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You are absolutely right GT. If Costa Rica did not want the perpetual tourist, the minimum out of country stay would be considerably more then 72 hours, with two borders not being more than a few hours away.
Though as someone once said, Costa Rica is the land of the wanted, and unwanted.By the way, how’s my spelling, syntax and grammar? LOL
Lotus, We use Taca direct from their website as well to SJO, and the fare is always lower than Orbitz or Travelocity. Taca has flights even when those travel sites say there are no flights available for the day you want to travel.
Lately it seems the direct flights are fewer in number though, or are flying on different schedules than last year.Costa Rica is not paradise lost. You just have to approach your expectations in a realistic way. We fell in love with Costa Rica, and we too have gotten upset by some of the things we have read or seen recently. We want it to be an undiscovered paradise made just for us exclusively. Such is not the case. Costa Rica is like all other places on earth. It is inhabited by people. For the most part fine and wonderful people. But the few that are bad, make the headlines and cause us distress.
If you look at Costa Rica through your own eyes and not rose colored glasses, you will be able to determine for yourselves whether or not you will want to spend the rest of your lives there.
The more time you can spend there, the clearer your answers should get.ScottB, I think people are basically trusting and honest. They expect they will get treated as they would treat others. Throw in a little GREED and FEAR in the mix, and the apples become ripe for the picking by unscrupulous developers.
No need to be sorry ScottB. You confirmed what I was thinking all along. The real world, is still the real world.
It amazes me also when I hear this. And these appear to be educated people. What in the world are they thinking about when buying in another country without seeing the property or investigating their legal rights. This borders on “rapture of the deep”, for you diving fans. We all love Costa Rica, but this has to be insane. No one in their right mind would do this at home. Do they think this is paradise or nirvana and it is impossible to get ripped off? Everytime I see it I’m as shocked as Scott. And by the way, when I buy a new refrigerator, I check out consumer reports and actually look at the appliance before I buy… Just common sense.
Caveat Emptor!
David, I was talking to my neighbor about this a few hours ago. He said the town told him an acre of land was required before installing a wind generator. Not sure why, unless the height needed for the tower would allow the generator to land on your own property if it fell. So maybe it is a property consideration more than an eyesore one.
In lower Westchester county in NY, I owned a business and was looking to go into the satellite dish business in the 1980’s. All the dishes then were 8-12 feet in diameter. The village I was in told me I had to file a hardship grievance to install one on the roof of the business because they considered them eyesores. Also Residential installation was under the same restriction. The only person who had ever gotten one was a ship owner who had to stay in touch with ships at sea. I don’t know how he was able to communicate with his ships but I’ll bet he got his television channels. I decided to shy away from that business and in a few months all the signals were scrambled and that industry was gone over night. Now with 18 and 24 inch dishes, the industry has gone from mom and pop, to big business. Much like most of the other businesses in the US.
The small independent merchant is disappearing in the US. Big box stores, costly regulation compliance and other restrictions are changing the way we work and do business here. The simpler times are vanishing and we seem to be putting ourselves into the pressure cooker… But that’s a discussion for another day.I’m glad your power outages have stopped. I was beginning to get a little worried that by the time we got there the only way to get electricity at our house would be to self generate.
Still, I think this whole power outage thing is a little suspicious. Something just doesn’t smell right. Hopefully someone will get to the bottom of it.
David, Just so you know, I have not installed a solar or wind unit on my house. These statements I made were about experiences other people had. One was my neighbor. Also about 20 years ago in the same county, my cousin mounted a solar hot water panel on his roof and it was spotted by the assessor. He was told to remove it or the property tax increase was $2000. Last year my neighbor was told the same $2000 for a solar panel or wind generator. The wind generator would have required town approval, as it could be deemed an eyesore.
So I guess the standard assessment is 2k for trying to save either the cost of energy or the environment.David, If this is a capital improvement to the home, how come the tax is $2000 uniformly for any house it is put on? Regardless of the price paid for the system. It is a tax being used as a deterent. It is the NYSEG (power company’s) deal with the legislature that brought this about. Remember some other people’s posts about government…”I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.” OOOOhhhhhhhh Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!
About the notice of the reservoirs being full now so the rolling blackouts can be eliminated. I read, and I’m sure many others did, the amount of rainfall in the past few days was under an inch and not even in the areas that would feed the reservoir. I think some one from the ICE, or the government, has been pulling your pierna(leg).
Beats me too. I hope I did not confuse anyone, but the surcharge is on the town taxes on your home. I guess writing them off gives you a little help every year but it cannot make up for the fact you are charged the two grand annually to begin with. I’m just assuming the solar panel state credit is a one time credit on your taxes.
This law was still in effect less than a year ago when my neighbor called the town about it. The odd thing is it is a $2000 flat fee tax. It apparently does not matter how large the system or how much energy you generate.
Like I said before, maybe if enough people want to install these systems, the law will be challenged. I can’t see how in this day and age it still flies.Peg, It is NYS electric and gas, in upstate NY. But it is the government, not the utility that gets the tax surcharge. In essence it’s the same thing. You don’t want the surcharge, so you don’t get the solar panels. The utility still benefits.
They do indeed charge this tax, Peg. And it is per annum. I don’t think anyone has challenged it yet. I believe it is ridiculous to even have considered a law like this in the first place. But I guess it was a payback for the power company providing the infrastructure here. I’m sure it will get eliminated, once enough people want to try solar or wind power to supplement their energy needs.
