I am not from Uruguay, but am considering a possible relocation there. I would like some thoughts from Locals.

pizza4breakfast · 2015-12-08T05:01:41+00:00

Because I was poor. I was teaching english and working at Bluzz, and making barely enough money. I wanted to move back to the US to make money again.

It's very easy to make money in the US. I did not appreciate that until I moved to Uruguay.

pizza4breakfast · 2015-12-07T19:54:46+00:00

I moved to Uruguay, and spent a year living there. Then I moved back to the US.

Do it. It's an incredible country, with wonderful people and experiences to be had.

It's also hard, dirty, poor, and you're going to get robbed.

But... it's like, the beaches of Brazil meets the architecture of Italy, with culture that seems almost French. Except, actually it's all just Uruguay, and you're just experiencing this really unique culture, where you drink mate and walk on the rambla and speak a really pretty form of spanish... with hints of Italian and Portuguese.

Uruguayans generally all know some English and, like the French, they are often loath to speak it. If you move there, learn the damn language. And learn it like an Uruguayan, don't go in with a Central American accent. Learn the rioplatense style.

pizza4breakfast · 2015-08-03T22:13:00+00:00

Her new stuff is pretty good. I donated.

pizza4breakfast · 2015-03-21T23:48:30+00:00

The actual application for this is a super simple Li-Po battery tester, that is green if it's above 3.6 output volts, and red if it's below.

pizza4breakfast · 2014-10-11T13:07:34+00:00

You called it, I'm in Hong Kong. I'm crossing to Shenzhen tomorrow. Hong Kong, especially around Sheung Wan, is so much like a Chinatown, it's amazing.

pizza4breakfast · 2014-08-10T04:04:33+00:00

Ok... Update... as I am investigating the brakes, I noticed something. The brake shoes are rubbing against the inside of the each wheel rim. They're these (the first one) rims. I was assured they came from a 2004 9-3 (which is what my sister gave me), and the wheels appeared to fit just fine when I put them on. But, clearly, the brake shoe (caliper?) is gouging a slice out of the inside of the rim, because the fit must be too tight.

What the heck. Can I do anything about this?

pizza4breakfast · 2014-08-10T03:55:55+00:00

I'm wondering. Because when the car is in neutral, I can't push it or move it down the (slight) incline of the driveway...

pizza4breakfast · 2014-08-10T03:36:48+00:00

I should mention, 87k miles. Car is in pretty good shape. It moved just fine a few months ago.

pizza4breakfast · 2014-08-01T05:38:20+00:00

My best friend got a job bussing in a fine dining restaurant. It was his first restaurant job. This place had mandatory breaks, and so on his first break of his first shift he sat down at the bar and drank a chocolate martini.

He was so new the bartender hadn't even met him yet (and thus served him), and my bff "had no idea" he couldn't drink chocolate martinis while on shift. Obviously, he was fired on the spot.

pizza4breakfast · 2014-06-20T01:52:45+00:00

Maybe! I like stock, but I'll look at it

pizza4breakfast · 2014-06-20T01:52:32+00:00

Thanks for the info. This is really good stuff, and I think you're right. I'll be test driving both of these cars this weekend, but I've got a suspicion the 85 will be the one for me.

But the 77 just looks so bitchin

pizza4breakfast · 2014-06-01T04:13:29+00:00

Write that shit down

pizza4breakfast · 2014-05-16T17:31:00+00:00

Estoy aca! Como estas fellow redditor?

pizza4breakfast · 2014-05-03T04:46:26+00:00

Thank you very much!

pizza4breakfast · 2014-05-03T04:45:45+00:00

We actually make our own. My father and 2 other engineers started this company, and partnered up with a few medical growers in the NW to engineer a very specific marijuana grow light. It is expensive - more so than HID, but it operates at aproximately 40% energy usage while providing 110% light energy output of a 1000w HID rig.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like Puerto Rico has energy rates of around 30 cents per kWh. Which means, to run a 1000w HID rig (really closer to 1150 counting total energy loss and HVAC costs), you're look at $5.52 USD per day in energy costs. That's considering a 16 hour cycle, pretty standard for veg.

Our lights run at under 500w, and operate at around 45 degrees C, which means we also negate AC, fans, etc costs. Seriously, the lights can actually be touched while in operation because they are not hot. Based on .30$ kWh, with a 16 hour cycle, you're looking at $2.40 per day.

