In strange turn of events, I was contacted by the son of the previous owner of a large sugar mill where I worked as a Comptroller for three years when it was under the control of Bank of America. His father had passed away and he was head hunting for a business consultant to help him in organizing several of his companies.
His father had recommended me, so he started searching for my whereabouts for several months unsuccessfully, until one day his secretary found my name on Facebook and contact was made.
We met, exchanged ideas, and finally agreed on a consulting agreement for a short period. I’m feeling better from my dizzy spells and thought it would be nice to be useful again, plus extra pocket-money is always good news. For about a month, I’ve met with his staff, setting up working schedules, and organizing investment projects. It reminded me when I was 33 years old, full of life and dreams.
Since I had donated all my suits and ties to the church after I retired, my wife is helping me buying new business clothes. In Panama people are very conscious of wearing formal clothes for business meetings—suit and tie. I also needed a laptop for my follow-up meetings and keeping all my information in one place, without having to store hundreds of papers in my home office.
After researching on the Internet for zillion of options, I finally decided on a Sony Vaio 14″ laptop of the Series E14P, Model 14A15FLB. It’s a powerful and aesthetic electronic device. I unpacked it yesterday afternoon, and took several pictures during the process to share with you guys. If you’re a techie, you might want to take a look at the following specs and pictures.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
- Weight: 5 pounds. (A bit heavy for my taste.)
- Screen: 14 inches (1,366 x 768 pixels), Backlight LED technology
- Battery: Up to six hours of use with standard battery
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2450M, 2.50 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.10 GHz, Intel HM76 Express
- Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium Original, 64 bits
- Hard Disk Drive: 640 GB (speed 5,400 rpm)
- Internal Memory: 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM expandable up to 16 GB (speed 1,600 MT/s)
- Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 3000, External: AMD Radeon HD 7570M, 512 MB.
- Optical Unit: Player & Recorder DVD
- Audio: Dolby Home Theater V4
- Wireless Network: Bluetooth standard version 4.0 IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
- Webcam: HD, resolution 1,290 x 1,024 1.31 MP
- Dimensions: Width: 13.4 inches, Thick: 0.88-1.31 inches, Height: 9.6 inches
- Color: Black with red borders
- Guarantee: One year
- Inside the Box: One notebook sleeve with pockets, one keyboard skin, one lithium rechargeable battery, one power cable with adapter.
TOTAL COSTS:
- Cost of Sony Vaio laptop: $899.97
- Cost of wireless Logitec mouse: $29.97
- Sales Tax (ITBMS – 7%): $65.10
- Total Costs: $995.04
PHOTO GALLERY:
Snapshot of the Sony Vaio unopened box storing the portable computer. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the partially open box containing the recently acquired Sony Vaio laptop. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the laptop’s notebook sleeve with pockets. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the cover of the Sony Vaio laptop. The red shade is a reflection of my sweater. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the open laptop with it’s jet black color with thin red borders. The screen has aluminum frames. Very stylish piece of equipment. I liked as soon as I saw it. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the attractive backlit keyboard with the aesthetic red linings which glow in the dark. I love it.
Snapshot of the input for the power supply cable indicating a voltage of 19.5 volts. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Photograph of the USB ports. It has four of them; two on each side. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of one of the two speakers of the portable computer. I want to try its fidelity as soon as possible. It has a Dolby home theater audio system. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Labels indicating the laptop runs on Windows 7 Home Premium and has a powerful Intel Core i5 processor inside. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of a special Web button to activate the Internet without turning on the computer. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the arrow keys, (e.g., Up, Down, Right and Left). Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of an attractive red keyboard skin that perfectly molds to the Vaio isolation keyboard. The backlit function of the keyboard is not available when the keyboard skin is attached to the device. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the enticing red wireless mouse which matches with the color of the laptop. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
With this baby I’m ready to return to work like the “good ole days”, plus I have a backup computer when the main one goes sour. It has happened before several times. After all it’s seven years old and the wear and tear is showing its ugly face. Good Day.
That’s a pretty spiffy machine! I like the red, and I especially like the mouse. Backlit keys would be a real advantage, too.
i didn’t realize you’d suffered from dizzy spells. My condolences, and I’m glad you’re feeling better. I had one week-long episode of vertigo, and it was just awful. Thank God it hasn’t come back. I hope yours doesn’t either!
I’ve been having these spells for over a year now. I was afraid of driving in the city. Slowly it has reached tolerable levels. At least I can drive again and keep my blog going.
