Posted
9:30 AM
by Zachary (e-mail)
This ten week patch between graduation and the start of my job will be coming to an end in a couple weeks, when I start my career as a fixed income trader. On one hand, I'm grateful for having so much time off (I feel sorry for my Chicago GSB colleagues, whose late graduation date must put a lot of pressure on their post-MBA schedule)--time enough to pack, move, unpack, and take a nice vacation. On the other hand...G*D DAMN am I read to start work again!
Hence, my summary of the pros and cons of resuming work life:
Pros of Working Again
1. Life returning to a normal, regular routine.
2. Sense of purpose/role in society.
3. Paycheck.
4. Competition. Focus. Drive.
5. Meeting new people.
6. Weekdays are no longer filled with annoying little errands.
Cons of Working Again
1. All (?) those annoying errands are now packed into the weekends.
2. Can't attend movies during weekday afternoons.
3. ?
As you can see, for me, the pros far outweigh the cons.
Posted
8:18 AM
by Zachary (e-mail)
If I had to grade my experience of moving, using U-Haul, to Ann Arbor back in 2003, I would give it an F- - - - - - - - - - - - -. If I was in a generous mood.
Well, the move out here to Brooklyn, with so much potential to turn out worse, ended up working out well. Thanks to Handle With Care movers, the full-service movers I hired this time. Sure, they probably costed a bit more than trying to do the move myself, but they work worth every penny: on-time, courteous, quick, and hard-working. A solid B+ in my book.
I've moved to Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, and have fallen in love immediately. Ann Arbor was nice and all, but here I can reach good Thai, Japanese, Italian, French, Tex-Mex, reaturants; a fresh fishmarket; a movie theater; all within a short, five minute walk. Not to mention being a seven minute subway ride from Wall Street. Of course, I'm paying through the nose for it.
Here's my first Brooklyn BBQ photo, from my private backyard.
Posted
7:52 AM
by Zachary (e-mail)
Like many other new grads, I took advantage of the ten week gap between graduation (late April) and the start of work (mid-July) to take do a little travelling. Since my goal for these ten weeks was to have as relaxing and tension-free a time as possible (and moving to New York at the same time), I aimed for a beach-oriented trip rather than my usual sightseeing travels.
French St. Martin was the perfect choice. St. Martin is a small island in the Eastern Caribbean, between Antigua and St. Barths. The interesting thing about St. Martin is that it's partitioned between two countries: the southern side (with the main international airport, SXM) is Dutch, and the northern side is French. I stayed in the small town of Grand Case, on the French side, which contained little more than a beautiful beach and a string of great French restaurants started by Parisian chefs on their winter getaways.
If you're looking for a vacation that involves nothing more than sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling, and eating well; and if you're looking for a vacation that's not painfully expensive (St. Martin is pricy compared to much of the Caribbean, but is not crazy like St. Barths); I can't recommend St. Martin enough. I would recommend the French side, which (to me) had a more European feel than the Dutch side (which seemed full of American fast food shops, chain stores, and casinos). My stay at the Grand Case Beach Club (photo above) was lovely.Notes:
1. US dollars were accepted everywhere we went.
2. English is a little less prevalent on the French side, but, at least in Grand Case, all the hotel workers and restauranters spoke it.
3. The weather in late June: mostly sunny, highs in the mid-80s, lows in the mid-80s. There were one or two 5-minute squalls that passed by during my weeklong stay.
Posted
7:44 AM
by Zachary (e-mail)
As this MBA blogger mentioned, yesterday's viscious attack on London brought up memories of the morning of September 11th on the island of Manhattan.
It was a strange coincidence that yesterday afternoon, as I was unpacking the last few boxes, I came across a small "emergency kit" that I put together and carried around in the wake of 9/11. Nothing fancy--flashlight, pocket knife, dust mask, eye drops, bandages, etc.--just things that I'd want to have on my person if I were 1. unlucky enough to be in the vicinity of an attack, 2. lucky enough to survive, and 3. possibly trapped in a small/dark space in the aftermath. Maybe this sounds kind of paranoid, but we forget that in the days and weeks following 9/11, everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Considering that 1. I'll be working within a stone's throw of both Ground Zero and the New York Stock Exchange, and 2. I'll be commuting on subways every day, maybe it makes sense to throw that emergency kit into my backpack. I'm sure many Londoners would've appreciated a flashlight yesterday.
Posted
7:28 AM
by Zachary (e-mail)
After my handful of lessons last fall and a half-dozen visits to the driving range this Spring, I finally, finally, played my first round of golf in early June.
After hearing so much about the University of Michigan Golf Course, a friend and I got a tee time on June 10th (it's very inexpensive for students and alums) and I got to see it first hand. All I can compare it to is the small piece of the PineView Golf Course that I could see from the driving range, and by that measure the UM course was both beautiful and quite hilly/twisty.
I was pleased with my final score: only one lost ball, on my way to shooting a 75. Over nine holes, that is.
The experience didn't turn me into a golf fanatic, but it was really enjoyable--the challenge of the game, being out in the sun, competing against the course, yourself, and your companions. I only wish I had taken more time out to play while I was a student.
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