Upgrading Our Drinking Water Filter

“It started raining on December 8, 2010.  For fifteen days the narrow Isthmus of Panama received 265 millimeters of rainfall.  This impressive amount of precipitation shattered the statistics of the last ninety years.  Entire towns and villages were submerged with ferocious bodies of water causing enormous damage to property and lives.  The small tourist town of Portobelo is still mourning its nine persons who were killed during a large mudslide.

Rivers swelled like gigantic Anacondas devouring everything in its path.  The capacity of Madden Dam was exceeded and the opening of the gates caused a current so strong, that the Panama Canal was temporarily interrupted for several hours.  The same situation occurred at the Bayano Dam.  In an effort to prevent damages to the turbines, the gates had to be partly opened which worsened the floods downstream.  In the Province of Darien and Kuna Yala hundreds of people were homeless and transferred to schools urgently adapted to accommodate the victims of this natural disaster. It was a monumental deluge I had never seen in this country before.”

This is what I wrote on January 19, 2011, after the unfortunate deluge in Panama at the end of the year.  Shortly after, we purchased a water treatment system to prevent health hazards.  The unusual heavy rainfalls during December, clogged the water purifying filters of the Chilibre water filtering plant.  The drinking water was not safe to drink and the water treatment plant was not working at full capacity.

With this water filtering system we averted the severe water crisis in Panama City.  Currently, the tap water that we receive from the Chilibre plant is used to flush the toilets and the filtered water is for drinking purposes.  We feel much relieved after making this decision.

After a little over two years now, we decided to upgrade our filter, just to make sure we are using the latest technology available in Panama regarding drinking water filters.  There are many horror stories out there about people having health problems due to contaminated water.  Arnulfo Casas, our water filter supplier, recommended that we protect ourselves with a more efficient filter.  We took his word and upgraded our system two days ago.  Indeed, the quality of the water is better than the previous filter.  There is something in the taste of the water that makes it special.  I know that water is supposed to be tasteless, but our water does have a nice taste which induces you to drink more, which is obviously excellent for your health.  After all, our body is 75 percent water.

Snapshot of the faucet of our recently upgraded water filter. The brand is H2O Plus. It was installed in our house two days ago to provide safe drinking water. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Panama had the reputation of having the best tap water in the region about twenty years ago.  I’m afraid we lost our mojo and we now need to protect ourselves with water treatment filters.   I’m looking forward that we could return to the high quality of water we once had—la chicha del Chagres.   Arrivederci.

A close-up view of the new water faucet installed by Arnulfo Casas in our kitchen. I love the design of the faucet. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Staying Fit

Snapshot of recently purchased fresh vegetables to improve my health. Doctor said I’m overweight and must lose about nine pounds. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Joke: The Blind Woman and Her Naughty Dog

A blind woman was walking down the street with her dog. They stopped at the corner for traffic. The dog began nipping at the lady’s leg. She reached into her coat pocket, pulled out a doggie treat and began waving it around.

A passerby who witnessed it all asked the woman why she was rewarding the dog for such bad behavior. The woman said, “Oh, I’m not rewarding him, I’m just trying to find his head so I can kick his rear!”

Don’t take life too seriously.  Squeeze a smile on your face every time you can.  You’ll live longer.  Ask the Doc.  Good Day.

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Joke: Crushed Nuts

A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself up slowly, painfully onto a tall stool.  After catching his breath, he order a banana split.

The waitress asked kindly, “Crushed nuts?”

He replied, “No, arthritis.”

No comments.

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Stress Reduction Campaign

During my last visit to my local drugstore to buy my monthly medicine and keep my pesky rhinitis under control, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a cute goodwill item.  It was a bright red rubber heart to control my stress level.  I think they call it a stress ball.

Farmacias El Rey is promoting a stress reduction program by giving away thousands of these stress items to their customers.  I think it’s an excellent way to create a bond between the company and its clients.  Developing customer loyalty is very important if you want to keep your customers returning to your place and buying your products and/or services.