That’s why I accepted this consulting agreement. Thought I wouldn’t wear a coat and tie again, but that’s the uniform of the business people in this country. Will buy a few blue blazers after next payday.
Yes, it’s a jazzy machine. Tomorrow I plan to configure and start playing with it. Been busy at work all day. Meetings, meetings and more meetings. They just never stop.
Regards,
Omar.-
You’ll probably find yourself using the laptop as your main machine and the desktop as your backup sooner than you think.
And Panamanians are VERY conscious of the way they dress even when it isn’t for business. It’s easy to spot the gringos around David even from behind. They’re the ones wearing shorts out in public.
Hi Richard:
The problem with laptops are their small keyboards; they’re cramped together and difficult to type and they don’t have the number keypad which I use frequently. I was thinking of buying a wireless keyboard and use the laptop mainly as a CPU. The screen can also be attached to the laptop. Then I would have a desktop and a laptop in the same machine.
I agree with the way people dress in Panama. Women look like models when they go to work. And yes, we don’t usually use shorts to go out. We wear them inside the house.
The uniforms of students is also a characteristic of Panama. All education entities require a uniform. They look so cute and spotless when they walk to their “colegios”. I love it.
Take Care,
Omar.-
You know what amazed me when I was taking the bus over to Almirante on my way to Bocas a couple of years ago? The Indian children getting on the bus. They live in what most people in the States, and I assume some people here in Panama, too, would consider shacks. Structures with huge gaps between the board siding and palm thatching for roofs. No sign of them being hooked up to electricity and no satellite dishes in evidence. Yet the children’s white shirts and blouses were blindingly white and pressed as were the blue skirts and slacks. I wondered then and I still wonder today how they accomplished that.
Hi Richard:
That’s exactly what I mean about those students wearing spotless uniforms to school. It’s an example to other countries where school uniforms are not required.
I haven’t visited Almirante by bus. In my days, we flew to Changuinola and then by train to Almirante. Today the train is gone and you have to travel either by car, motorcycle or other similar locomotion means.
Bye,
Omar.-
Hello Omar and fellow readers,
Electricity is not necessary if the peasant´s mom has an iron-made iron. Talking from my own experience, my mom had one of them. Our house had an iron stove with a special area for placing logs that, once lit with kerosene and matches, acted like a heator. My mom could place the iron over a flat surface on the stove, then do the ironing for those instances when my Dad had to come from the mountain to David. I´m sure the indian moms do the same. Best regards,
Hi Hilda:
I’ve only seen those irons at Mi Pueblito in Panama City. They looked heavy and clumsy to work with. I can imagine the effort and the heat that our grandmothers endured while ironing the family’s clothes.
We usually take our clothes to the “chinito’s” laundry for dry cleaning. My wife is allergic to ironing, and I don’t blame her.
God Bless,
Omar.-
re: Laundry…
In my family certain things happened to us when we reached the age of 12. For one, our summer school vacations were spent at the beach. Unfortunately it wasn’t sun and surf. It was working in the family restaurant. My first summer was spent peeling tons of potatoes for french fries and onions for our famous onion rings. I worked eight hours a day, six days a week for the magnificent sum of 25 cents an hour BEFORE taxes were taken out. (Our onion rings were truly fantastic. When my brother, Jeff, owned the place he was selling a ton to a ton and a half of them a WEEK!)
The second thing that happened when I turned 12 is something I’ll never forget and something that all young boys should be made to learn. . . I remember watching television one evening when my mother came into the room and said, “Follow me.”
We went back into the “laundry room.” “This is the washing machine,” my mother said, “and this is how it works, and this is the dryer. It works like this.”
Then she took a pair of my pants. “This is how you iron pants,” she said, and next she took a shirt out of the pile and said, “this is how you iron a shirt.” Those were the last two items of my clothing she ever ironed!”
The payoff, though, was when I went away to college. The first time I had to do my laundry at the laundromat I went in, threw my white stuff into one machine, the colored items in another, added soap and started up. Then I noticed the other guys standing around reading the instructions on the backs of the boxes of detergent in their hands as though they were studying for final examinations.
Hi Richard:
i would be one of those reading the instructions out of the box. My wife is an expert in that department. I’m good at washing dishes and keeping the family’s finances. I’m also good in helping my wife with the supermarket cart and bringing in the packages when we reach home.
For washing clothes “the chinito” does a wonderful job and his prices are well within our means. Fortunately, for both of us, doing the laundry is not on our “To Do” list.
Regards,
Omar.-