lying upside down on the floor under the table I had put the bag on. Not moving or anything, but a biggie. Now, I’d never seen roaches in this place before, thus my continued decision to stay here, so after a thought or two, concluded that this was the disgusting bastard I had seen in my trunk, and it had decided to hide in the bag.

Retch. When going to scoop it off the floor and carry it outside I discovered it still alive. The way they move… I was just going to toss it, but after that… well, certain death awaited it. I wasn’t going to give it a chance to find purchase out there and breed, not with a restaurant I like on one side and my room on the other. Even decapitating it was gross, squirmy little thing (I wasn’t going to stomp on it either… carrying it back with me on my shoe). Blech…

Return flights to Edmonton are around $1200 US return with taxes. Looked into one way flights because I’m tired of always having to book a return ticket from down here. They run around $850 through Delta, but the connections suck. Every one of them had an overnight in the states, in Newark no less. Forget that. Asshole of the states, that place is.

Got through about 40 pages of that book Lee had loaned me. It is amazing how he ties all things together. He continually names names and affiliations without providing proof or backup, so you have to just take his word for it, but the strange thing is that a lot of the names I have heard before and the dots connect in the same way, just connected from a different vantage point. Lee says it gets better as it goes on. I can only imagine.

Still not sure how I am going to go about booking my flight on-line. Really don’t want to do it from an internet cafe.

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More fun. The girl at the front desk just asked me to come move my car so others could get in. Ok, so I try to start it. No functiona. Just enough juice to crank it a little bit, but not to turn over. The under hood light it bright bright bright, so gremlins are loose for sure. If it isn’t a bad connection at the battery, which I will play with tomorrow morning, then the battery is toast and I need a new one. This one has lasted me 4 years so far, with far less than care and attention being taken unless I was around. Par for the course?

Seems I am always messing with this or that thing with this car down here. Looks more like a ball and chain every day. Just in a bit of a mood right now. When I have problems with a car down here it is a much bigger problem than when I am at home with all my tools and space to deal with it. At least there isn’t the language barrier to deal with like it used to be. In fact, I am finding that the better I understand and can talk their language, the easier it is to be treated fairly and helpfully. The truck driver probably wouldn’t have helped me today otherwise.

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Well, I awoke this morning easy and slow. I knew I wasn’t going anywhere soon, so I just wandered across the street and got myself a coffee, followed by another. The first thing I had to do today was figure out the problem with my battery, but that could wait until I had finished my coffee. It was already getting hot by the time I was finished, so I kicked my ass into gear and got on it.

Once I got to the car, I bumped the key. Nothing. Next, got the tool set out and checked the connections. Nothing, Removed the negative from the alternator bracket and gave it a sanding. Nothing. Fine. Dead battery. After a few calls and a few directions asked, I was off to Casa de los Batterias just a few blocks from here. That’s one thing that’s nice about Central American towns, everything is always within walking distance, which I guess is why it is so important to be able to ask directions. $115 for a new battery, which I thought a little expensive down here, and I carried it back to the hotel on my shoulder. I had it installed in 10 minutes and vrooomm, she started. It came with a “confident” one year warranty. Well, what can you do? Smile and wave, I say.

The tire was holding air, a new battery to cure my ills, and 11 months of neglect seemed finally set to right.

I went from there for a little chew on the highway, and stopped at a place I knew down by the river. There are big, expensive houses in this little out of the way area, and one that is a scene out of Tomb Raider. Collapsed, broken down, and mostly grown over by the jungle, it cuts and errie swath into the otherwise posh neighborhood, but if you walk through to the back, its’ claim is right along the river where a lot of locals go and hang out in the shade of the trees and enjoy a swim. I just wanted to cool my heals (pun intended) for a bit and think about the day.

I dropped by Dr. Angulo’s office after I came back to see what was what, and Sonia told me some story about him being sick or something after a bad car accident earlier in the year. At least that is what I think she said. She said he would be in tomorrow, so I could try back then. I am on the verge of walking away from this ordeal, and calling it a write-off, but I’ll give it another chance.

From there to an internet cafe to look into flights with Spirit Air. Jon, whom I met last year here, came wandering past the hotel and told me he had been to Montreal that year, and had found a really cheap flight with them, so I thought I’d check it out. My initial probe found a flight out of Panama to Chicago (with a 7 hr layover in Ft. Lauderdale – ewww) for $183 USD. From there, a 6 hour wait for an Air Canada flight direct to Edmonton for $251 CAD. Now we’re talking. These are quotes for one way tickets only. So, pretty much, $450 CAD for a ticket home, but the layovers are a bitch. The flight out of Panama also leaves at 2:55 AM here. It will make for one super long day, but that is much better than the prices I was looking at yesterday. I guess I can suffer a bit to save $750.

It just started raining and my car is on the street. Did I mention that it leaks? When I went to move it I found that someone had parked their car in the driveway to their parking lot. I went into the local businesses looking for the owner, but either couldn’t find them, or they weren’t fessing up. I will just have to wait until later. When it rains it pours?

Anyways, good news about the flights, and good news about my car. Will hope for good news from Angulo and the reality of flight reservations. There doesn’t seem to be as much to write about now that I have the car repaired. Maybe I’ll fill the time with a movie. I hear Australia is pretty good. For $3.50, it doesn’t matter, really.