pedro has left 2903 comments

pedro comments on overstay of 4 days? need extension or just pay fine?

Anywhere but Taganga. That place makes me feel like I need to shower after being there. I believe Bushwick has a commercial helicopter pilot's license and has his own aviation crew on standby. So we could probably just go anywhere in Colombia we feel like that day. We just need to make sure there's enough room in the chopper for all of Bushwick's split personalities.

pedro comments on Colombian Ethics

billyb says on Mar 18, 2010, 13:23 (today): flag Sorry to go of course here, but Flats, you mean to tell us you've had this bromance with Johnny2009 going on since you were 14 ;) -------------- In those days Johnny was just a young tyke and he was known as Johnny1985.

pedro comments on overstay of 4 days? need extension or just pay fine?

Bushwick is going to bring along vobbie and ColombiaMike too. So you should have all the manpower you need.

pedro comments on Motorcycle buying advice and moto/driver's license info

You can also check online that your license is valid. http://www.runt.com.co/portel/libreria/php/decide.php?patron=01.0305 Use the "consulta" links contained in the left hand column.

pedro comments on GOIG just hit .11

But it can only happen it there are no remaining offered shares in the market depth. Correct?

pedro comments on GOIG just hit .11

Brutal. I'm surprised that can happen.. surely there were offered shares in the market depth that would have transacted at the offer price?

pedro comments on Colombian Ethics

Here is a picture of me for your collection:

pedro comments on Colombian Ethics

kat1 (Moderator) says on Mar 18, 2010, 10:14 (today): flag you know, i don't if sapo aka Robie666 aka pluto aka..... remember, he was harrased by a member, this was when sapo was kind of new to pbh, i defended him, this guy, who was being nasty to him, called him fat, something or another and I wonder if sapo remember sending me a picture of him to proved me that he was not fat or ugly. ---------------- Kat, I don't mean to disappoint you, but Sapo is an expert at photoshop. If he's thin in the photo, he must have photoshopped it heavily. Or maybe he sent you a picture of someone else? :op

pedro comments on Ignore button fixed

But Peter, I thought I put you on my ignore list... so if I can see your post if must still be broken? Just kidding, thanks for the fix (never noticed this feature not working, though).

pedro comments on Life in the most beautiful area of Colombia.

A very well done documentary. Thanks for posting this.

pedro comments on Women in Medellin....a woman's perspective.

So to paraphrase, she wishes women weren't judged so much on appearance. Is that really a new and different point of view?

pedro comments on The best job in the world?

Flatline, when your employer was introducing you to the job and your job description... I think they may actually have been saying "lecturer" and not "lecherer".

pedro comments on The best job in the world?

I think you need to teach them all swear words after class. You can't beat a pretty girl swearing like a sailor in a language she barely understands. All with a cute smile on her face and a Colombian accent.

pedro comments on 16 and still here.

OP, how good are you at swimming?

pedro comments on My Colombian experience ...

LOL!

pedro comments on Can a non-Colombian who doesn't live in Colombia but is married to a Colombian become a Colombian citizen?

From what I remember of the laws, I think your friend would need to live several years in Colombia in order to get citizenship. Saimon, I know you prefer to live in the US, but you should advise your friend to at least consider living here in Colombia. It's really pretty nice here!

pedro comments on Let's bring back Elmo

Francisco El Hombre (newbie) says on Mar 17, 2010, 10:35 (today): flag Temporary Internet Files trick? Now that's interesting... ---------- You'd have to check with GIB to get all the details. He was quite adamant about it.

pedro comments on Let's bring back Elmo

The "conspiracy" I referred to was nothing to do with Darloup, it was about njc. I recall that event as the reason stated by GL when he asked to be deleted. Either one of us could be right or wrong and the posts are no longer live... we'd have to check it with gringoloid. GIB also used to make a similar claim -- that PBH was blocking him with some Temporary Internet Files trick. Personally, I think he was just imagining things.

pedro comments on Let's bring back Elmo

Flats, I guess a PBHer would be safe ground, then, if he happened to tick all three boxes on your list?

