[smekuly]

2bncr

Hey after reading your posts I realized you basically took all the words out of my mouth 😀

let me know about chile

good and valid points

costa rica still has alot to offer

we buy all our fruits and veggies from the local feria we just went this weekend and filled a big cart all for $20 bucxs

I have an unlimited fresh water supply and it cost me ZERO

my property taxes are about $350 per year and Its a large property

Cell phone incoming is all free LOL back home you pay either way…

wed movies are 2 for 1

the women here are still hot latinas and SEX is readily available since its very liberal here. and I love these latinas

The weather here is great..

medical is reasonable I just had my appendix taken out and stayed at the clinica private hospital and cost me $3000.. back home this would have hit me for $15 boxes of macaroni.

I could list alot of benefits..

I do feel sorry for those poor souls still living in the U.S.

here is another new law thats in the works
http://uswgo.com/protect-ip-act-threatens-the-internet-blogs-that-tell-the-truth-site-operators.htm

soon you won’t be able to take a shit without breaking some sort of law. 😀

[smekuly]

[quote=”Scott”]I only own one car but certainly have it in the name of a corporation…

If I had two cars I would certainly have each of them owned by a different corporation.

It’s just one of the insane games we have to play if we want to protect our assets…

Scott[/quote]

scott

that strategy will soon cost you and additional $300 per year per S.A.

[smekuly]

you guys make a valid point.. BUT on the other side of the coin we all have to make reach our own conclusions regarding the way we interpret information and the world around us.

if you personally have never been exposed to crime here does this mean there is no crime problem??

example:

if you go back through the history of this forum and evaluate every thread related to someone that makes a statement negative about costa rica like. “Crime is surely on the rise here” or ” I do not feel safe here in costa rica” etc etc

you will find our beloved host Scott Oliver counter with figures and facts stating how much more the U.S. is dangerous or comparing many times apples to oranges in my humble opinion how in comparison the US is more dangerous.. ETC ETC

does this mean that crime is not escalating here?????

so I guess my point is what is the truth??.. and I think the truth will be different to different people based on your internal map of experiences and the way you see the world.

which is why these types of forums exist.. to develop a place where like minded people come together and share thier own version of reality.

So Scott here are a few bits and pieces of my reality:

1. Crime in Costa Rica has dramatically: why???? only the shadow knows..lol but in my little world I would have to state that ONE of the reasons is that CRIME here is good economic business.

2. The cost of Living has also risen. so now between the cost of living in CR and the change in the economic scene in the U.S. . they are becoming very similar. hence lose the leverage living here without good infrastructure.

3. the few little economic perks left here are FERIAS and the low TAX bite on property, and such.. but this will also change…

they are trying to pass the $300 per year tax on all S.A. .. which sucks in my opinion.. but such is life.

the days are gone when you can drive and make an error by going into san jose and the wrong placa day.. and pay a small $20 fine… now its $80 bucks

if you talk on the phone which I do NOT do and get whacked with $400 fine. ( more than any US city)

I want to state for a fact that I believe costa rica is still the best bang for the buck.. [b]in this moment in time[/b][u][/u].. but I also believe this will change in the near future

the biggest plus that will help costa rica ( again in my opinion) is that you can still get fresh food and water here. and the soil is so rich that one does not need to have super green thumb to grow stuff here. combine this with a great living climate. I think we are good.

steve

PS. where else can you go???? I dunno.. wouldn’t it be ironic that Cuba develops into one of the new emerging places to be in.

[smekuly]

[quote=”costaricafinca”]If you are a member of ARCR, http://www.arcr.net/, for which you pay an annual fee, you will be charged approx.n $45 or approx. $55 if you are under 55, so then you pay towards a small pension.
If you ‘go it alone’ it will depend on your income, so it could be $30-$150 per month or even more
You must be a legal resident to join CAJA.[/quote]

i pay 14000 $28 per month for me.. why because truthfully its a waste of time so i just pay the min since i would not trust the caja. its a great idea but is a broken system.

better off going to a decent place like metropolitana hosp.. good service and reasonably priced.

[smekuly]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]smekuly, you wrote, “yet…all the fast food places here are always busy and the malls.. i dont quiet understand this since mcdonalds burger king wendys.. are NOT cheap here by all standards”

Well, the explanation is simple. It’s a matter of a disproportionate distribution of wealth and income within the society. The good news, if there is any, is that it’s much, much worse in the U.S. I’m not suggesting that everyone should live at the same level or that folks shouldn’t benefit from their labors and creativity, but something’s gotta give. When one in six persons in the U.S., with all its wealth, is chronically undernourished, something is askew.[/quote]

David

when you say disproportionate distribution of wealth..can you clarify please because i may be reading into that statement incorrectly…

in all societies you will have a disproportionate amount of wealth to some extent.

its called the 80/20 rule paretos principle.

me being a foreigner i came to this country without any wealth and in 8 years did very well for myself here. but i also understand that no one is coming to the rescue so its all up to me.

i find here in this country.. the ticos’s expectation of entitlement is very strong here.

expecting the government to provide it to them. not to say ticos here are lazy but they are activity based instead of results based. how else can you explain the road construction here where they keep having to the work over and over again..

the caldera highway.. cmon…. i mean i can understand if it was me who built that thing but.. folks please..

they can start the morning with a dash and keep that stride, and run around all day and wind up the same point where they began.. without accomplishing anything.. while saying.. [b]wow[/b] what a productive day..:D

while the large percentage of affluent ticos are indeed self driven to excel and they usually succeed. so i think its all these are just general observations from the last 10 years starting and selling businesses here.

