Our Man in Antigua

where to start?  in no particular order/ordure, there was Fuego going off…Adolfo our ex-Mayor hauled off in handcuffs (his Treasurer walked this week, copped a plea) John McAfee, John Wilbur’s case cleaned up, Riki’s et al closed…Braulios et cetera…Caffe Bourbon now under new ownership (whew!), the Antigua City Bus Tour went up, under and now is under new ownership, Rich Neel turned me on to the auto races(and spandex babes)at the Cofino Autodrome, Ignacio our Cuban musician lost a section his leg (diabetes), Panza Verde fired their best ever manager, Gabi Altman…(dumb), Jim Durham turned me on to the Finca Fabulosa, Carmen gave me the best haircuts/pedicures, David of Frener Printers picked up the slack when the container ship went bad, Michael Rayment turned me on to Gabapentina for nerve pain, Wil aka Fred of http://www.wilgetyouin.com turned me on to Sophos, the biggest bookstore in the City, Yahoo lost passwords, which made me change every F%$#@! password..a good thing, in retrospect…20 different passwords? yep…and thanks, Larry,  for the carpenter who has now made 30 of the book holders and thanks to all the (30 or so)merchants in town who carry Our Man in Antigua…and for running out/low, just when I have five left til next month…thanks to my landlady, Sara, who encouraged me to take on  the IRS…yes! victory! $$$ yes!…a special tip of the dirty panama to three people who I think are true local heroes…Phillip Wilson of EcoFiltro, Joe Collins of Houses to Homes(currently getting more chemotherapy in the States..might not return, alas)and Franklin Voorhees of AsGreenasitGets…org..these folks do it personally…and do it very well.

thanks to Amazon.com and the folks who gave me great reviews…Europe? who knew? India, Brazil, Japan and Canada? thanks to Smashwords.com and Mark Coker for his inspiration..a year ago I was panicking..no $ and no idea about what to do next or how to do it..

and to the unsung heroes of the local American Legion Post: they’re sponsoring kids/young adults in school, feeding kids in school,  providing free water filters, helping vets and/or their widows get pensions…it’s $$, folks, action and caring…and not much gets mentioned, which is why I’m proud to be a member..and no, sweetheart..we’re not getting married so that my pension goes to you…got it?…if you’re not already doing anything for Christmas Dinner, tomorrow at 2pm, the Jardin Bavaria/Legion is doing turkey, etc…100q or a bit more…I forget..7th avenida norte..I’m doing up the last shipment of Bull Durhams’ xlnt pork chops on the bbq…alas…that enterprise has bit the dust..all hail the Chop! 

oops…’forgot to mention the La Casbah Meltdown/Revival…some serious $$ were invested/lost/churned (I’ve been told but since one of the parties involved previously asked me not to write about it/them and refrain from ‘scandalous babble’ , I’m not..) another ‘only in Antigua’ kinda story…and where’s Ponzi Bob?