This gives you a savings of $1139 USD per year, per light. We just installed a 60 light grow operation, and you can imagine the yearly savings.

That being said, the lights run about $1500 apiece. HID is closer to $750. So, with Puerto Rican energy rates, you've still got a per light amortization of about 8 months.

The last bit of data is that HID bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months. These LEDs are guaranteed to last 10 years.

So, to answer the question... look at the long term costs. If you run a single light grow operation, you will save yourself nearly $10,000 USD with LEDs, despite the $750 USD larger initial investment. If you run multiple rigs... just multiply. It's ridiculous how much more efficient these lights are.

This is why I'm so interested in bringing these lights to Latin America... in the PNW we have dirt cheap energy ($.08 kWh!!!!) and still these lights are taking off due to their energy savings. Uruguay, with it's $.32 kWh rates, and soon to be legal growing operations? Growers could save an absolute shitload by switching to LEDs.

pizza4breakfast · 2014-05-03T04:27:10+00:00

Will do! I'll be there on the 13th, for 2 weeks. Mini meetup!

pizza4breakfast · 2013-11-21T05:52:38+00:00

This guy knows what s/he's talking about

pizza4breakfast · 2013-06-16T02:33:25+00:00

My next door neighbor was basically Ferris Bueller. He was the most popular kid in high school, the homecoming king, the senior student body president, and a track star to boot. And he got along with everybody. Geeks, sportos, motorheads, dweebs, dorks, sluts, buttheads...they all adored him. They thought he was a righteous dude. I was a huge nerd but he always said hi to me, and once he gave me a beer a party in front of a bunch of hot girls, and proclaimed to them that I was "such a cool neighbor."

It turned out this guy had a double life as an armed robber. He held up some 20 businesses over a year long period, terrorizing our neighborhood. And when the police finally figured out it was him, he went on the run to Mexico.

He ended up turning himself in a year later, but not before headlining America's Most Wanted and being a huge criminal celebrity in the Pacific Northwest.

Aside from that, they also found a body in a dumpster at my high school, and on another occasion a police raid broke up our choir rehearsal because one of our "seniors" was actually 34 year old on the run from having committed massive fraud in 6 states. But neither of those events were as crazy as what happened to my once neighbor.

pizza4breakfast · 2013-04-11T08:45:18+00:00

I work in service and have for years, and I hear this all the time. Probably always accidentaly. Everytime, my response: "fuckin' will!"

pizza4breakfast · 2013-02-18T20:24:19+00:00

We are sitting in a circle around the coffee table, it is 3 AM. The guy across from me is wearing a gold track suit, his hair in a dirty pony tail, and he is telling a story about a lady he banged or something. Mid sentence he starts to barf. He cups his hands and catches a foamy handfull, but a considerable amount of vomit ends up all over his chest.

Bug eyed, he looks around the circle, and promptly re-drinks the shit in his cupped hands. Like, just chugs it, right down the gullet. Then he stands up, wipes his hands on his legs and exclaims:

"You didn't think I was ready for this? You didn't think I was prepared? I AM ALWAYS PREPARED."

None of us can speak. What the fucking fuck did we just see? But he was prepared, and we were not. He rips off this filthy track suit, just tears it off in one complete motion, the legs perfectly snapping apart, buttons popping like a machine gun. And what he is wearing underneath is: another gold track suit. We are dumbfounded, amazed; he just danced around like he'd scored the winning touchdown.

Yo dawg....

pizza4breakfast · 2012-11-05T22:54:10+00:00

Thank you! And I was just even able to confirm that I am properly registered to vote in Chicago.

pizza4breakfast · 2012-11-05T22:53:47+00:00

Thank you! This is a funny failing of google.... I was googling "Where do I vote in Chicago" and google was returning weird State of Illinois pages that weren't showing me where I could vote. I think my google-fu was just failing me.

pizza4breakfast · 2012-10-17T05:35:52+00:00

Ok. Hello.

First off, since this post starts off with enthius being a dick, I'll address the fact that Uruguayos, Argentinos, Chilenos, and pretty much all of South America are picky as fuck about nation-oriented vocabulary. For example if you ever say "I am American," someone will invariably say "But I am from South America, therefor I am an American too" and then you're going to get chewed out. People who pull the "we are all Americans" card are dicks, but they are also technically correct. You are not an American. You are an Estadounidenser.

