In the news lately the Governor of Puerto Rico has been touting off about how he is sending out the Stimulus Rebate to everyone shortly and early. It’s a little bizarre that he is so proud of the fact that he is sending out the payments early because Bush had already announced that he would be sending out the checks…  anyway on with the story.

A few days ago, I received the email below that had been forwarded from someone at my workplace.

To ALL Federal Employees in Puerto Rico

It has come to our attention that many federal employees in Puerto Rico are receiving the Economic Stimulus Payments from Internal Revenue Service and many are direct deposit into their accounts.

When IRS foresaw this possibility, they issue an Alert, which I am attaching to this e-mail because IRS was not able to stop these federal personnel rebates to PR residents.

ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT
U.S. TERRITORY ECONOMIC STIMULUS PAYMENTS - POSSIBLE DUPLICATE REFUNDS

ISSUE:

Individuals residing in the U.S. territories should receive their economic stimulus payment from the territory. If a stimulus payment is received from both the United States Treasury and the territory, the Treasury payment must be returned to the Internal Revenue Service.

The U.S. territories include American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to the Office of the Competent Authority, Program Manager for the U.S. Territories, Dee A. Robinson, “If a PR resident is entitled to receive a Stimulus Rebate Payment, they must get it from PR Department of Treasury. Furthermore if they are eligible to get a rebate from PR, they are specifically NOT eligible to get one from IRS”.

Any federal personnel who received the IRS rebate it must be returned promptly to the IRS. Make sure that you follow the following instructions to return the same:

1) If you have cashed the check or it was a direct deposit:

• Submit a payment within 21 days

• Write on check or money order “Payment of Erroneous Refund” or “Direct Deposit”, the “Tax Period” (i.e., 2007), “Account Type” (i.e., 1040), and the Social Security Number.

2) If the person has not cashed the check:

• Write “VOID” in the endorsement section on back of the check.

• Submit within 21 days

• Attach a note stating “Return of Erroneous Refund check”

For more information you may contact the local IRS Office at 1-800-829-1040.

Now my workplace likes to always forward stuff they think is true around, so I really didn’t believe it at first. I then decided to do a little research. I was browsing the IRS’s site and found “Where’s my Stimulus Payment?” They had a date for me to get the refund!

Some more searching on IRS’s site answered the riddle. The FAQ about the Stimulus Rebate has a Q and A

Q. Federal employees residing in some U.S. territories are required to file two tax returns, one with the territory and one with the IRS. Will two checks be issued, and, if so, should they return one of the checks? Which check should be returned?

A. Individuals residing in the U.S. territories should receive their economic stimulus payment from the territory. If a stimulus payment is received from both the United States Treasury and the territory, the Treasury payment must be returned to the Internal Revenue Service. The U.S. territories include American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

So I think I am safe to assume that I will be receiving 2 checks… Well, deposits. So now I have to go through the hassle of mailing out a check for my rebate :-/ I bet they won’t be covering my postage. Anyone want to take that bet?

At first I thought my internet connection was down, but then I realized it was Google.  Well not all of it, butI am having a hell of a time getting different Google services to work here in Puerto Rico.

• IG is down
• Reader is down
• Mail is up
• Search is down - use the direct IP to get it to search
• Adsense is down - this link might be related?
• Finance is up

Now what am I supposed to do?  My life doesn’t work without GOOG

All of this is as of 05/06/08 7:45 pm (Puerto Rico - AST)

Update:

Here are some ping stats.  I know they aren’t to bad, but I doubt Google would be happy with a 1% packet loss…

— google.com.pr ping statistics —
557 packets transmitted, 549 received, 1% packet loss, time 560237ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 52.900/57.095/94.324/3.396 ms

Update 2:

— google.com ping statistics —
60 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 59120ms

Update 3:

Back online at 9:20 pm

In the past I wrote about how drugs are easy to get in Puerto Rico.  Well I can say if it is a scheduled drug, make sure your prescriptions has all of it’s T’s crossed and the I’s dotted.

Last week I called the doctor to get a script refilled.  Today the receptionist called.  She said I could come pick it up after 3:00, so I showed up at 3:30.  There was a sign on the door that said something in Spanish and then a time that said 3:30 (I assume it meant be back at 3:30).  So I waited.  At 4:00 the doctor shows up with the receptionist.  They had bags of KFC.  No big deal (30 min. is nothing in PR).  I picked up the script and walked over to the pharmacy that is across the street.

I gave the pharmacist the paper and about 10 min. later he tells me in broken English that the day is missing from the date.  “No problem, I’ll be right back” and walked back over to the doctor.  Well, he was in with a patient (I think he was eating… but whatever), so I got to wait another 30 min.

Back over to the pharmacy…  The pharmacist’s helper tells me that I need the “doctor license number” and then she went on to say that the refill I was getting is a scheduled drug so the have to have everything perfect.  I said OK… and headed back over to the doc.

Another 10 min at the doc and 5 min at the pharmacy…  Done!

It’s funny the expectations that you come up with.  When I moved to Puerto Rico I was expecting to hear all sorts of great Latin music.  Something like Salsa, Flamenco, maybe something like the Gypsy Kings, or at least something with some Spanish guitar.  To my disappointment I found out I was wrong.

I would have to say a genre of music called Reggaeton is king here.  Puerto Ricans tell me it’s a mix of Reggae and Spanish Hip Hop.  Wikipedia states that Reggaeton started in Panama.  Puerto Ricans will tell you it started here.  I don’t really know.

I never have liked Hip Hop or Rap (well some people say the Beastie Boys are Rap, and I love them).  So I don’t appreciate Reggaeton.  The music to me sounds like Spanish Rap with the same repetitive beat over and over and over.  I enjoy some Reggae, and I don’t hear the mix at all.

So in the States, you always hear Rap driving down the road with the bass as loud as it can go…. Parties, clubs, etc…  Just here, it is the Spanish version.  You get used to it, I guess.

I am just glad I can stream some good music!

I don’t know the good Reggeaton artist…  Would someone post some links to some videos on Youtube?

Strangely, every movie that I have seen in Puerto Rico at a movie theater has always premiered a day earlier than in the States.  That’s right, if there is a big blockbuster of a movie, I can see it before you (if you are reading this from the States)!  It’s pretty fun to go see a movie and then call your friend in the States who is dieing to see that movie and brag that you have already seen the movie.

I have been told that movies will sometimes come out later but I haven’t seen that.  I really don’t know why there is a difference in the dates.  Does anyone have any input?

When my job gave me the opportunity to move to Puerto Rico they told me “Make sure you don’t do things on island time and make sure you give them some Texas.”  I really didn’t know what they meant.  I just said “OK, don’t worry.”

I now understand why the Texas facility treats the Puerto Rico facility the way they do.  Nothing ever gets done on time in PR.  The reason… the PR facility runs on “island time”.  Everything is always put off until manana.  Where I work, we have to keep logs of our daily activities.  I usually do 5x the amount of work they do daily.  It’s not because I am smart by any means.  I just want to get things done on time - today.

Island time can be good though.  When I want to see it, I head over to a city on the west side of the island such as Rincon or Aguadilla where people tend to be more laid back.  When I am here, I don’t mind if my meal takes 5x the amount of time it should have.  People are so much more friendly putting things off til manana.

So really what do you pick?  Being the gringo that I am, or at least raised how I was…  I was always taught not to do things half ass.  But when you do that you are more stressed and unfriendly.  I guess you should have a mix of both.