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Hey hey hey…. I didn’t say anything about defending my government’s irrational behavior!!!! I was just talking about turnips!!!
I appreciate your response Scott, and agree that patience is certainly a virtue in a matter such as this. I also understand the politics and ‘co-operation’ with things like the computers and Intel and such. And I am quite confident that companies like Intel will miraculously have an exemption of some kind available to them in the final version, so I am not worried about them very much.
And, as far as the USA’s IRS taxing $$$ coming and going? I’ll NEVER defend that policy, in fact, I find that to be one of the most UN-American parts of our tax code.
My concern isn’t necessarily with a rational, or actual problem. If it turns out that the building sector has to increase the price of a project by 5-15% to cover the new taxes, then so be it – the customer will have to pay, as always when companies are taxed, and the customer may in fact decide to go north or south to Nicaragua or Panama instead. Rather, I am greatly concerned about the irrational and un-actual.
I am hearing bigger grumblings over this issue than any other, regarding how this might impact my particular future customer base and their feelings (and perceptions rather than realities) when it comes to this tax legislation.
And I am concerned about CR as well. I really do not believe that these methods of taxation work, any more than raising the pressure on the turnip press will get more (or enough) blood from the turnip. I happen to feel that the more nutrients the government feeds the turnip farm by reducing tax strangelholds, the more turnips will grow, yeilding more turnip juice to the government overall.
Highway, schmyway…. forgeddeboudit!!!!!
I am just finishing a wonderful book of email letters written by Martin and Robin Rice who are expats who moved to CR in 2000. They compiled this terriffic book (At Home in Costa Rica – and it’s a must read for anyone considering ownership and moving btw) about their adventures and adventures in just living in the form of these emails home to friends.
In various passages they describe the road between Quepos and Dominical, which is a 40 km MUY IMPORTANTE COMMERCE road, which has the traffic carrying commercial produce from the BIG $$$ GROWERS.
Now, you and I would think that THIS ROAD is pretty important compared to replacing one which already works just fine (the Paragon Super Highway) wouldn’t you???Well the thing is, I consider that stretch of road a ‘right of passage’ kind of roadway challenge – it’s a bitch even for a rental car!!! You haven’t lived until you’ve made this passage in a Suzuki Alto!!!!
Funny thing to me was that in the passage from about 2001, the locals were decrying the condititon of the road by blocking traffic on it, protest style for a few days. The author then supposes (in 2001 remember) that this was a strong display of unity of the people and believes that this road might finally be given the attention it deserves… I chuckled at that point because as of 6 months ago it was in the same exact crappy condidition it was in when the author penned the original – 4 years ago!!!
As I learn more about CR and Costa Rican life, the more I just look at the current conditions and consider that it might be as good as it’ll ever be. It’s easy for me, being an optimist, to see the glass as half full and believe people and the governemnt want to fulfill their promises. It would be easy to get upset over how long things take to get fixed. But, instead of the flip side of seeing the glass as half empty, I am starting to just see a glass with some water in it and accept it for what it is… and be happy that the water is probably safer to drink than what my government calls “safe” coming out of my tap!!!
I may have. It now looks like you are ahead of me in ‘letting go’ of all the normal crap. CONGRATS!!! I guess with what’s left, take it with you!!!! And, Buena Suerte!!!
Peter, The CR phones are on the GSM systems and the USA services which do work in CR are any of them which work on Cingular and/or T-Mobile. These systems work on the same GSM frequencies and will roam there as well as a local’s cell phone will.
Caution here – my Cingular phone has an international feature which I pay an extra $5 per month for, which allows my phone number to follow me and my phone in CR. The problem is though, that the call is still $1.99 per minute, incoming or outgoing, and including checking my voicemail!!!!
My suggestion is this – USE YOUR E-MAIL instead!!!! Everyone has a high speed access point, and it’s essentially free!!! I found that my laptop could find wi-fi spots at about every other block in San Jose, and essentially had similar reception by that method than the cell phones reception anyway.
I think it’s about time too, to look into VOIP. That allows your laptop to act like a phone by making phone calls through the internet… it’s coming soon!
And, when it’s time to sit down and make a few calls, use the phone calling cards!!!! When I use them they come in $5 and $10 increments, and last forever calling around in CR locally, and cost $17 per minute when calling the USA, which beat my cell phone by about a plane ticket in comparison!!!
If you MUST take your phone, leave it off until you need it, or the roaming daily fees are a killer too. I left mine off for three days before I ‘really needed’ it, and saved about $10 per day for a week long trip.
If you need ‘a’ phone, check the car rental companies. Some of them rent phones along with the cars for about $10 per day.
Good luck!
JimJasman – I empathize with your position, but please allow me to share my opinion.
My good friends Neta and Arbel moved to CR with 2 suitcases and 2 legal boxes and a computer. They have lived there for 4 years and only have one regret regarding the quantity of ‘stuff’ they brought…
They said they brought too much stuff!!!
After seeing what they did, I returned home with a new outlook on ‘taking it all with me.’ I started to clear out my bookcases, throwing away, trading into the used bookstore, sharing many of my beloved books with friends, etc. I cleaned out the garage, some closets, etc.
I started to realize that I had so much ‘stuff’ with which I had some kind of emotional attachment, or had kept for some future use and never actually did use.
All of a sudden and within a few weeks I had literally ridded myself of 2/3 of my bookcase volume and had more closet space than ever in my life.
Of the remaining books, some I am skimming, some I am still holding on to, but I know that ultimately I’ll mostly pass them on to someone who wants to acquire more stuff, freeing me up of the clutter!
This mindset is a big switch for me because all my life I have conditioned myself to think that more is better, or more books means I look smarter or someone or such crapola. With things like books I am discovering that it is a terrific gift to give a book away which has given me such enjoyment. Besides, most of them are still available to buy used on Amazon!
BTW, I am talking about books, but really, I am also talking about bicycles, boating equipment, collections of little cars, still working but old appliances like an old VCR and a microwave and even a vaccuum cleaner!!!
With the good stuff, I am about to consult EBAY!!!!
I guess I found that stuff about ‘home being where the heart is’, and such has made me realize that when I make the move to CR I will have very little to take with me, because in CR, everything I need is available there.
My friends Chandler and Anna became ‘perpetual tourists’ about 12 weeks ago, and took with them 4 enourmous checked suitcases and 2 massive carryons. I have visited them in CR since and even they realize now that they ‘overpacked.’ They sent me home with one of their big cases empty, so that if there is anything they need me to bring to them in February I can fill it up for them, but so far, they haven’t sent me any list.
They have found that they pretty much took with them all of their clothes, not knowing what to expect, and only use a small amount of what they took with them.
I have the feeling that I am going to return next time with a full suitcase of their ‘extra’ stuff.
When they got there, they bought a few pieces of furniture they needed and spent less for it than shipping it would’ve cost.
With all this in mind, I look forward to relaxing my mental grip on the ‘clutter’ and within a few years when it is time for us to move full time, my storage unit here will be quite small and the baggage I go with will be quite small.
Good luck if you attempt this ‘new’s years resolution’ style change. All I can say is that I am quite proud of the fact that my weekly garbage pick-up seems to get bigger and bigger. It’s a very liberating feeling every Tuesday morning!!!
