[pharg]

Don’t take your attitude (US style) for granted in Costa Rica, things work completely different in the Pura Vida land.
Warren[/quote]

Completely different, indeed. Another reason to like C.R. is the lack of litiginous people and lawyers. I am reminded of the tendency to ‘sue first, think later’ when I look at some of the dumb warnings I see on products sold in the U.S., that were inspired by fear of lawsuits. The top 25 dumb labels can be dug out of http://www.forbes.com and include these beauties:

The 2010 winner: the Jabra Drive ‘N’ Talk, a Bluetooth speakerphone accessory for cell phones to be used in the car. The Drive ‘N’ Talk carries this contradictory warning label: “Never operate your speakerphone while driving.” (So should it just be called the “Talk”?)

The 2009 winner was far less confusing, if totally unnecessary: A small tractor, made by New Holland, bore the admonition “Avoid Death.”

Here are some other doozies, found over the last four years:

Label: May cause drowsiness.
Product: Nytol sleeping pills.

Label: This product may contain nuts.
Product: Peanut M&Ms.

Label: Do not use while sleeping.
Product: Vidal Sassoon hair dryer

Label: The Vanishing Fabric Marker should not be used as a writing instrument for signing checks or any legal documents.
Product: W.H. Collins’ Vanishing Fabric Markers

Label: This product is not intended for use as a dental drill
Product: DremelMultipro’s rotary tools

Label: This product moves when used.
Product: Razor scooter

Label (on website): Do not eat.
Product: Apple’s iPod shuffle

Solid advice, always.

[pharg]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]…… one shouldn’t jump to conclusions not based on fact.

David-
Your opinions are grist for the mill, of course. However, as I pointed out, these were my perceptions, not my conclusions, and I welcome the input of those more knowledgeable in these areas than I.
pharg

[pharg]

David-
I spun out a detailed response to your 10:54AM email, but it never appeared, so the forum may have timed out on me before it was sent. I’ll try to reconstruct from memory [always risky]
You wrote:
“Well, what are those examples that are making you nervous? And what is the source of them?
[snip]
But please, tell us specifically what’s on your mind.”

So, I have a number of perceptions based on personal experience and what I see in blogs, websites, and emails. Taken together my perceptions may range from “probably accurate” to “plausible” to “absurd”. If mine are wrong, I’m open to enlightenment. Examples:
1. Violent crime {against NON-TICOS} is increasing (I have seen Scott’s January summary of national crime data for 2010, but it doesn’t distinguish between Ticos and “wealthy gringo” targets;
2. Some of the major reasons for this are the expansion of thuggery associated with the drug trade, and also the 30 year influx of Nicos, some of which are unemployed and unemployable, and illegal [this is not a blanket bigoted statement – when I lived in C.R., I knew [u]many[/u] estimable Nicos and surely the same is true now];
3. The effectiveness of law enforcement is decreasing [for a variety of reasons];
4. The U.S. government is increasing its intrusion into the lives of expats [in part this can happen only via international agreements – banking is one example];
5. The cost of living is rising faster than the inflation rate, making C.R. not quite the bargain it was [this may be easy to disprove, but I am unable to do so];
6. Bureaucracy, bureaucracy, bureaucracy. [I agree that in C.R. the bureaucracy may be “just different”, but there seems to be less accountability for the maddening aspects of the day-to-day bureaucracy. Differences in language are not part of it. It’s more like a lack of simple logic in day-to-day problem solving resulting in a waste of time and effort for all involved. Perhaps I need a bureaucracy vaccination to immunize myself. I also spent a career dealing with public and private bureaucrats. Many of them are afflicted with various combinations of ignorance, disaffection, and apathy. Your tagline from Krugman is operative here.]

Much as I appreciate your comments, I’m hoping it doesn’t remain a dialogue.
Pharg

[pharg]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]
Too, while the roads, the public and private bureaucracy, etc are not up to our preferences, they’re really not that bad. And while the government is not whoring after foreigners as residents, they’re hardly throwing up major obstacles either. What are the concrete examples that you’re concerned about?[/quote]

David,
Well, that’s one of the tidbits of info I’m interested in – Are there concrete examples, or is it just bad press?
Some of the recent regs seem discouraging to gringo relocation. Whether they turn out to be major or minor is all about perception, of course. Ditto, crime [are those stats online?].
The roads are not a big deal to me. Over the years of my visits, three things stand out: dropping a suspension in a pothole while swerving to avoid a cow in the road at night (Siquirres); rounding a sharp curve in the mountains on the [old] road to Puntarenas and seeing cars & a bus at the bottom of the cliff, that didn’t quite make the curve; and backing inextricably into an open drain near Quepos, and having four nearby Ticos who [when the laughing subsided] lifted the back end out of the drain for me.
I suppose the exasperating bureaucracy can be easier dealt with if one has the companionship of knowledgeable Ticos or the paid-for skills of a connected lawyer.

