Tech Gringo

IDL Scam?

Wanna know a scam going around that affects expats? Have I got one for you. When traveling outside of the US and Canada, many expats find themselves needing to drive. Since your US driver’s license, or UK driver’s license or whatever country, may not be valid in the country you are traveling in, many people need an International Driver’s License. This is a document that supplements your current driver’s license and is valid in any country that has signed the UN Treaty that governs its issue.

So where does the scam come in? Many individuals sell these international driver’s licenses to expats. They charge fees ranging from very little to upwards of $100 depending on who is trying to do the scamming. The problem is that they aren’t even worth the paper they are printed on.

The UN Treaty doesn’t define citizen rights but rather it is an agreement between countries. The treaty doesn’t define the requirements for obtaining the IDL supplement, this is left to individual countries to decide on their own. For US issued driver’s licenses, the State Department has the responsibility to issue IDL’s. They have delegated this responsibility to AAA and a lesser known auto club. These are the only valid IDL’s for US driver’s licenses.

This means that if you buy an international driver’s license off of the internet or Jose at the corner print shop, it is not valid. This could land you in some very hot water if you run into an official who is astute enough to recognize the difference. It might be as simple as trying to do a little explaining or paying a bribe or you could be talking jail time while they sort things out.

If you are already abroad, AAA makes it really easy to get the IDL, just send them a copy of your driver’s license, two photographs and the fee. A few dollars to AAA can sure save a lot of headaches later.

New Free Trade Shopping Experience In Chile

Free trade has many benefits especially for expats. A lot of times, visa requirements are diminished and expats can more easily open businesses in their new homeland. As well, expats have many opportunities to export to or import from their former homeland. Some enterprising Chinese businessmen have taken advantage of the Chile-China FTA by opening the Chinese Commercial Center, a brand new shopping mall in Santiago, Chile.

The new half-million dollar complex houses 54 shops that sells products from Wenzhou, China. This includes handicrafts, clothes, and shoes. I can only imagine how the locals will react to going to shop at a Chinese Shopping Complex, but time will surely tell, but nonetheless the local government in Santiago helped to make this project a reality. This is the 14th overseas shopping complex that its owners, businessmen from Wenzhou, have opened and the first such complex in Latin America.

Reference Article:
Chinese Shopping Complex opens in Chile

Looking For Argentina Real Estate?

Argentina is a large South American country, home of excellent wine and beef. It is a wide open country with the capital of Buenos Aires, the capital of Tango. There is much to be enchanted about Argentina. Low cost real estate is one to add to the list.

I found some links on Argentina. The more looking I do, the more good stuff I find. This blog is all about trying to find that little slice of heaven. Some of us have found it, some of us are still searching, and some of us don’t even realize that is what we are searching for. For those of you who have found their little slice of heaven, it’s all good. But if you are like me and still searching, information is what you want.

You should enjoy these links. The more I look around about Argentina, the more I think it is the place for me. I found an online real estate agent out of Mendoza, Argentina. I don’t know them and I really can’t vouch for them at all, but any site that puts pictures and prices on the web is worth taking a look at. You know they have big sites with stuff in English but they seem expensive, but these are all in Spanish with real local prices. When you see the $, that means pesos, and the exchange rate is something like 3.1 pesos to the dollar or nearly that right now.

I see an ok two bedroom apartment going for US$140 per month, not too bad especially since in Thailand I am paying $90 a month for a single room. It sure looks a lot better than what I got now. I see apartments for sale for anywhere from us$ 15,000 all the way to us$50,000 and higher, a lot cheaper than what you could find in here in Thailand.

When doing searching, alquiler means rent, basically, and venta means for sale. Casa is house, departmento is apartment. That should get you started on searching.

Here is the link to the real estate agent, remember I am not endorsing them at all, I don’t know them, just know that it is a place to search for real estate prices.

http://www.inmodelucia.com.ar/

Another link you could look for real estate in Mendoza is the Los Andes newspaper. Here is a link to their classified section.

http://www.losandes.com.ar/clasificados/

If you have any questions or comments, just let me know. I would be happy to share what knowledge I have.

Even The Embassies Are Inspected

As I was surfing tonight trying to look for Bolivian ISP, yes I really don’t have a life, I found this link to US Embassy inspections. You know inspections one government agency does as oversight against another government agency. Kind of interesting reading.

Embassy Inspections

They are just summaries and only a few embassies are listed but they are interesting nonetheless. It gives interesting reading if you have ever had more than limited dealings with an embassy. I never really knew these kind of inspection reports existed, but now I do.

Superior Pro Audio Hardware

Great audio is important. If you are an audiophile than you know how important great pro audio hardware is when it comes to creating a superior sound experience. Nothing should really be left to chance.

Decent pro audio hardware doesn’t come cheap. Whether it’s audio compressors, audio limiters, bass compressors, tube valve, tube amplifiers or whatever, good equipment isn’t cheap and quality is something that you really need to pay for.

I was impressed the other day when I was reading the reviews over on Gain Reduction. I think it’s a site worth checking out if you need audio equipment.