toddrew

"Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids." - Joe Biden

Not a likely story. If the driver was an employee at the airport, turning on uber before his shift might result in him driving in the opposite direction for an hour and missing his shift.

In some cities Uber drivers are able to choose drop-off areas, but I don't believe Montreal is one of them.

Do two-thirds of Americans travel enough to use high-speed rail?

I agree about standing out. But as someone that lived in other countries down there for three years before moving to Chile and speaks Spanish, this definitely wasn't the case for me.

Are you in Startup Chile?

Just watch your backpack on the subway or walking through busy streets. During my time there my female room mate had her wallet taken from her backpack at the market and some big charges racked up on her credit card before she noticed.

A month later her parents visited and they climbed Cerro San Cristobal in the middle of the day and had three young guys come out and beat them with sticks to steal their bags. Lots of bruises and stitches.

Another had a iPhone ripped out of her hand while she was using it on the street. Another had his laptop stolen out of his bag on a bus to the coast. Laptops were also stolen by people who just walked into the co-working space that Startup Chile uses.

There's no reason to be scared in Chile. I always felt safe, but don't let the title of safest place in Latin America based on comparative murder rates make you forget that you're still a possible target for a robbery. And based on nothing but my own experience and people I knew, more so than any other place I've ever visited.

The murder rates in the other countries are mostly drug related gang on gang violence. I've spent the past four years in Latin America (Mexico, Guatemala, and Chile (was in Startup Chile)) and found Chile to be the sketchiest of places for lesser crimes against tourists like non-violent theft, or assault.

I lived in an apartment with three others, and we were all robbed during the 8 months in Santiago, violently in some cases, and non-violently in other cases. I knew lots of others who were also robbed.

The rest of my years in other Latin American countires, including hitchhiking from Chile back up to Guatemala after Startup Chile was completely safe and uneventful.

I did the same. Mexico for a couple years (I love Mazunte and Zipolite!) then Guatemala and Chile. Actually moving back to Toronto from Guatemala in a few days after almost 5 years to work with a startup there.

The thing I've found most effective to combat my own burnout has always been a change of scenery and behaviour and getting a fresh perspective on my work.

I would recommend heading somewhere nice, warm, and cheap, and finish your project from there.

Reaching a bit?

We played a trick on my friend Jerry that I worked with in the military. The previous night we had a few drinks and then called it a night and walked home together.

Jerry, in the morning mentioned to someone that his shoulder really hurt, but he couldn't remember hurting it.

We came up with a plan that morning to convince Jerry that he had been sideswiped by a taxi, and got into a fight with a taxi driver. We emailed everyone we were with the night before, explained to them what we were doing, and started planting that idea in Jerry's mind.

At first he claimed that it never happened. He kept saying he knew we were just fucking with him.

More and more people corroborated the story. We even had a military police officer call him on the phone to inquire about the incident. We got his boss to sit him down and have a talk with him about his problem with alcohol (he doesn't drink that much).

Eventually as the story was repeated to him by everyone, especially people with authority, Jerry went from:

"this never happened.. I only had two beer last night" to: "hmm... maybe I was really drunk after all... but I don't remember anything" to: "Yeah... I remember everything now! How could I have forgotten before? Crazy!?!?"

He turned our story into real memories and even started adding his own details to the story. We thought that was hilarious.

That night we all got together and told Jerry that it was all just a joke. He couldn't believe it. He argued with us that he was sure it did happen. He remembered it. When he finally accepted it he felt really dumb, but it was a really fun day at work for us, so definitely worth it.

I went through Startup Chile last year. Each year the number of Chilean startups applying and being accepted is growing. I would say that's some level of success based on the goal of the accelerator.

Post traumatic stress disorder from a three day party/commercial shoot. Oh the horror.