According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, a stress ball is “a malleable toy, usually not more than 7 cm in diameter. It is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to either help relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand.”

Below is a picture of the stress reduction item I received from Farmacias El Rey at El Dorado Shopping Center.  I think it looks pretty cute.

Snapshot of a stress ball, in this case a heart, used either to help relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand. It was a nice gesture from Farmacias El Rey. I appreciate their kind gesture. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

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Tropical Fruits

For most of my life I’ve turned my back at fruits.  Since I lived in a banana plantation, bananas were so abundant, that we didn’t perceive the value of the fruit.  The same was true with other fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, papayas, mandarins and so forth.  After I started feeling the pinch of getting old, our family doctor has consistently advised me to start eating fruit. It’s excellent for your health.

Being Panama a country with an ample variety of tropical fruits, I’ve heeded my physician’s advice and fruit is now part of our daily diet.  My wife has always been a devout fan of fruits, that’s why she looks a lot younger than me.  Every time we go to the supermarket to buy our stuff, we try to squeeze as much fruit as our budget will permit.

Below are several pictures of tropical fruits recently purchased at El Machetazo, the supermarket where we buy our groceries every two weeks, after receiving our Social Security’s check.  Even though they look a little rough on the outside, they were in good condition on the inside.  Here we go.

Snapshot of an assortment of tropical fruits which form part of our daily diet. We take fruits very seriously to enhance our health. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of several tropical fruits found in Panama. Are you able to recognize and name each one of these fruits? Give it a try and test your fruit knowledge. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of an assortment of tropical fruits which we try to eat whenever our budget permits. We are now aware of the importance of eating fruit to enjoy a healthy life. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

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Sleepless in Panama City

For the last six months, I’ve been having sleeping problems.  Go to bed, but just won’t sleep.  There I am lying in bed totally awake waiting for the moment to be transported to Morpheus’s world.  Time passes and nothing happens.  Get out of bed and tickle the keys of my computer in an effort to tire myself out and finally go back to sleep.  It doesn’t work.  My eyes get tired of looking at the bright screen, so disconnect the computer to go to the adjacent pitch black living room.

Sit in the living room looking out the windows, but nothing happens.  Nobody is moving outside.  Only the lamppost and a bright light is visible.  Occasionally I see an astray cat jumping to a roof making all kinds of annoying sounds.  Walk through the house like a specter.  Go back to the living room again, tempting to tickle the keyboard, but not nope—my eyes still ached.

After a prolonged period of time, I can see the early lights of dawn.  The early birds start chirping and the roosters begin their daily cacophany.  The night is exhausted and so am I.  Another day with insomnia.  It’s miserable.  The human body was designed to sleep.

Coincidentally during those sleepless nights I read a blog post written by blogger and writer, Richard, about night owls.  I said to myself, this could be related to my sleeping disorder.  I clicked the link and found a YouTube video of a musical group called Vaya Con Dios (Go With God) playing Night Owls.  It’s a terrific piece of music full of rhythm, choreography and wonderful sounds.  Understand the band is a Belgian musical group founded in 1986 by Dani Klein, Dirk Schoufs, and Willy Lambregt (the latter subsequently replaced by Jean-Michel Gielen).   It is one of the most successful Belgian groups ever.  In total, Vaya Con Dios have sold more than 7 million albums and more than 3 million singles.

I have a problem understanding the words in songs, be it in Spanish or English.  Just can’t seem to get all the words.  Maybe a word or two, but not enough to understand what the song is all about.  When I listened to Night Owls, I assumed the lady was signing about people who have some kind of sleeping disorder.  I was wrong.

I’m a curious person, and because I liked the song so much, I decided to search for the lyrics of the song using Google—of course.  I found it, and to my dismay, Night Owls had nothing to do with sleeping problems.  It’s related to the oldest profession of mankind, or should I say womankind.

