802MARK's blog

OK so if the crime rate there doesn't scare you away there are two other points that need to be looked into.

one is a Luxury home tax you have to pay every year.. you see they are out of money, so a while back they voted in a new law that was set up and pushed through. the idea was, you have money and have a nice home, and we have people here that live in well, dumps. so we want to take your money and use this to build our people a better home to live it. yeah you owe them don't you.. well the law passed and it was only going to be a law for 10 years, after that it would be gone.. 2 things happen today,, first they voted to allow that tax to be forever.... and 2nd so far no one can show any of this money that has been paid in so far that went to build a single home... hummmm.. o and you have to hire someone to come out and tell you what your home is worth so you will know how much to pay!!!

I had posted in one of my blogs to get out while you can from the U.S. and some people feel that, that is a little harsh maybe even tin hat time for me to say that. First off I love the U.S. don't get me wrong. But one has to start to look at facts and try to foresee what COULD happen and where your going to be when and if it does. No one can say that the u.s. is not in trouble. We are in many wars that are killing off our young people at a cost to us in the trillions of dollars. They are going to reraise the debt ceiling again and more bail outs are coming. all this is being done but yet the will of the people are saying NO NO NO... china has dumped their holdings with the u.s. and are not willing to hand us anymore money.

Hello everyone, I hope that all is going well in your part of the world.. well maybe it isn't due to the fact that you have found and spend time reading this web site.. what's that mean? it means your looking into a change of life. for whatever reason.. maybe the u.s. crime is getting out of hand, or the government. maybe your bored and need a last ditch ring around to make you feel alive. maybe your tired of your damn kids, yes you love them, but you handed them the best years of your life and now it's time for you damn it.

well today I woke at around 12 pm. had a little something to eat, laid in the hammock and watched and smelled it rain for a hour, watched birds zipping here and there and yes watched the grass grow.. ahhhhh stressful life today. thursday I'll play poker with the boy's smoke to much and for sure drink far more.. then fri. it's off to the beach to soak in some rays, and to check out my wifes fine ass.. ahhh yes.. what a life.

I found this written by another person and I found it to be spot on with what is going on in costa rica I will post it and then write more below..

"I thought perhaps another type of post might be of interest, one written by someone who has no hate or axe to grind, a perhaps less prejudiced and more objective view of what life is really like in Costa Rica. I know in advance some will not agree with this point of view, but here goes.

WOW what a year, BP oil spill now the plants in japan. I pray for us all. I was looking at some air flow maps and it looks like most of it is covering the whole u.s. this is a great site that shows you if you dare to look at it. Norwegian Institute for Air Research static and dynamic maps show radiation contamination across the Northern Hemisphere with estimates of potential releases, increasing daily. Access them through the following link:

If you have seen some of my post, the last one titled you just can't make this stuff up, talked about what a day I had trying to get my lic. well I did go back with another friend and I did pass the test this time, then it was off across the street to take the diving part of it. I applied for a commerical truck lic. just in case my guys are out sick and I have to step in and drive one of my trucks. well in order to get the class D lic. I had to take the driving test in a truck. I said o ok that sounds right, I'll call and have one of my guys bring my dump truck over, o you don't have to do that, we have a truck over there you can rent. o cool... well I walked over with a handful of young people there to get their first lic. you could see the fear in their eyes, which I am sure was in mine some 32 years ago.

Many of you are reading this site to find out insider info on places that you have dreamed about and I am sure read other sites about. Your sitting home and going by what you think you know and what you have learned on sites. You all are fed that wonderful palm tree by the ocean shot.. ahhhh yes you can just see yourself sitting there. Many of you take that info and sale off everything and hop a flight and buy your dream house and begin to start your new life.. and many people can't cut it and then sale everything and move back home. for many of you this is a costly error. to find yourself back to square one and a busted dream.

there are many things that you need to do before you make that leap. there are also many things you need to look at within your own self. lets look at some.

so I have lived here in panama for 5 year or so, and in all that time I have been driving on my u.s. drivers lic. which of course are no longer any good. well the police use to not have a way to check your back ground record or drivers lic. till now. Now that they have this new toy to check things, they are using it left and right and handing out 150.00 tickets and towing your car if you don't have a drivers lic. which is ok that's what we use to do in the states as well. so I thought ok I got to get my new lics. so I start off to do just that....

right off the bat they tell me because my u.s. lic is not good, then I must take a 36 hour driving course. cost 300.00
well I paid a guy 150.00 bucks and he gets that for me.
so with that in hand I take a friend of mine along with me to the lic. center. he speaks s better then I
blood test.. done
eye test done
hearing test done
all forms and copies done

I just read that and one part hit me as funny where you wrote about trying to dug them up to find the queen. maybe so if they had not been there but a very very short time. I have a lot down the road which is around 7000 meters, and cutter ants in 4 lines going from end to end bring back all kinds of flower and leaves, I followed them back to the hole they were going down and declared WAR!!!! I thought hum I'll burn em out.. I filled a 5 gal gas can and poured it down the hole. yep I did... lol I poured a small line of gas far back away from it and threw the match.. boom!!! yeah baby take that.. next day I went back and the same lines were going about their everyday life, but going down another hole not far from the first one. hummm so I did this again. and again and again. I have yet to see that I have made a dent on these guys.

When I was in colombia and my wife and I had to go to the u.s. embassy to apply for her k-1 visa I had idea's in my head of crack u.s. highly trained and skilled ready to kill army men on post. what I found was local guards from colombia who couldn't even speak english. Once inside it wasn't much better. Being a holder of a u.s. passport I also thought that maybe they would take us before all the rest and do our paperwork. not that I am any better then anyone but just because It's my embassy. that didn't happen either.

today I got a taste of the embassy here in panama. Now I share this because many people think that if you have a problem in another country your embassy will be there for you and this really isn't what I have learned.