UruguayLiving.com

This is the time of year when I get even more confused than usual…

This past Friday was Saint Nicholas Day for the Slavic Eastern Orthodox  Churches (like mine), but this coming Thursday is Christmas for Catholics, Greek and other non-Slavic Eastern Orthodox, and (I presume, most protestants and other Christians).  Since Uruguay is a very secular place, I am not really sure what the official celebration will be on December 25th–though I have noticed that even the most die-hard atheists here seem to “get religion” any time there is a holiday they can celebrate…

So, for those of you who view December 25th as the modern day secular celebration of Sol Invictus or Saturnalia, before you leave, when the fireworks go off, please remember that you have my best wishes for whatever holiday or non-Holiday your are celebrating.  Have a yerba maté on me…

To my Jewish friends, I wish you a Happy and Joyful Hanukkah.

And to my Christian, agnostic or otherwise neutral friends and readers, please accept my best wishes and prayers for the Happiest Christmas (on whichever date)!

“Your birth, O Christ our God has spread upon the world the Light of Knowledge.  For through it, those who worshiped the stars have learned from a Star to worship You as the Sun of Justice and to recognize you as the Orient from on High.  Glory be to thee, O Lord!

From the Christmas Tropar of the Orthodox Church

Holidays, Living in Uruguay | 1 Comment »

Every time I start to think that perhaps ANTEL isn’t so bad, they do something to remind me that they are the worst, stupidest, most difficult and least professional telecommunications company in the civilized world.  They are worse than Ma Bell when it had a monopoly–incredibly, they are even worse than ICE, the state-owned telecom from hell in Costa Rica.

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Living in Uruguay, Technology, Utilities | No Comments »

I started by living in Carrasco, but after 10 months decided I want to be closer into the heart of the city.  So, I moved to Buceo and spent two years there.  Now I have decided to try los suburbios–the suburbs.

My new home is in El Pinar Sur in Departamento Canelones.  (Have you ever noticed that a couple of the departamentos are named for food?  Canelones, Durazno (peach), and in San Jose the capital is San Jose de Mayo (hmm, maybe that’s the month and not the condiment).

El Pinar Sur is 15km East of Carrasco and is at the eastern end of the local municipality “Ciudad de la Costa”–that part of Canelones along the shore that is outside of Montevideo and inside the first peaje (toll-both) on the Interbalnearia (intercoastal highway).

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Geography, Living in Coastal Uruguay, Living in Uruguay, interior of UY | 2 Comments »

For those of you debating whether or not it is a good time to leave the US, I suggest you read the article and download the report you can find online at:  BBC NEWS
Not interested?  Here are the first three paragraphs, they may change your mind:

US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends.

The National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicts China, India and Russia will increasingly challenge US influence.

It also says the dollar may no longer be the world’s major currency, and food and water shortages will fuel conflict.

If that isn’t enough, remember this:  the US Dollar is going to drop precipitously in the next few years due to the huge amount of money the government is printing to finance bailouts.

Expats, Living in Uruguay, News, foreign affairs | 4 Comments »

As many of you know, I am moving my house and offices away from our home for the last two years.  The Customer Service operation for my “real” business will move to Centro while I will move to the suburbs.

Because of the distance, it will be impractical to continue the Open Houses at my home outside the city, and we will not have our own appropriate facility inside Montevideo.

Therefore, we have a few options:

1. We can rent a location and sponsor a gathering once or twice per month in Montevideo;
2. We can find a suitable bar or restaurant where we could meet, since they are not likely to be busy Thursday evenings from 6-10PM.

In either case, we would be willing to sponsor the gatherings once, or may twice per month.

If other companies were willing to sponsor the meetings, AND other people were willing to act as hosts, then the meetings could continue on a weekly basis.

My hope is that our non-profit, Sociedad Southron AC, might be able to get sponsorships and website advertising to help pay for some of these activities.

Frankly, after bearing the entire financial and logistical burden for two years, my staff and I are worn out.

You can cast your vote on the poll on www.SociedadSouthron.net.

Living in Uruguay | 1 Comment »

I love small businesses! While some can be very bad, many are extremely good, and almost all are distinctive.

In the last few weeks I had the opportunity to visit a small business that was so friendly and helpful that I decided to give them a plug here.  The business is Meerhoff Optica at the corner of España and Saramiento.

The manager waited on me personally, and spoke a goodly amount of English.  I purchased 4 sets of new lenses and one pair of new frames.  Without asking, he offered me a discount  because of the size of my purchase.  He also gave me without charge a new temple for my main pair of glasses as I had managed to break them for the second time.

I left all but one pair with them and he promised to call me when everything was ready.  Amazingly he did, about a week later.

When I went it to pick up the glasses I was given the same care and greeted with the same friendliness as before.  Additionally, the quality of the lenses was excellent (I am really picky about that because I use progressive bifocals and photogrey lenses)!

