First Knives Club

Yeah, I know, it's been a while. I became a working man this past Monday. I am officially part of the "machine". It had been over a year since I sat in an office, so I'm making the transition. The financial services world has given me something that I've never had before...2 computer screens. My goal is to have at least four by the end of the summer. I need one for my work email, one for ESPN.com, one for ESPN.com, and one for ESPN.com. Some traders have eight screens; those guys must really read a lot of ESPN.com. But seriously, when you are a summer associate and you're sitting on a trading floor you're not reading ESPN.com. It was nice to rejoin the working world just because it has given me some sort of purpose again. Staying tan wasn't really something incredibly aspirational. Hands down though, the WORST, absolute worst thing about working at a bank is having to shave every day. It's like my face was the secret ingredient on Iron Chef.

Chef Batali is plating his Fingertheblog face carpaccio

I can't even remember the last time I shaved five days in a row. Actually, I might never have shaved five days in a row. No more razors please. If that ends up being the worst part of my job then I think I'll be all right. What everyone always wants to know about are the hours. I'm working 12 hour days, which isn't so bad, and the work is interesting so the day goes by quickly. Going to the gym has become a luxury which is also something I'll have to adjust too. On Thursday I left work and went for a few beers with some colleagues and then despite feeling a little buzzed and tired I still went and lifted. Lifting a little buzzed...not a good idea, but sometimes you get to the gym for peace of mind more than anything else.

But I want to talk about something that doesn't give me peace of mind, and it's the bathroom situation at work. What do you do when you go into the bathroom and the three stalls are occupied and the three urinals are being used? You go in and pretend that you just wanted to wash your hands, so you wash and then you leave. When you work on a floor with two huge trading floors in a male dominated industry you're going to find that the bathroom is completely packed for good portions of the day. So now I have the cleanest hands of everyone in Manhattan and everyone probably thinks I'm OCD. I guess it could be worse...I could, I don't know pick up a nasty habit of say, blackberrying whilst on the toilet. I'm willing to bet that someone is reading this blog on their blackberry while sitting on the toilet. I think there needs to be a sign above the sink that says "Employees Must Wash Hands and Blackberries". I mean, that's just gross. Although if I had a blackberry, would I do the same thing? Um, no comment.

I'm going to try my damnedest to get to this thing more often than I have. So far work has not provided much fodder, unless of course you are dying to learn about renewable energy. Wait you are?