Monday, October 25, 2010
As the holidays approach, I increasingly think Jennifer Noronha is morally bankrupt
Yeah, Jennifer Noronha is a pretty bad person. I can't visit my family this holiday season because of her involvement in rejecting my wife for a tourist visa.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Happenings
1. I'm not going to talk about MBA applications right now. I haven't done it so much here, but I'm just exhausted by it. It's so much work, when all the while you are essentially presenting your life for inspection. Do they like you? After days and days of work, do you get a rejection anyway?*
Despite politics and Christianity being important parts of my life (and the former a huge part of my leadership experiences), I largely left them out of my application. I know for sure I have been discriminated against in similar circumstances previously. I won't make the same mistake again.
2. I have to go give presentations in English tomorrow. I'm pretty sure they won't even pay me half of my hourly dollar rate in pesos. In other words, they'll pay me about 10% of what I'd normally accept to wake up on a Saturday morning. When we're talking 10%, I'd generally rather that they not pay me at all, but I think I will have no choice.
Surprisingly, now that I speak Spanish reasonably well, some of my most awkward moments are when respected people want to speak English with me, because I feel pressured to understand. Tomorrow I have to understand the director when she speaks English. It might be easy...it might not be, and I'm sympathetic to her feelings if I don't understand her.
3. I am finishing a fantastic champagne as I write this. This is my favorite champagne in the world -- Argentine, of course. Por supuesto, che.
* Given that my GMAT score is above the median for every school, this is arguably worse when I get rejected.
Despite politics and Christianity being important parts of my life (and the former a huge part of my leadership experiences), I largely left them out of my application. I know for sure I have been discriminated against in similar circumstances previously. I won't make the same mistake again.
2. I have to go give presentations in English tomorrow. I'm pretty sure they won't even pay me half of my hourly dollar rate in pesos. In other words, they'll pay me about 10% of what I'd normally accept to wake up on a Saturday morning. When we're talking 10%, I'd generally rather that they not pay me at all, but I think I will have no choice.
Surprisingly, now that I speak Spanish reasonably well, some of my most awkward moments are when respected people want to speak English with me, because I feel pressured to understand. Tomorrow I have to understand the director when she speaks English. It might be easy...it might not be, and I'm sympathetic to her feelings if I don't understand her.
3. I am finishing a fantastic champagne as I write this. This is my favorite champagne in the world -- Argentine, of course. Por supuesto, che.
* Given that my GMAT score is above the median for every school, this is arguably worse when I get rejected.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Life is more expensive in Argentina
Before they devalued the peso after the 2001/2002 crisis, Buenos Aires was considered one of the most expensive cities in the world.
A data point: I recently looked into buying a domain name in Argentina (.com.ar). Considering it costs $10 in the US, I figured it'd be about something similar...when really it should only be about 10 pesos (or about $2.5USD).
You know how much it was? $50. There was a cheaper registrant, I think, but it looked rather fly by night. So, 200 argentine pesos to register something that really has no good reason to cost more than about 10 pesos.
I laughed and said forget it. The government controls domain names, and the Kirchners are corrupt wannabe Hugo Chavezes. No reason to expose any business to that sort of risk, especially when it costs 500% more.
A data point: I recently looked into buying a domain name in Argentina (.com.ar). Considering it costs $10 in the US, I figured it'd be about something similar...when really it should only be about 10 pesos (or about $2.5USD).
You know how much it was? $50. There was a cheaper registrant, I think, but it looked rather fly by night. So, 200 argentine pesos to register something that really has no good reason to cost more than about 10 pesos.
I laughed and said forget it. The government controls domain names, and the Kirchners are corrupt wannabe Hugo Chavezes. No reason to expose any business to that sort of risk, especially when it costs 500% more.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Sitting here at home very late into the wee hours of a Saturday night writing MBA essays. Good times, amirite?
I'm sparked to write because I still get freaked out when I see the siren lights reflecting off my walls late at night from the private security in our neighborhood slowly patrolling the streets. It always takes me a second to relax after tensing up.
Just got back from a trip to Brazil. Always good times. <3 Brazil, aside from getting a visa to go there, as "everyone has a Brazilian visa story." It's hard to dislike a place that has a reputation for being happy and liking to party.
I'm sparked to write because I still get freaked out when I see the siren lights reflecting off my walls late at night from the private security in our neighborhood slowly patrolling the streets. It always takes me a second to relax after tensing up.
Just got back from a trip to Brazil. Always good times. <3 Brazil, aside from getting a visa to go there, as "everyone has a Brazilian visa story." It's hard to dislike a place that has a reputation for being happy and liking to party.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Now #2 for Jennifer Noronha searches in google
...and I haven't done a single thing yet. When I actually get around to it, there will probably be around 200x more strength to making that post #1 for Jennifer Noronha....for the next few decades.
Amusingly, if you google her name, you'll find multiple instances where she tells American citizens to contact the embassy if they need anything. Riiiight...she hasn't responded to either of my emails (both quite polite) for a month now. She's a bureaucrat; the last thing she cares about is helping American citizens.
Amusingly, if you google her name, you'll find multiple instances where she tells American citizens to contact the embassy if they need anything. Riiiight...she hasn't responded to either of my emails (both quite polite) for a month now. She's a bureaucrat; the last thing she cares about is helping American citizens.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
On fundraising
I don't get people who send out mass emails "please support me on my bike/run." I mean, I suppose it can't help you raise less money, but...if we haven't communicated in any form for years and you can't even motivate yourself to personalize the email to me (much less call), why would I get around to going to the website and digging out my credit card in order to give money?
Does anyone ever say no to an actual personal appeal? Of course not. Well ok, I've done it, but only because I vowed not to give money to Rice for 10 years after I graduated. And even then, I almost decided to donate a nominal amount like $5.
Does anyone ever say no to an actual personal appeal? Of course not. Well ok, I've done it, but only because I vowed not to give money to Rice for 10 years after I graduated. And even then, I almost decided to donate a nominal amount like $5.
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