Oct 2012 – Feb 2013

Truth be told Santiago is not so bad on a summer day when half the city isn’t around because they are all on vacation.  (Because it makes the city less smoggy.)  Here’s a view from the top of San Cristobal.

We live across from this hill with a white statue on it.  I see it every day.  One day, I decided Nicholas should carry me up that hill.  He wanted to put me in a bag.  I wanted him to hand carry me.  We found a compromise.

And with that, I guess I can say I’ve now done the Santiago tourist thing.  That’s the Virgen, aka the-white-statue-I-see-on-the-hill-across-from-my-house.

But I prefer the ones where I get all the chocolate and chips and cocoa that I want.  That type of hackathon, this was not.

But at least I can say I went to a hackathon in Chile.  How many bears can say they did that?

That’s right.  This bear se habla español now.

What choice do I have?  We’re here for six months.  Or longer.  I have a feeling I’m here for a while.

They better make chocolate better than they make coffee.

I didn’t get an X-Box like I was expecting for Christmas but Nicholas got me some bling. And some lotto scratch cards.

It’s a start.

Thanks, Nicholas.

Now where’s my X-Box?

This christmas, I bought Nicholas some hot cocoa. This way, when I want some hot cocoa, Nicholas will already have it on hand.  After all, who wants to wait if the urge for cocoa comes up?  Not this bear.

I even made him a Christmas note.  And it came with a gift card.  For Steam.  So he can buy games to play.

With me.

Here’s my gaming setup.  I am a fan of having multiple monitors

Pictured in the front is the Surface tablet I won at the Facebook hackathon.

It’s also where Nicholas works hard to make me money.

It was like a 9 hour drive to get there, but Nicholas and Pokin won first place and I got my paws on a Microsoft Surface tablet as a result so I guess it was worth it.  I deserved that tablet since Nicholas used my Facebook account to do his demo since he didn’t even have one of his own.

I was mostly left to my own devices in the car but at least Nicholas had the foresight to bundle me up warmly in a scarf.

And anyway when no one was looking I snuck into Facebook and helped myself to some chocolate.  My Assassin’s Creed style scarfing helped me stay stealth.

No not my pet dog Cuddle Pup.

It’s the tin right in front of me..

That’s my bear tin.

Whenever Nicholas sells something on Craigslist or earns some kind of money, I make sure to take prompt ownership of any cash generated in those transactions.  After all, of course any money Nicholas generates selling things must have been intended for my tin.

And that tin is very important.  I use it to fund my investments.  Investments like the one I made into Nicholas’ business.   I was his first investor and I put a full $500 into his business.  So I’m keeping a close eye on him.  I expect to be paid back.  With interest.  And gaming.

Well by ordering him a cake, I meant I directed Pokin to find a supplier, communicate my preferences and handle the payment.

Naturally I ordered a chocolate cake.  Well technically red velvet but it had chocolate in it.

I even quality-control-tested the bed for him.

What’s that again?

Yeah that’s right, I’m a thoughtful bear.