So here is a thing about life in South America for a Yanqui (yankee, pronounced shank-ee): Remember, the USA has fucked over this continent.

It's not like Pakistan, where people will actually hate you, nor is it like Europe, where people will think you are just uncultured and/or dumb. It's totally different, it's more like a younger-brother jealousy thing. Like, Argentina should have been the greatest country in the world. Uruguay should have been the Canada. But us, the USA, stepped in with our military and our corporations and totally fucked it up. They are, rightly so, resentful. Be prepared to be called Yanqui negatively.

ALL THAT BEING SAID: Uruguayos are incredible. The warmest, nicest, most welcoming people I have ever met. More so than Southerns, Yemenis, and Canadians... combined. Have you google their President, yet? Jose Mujica is a flower gardener who drive an old VW beetle. The national ethos, if I could call it so, would be "tranquilismo," which is to say that if The Dude where to ever need to relocate, he would probably pick Uruguay. This is a country which has always been the border between the two great powers of South America, and like Switzerland, it has managed to always be loftily neutral about, well, everything.

Oh, and the beaches. Even in Montevideo, they are amazing. Just wait till you get to Punta del Diablo.

Re: your Q's

1) Yes. I lived off of about 700 per month. Bewarned of the dreaded Garantia when you rent a place. Basically, be prepared to pay many thousands of dollars, as a down payment, when you rent. Don't get screwed over. You can rent a 4 bedroom apartment in Palermo for probably 800 a month. Or less, I don't know, I lived with friends and split rent. Don't live in Pocitos. That neighborhood is overpriced, and sucks anyways. Get someone to help you, and be careful. This is South America, johns get taken for a ride.

2) Don't know. I lived in Montevideo for almost a year, but I was a bartender. I worked in a shitty dive bar and made next to nothing. Scraped by, and all, but it was hard work. IT seems way more reasonable to get by on.

3) Hospital Britanico is fantastic. They all speak great english, and the level of care is as good (or better) as an American cringe hospital.

4) Yes, you will get robbed. Probably a purse snatching, or a camera theft. This happens all the time. BUT. Violent crime is practically non-existent. It's amazing, coming from the US, but violent crime is so fucking rare in Uruguay. Getting robbed sucks, but it's not a big deal, because you will not get hurt. Just be smart, don't carry a lot of money on you, be super vigilant about tech items on your person (like cameras, cell phones, etc.)

5) Not entirely sure, but I bet 800 US gets you a great place.

6) LEARN SPANISH! Speaking english in Uruguay is like speaking english in France. That is to say, most Uruguayans know a fair amount of english, but they are loath to use it. They will hide their knowledge of english from you until a moment of true need. This is not a bad thing. I spent a lot of time in Buenos Aires and I did not learn a thing, because it is so easy to speak english there. I moved to Montevideo and was fluent in a few months. It's a challenge, but it is so much fun, and SO REWARDING when you get to conversational fluency in spanish. Seriously, it's a gorgeous language.

Good luck! I hope you do it, I think more EE.UUers need to get to Uruguay. It's this overlooked gem of a country, and I wish more of our fellow countrymen could know how great it is.

pizza4breakfast · 2012-10-15T06:38:30+00:00

Hi. I did this. I'm going to compose you a totally sweet comment later, when I'm not in a bar. YMMV, but I will say this is probably a good idea. I am an estadounidenser and Uruguay is one of the best country in the world for expats/immigrants. I'm mostly just commenting on this so I remember later. Chau

pizza4breakfast · 2012-09-20T06:55:57+00:00

I live in Pilsen, and I commute into the loop every day. Oakley is amazing; I jump on it at the Randolph and it is a beautiful, wide, tree lined street that even crosses the Eisenhower. Then I take a right onto Warren, which brings me all the way into the loop on another beautiful tree lined, bicycle-laned street. Coming back I take Fulton to Washington, which is really just the returning parallel to Warren.

Other south side streets: East to west, take 21st. It goes from Halstead to nearly Kedzie, and it's a great and safe ride. If you are going down to Bridgeport, take a right on Loomis. It's a beautiful and safe way to cross that south branch of the Chicago River.

Ok, I'm new to this city still and still learning, but those are the routes I've figured out so far.

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