pedro comments on Let's bring back Elmo

MaBarker says on Mar 17, 2010, 09:29 (today): flag if there is amnesty for one, then there should be amnesty for all POW's, including robi, gl, mes, mongo, pow wow, etc. ---------------- Amnesty is only relevant when the person was cast off from PBH and told not to sign up again (eg pow wow) GL's case was different to the others cited. IIRC, he got upset with the PBH establishment, accusing them of some conspiracy that probably never existed. Then he asked to be deleted. Right? In this case, it's more that GL should reach out to the PBH admins and say that all that no longer matters, and ask to be reinstated.

pedro comments on Colombian Ethics

La_Huella says on Mar 16, 2010, 16:09: flag Colombia actually has the LOWEST rate of software and music piracy in the whole Western Hemisphere!! Talk about FULL OF SHIT... you should study before accusing... ---------------- I think I would actually prefer to live in the fantasy Colombia that La_Huella lives in, rather than the real one. Huella, any chance of a link to those piracy rates of yours? You never got back to me last time I requested data (on whatever other thing we were talking about).

pedro comments on Let's bring back Elmo

That would be awesome. Thanks CG for the offer to restore Elmo's posts. Any chance of an amnesty for El pow wow, too?

pedro comments on Anybody need anything from the US? (Medellin area)

Thanks! Sent you a PM.

pedro comments on TS Visa (para socios) end of year tax surprises.

Yes, I had a company structure similar to yours and I had to pay renta presuntiva. I think the amount was in the same neighbourhood as the 297mil you mentioned. It definitely was nowhere near 15 million. All these little expenses add up. The yearly matricula for camara de comercio can get expensive, too.

pedro comments on It's time for a national Hispanic museum

That's one great thing about PBH. For me there never was a jb. I figured him out early and then had him on ignore.

pedro comments on You are liable to Colombian Taxation if...........

There are quite a few triggers for needing to lodge an income tax return. Here's a page straight from the source (DIAN): http://www.dian.gov.co/descargas/Novedades/renta2010web.pdf

pedro comments on Medellin - Any American Irish want to celebrate on the 17th?

Simon says on Mar 12, 2010, 23:34: flag What the hell is there to celebrate? ----------- Beer.

pedro comments on Santa Marta drive to Venezuela

The green/white place is a special license. They can't take those vehicles beyond the immediate border area where La Guajira is. Try the "chivo" (goat), which is quite common in that part of Colombia.

pedro comments on Welcome to the new Panama forum!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Van_Halen 'Eddie Van Halen is widely known for his innovative performing and recording styles in rapid guitar playing, tapping, and high frequency feedback; he is also known for energetic and acrobatic stage performances. The All Music Guide has described him as "undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century."[1]' But then Sloop thinks he has no talent, so I guess that settles it? Maybe you could update the Wikipedia article and cite yourself as the source.

pedro comments on Business visa + investing in Colombia ?

Already done, but won't happen for a couple of weeks.

pedro comments on Business visa + investing in Colombia ?

MaB, I've been corresponding with Parisian92 by PM and I believe he is legit.

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

fecherklyn says on Mar 11, 2010, 16:42 (today): flag In fact, this "real" situation has just put me into the position of trying to understand what the TRM rate means in practical terms. To what extent is it relevent to interbank currency transfers. Surely one rate (the TRM) cannot be applied in transactions involving both purchases AND sales of US$? --------- Yes, it is applied. They just add a margin on it where applicable (TRM plus 1% or TRM minus 2% or whatever).

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

That's a fair point about the cash exchange rate being more applicable than the TRM. If it was me and I wanted to be fair, I would look at the buy/sell quotes of the casa de cambio rate, and take the midpoint of those two figures. Then figure out the costs for you to transfer Euros to Dollars with your bank and split those costs equally. That is assuming you actually want the pesos at the current market rate. You are mainly concerned about fairness with your friend and being able to demonstrate that, right? If you want to renegotiate the best rate or determine a worthwhile rate for you, that's a completely different proposition.

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

Brian, people used to do it all the time. Walk to the ATM, pull out $500 worth of Colombian pesos using your foreign credit card. Then walk over to the casa de cambio and exchange them back for $550 in cash dollars. It's best done when you're about to travel to a destination where you can spend the cash dollars or bank them again. Right now there is no spread. But in the past it's been 10% or more.

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

Use portafolio.com.co, click on the Monedas tab.