One of the very best things about living in Uruguay is the friendliness of its people–and the people at Meerhoff were an excellent example.

Everyday Life, Living in Uruguay | No Comments »

I’m not sure the old Thanksgiving some really “works” as amended, and I sure as heck haven’t figured out how to work in the part about the sleigh–somehow a carrito just conjures up the wrong image.

Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is coming again and we will be celebrating it in our new tradtional fashion just like last year (when about 90 people participated).

Everyone has something for which to be thankful:  for me those things include friends, better health, 40kg less weight, and lots of good business.  On this day of craziness which ends the “silly season” in the US, I am especially thankful to be here and not there.
The Southron’s gang will provide some turkeys and asado (I’m not sure if either the Pilgrims or the Gauchos would really approve of the mix), and we ask everyone else to bring along a side dish and anything else they would like to add to the feast.

As before, Clara Lundquist has been appointed Grand High Menu organizer because of her ability to badger, wheedle and otherwise keep everyone in line.  And because she did such a great job, I volunteered her again this year.  Please cooperate as Clara organizes the menu and tries to get a head count so we know how much food to buy.

Since this is going to be the very last of the weekly Thursday night Open House gatherings here in Buceo (more about that later) I hope that everyone will try to attend.

Food, Holidays, Living in Uruguay | No Comments »

Sometimes I really HATE technology.

For months I have not been getting emails at my southron@UruguayLÑiving.com account.  I just figured that everyone was bored with me and no longer bothered to write,  I admit that I was a little surprised that no one evn bother to spam me as well, but being incredibly busy, in between being sick, hospitalized, having body parts removed, etc., I really didn’t spend much time on it…

Until yesterday when i realized that my UruguayLiving.com email was not getting through because one kind person sent me a private message on www.SociedadSouthron.net asking if I had gotten their email.

I think my computer needs to be exorcised–for no conceivable reason, I have not been getting my email since 11 April 2008.

In the words of Gomer Pyle:  “surprise, surprise, surprise”.  I just downloaded 16.531 emails totalling 21.MB of space.  The Spam catcher is still sorting through them and the number to which I must respond is dropping steadily.

So, to all those who have written me, I humbly apologize for not responding–sometimes it takes me a while, but I try to respond to every legitimate email I get…

After Epiphany (Tres Reyes) I am going to bring a priest here to bless the house and office AND exorcise the computer and exchange server–I wonder if metal can blister?

Maybe snail mail is faster?

Internet, Technology, blog business | 3 Comments »

Is anyone visiting Uruguay in the next few weeks who would be willing to bring along a new laptop that I need?  If you can do so, please email me at southron@uruguayling.com.

Thank you kindly.

blog business | 2 Comments »

After only 18 months, Sociedad Southron Asociacion Civil (SSAC) has been approved as a non-profit organization here in Uruguay.

The purposes and programs for which the organization was founded are those noted on the main page of this website, which I will reprint here:

The Sociedad Southron is a non-profit society the purposes of which are:

1.    to encourage qualified foreign retirees, investors and entrepreneurs to relocate to Uruguay, in order to further the economic and social development of Uruguay; and

2.    to facilitate social and business contacts between these newcomers and both native and naturalized Uruguayans, in order to expedite the assimilation of the newcomers into Uruguayan society; and

3.    to arrange group discounts and other benefit programs for members of the Sociedad; and

4.    to unite both groups to work together for their mutual advancement and for the advancement of Uruguay economically, culturally and socially, while balancing any advancement against the imperative of preserving Uruguay’s quality of life.

The Sociedad Southron will support programs and engage in activities which will:

5.    help and encourage newcomers to learn the Spanish language; and

6.    promote the spread of English as a business language in order to assist in the development of Uruguay’s economy; and

7.    work to make Uruguay more accessible for handicapped members of the community; and

8.    support effective consumer rights; whenever possible, through dialog with the business community, but when necessary, through direct consumer advocacy against the most egregious offenders, and

9.    sponsor and subsidize charitable works in Uruguay for the benefit of deserving disadvantaged persons; and

10.    discourage the immigration of persons who would be detrimental to Uruguay’s wellbeing.
The law requires that dues are charged for membership, but they are being set as low as allowed.

To get things started, I am transferring ownership of this website, UruguayDailyNews.com and UruguayConnection.com to SSAC.  I am also transferring the ownership of the artwork proper to those sites.

One of my hopes is to now turn UruguayDailyNews.com into a much bigger enterprise.  I hope to solicit advertising or corporate sponsorships, or even grants.  I have refused to do so prior to this time because I did not want to accept one penny into my company’s accounts in order to keep the separation complete and the books spotless.

Capital Conservator will continue to sponsor the activities of the projects, now to be owned by SSAC, but I hope that other sources will help bear the burden as well.

I would appreciate your ideas regarding the things SSAC should do, and the way those things can be implemented.  Please email me at Southron@UruguayLiving.com, rather than sending PM’s here.

Sociedad Southron | No Comments »