Thread: Renting a room in a house questions

Originally Posted by fleeted

You are 110% correct! It is very tacky (to say the least) to show up on this well established forum and use it to promote another. There are long term posters on this site like Mary at whypanama who also have a blog. She contributes greatly to this forum while keeping her own site in the background. It is no different than myself or other business owners using this site to promote our business in the threads instead of buying advertising on the site. Kind of like the cell phone spammers who show up here once a month an post on every thread.

I've been using forums of all sorts for ages since around 1998 & almost EVERYONE has a signature line & promotes something that's important to them. So what? Why is this such a problem for you? If you don't like it, just don't join, it's really that simple.

If you guys think you are going to lose that many people to someone else's Yahoo group (it's not a forum although it tries to accomplish the same thing) just b/c they have it in their sig, that tells me something about this forum.

I didn't consider it competition at all. There are different people on different forums. I can get one answer here & another some place else. THAT to me is logical & why I cross post, so I can get a cross section of knowledge.


Michelle

Originally Posted by BalaBeacher

Besides, being "nice" all the time is phony and down-right boring. Reing "respectful" even when disagreeing is good. Hey, I've got an idea for a new Yahoo Group!

To me being respectful is being nice. Same side of the coin & that's what I wanted to portray in the group & anyone who read the home page got that.

And I disagree that nice is always boring or phony, although I agree with you that most of the time people are just lapdogs or they don't like any type of disagreement so they agree with everyone, but you can state your pov & STILL do it in a respectful manner.

* That means using the word "I" when speaking & not making it seem like your way is the ONLY way.
* Not putting people down b/c they have a different opinion than you do AND
* not bullying people out in public b/c you don't understand them or you want to cut them down b/c you feel threatened by them.

(my list could go on).

I'm respectful most of the time (I can get nasty when I'm provoked & there's only 2 instances when that happens, but I'm well aware of what triggers me) & I'm far from being boring.


Michelle

Originally Posted by MRWOOHOO

Here's the thing about have a "Nice" forum. No doubt most people here have seen other forums and groups for Panama and we all see how conversations seem to go down hill quite often. To maintain a "Nice" forum you would wind up over moderating it.

I disagree. The other groups I am on are moderated to the point of being a police state, & yet they allow people to be nasty & bully & then they throw out the people who stick up for themselves. Bullies attract bullies, it's really that simple.

My rules are very straight forward. Talk to the person first AWAY from the group. They could just be having a bad day/moment or maybe they just need to be told how their post came across to others.

If it happens again, they have one more chance, still talking to them privately out of respect.

If it happens a 3rd time, they are out of there & no one even needs to know, although the group should be notified so they don't worry.

IMO, it's all a matter of who the owner/moderator is & how well equipped they are to handle conflict within a group setting & what types of personalities they are looking for to be within their group.

We all have differences of opinions, it's a matter of respecting people as a whole & learning how to not get triggered when we don't like something a person says.

If I don't like something someone posts, I try to always ignore it unless it's directed at me & then sometimes I try to ignore it unless it happens over & over again. That's when I feel it's time to stick up for myself as I tend not to play passive well LOL

If what the person is saying is so out there in their post & others have already posted, I tend to just leave it b/c it's overkill. If not I try to state my point of view & it should be obvious I it's just my pov. I also try to make it clear why I disagree. Sometimes I manage that, other times I don't, but at least I try.

Have a good day.


Michelle

Well, I think you are doing okay Michelle. Don't fixate on a few comments. I actually felt your questions were pretty decent and I was looking forward to seeing responses. I'm probably as much surprised as you are with the reaction they generated. I look at some of the Yahoo groups regarding Panama from time to time but find them difficult to navigate whereas this forum works way better for me.

Originally Posted by bicar

Well, I think you are doing okay Michelle. Don't fixate on a few comments. I actually felt your questions were pretty decent and I was looking forward to seeing responses. I'm probably as much surprised as you are with the reaction they generated. I look at some of the Yahoo groups regarding Panama from time to time but find them difficult to navigate whereas this forum works way better for me.

Oh thank you, you are a sweetheart.

It's not just their comments. Trust, me those were tame compared to others. I love Americans

I know, I don't like Yahoo groups either, but you get a ton more answers there as they have over 3,000 members.

