I wonder if there is a measure on how developed a nation is by how quickly you can get things done?
For example.
for getting a taxi, santo domingo would rank WAY higher than NYC where you cannot call for a cab..Here in SD there are at least three companies which will have a cab at my door within three or four minutes.
Banking
for this one the DR has a long way to go.. Only Banco Popular, I think. has internet banking to speak of. The others let you only check your balance, not pay your bills.
It can take 45 supposedly business clear a US check. It can take two hours to make a deposit. The lines at all banks are really long both on the first few days of the month and around the 15th..
bill delivery and paying
I only have three bills a month but it takes me all month to pay them somehow. First is the mystery of finding them since they only arrive on time one month out of three.. and none of them come by post, all by private courier. I have the electric down pat once I realized that they simply cut it off when you do not pay whether you get the bill or not and there is no grace period, no deposit. So I try to even keep a positive balance with the electric company.
Both the phone company and the cable company will wait for two months before any sort of problem so i am not so neurotic about this.
I keep trying to pay them all on one day but this does not seem possible. it should be possible. Just has somehow escaped me.
Then there is shopping.. It takes forever to find anything anywhere. Just because the store had the thing you were looking for, there is no guarantee that they will stock it again. This recently .. when La Sirena suddenly stopped stocking embroidery needles. Still had the thread. No needles.
There are no web pages for shopping with the notable exception of Ikea. Americana has what looks like a web page but you will find six blenders listed and only one stove. Perhaps they figure you are going to the store anyway. Or perhaps there is just not enough internet penetration yet for a web page to make any sense. I expect that most of the older generation is not computer savvy unless their job called for it. And how many would that be? If they have a secretary for Excell and Word Perfect?
Now in my ninth year here, I no longer make lists with more than three things on them. If I can do two out of three, it was a good day.
I guess this sort of thing comes out with a competitive index. I know they have a measure with how long it takes to open a business.
On the other side, the Haitian guy who works for me sometimes can get an amazing number of things done around the house.. plumbing, electricity.. which would take days and cost ten times as much back home.
funny. Guess anything that is labor saving for a customer, like internet shopping or putting on more tellers for the heavy days, is not a priority here.
paz sciencia
what i am here to study and learn
For example.
for getting a taxi, santo domingo would rank WAY higher than NYC where you cannot call for a cab..Here in SD there are at least three companies which will have a cab at my door within three or four minutes.
Banking
for this one the DR has a long way to go.. Only Banco Popular, I think. has internet banking to speak of. The others let you only check your balance, not pay your bills.
It can take 45 supposedly business clear a US check. It can take two hours to make a deposit. The lines at all banks are really long both on the first few days of the month and around the 15th..
bill delivery and paying
I only have three bills a month but it takes me all month to pay them somehow. First is the mystery of finding them since they only arrive on time one month out of three.. and none of them come by post, all by private courier. I have the electric down pat once I realized that they simply cut it off when you do not pay whether you get the bill or not and there is no grace period, no deposit. So I try to even keep a positive balance with the electric company.
Both the phone company and the cable company will wait for two months before any sort of problem so i am not so neurotic about this.
I keep trying to pay them all on one day but this does not seem possible. it should be possible. Just has somehow escaped me.
Then there is shopping.. It takes forever to find anything anywhere. Just because the store had the thing you were looking for, there is no guarantee that they will stock it again. This recently .. when La Sirena suddenly stopped stocking embroidery needles. Still had the thread. No needles.
There are no web pages for shopping with the notable exception of Ikea. Americana has what looks like a web page but you will find six blenders listed and only one stove. Perhaps they figure you are going to the store anyway. Or perhaps there is just not enough internet penetration yet for a web page to make any sense. I expect that most of the older generation is not computer savvy unless their job called for it. And how many would that be? If they have a secretary for Excell and Word Perfect?
Now in my ninth year here, I no longer make lists with more than three things on them. If I can do two out of three, it was a good day.
I guess this sort of thing comes out with a competitive index. I know they have a measure with how long it takes to open a business.
On the other side, the Haitian guy who works for me sometimes can get an amazing number of things done around the house.. plumbing, electricity.. which would take days and cost ten times as much back home.
funny. Guess anything that is labor saving for a customer, like internet shopping or putting on more tellers for the heavy days, is not a priority here.
paz sciencia
what i am here to study and learn