know a good immigration lawyer? (not for me, but please read the third paragraph below)….
driving the sentra is a bit interesting with a loose transmission. i’m getting better at it….but to a passenger, it would feel a bit like i was learning to drive stick shift. when i’m driving (foot on the gas pedal), it’s fine. but sometimes when i stop, the gears will disengage and i’ll have to rev the engine (to 1.5 to 3 thousand rpm)…..then, the gears will pop into place and the car will jolt forward. i’m learning how to make the transition smoother, though. one trick is to press on both the brake and gas pedals when at a stoplight (thus the gears don’t disengage).
this morning i met with some more people about finding a cool job here, and have a meeting with chile’s office of innovation tomorrow morning. it’s surprising how much MIT is thrown around by the people here. i’ll be introduced by MIT, then by name. as my friend suggested, maybe they’re ‘name whores’ here.
from there, i drove over to the concha y toro vineyard just outside of santiago. i was the only one there for an english tour, so i ended up getting a private tour! the woman was very friendly….maybe too friendly? at one point, she told me a pretty tragic story about how she left the us (georgia) a couple of years ago….but has a 4 year old daughter still there. her baby’s father is a jerk, and she’s having trouble returning to the us (immigration) or getting custody of the child. if anybody knows of a good lawyer who can help her out…send me an email (beto@sentradiaries.com) and i can put you in touch with her.
along the way to the vineyard, i got a flat tire. that’s my fourth flat over the entire trip (well, sorta the third….since the second one resulted from a poor patch job that i had done earlier). after checking out the vineyard, i decided to get some new tires…my six full-sized tires ranged from missing rubber to surprisingly good quality. now i have four good tires on the car, and two poorish quality spares…but good enough for a backup. and guess where i bought them? at the supermarket for $25 a piece! go figure.
they also sell their used wine barrels for $10 each….imagine all the possibilities….wine rack, table, etc.
