Author Archives: RF_Alum

Costa Rica Travel

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Two previous commentaries referred to our vacation to the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica in the northwest part of the country bordering on Nicaragua the North and the Pacific Ocean on the West. Our vacation only allowed us to see and experience a small sample of what is available in Costa Rica or even in the Guanacaste province. However, we have to say we completely enjoyed our trip and are pleased to recommend it to others. We travelled with our oldest grandson, and part of the enjoyment was how appreciative he was of the trip.

We planned our visit based on recommendations of a friend who has had two trips to Costa Rica. We settled on an Apple Vacation with Broadlands Travel that included a chartered direct flight on Frontier to Liberia, Costa Rica.  Our resort, the Hilton Papagayo, was about thirty minutes away from the airport on a cove on the Pacific Ocean. We were very pleased with everything, although we had trouble finding our transportation at the airport. An entrepreneur earned a well-deserved tip by leading us to the Swiss Travel agent wearing a distinctive orange shirt. Swiss Travel arranged our transport to and from the airport and the tours we took while at the resort. Don’t be confused by the “Swiss Travel” name, because it is a Costa Rican company. They have an extensive web site for travel and many activities in the country. Continue reading →

Thinking Fast and Slow

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thinking fast and slowParts of this book by Daniel Kahneman were interesting reading and other parts were too much about psychological research to hold my attention.  You will enjoy the book if you are a fan of heuristics, which is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as …”involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially trial and error methods.” The book mentions that “applying the rule of thumb” is another way of defining heuristic thinking. The book makes a strong point that we are comfortable in relying on our intuition to address a problem or situation to reach a quick decision and that decision is often wrong. The dust cover of the book “…explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slow, more deliberative, and more logical.” There are numerous examples of how our analysis using System 1 often misleads us. The Conclusion includes the observation that when you have an overconfident intuition you are thinking correctly you should “…recognize signs that you are in a cognitive minefield, slow down, and ask for reinforcement from System 2.” Continue reading →

Rule of Thumb

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Wikipedia has an extensive discussion of this expression. It says it is “…a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It is an easily learned and easily applied procedure for approximately calculating or recalling some value, or for making some determination.” It is compared to heuristic, which is a similar concept used in math, psychology, and computer science.  The origin is uncertain, but likely comes several possible instances where the thumb is used to make an imprecise but convenient measurement. There is less evidence that the expression originated from prohibition of using a stick wider than the thumb to beat a wife.  Early colonial law often specifically rejected the concept. However, “…the phrase and connection gained currency in 1982, when the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report on wife abuse, titled ‘Under the Rule of Thumb’.”

Costa Rican Distrust of U.S. Foreign Policy

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We were vacationing in Costa Rica when a tour guide on our bus surprised us by announcing that President Obama had refused to help Costa Rica after Nicaragua had moved large numbers of soldiers into Costa Rica for the purpose of “building a new canal.” The guide said Costa Rica has no military and had asked President Obama for help. He then said Mr. Obama’s reaction was to continue his policy of bowing to every belligerent. He emphasized the point by making a series of stiff bows in several directions.  The guide said the people of Costa Rica continue to appreciate Ronald Regan and his support for the Contras who fought against the Communist Sandinistas. The guide explained that Daniel Ortega, the Communist ruler of Nicaragua, continues to have designs on Costa Rica, and that the U.S. refused to help. “The Canadians helped and the Nicaraguans withdrew.”

I was fascinated with the story, and began searching the Internet to educate myself. President Obama visited Costa Rica for two days in May 2013. The descriptions of his visit were mostly about the extreme security measures taken for his protection. There were a few hundred people allowed to view his limousine trip through the capital city. A few dozen gathered in the city park to protest the visit. Most complied with the order to stay home and watch television coverage. This is in contrast to John F. Kennedy visiting and wading into adoring crowds. Kennedy is called the “most beloved U.S. President” based on the memories of his visit and the Peace Corp. Continue reading →

On the Lam

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William Safire wrote in the New York Times in 1998 that on the lam means “running away” or “being a fugitive from the law…” “The origin of the expression is in heated dispute among slang etymologists.” Allan Pinkerton, the first “private eye” said that pickpockets would say “lam” when they secured a wallet from a victim.” There is a Scandinavian verb lam that as early as 1525 was used to describe a wife “lamming him,” meaning to beat, pound, or strike” her husband. Mark Twain used the term twice to mean “to beat” in both instances. The connection is that “…to avoid a feared lamming (related to slamming), one lams. “

Medicare and Foreign Travel

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We recently traveled to Costa Rica with our oldest grandson, and I intend to do a few commentaries about that. This first one is a warning to people on Medicare that, according to the Medicare web site, “In general, health care you get while traveling outside the U.S. isn’t covered.” People are provided a more than 120 page booklet titled “Medicare & You” when they reach 65 and go onto the program. The warning about lack of coverage when you are out of the country is somewhat “hidden” under a title “Part B-Covered Services.” The subtitle is “Travel-health care needed when traveling outside the United States.” Continue reading →