I'm a forum gal myself

Wow, it's pouring now & I'm LOVIN IT!!!

Sweet dreams


Michelle

I'm still looking for a room to meet my needs if anyone has some contacts.

A few things:

1. I DID get my deposit back thank gawd. I lost money in the process, but at least I got the majority of it back. I was just scared b/c other people made me scared & that was wrong of me to let that happen. Fear breeds fear plain & simple which is usually why there's so much chaos.

2. Not EVERY place requires a deposit contrary to what someone on here said.

3. So far I haven't found another house that has rooms for rent, so I don't know if they'd charge utilities, but so far no one else (in an apt.) has wanted extra for utilities.

So this tells me there are no hard & fast rules here as some people implied.

Just wanted to update this for the new folk coming to Panama.


Michelle

Originally Posted by sensualspirit

I'm still looking for a room to meet my needs if anyone has some contacts.

A few things:

1. I DID get my deposit back thank gawd. I lost money in the process, but at least I got the majority of it back. I was just scared b/c other people made me scared & that was wrong of me to let that happen. Fear breeds fear plain & simple which is usually why there's so much chaos.

2. Not EVERY place requires a deposit contrary to what someone on here said.

3. So far I haven't found another house that has rooms for rent, so I don't know if they'd charge utilities, but so far no one else (in an apt.) has wanted extra for utilities.

So this tells me there are no hard & fast rules here as some people implied.

Just wanted to update this for the new folk coming to Panama.


Michelle

So where have you decided to settle?

For now PC. I've ruled out El Valle as I was just there on Sunday, Monday & Tues.

Not as great as I thought it would be, electrical outages & tons of rain (more than PC).

Loved some of the produce I ate though, have to figure out how to get that to me here LOL


Michelle

Originally Posted by sensualspirit

For now PC. I've ruled out El Valle as I was just there on Sunday, Monday & Tues.

Not as great as I thought it would be, electrical outages & tons of rain (more than PC).

Loved some of the produce I ate though, have to figure out how to get that to me here LOL


Michelle

Michelle, for cheap and good and fresh produce in Panama, go to Curundu.
We go there once a week or fortnight, and lug tons back.

Hi there,

Is that the HUGE produce docking station or something else?

Where does the produce come from, or is it shipped in from all over?

Trying to get that produce from the mountains in El Valle - well.... I can hope

Thanks


Michelle

Any chance you know where I can get brown omega 3 eggs that are fresh?

Even the organic ones from Organica don't taste anywhere near what I'm used to back in Canada. Very surprising.


Michelle

Michelle, I don't know where the fruits and veg from Curundu are from. I am guessing from all over Panama.
Do go take a look. Stacks and stracks of stuff there. It's a wholesale supplier, you see Riba Smith trucks go there and get their stuff.
As for organic stuff, I don't take much of them. Actually, I would think farming in Panama is generally smaller scale (well, compared to US) and low-tech business, so the produce is probably free of high-tech toxins and GMO stuff. I may be wrong, but I think there is less reason for me to go organic in Panama.

I heard the opposite. Conflicting & if that's where Riba gets their stuff, sorry, not my flavor. Their produce has no taste IMO.

Thanks anyway


Michelle

I don't know where Riba gets all its stuff from, but I do see Riba's trucks in and out of Curnudu. Riba may have other sources in addition. Riba does stock imported versions (that looks like Walmart stuff), if anyone is interested.
To be honest, Curundu is not for the uninitiated. It is a sprawling open air market in a not-do-good part of town. Now that we've got the hang of it, we buy in bulk (eg, a sack of 40 huge mangoes for $5) and give away to friends.

Yeh I heard the trucks cause some traffic.

I can't remember where someone said there's a market where the farmers bring in their produce from El Valle, etc.

I have to find out where that is.

I may have found someone who will create Omega 3 eggs for me. I'm sooo excited. LOL

$5 for mangoes? LOL wow. The organic ones I just got from El Valle were VERY good. I had one when they were coming off the tree.

I gave some to the woman renting me the room b/c there was no way I could eat 15 mangoes. She offered some to her cleaning lady, I went to go get one tonight & they were ALL GONE. I guess I have to learn that sometimes being nice means I won't get some for me


Michelle