who has the answers??? I sure don’t but i do believe in that saying.. if you give aman a fish you feed him for the day if you teach him how to fish you feed him for life.

you have more and more opportunity here and now than i believe the history of costa rica.. you just have to have an open mind to learn new things and be sensitive to the enviroment.

the opportunities in the tech field alone is tremendousness with new skills you can always do well

i can list here 10 new opportunities right here and now that if you immerse yourself 30 days from now you can get a job almost right away.

sorry for the ramble and if anyones is interested in some of my recommendations providing scott allows me i will write an article and post it.

sorry for the ramble

steve
ps. has anyone seen my aguinaldo :D:D:D:D:D:D

[smekuly]

[quote=”Scott”]Cuba would not be our plan ‘B’

I’m not remotely concerned about the Cubans but I would be concerned about possible actions that could be taken by the empire against Cuba.

My girlfriend is from Guatemala but although I love Antigua, there’s a palbable fear in the air in the city which is bordering on frightening.

Scott[/quote]

so what would be plan B???? although costa rica is still the best option overall in my opinion. things are beginning to heat up with price here and it affecting the basic canasta. meaning more and more lower income people will have to make decisions.

my full time employee has been with me for a variety of years. and this past year he did not have enough money to cover his basic food costs so i bumped his salary up. but now i am alittle more aware of what I am paying him and in a few years I may have to let him go and have someone only 1 or 3 days a week.

yet…all the fast food places here are always busy and the malls.. i dont quiet understand this since mcdonalds burger king wendys.. are NOT cheap here by all standards

i mean for the same price at mc donalds I can go have a meal at princess marina with seafood rice.. etc

crazy here..

thank goodness for the ferias and the low property taxes..

[smekuly]

[quote=”Scott”]That’s not fair Sprite! They’re only lying when their lips move…

A friend sent me this rather apt quote below recently about the government…

“Relying 100% on the system that they control for the essentials in your life – your food, your water, your energy, your safety, your livelihood, your savings – is a recipe for disaster. It’s like letting a known sicko pedophile babysit your kids, or giving a serial burglar the keys to drop in on your house while you’re on vacation.”

Scott[/quote]

scott

excellent quote.. I am a little nervous because you seem to be selling off everything.. are you moving to cuba???

[smekuly]

[quote=”sprite”][quote=”majicmerlin4″]hey,
did your hear about area 51? The Govt. is covering up a space ship since the year……[/quote]

I guess each of us has to decide which conspiracy theories have a higher probability of being true. For my part,[b] anything the government or the corporate media tells us is a lie[/b].[/quote]

absolutely!!! its embarrassing how many lies. and it’s really sad how far apart are the words in relation to thier actions.

I truly believe we would be better off if no one spoke only by thier actions. ( of course this is not possible.) but I myself tend to not listen to the words only by the actions they take.

I was telling my step daugther who’s biological father is a deadbeat.. and never help her with anything except te amo mi amor… lol

Its always best to never let words stand on thier own but they need to work hand in hand with thier actions..

[smekuly]

I say we all move in with scott

[smekuly]

[quote=”bogino”]Yeah…..And George Bush engineered the 09/11 attacks. Matter of fact…he piloted one of the planes himself but secretly parachuted out just in time…BLAH…BLAH….BLAH….[/quote]

bogino

truthfully that statement reveals a common trait among the simply close minded. ignorance

i think winston churchill said once. truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it but in the end there it is.

what ever you believe to be true of 9/11 it does not take a really smart person to see that all the facts are not there and there are many inconsistencies.

enough to warrant further study or conclusions different than the original.

steve

[smekuly]

[quote=”smekuly”]integrity!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀

now thats a word that seems foreign in the news generally.[/quote]

just watched the movie “ïnside Job” truly amazing what kind of society we live..

[smekuly]

integrity!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀

now thats a word that seems foreign in the news generally.

by the way insidecostarica is not an editorial site.. all it is is a site that translates various Spanish pieces together with a once in a while opinion piece by its owner and contributors.. with its sole purposes of generating adsense revenue. this site is more editorial than insidecostarica 😀

[smekuly]

paul
thanks.. seems like the line with editorials and opinions seems to blend on a consistent basis. at least this is what I am seeing lately.

[smekuly]

scott

thank you for your reply. your bring up some good points but superficially. why?

because you also have to factor in liquidity and what market you are talking about.

for example and I am just making this up as I go.

you seem to be attempting to sell your mountain house and I do NOT know if its sold yet or not but if it sat on the market for a long time and I came to you and said scott I can sell your house tomorrow with a cash offer to my inhouse list because I have a website that specializes in exactly the niche type of mountain house. but unfortunetly my commission will be 10%.

now you at this point depending on your market situation will make a decision either yes.. or no.

if you say yes and take the deal and pay me more commission then i provided you a service and I would have no problem sleeping at night.

because i did all the work to build my website and specialized list. the credibility to my list.

just like you do with this site.

am I just crazy..

again some people may willingly pay the extra 5% to move the house in an otherwise NON liquid market.. while others who are in better shape financially may just say no to the deal and will just sit on it.

[smekuly]

scott

i am always amazed at your skewed viewpoint although i find it amusing at times. but you make a statement below would not be able to sleep at night if you made 10%

what % is deemed ok and who defines that?? i mean if you touted a legit fund and it made 20% would you then not take it because 20% was too much for you.. so if it was 10% you would sleep good

how silly does that sound

If I could have earned 10% – although I couldn’t sleep at night if I did – on all the real estate sales I’ve been a part of over the last seven years it would be a REALLY big number…

Scott[/quote]

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