A Tale of Honesty

Nora was conducting a city tour a couple of weeks ago, and she and her guests ended up in Casco Viejo for lunch at Casa Suris. After an enjoyable lunch, she drove them to Albrook airport to catch a flight. After dropping them off she received a phone call from the lady who told her that her money pouch was missing, and she thought she lost it at the restaurant. Nora drove to the restaurant and as soon as she walked in the door, the waiter waved to her, guessing why she had returned. An office worker from the building had found the money pouch with several hundred dollars in the restroom and given it to the manager. The manager had gone outside to look for them, but they were already gone, so he had put it in the safe. The next day Nora deposited the money to the bank account of a friend of her guest.

So, if you find yourself hungry in Casco Viejo, I suggest the Casa Suris.

Going Postal

Part of the better deal we got with our new office is a free internet connection. Our landlord has his own IT guy who takes care of the system and on Wednesday, after discovering that the drop in our office didn't work, I talked with the tech and we agreed to meet on Friday morning at 9:00 am to resolve the problem. I arrived before 9:00 on Friday, set up my router and laptop and waited. At 10:00, I asked the receptionist to contact him and he told her he was on the way. Every half-hour after that, until noon, we got the same story. At noon it changed to 'I'm almost there'. Then he stopped answering the phone. Finally at 2:00, I was called to reception and handed the phone by the owner. The story had now changed to 'My car is broke down and I have to get it fixed.' Now, most of the time, I'm cool, level-headed and pretty tolerant of BS explanations. I did, after all, supervise a bunch of electronic technician Prima Donnas for the last 20 years of my working life and know a bit about herding cats. I also know when a good chewing out is called for, and I proceeded to give this guy a piece of my mind. Without going into detail, he arrived a half-hour later, by taxi, and within 10 minutes had found the bad patch cord on his equipment.

Most of the time, letting the person on the other side know you are angry gets you nowhere, but sometimes (and choose those times wisely) going postal works.

Bad Deal Gone Good

Nora is moving into new office space and she needed a desk and storage space for her books and handouts, etc. We went shopping at Econo Precios in Los Pueblos where she found a large desk with library attached, which could also serve as a divider to hide my little computer consulting space. It was delivered on Wednesday and the assembler spent all day putting it together. When done, it failed Nora's inspection on several counts; the doors wouldn't close properly, drawers were sticky, and there were a lot of scratches and nicks. On Thursday we went to Coronado to show some property, and on the way home she tried unsuccessfully to talk via cell phone with the delivery manager at Econo Precios. Back in the city, she went straight to Econo Precios and talked with the delivery people, insisting that they fix the problem.

Friday morning a new desk was delivered to our office. The assembler, a different fellow this time, said he could fix the problems without dissambling the old desk completely and assemblying the new one, and Nora agreed but warned him that if she wasn't satisfied, then she wanted the new one. This guy turned out to know what he was doing, and in a couple of hours had the problems fixed and the scratched panels replaced. While the problems should not have arisen in the first place, Econo Precios did make it right and we think the desk/library was a good deal.

Business Opportunity

My doctor is also a friend and we always chat when I see him. I think he is a bit lax about charging Tricare for my care, since I don't sign as many claim forms as I make visits, so that is occasionally one of the things we talk about. On my last visit, he mentioned that he had just that day got a check from Tricare. He hires a consultant to prepare the paperwork for which she charges 10% of the amount which Tricare pays. This is a business which is currently done mostly by small consultants. I understand that Hospital Nacional has its own department to handle Tricare, as does Clinica San Fernando. A lot of doctors use independents, though, because they charge less. It seems to me there's a good opportunity here for someone who understands US government bureaucracy, and the Tricare system in particular, and is willing to work for a little less than 10%.

Service and Assistance for People Who Want to Live in Panama