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

TRM is the interbank rate. Casa de cambio is the rate for changing physical cash. Sometimes the casa de cambio rate is 10% better than the TRM rate (if you're buying dollars in Colombia with pesos, you buy them at a 10% discount). Why? All those illegitimate cash dollars that were produced from coke sales need to find a way back into pesos. That puts a huge imbalance on the supply/demand balance and so the prevailing price is skewed. Banks don't take the casa de cambio rates into consideration for their transactions. It's usually the interbank rate plus 1%, or minus 2%, or whatever.

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

The spread on the casa de cambio buy/sell rate is the margin that the casa de cambio charges for their service. Since it's a transaction between friends, I probably wouldn't intuitively suggest using one or other end of the casa de cambio spread. To say the TRM is a midpoint is usually true for other currencies. But, the peso is a big exception to this convention -- sometimes the TRM is way outside the casa de cambio rate range. So it's not really the midpoint rate at all. As it happens, the TRM is broadly the same as the cash exchange rate right now. But in the past I've seen it vary by 10% or more. So it doesn't matter too much which rate you choose for an amount of 2 million pesos, as they are all pretty close. Or just use 1900 (nice round figure), which is pretty close to what the TRM will be tomorrow.

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

According to the OP, he just wants to calculate the US dollar equivalent of the cash pesos he'll receive. So just use the current TRM to calculate the dollars/pesos rate. It's authoritative and fair. One you know the dollar amount, as fecherklyn says, you just put that dollar amount into an internet banking platform and it will debit you the corresponding amount in Euros.

pedro comments on Does it take 'guts' to live in Colombia?

Do you claim to speak for all of group 3? It would add more weight to what you're saying if other people came out and agreed with it. But somehow I don't think that will happen. I think there's another group you're missing. People who don't have much of a connection with Colombia any more. But after seeing PBH, decide to visit the forum often because they like the personalities of posters, or they enjoy the drama.

pedro comments on You foreign exchange experts - a little help please

Just agree to do it at the TRM rate. This is an official exchange rate and is published by Banco de la Republica each day: http://www.banrep.gov.co/ (look on the right hand side under indicadores)

pedro comments on Paisa beer, made in Colombia

Coming from a Belgian, that's high praise for a beer. So, I'm interested to try it. The link doesn't say where it's on sale. Any ideas?

pedro comments on Changes to the investor visa

Another twist to the story: If you have US$100k of real estate but less than $US200k, you do still qualify for a visa -- but it's not the investor visa. They added a new category to the TS - Socio visa to cover this. See the MRE website for details.

pedro comments on The IGNORE button - thanks Peter!

7 posters on ignore and you haven't added g_s yet?? The guy is a walk up starter for any ignore list worthy of the name.

pedro comments on Business visa + investing in Colombia ?

Sent you a PM. The PM system is a bit flaky at times, so let me know if it didn't arrive.

pedro comments on The IGNORE button - thanks Peter!

Yes, the ignore button was a great leap forward for the readability of PBH. It's hard to imagine life without it. All those political rants and goin_south's inane ramblings just vanish. It's fantastic.

pedro comments on Business visa + investing in Colombia ?

Regarding French guys that may be able to help you: There was a poster on here from France called El Sapo, but I think he got deleted or something. There's another French guy who posts here from time to time... a bit of a windbag... I just can't recall his name right at the moment.

pedro comments on Business visa + investing in Colombia ?

Yes to questions 1, 2 and 3. You can do all of them on tourist stamps too -- no visa required. You should understand the difference between the negocios (NE) visa, and the temporal especial - socio o propietario visa (TS). There is a link to the current visa requirements here: http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/post/all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-colombian-visas-but-were-afraid-to-ask/ My advice: only open a company structure if you absolutely need one (eg. for the visa). Get some experience and contacts under your belt before you commit any money here. If you are doing any kind of actual business here, get a good accountant on board as a first step -- take the time to find a good one, as most are not that useful.

pedro comments on Welcome to the new Panama forum!

Thanks Peter! All right, let's get this forum started...

pedro comments on The best golf course in Colombia will be built close to Cartagena

Doubt the grass will be that colour, either.

pedro comments on The best golf course in Colombia will be built close to Cartagena

I'll believe it when I see it.