Below is the YouTube link to listen to this rhythmic song and its lyrics.  You will probably smile after reading the lyrics and placing it in the context of my blog post.

Below are the lyrics of the song.  Here we go.

Night Owls

See all the Night Owls when they gather ‘neath the neon lights.
They’ve been sleeping all day long, now they come alive.
See all the Night Owls when they gather, dressed up to the nines.
They’re out to party and they’ll keep it going ’til the morning light.
Sundown girls are posing coolly, looking so divine.
Trying to excite and mystify.
Sharing juicy secrets ’bout some man to hypnotize.
Merry-making sisters, flashing smiles that hold the sharpness of a knife.

See all the Night Owls when they gather ‘neath the neon lights.
They’ve been sleeping all day long, now they come alive.
See all the Night Owls when they gather, dressed up to the nines.
They’re out to party and they’ll keep it going ’til the morning light.
Heavy Boys are watching from the corner of their eyes.
Talking of some hero’s latest crime.
Then they leave the circle one by one, once in a while
If you want to keep it going, ‘ain’t it time that we all had another line.

See all the Night Owls when they gather ‘neath the neon lights.
They’ve been sleeping all day long, now they come alive.
See all the Night Owls when they gather, dressed up to the nines.
They’re out to party and they’ll keep it going ’til the morning light.
Blue-eyed boy is taking Cinderella for a ride.
Promising a glimpse of paradise.
“Come into my parlor”, says the spider to the fly.
“We’ll fake the game of passion and ward off all the nonsense in our lives”

Til the morning light.

And now you know the other side of the story about sleeping disorders and night owls.  Good Day.

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Children of Panama

Yesterday I went to a nearby clinic of the Social Security system located in Betania to check my blood pressure.  After several examinations, it was determined that I have a chronic high blood pressure that could be controlled with medication.  I’m using Isoptin Retard 120 mg and Aprovel  300 mg on a daily basis.

While I was waiting for my turn, I saw a gorgeous looking baby proudly carried by her mother, who was also waiting to have her blood pressure taken.  Fortunately, I had my Birthday camera with me, so I asked for her permission to take a shot at her enticing child.  She assented and I took the snapshot as fast as I could before she would change her mind.

This is what I saw at the Betania clinic yesterday noon.  Ain’t she cute?

 

Snapshot of a cute little baby and her mother at a Social Security clinic near our house. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

By the way, my blood pressure test was within safe health limits, (e.g., 110/80 mmHg).  It was a most fortunate day.  Good day.

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An Emblematic Building of Panama

One of the most beloved buildings for the Panamanian people is the Santo Tomás Hospital—the hospital of the have-nots. If you are not registered with the Social Security system, and you get sick, there is no where else to go but the Santo Tomás Hospital. Here you will be taken care of. It’s not a first-class hospital, mind you,  but it gets the job done.  Many humble people are alive because of this venerable house of health.

Lately, I’ve been posting photographs of this building in black and white.  Now I’ve changed to color photographs to compare its effect.  After looking at both types of pictures, I’m undecided which I like better.  The color pictures capture the clear blue sky that contrasts beautifully with the white structure of the building.  I like that.

This is how the color pictures of the Santo Tomás Hospital look like.  Here we go.

 

Photograph of the Santo Tomás Hospital located in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

This is what I mean about the contrast of the clear blue sky against the white structure of the building. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

In this picture the blue sky is almost imperceptible, but the whiteness of the building is staggering. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

In the upper section of the building you can see the classical letters HST (Hospital Santo Tomás). Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The white soft-surfaced columns of the building are almost sensual. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Photograph of the impressive facade of the Santo Tomás Hospital in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Photograph of the iconic building under the clear tropical blue sky of Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Another journey through the amazing architecture of Panama is accomplished.  After more than 86 years, this structure is more beautiful than ever.  It makes me very proud to be called a Panamanian.  Good Day.

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Neck Exercises

(Credit: Miss Cellania.com)

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