Picture of the Day: Sydney Opera House

Sydney, Australia
11.2010 

Panamanian Balboa

I knew that Panama used US bills for their currency but before I was reading up on the country prior to my trip here I didn't realize that they used their own coins.

When Panama gained independence from Columbia in 1904 they adopted the Panamanian balboa as their currency and tied it to the US dollar at a 1:1 exchange rate. It was named after the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa who led an expedition crossing the Isthmus of Panama making him the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean from the New World.

The balboa is divided into 100 centésimos and modern coins consist of 1 and 5 centésimos, 1/10, ¼ and ½ balboa coins and the recently introduced 1 and 2 balboa coins. Except for a brief week in 1941, Panama has exclusively used US dollars for their bills. Despite using US bills, it is still called a balboa and the stores mark everything as such using B/ to indicate prices.

While I have been here I have received all of the Panamanian coins except the 2 balboa. I find it really interesting that US coins are also in circulation and they are used interchangeably. Learning new things is always my favorite part of traveling.

Picture of the Day: Heron Along the Shore on Isla Taboga

Isla Taboga, Panama
6.11.2012 

Picture of the Day: Woman Crushing Sugar Cane for Nuoc Mia

Hoi An, Vietnam
8.10.2011 

Comments...

While I am in Panama it seems that for some reason I cannot add any of my own comments to my posts. Thank you to everyone who has posted comments over the past few days. When I get home later this week I will get it straightened out and post replies. Thank you for reading!

Diablos Rojos in Panama City

One of things my sister and I have marveled at while here in Panama City are the city buses known as Diablos Rojos (Red Devils in Spanish). The elaborately painted former school buses cover the city and are quite ubiquitous. Missy and I have enjoyed pointing out various things (Look, there's Beyonce on the back of that bus!) painted on them as we have passed them by. Yesterday while we were at the Summit Gardens and Tropical Zoo there were two Diablos Rojos parked outside so we couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. My favorite parts are the zipper opening to reveal Harry Potter on the front of the one bus (if you look close you can even see Harry's owl Hedwig) and Al Pacino from The Godfather on the back of the other one.

Although the Diablos Rojos have a lot of flair, they apparently have a reputation for being unsafe and beginning in December 2010 are being replaced by Volvo buses. We have seen a number of the Volvo buses on the road as well and while I am sure they are better and safer, they sure don't look nearly as fun.

Picture of the Day: Shell Beach at Saint Barthélemy

Saint Barthélemy
5.30.2010 

Eradicating Moss From My Driveway

Moss can be lovely. Carpeting the ground under beautiful maple trees in a Japanese garden, moss is gorgeous. Growing on my driveway along the side of my house, however, I am definitely not a fan of moss.

Actually, it has been a big nuisance that I seemed to have been unable to kill. I would try using things I bought to kill it which didn't work very well and I would power wash it away only to have it grow back. I read all sorts of things online saying that if you have a problem you need to keep the area dry and sunny. Well, that wasn't going to work for me. My house keeps that part of the driveway in shade most of the day and my house is not moving. As for keeping it dry, anytime there is rain it takes that part of my driveway a day to dry due to the shade. I needed to find some other solution.

This spring as I was trying to figure out how to attack my moss I came upon a gardening site recommending that boiling water kills moss. I had tried everything else so I figured, why not? I tried a few pots of boiling water on a patch of the moss and the next day it was brown and dead. This was great! Not only did it actually work, but it also was a solution without any chemicals. It took me awhile to treat the whole patch along my driveway since one pot of boiling water didn't cover much area, but eventually I had killed it all. 

After everything was dead I proceeded to power wash the moss to loosen it from the driveway and then scoop it into my compost bin that the city picks up. This step was also slow going. It also splashed dirt up on the side of my house so I had to go pack and power wash the side of the house when I was through.

In the end I was finally moss free on my driveway. I think two things definitely have helped. First, I had killed all of the moss before power washing so I wasn't just scattering it. Second, I actually bought a power washer (great deal at Sears on a discontinued model!) this year so I can routinely wash that area of my driveway down to keep the moss from building up again. Before I would just have a chance to power wash the area just once or twice a year which wasn't enough.

Have you ever had any moss issues at your home? How did you take care of it?

Picture of the Day: Coastline in Florianopolis

Florianopolis, Brazil
5.27.2007

Picture of the Day: Construction Worker in Hong Kong

Hong Kong
11.13.2006