Friday, June 04, 2004
Having driven to and from Montreal this Memorial Day Weekend, I felt the harsh reality of today’s geopolitical events where it hurts – my wallet. Prices were consistently above $2.10 for a gallon of 89 – I think the highest except for the week after Sept. 11. Except for that, the trip was a resounding success. Montreal is very different from the traditional layout that I am used to (that is to say, New York’s helpful but oppressive grid) – in fact, many of the housing developments reminded me of Ukraine, just much nicer. Julie and I walked around the city, shopped, dined at fine French establishments and had a great time. Our hotel was on Rue Sherbrooke, right in the middle of things and a block away from Rue St. Denis, the happening part of Montreal’s Francophone area. The city definitely has a European feel to it and the fact that most of the population speaks French was amazing - I need to hear a foreign language to feel like I am abroad (Miami, despite being nominally in the US, is definitely a part of another country and one of my favorite places in the US.)
Coming back was a bit painful as the line at the US border stretched for literally 2 miles and sometimes did not move at all. It took us a good two hours to drive those two miles. But it was worth it – we got some ice wine (it is really good!) All told, between the customs, duty-free store, traffic jams and rain, it took us 11 hours to get home…
At work, it is back to the grind. But really, I’d rather not… Projects keep flying and I am trying to duck but they reach me and get thrust into my hands… Today, when my associate openly admitted that he was punting the project to me, I replied “That’s fine, because it is your LAST punt!” But I, so far, has not received the brunt of the work that the group is trying to impose on the second-year analyst class, who are desperately running for the exit. A buddy of mine got staffed on a presentation whose outline!!! was two pages long. The table of contents would fit on one page either, even the condensed version. Anyone who is at all familiar with investment banking would instantly deduce that this presentation will be close to 150 pages long, with multiple pro forma models, extensive business line profiles and torturous comp sheets. And the end result, if you ask me, will be nothing. We’ve not earned a penny from this company and the project has been around for at least 2 years. Some projects just need to DIE. But instead, they stay in limbo like zombies, not really alive or revenue generating but still capable of inflicting horrible pain on the analyst in question.
Yesterday we had a paintball game, supposedly a second-year analyst send off. It was interesting as 30 people were supposed to go but only five did, the rest of them glued to their chairs, eyes glazed over, fingers galloping over QWERTY fields. So the five of us had the entire Staten Island Paintball to ourselves. It was AWESOME. Although I still have some bruises on me, it was worth it. I will probably go again at some point. To shoot at people while crouching behind rocks in camo gear – what could be better! And we had a keg all to ourselves as well. Needless to say, it was a great event. Would have been even better had our bosses come out (just imagine – shooting your boss repeatedly with fast-flying balls of orange and green paint, seeing him writhe in pain and yell “I’m hit, I’m hit” as you continue showering bullets with an evil grin on your face) but they knew what was coming and stayed at home. Pity.
Coming back was a bit painful as the line at the US border stretched for literally 2 miles and sometimes did not move at all. It took us a good two hours to drive those two miles. But it was worth it – we got some ice wine (it is really good!) All told, between the customs, duty-free store, traffic jams and rain, it took us 11 hours to get home…
At work, it is back to the grind. But really, I’d rather not… Projects keep flying and I am trying to duck but they reach me and get thrust into my hands… Today, when my associate openly admitted that he was punting the project to me, I replied “That’s fine, because it is your LAST punt!” But I, so far, has not received the brunt of the work that the group is trying to impose on the second-year analyst class, who are desperately running for the exit. A buddy of mine got staffed on a presentation whose outline!!! was two pages long. The table of contents would fit on one page either, even the condensed version. Anyone who is at all familiar with investment banking would instantly deduce that this presentation will be close to 150 pages long, with multiple pro forma models, extensive business line profiles and torturous comp sheets. And the end result, if you ask me, will be nothing. We’ve not earned a penny from this company and the project has been around for at least 2 years. Some projects just need to DIE. But instead, they stay in limbo like zombies, not really alive or revenue generating but still capable of inflicting horrible pain on the analyst in question.
Yesterday we had a paintball game, supposedly a second-year analyst send off. It was interesting as 30 people were supposed to go but only five did, the rest of them glued to their chairs, eyes glazed over, fingers galloping over QWERTY fields. So the five of us had the entire Staten Island Paintball to ourselves. It was AWESOME. Although I still have some bruises on me, it was worth it. I will probably go again at some point. To shoot at people while crouching behind rocks in camo gear – what could be better! And we had a keg all to ourselves as well. Needless to say, it was a great event. Would have been even better had our bosses come out (just imagine – shooting your boss repeatedly with fast-flying balls of orange and green paint, seeing him writhe in pain and yell “I’m hit, I’m hit” as you continue showering bullets with an evil grin on your face) but they knew what was coming and stayed at home. Pity.
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