Friday Donuts

Friends, Wanna feel rich? Come to Argentina! The discrepancy between the official (i.e., wishful thinking) peso at 350 ARS to the dollar, and gray market (i.e., real) exchange rate of 1,000 ARS per dollar, means cash is king — after all, who wants to pay nearly triple for the convenience of using their foreign credit card? While the largest note is 2,000 pesos, they are as rare as two dollar bills. The workhorse of the economy is the 1,000 peso bill (worth about a buck), so you’re gonna want to walk around with one or more 100K ARS wads in your pocket — unless, as established, getting gypped on the exchange rate is your thing. As a side note, the smallest circulating note is 10 pesos, or as I like to call it the one penny bill. So you walk around the Paris of the Americas spending tens of thousands, all the while you feel like you’re getting a screaming deal on everything — probably because you are. Tonight as I head back to the states I will bring home a grateful heart, a ton of great

Friends, The narrow sliver of life we are able to perceive is filled with boundless possibilities. Our experiences are shaped by our choices and limited by our creativity. And so it is that when one door closes another gate opens — granted, you might not see it unless you’re willing to look around and keep an open mind. Consider a hypothetical traveler. He’s booked standby on a long awaited Argentina vacation. There are six open seats and he’s 20th on the list (his wife is #21). He could accept getting stranded in Houston or take a chance and switch to the São Paulo flight where more seats and fewer standby passengers mean they’ll probably get on. Sure, there’s the minor detail of getting from Brazil to Buenos Aires, but there’s bound to be a cheap regional flight. Right? And he might get a premium plus seat in the process, arriving rested from the overnight journey. Whilst in SP, he might find enough time to grab a donut and send this note while he’s waiting for the final leg of his

Friends, On this Friday the 13th, let’s talk about scary characters. Who intimidates you? Usual suspects include our elders, bosses, rich, smart, famous, beautiful and charismatic people. It’s natural to get a little tense around folks we don’t consider our peers — at least it is for me. It took me a while to internalize the fact we’re all in the same boat. Not everyone is nice or even good, but at a fundamental level we’re all similar. We eat, drink, sleep, age, get sick and die. We’d like to be heard, respected, appreciated and loved. We have hopes and aspirations, wants and needs. Senior citizens are just people who happen to be born before us -- until we become them. Job interviewers are just people hoping you’re a good fit for the job -- I've sat on both sides of that table. The terminally ill are just people closer to death. And on it goes. I’ve never tried imagining my audience naked, but I could see myself sharing a donut with them. As for Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and

Friends, The habit of securing food and shelter for as many tomorrows as possible can make us forget to enjoy our todays before they become yesterdays. We should’t let stress set the pace for life, always unsure of whether we’ve done enough. Constantly looking over our shoulder, or over the next hill, instead of the fleeting moments laid in front of us. It’s important to slow down. Rush less and roam more (this last line came to me watching the buffalo   roam   near Mt.   Rush more last weekend). Having said all that, I’m going to have to hustle to the donut shop if I’m gonna have one before the day gets too hectic. As they say, do as I say not as I do.  Happy Friday!