MY FINAL WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY

Yesterday (Wed.) I did the Alto Lino loop with my Panama Pals. We did the usual 5.3 miles and then went to Basar’s for lunch. I’ve been hearing about this place since I first arrived. I was supposed to go with Betty one night, but I think it was right after her accident, so we didn’t do it. It is now one of my favorite restaurants in Boquete. The owner’s name is Ofir. He is Israeli. I believe this is his first restaurant. It’s a little bit out of town on a difficult road, but Barbara’ ‘s a trooper. If she were in the military, she would have driven a tank.

The way this group lunch/dinner works is that you just let Ofir know how many are in your party, and he makes all the Middle Eastern basics – to perfection! Everything is incredibly fresh and flavorful: chicken shwarma; hummus; babaganoush; tabbouleh; shredded carrot salad; falafel; a mixed red onion/garbanzo/tomato salad; and pita bread. The dessert was baklava, and peanuts coated in vanilla or chocolate. And the wine wasn’t bad either.

We hung out in Debra’s apartment for a while after lunch, and then Barbara dropped me off at the Stone Cabins, where I met The Gang for their usual Wednesday night drumming. I usually don’t go because of the transportation issue, but I decided to attend for one last goodbye. I was happy that Gloria showed up. It was the first opportunity I had to sit and talk to her.

She’s been through a bit of hell in the past year. She had to go home last year because of heart issues. She ended up having surgery. She recuperated well, but just before she returned to Boquete, she discovered that the tenets in her house didn’t want to leave. They even changed the locks! They also made some changes inside the house. Unbelievable. She finally got them out, but also discovered that her former handyman had not been keeping up her payments on things, as instructed, and was instead pocketing the money – apparently because he had a sick wife.

Gloria sounded happier last night. She now has a 78-year-old man living in the apartment that I used to live in. They have an agreement that he will keep up with the maintenance and management of her house and apartment in exchange for reduced rent. He also drives her wherever she needs to go. Sounds good so far. I hope it continues to work out. Gloria said she plans to continue making the trip back and forth from Boquete to her home in Vinalhaven, Maine until she is 80. So she has two more years. She’s a very strong woman.

As I was leaving Stone Cabins to catch a taxi home, I realized that I left my keys in Barbara’s car. Luckily, my neighbor, Valerie was home and let me in the gate. This morning, I sent Barbara a text letting her know that I left my keys in her car. She said she would be right over after her hike with a new neighbor, Liz. Of course, she came immediately, but we then discovered that my keys were not in her car. I know that I dropped them into the little cup by the door handle. Not there.

I told Barbara that I would look for them later. Right now I wanted to get to the library for Mark Heyer’s presentation on AI. So I handed my backpack over the top of the gate to Barbara, and I climbed up the cement garbage structure on the side of the gate. It was a little tough because, on the very top of the wall, metal spikes were sticking up. I managed to squeeze my butt between two of the spikes, swung my other leg over, and Liz and Barbara helped lower me to the ground. I can just hear Dan’s voice if he ever witnessed that scene! And I certainly hope Linda doesn’t hear about it. Jerry – mum’s the word. Although Valerie may tell her. Or, she may hear it from the young Ngöbe woman who was eyeing us suspiciously from the road, even though Barbara tried to explain to her that I live here. I never know if Ngöbe understand Spanish, especially Barbara’s…:). I guess I’ll just have to deal with it.

Mark Heyer’s presentation on AI was mind-blowing. I always knew him as “the computer guy” in Boquete. I had no idea of his extensive background. He started working for Sony in 1980. They didn’t even know what to tell him to do, so he winged it. He also worked on the first prototype of the iPad and has given talks at schools like Harvard and Yale. He is very excited about AI and is a well-organized and stimulating speaker.

The things Mark spoke about are all things that Ray Kurzweil has been forecasting for many years in his books like The Singularity is Near and The Age of Spiritual Machines, and now they are coming to fruition.

This is an excellent video that encapsulates what Mark was presenting. This has all happened in the past two weeks since NVIDIA introduced what is called the Jetson Thor computer, which will run robots. Truly amazing.

One of the most fascinating predictions of this technology is that eventually companies will be saving and making so much money by using robots instead of humans, that they will pay the humans to stay home. I think that this is what is being called guaranteed universal income. I asked Mark what the incentive would be for companies to do this, and he said that there would likely be legislation created that would require companies to do so And companies will be so wealthy that they will comply. What a change in our economy.

Also, humans will be able to communicate with animals!

After my visit to the library, I went to Glow Up for a pedicure. I’m ready for spring in Wisconsin.

Long story short on the keys: After bugging everyone – including Barb searching Debra’s apartment, Debra calling Orif to see if I left them on the table, and Barbara and Murray again scouring Barbara’s truck, I discovered them in the bottom of my larger backpack as I was unpacking some groceries. I was looking for them in my smaller pack, thinking I was using that yesterday. Oh well. All’s well that ends well. I hope it’s ended.