Puerto Rico

pheller said:

Alfa, would you buy property down there? I know before you said it's maybe not the best place for health care, but what about for younger folks taking a few years long sabatical?

No.  But that it very twinged with your point about younger v older.  We are older, and very close to retirement, and having dealt with the laws and traditions- they are odd and complicated to deal with for sickness and death.  (hangover from the Spanish rule, as it turns out).

We are actually half owners of their home- as the rules mean that property passes onto the children and not the spouse.  I think it will get sold pretty quickly.

That being said, IF I were to get a home, and was young and adventurous- I would live somewhere in the mountains.  It does not take a lot of altitude to go from 90F to 70F even on a mid summer day.  People are super creative about living "off grid"- and IMHO, it would be pretty easy to do that- as you can find areas that get a lot of sun, there's always wind, and the ground is fertile.  Heck, you can even grow your own coffee.  It's worth a two week trip to drive around to see what the island is about- from the very, very rugged mountains, to the wet plains of the north and dry plains to the south, and all the beaches.  I totally get the fantasy of wanting to live there.  But that fantasy has passed us by.

(My wife has gone from growing up in constant 80-90F w/o A/C to loving cold weather, including running when it's below 0F)

Just saw some news that a German power company is planning on going down to Puerto Rico and help rebuild the power grid system down there.  Using some of the mirco power plants that have been posted on a different thread.

alfadriver said:. 

Just saw some news that a German power company is planning on going down to Puerto Rico and help rebuild the power grid system down there.  Using some of the mirco power plants that have been posted on a different thread.

Is that Sonnen?  

pheller said:

Alfa, would you buy property down there? I know before you said it's maybe not the best place for health care, but what about for younger folks taking a few years long sabatical?

Why not just fly down for an extended holiday and see for yourself?

I grew up on the Island. Still speak Puerto-Rican at the native level and want to not be in the cold when I retire. So I am looking for a winter haven. The good news is that the wife unit has also been charmed by the island the two times we have gone.

That said, I also know that long term living is not like visiting. Until you are shopping at the grocery store and getting the house fixed, you are a tourist. So go for an extended visit and figure how you are going to live off/on the local economy; that will tell you if you want to live there.

Type Q said:

alfadriver said:. 

Just saw some news that a German power company is planning on going down to Puerto Rico and help rebuild the power grid system down there.  Using some of the mirco power plants that have been posted on a different thread.

Is that Sonnen?  

Yup- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-02/puerto-rico-to-get-power-relief-from-german-microgrid-supplier

Things change fast.  This morning we were planning a rescue trip for MIL and her dog.  Those plans are now canceled, and she has power.

If anyone is interested, there's a live status page status.pr but it's all in Spanish.  Lots of good info there.

Want to add one thing- this morning, while still planning on going, I reached out to a number of satellite phone companies that rent.  It's not cheap, but in the face of nothing, it would have been worth it.  And all of them got back with me pretty quickly.

Good to know.

alfadriver said:

Things change fast.  This morning we were planning a rescue trip for MIL and her dog.  Those plans are now canceled, and she has power.

If anyone is interested, there's a live status page status.pr but it's all in Spanish.  Lots of good info there.

Some good news in there but power and communications got a way to go.

Just for a second, step back and imagine that PR had chose independence way back when I lived there. How would they be dealing with this crisis today?

It's been a little while for this- but right NOW, there's a telethon for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Mexico- I'm sure they will be taking money for a while www.somosunavoz.com or www.somosonevoice.com (you choose) 

We've given some.  And will pretty much have to help our family.  

The pictures being shown is pretty ugly for Puerto Rico and the USVI.  

(My MIL got power a week ago, and just today finally got cell phone service.)

It's been way over a month since Maria did a number of Puerto Rico.  As if she was taking revenge for the song America in West Side Story.

And while the largest cities- San Juan, Ponce, and Mayaguez- all got through it with some superficial damage, the damage to the areas that generate power still make real recovery painfully slow.  Only 27.6 of the island has power.  That's it.  And just as disturbing, only 77% have water. 

We have seen news of people dying in hospitals due to the combination of the two of those.  And that's in the larger cities.

There are parts of the islands that still don't have working gas stations, supermarkets, or even the remote cell phone towers.  And, rather stupidly, some people have decided that it's good time to politicize the slow recovery.  That can be dealt with later, other than finding ways to speed it up.

Given that, and the condition of the USVI, we've decided to tell our families to donate money or stuff instead of Christmas gifts to us.  If we had a path to help people in Cuba, we would, too- as they got hammered really badly, too.

Anyway, I'm posting this to remind people that there are fellow Americans who are STILL really suffering in the Caribbean.  If you have vacation going there, don't cancel- they need tourist dollars to help get back going.  If you want a cheap cruise, I see prices have plummeted.  Just don't forget them.