[pharg]

[quote=”Scott”]
IMHO – There’s more “certainty” and stability in the Costa Rican real estate market, the Costa Rican economy and the overall political situation than there is in the USA.
Scott[/quote]

This thread inspired me to ask for comments and observations from the list on a related source of uncertainty for the many gringos who are contemplating moving to C.R.: a perceived deterioration of the advantages that many of you pensionados & residents came for. I bet there are many lurkers who are thinking about a translocation but hesitate for the usual reasons of uncertainty. So, I’m not looking for an answer to “Should I move to C.R.?” but rather, have the advantages you came for changed for better or worse.
I lived in C.R. (in Cinco Esquinas de Tibas) for a large part of 1979 and have visited maybe a dozen times since, most recently last May. I believe my perception of C.R. life for extraneros is correct: it’s going from great to OK to not so good.
The same is clearly true in the U.S. of course. We have had a total ignoramus (or is it ignorama?) as a v.p. candidate, and this morning I saw that Donald Trump is thinking about a presidential bid. How bad can it get. Further deterioration in U.S. political, economic, and social life is a valid reason to depart (as I see a long time contributor here did, after the ’04 presidential election).
As I read the many laudatory testimonials in this forum and elsewhere, I am almost ready to pack my bags. But then I start reading A.M. Costa Rica and its focus on criminality, not to mention misguided letters from readers, and I’m thinking “wait a sec – things sound pretty bad there”. I accept that bad roads [but better than in the past],stifling bureaucracy, and petty crime are pretty much a given. But the uptick in major crime, and the seeming decrease in “welcomeness” to gringos at the official government level, in the form of new laws and regulations, seems contrary to the Pura Vida spirit.
I [and probably other lurkers] would really like to hear how people feel about this.:?:

[pharg]

[quote=”jtd2″][quote=”DavidCMurray”]Okay then, what was Puff the Magic Dragon about?[/quote]
David, I think it is about the “loss of innocence”[/quote]

One of the more entertaining aspects of this forum [and thread] is how seamlessly the threads change. Example: this thread has gone from Tico fruit trees to the philosophical underpinnings of Puff the Magic Dragon.

As Spock would say, “fascinating”

[pharg]

Maybe there’s an eharmony.com or chemistry.com for fruit trees. Just be careful. In Costa Rica, prostitution is legal but pimping is not. Who knows what the risks might be in pimping a tree . . .[/quote]

So here’s a tie between bananas, prostitution, and inevitable STDs. Australian banana plantations have been pretty much destroyed by a fungus disease called ‘Tropical Race Four’ thst kills the trees. Nearly all of the world’s exported bananas [including Tico-nanas] are the ‘Cavendish’ variety, which is particularly susceptible to TR-4. It’s only a matter of time before TR-4 joins the mix of banana diseases in C.R. As I understand it, scientists are trying to produce a genetically modified Cavendish that will resist TR-4 :twisted:[/quote]

I should have added that Cavendish bananas are sterile, which is why they don’t develop resistance to TR-4. http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Banana
[DISCLAIMER: I am not a Bananascientist, though I may play one on TV]

[pharg]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]So if I’ve got this right, Bob, what you’re trying to do is to find a date for a tree? Well, that’s a new one on me! Have you considered looking online?

Maybe there’s an eharmony.com or chemistry.com for fruit trees. Just be careful. In Costa Rica, prostitution is legal but pimping is not. Who knows what the risks might be in pimping a tree . . .[/quote]

So here’s a tie between bananas, prostitution, and inevitable STDs. Australian banana plantations have been pretty much destroyed by a fungus disease called ‘Tropical Race Four’ thst kills the trees. Nearly all of the world’s exported bananas [including Tico-nanas] are the ‘Cavendish’ variety, which is particularly susceptible to TR-4. It’s only a matter of time before TR-4 joins the mix of banana diseases in C.R. As I understand it, scientists are trying to produce a genetically modified Cavendish that will resist TR-4 😈

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