Causal Friday

Fridays at the firm are nice because we can wear business casual. Today was kind of weird because I didn't really do anything as far as work goes. I finished up all my projects and started my morning by printing out a few 10-Ks and Qs and marking them up for the numbers I used from yesterday.

So, as per a suggestion from Ashton Grewal, I'm going to start mentioning what time I arrive/leave the office every day. I try to be the first person in and one of the last out (usually there's somebody staying really late, so unless I'm working on the same project as they are I don't worry about staying all night every night). On Friday I got into the office at about 8:35 AM. That's about normal for me - between 8:00 and 8:30 every day. Most of the other interns and analysts show up at about 9:00 so it gives me time to get busy on some work so I'll have questions about things I'm working on when the analysts show up.

I was put in charge of getting lunch at the Shake Shack. The tricky thing about that is that the Shake Shack is so famous that there's a huge line every day for lunch. I took all the orders, and the other interns wanted to come along, so we all left. I told everybody when we would need to leave to beat the rush. We got to the subway right as the train was pulling up, so I went through and was about to get on the train, but the other interns hadn't bought subway passes because they live so close. So we missed three trains while we waited for the other interns. I should have just gone ahead, but I decided to stick with the group.

It took 20 minutes for the next train to come, and when we go to Shake Shack (which, by the way, is across the street from Credit Suisse) there was a huge line. It ended up taking us two hours from when we left to when we got back. It was rediculous. The analysts gave us a lot of crap about it. One of them started a "rules to live by" and gave us advice on how not to screw up again like that. It was too bad because if I was on my own I would have been back in 35 minutes. Oh well - there are worse things to mess up.

I'll post the "Rules to Live By" that I've been compiling. There's some good stuff there. I also put quotes around my desk to keep me working hard. Here are some of the quotes I have up on my desk:

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine
"The common denominator for success is work." - John D Rockefeller
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier; not that thing itself becomes easier, but our capacity to do is increased." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don't know if those are exact quotes because I'm just writing them off the top of my head, but it's good to have motivational stuff when you're cranking at 2am.

The group went out for drinks again (second night in a row) and I went along. I think it's better to stick with the group than to be a loner, even if I still feel like a loner when I'm there. It's just kind of weird when everybody else is drinking and you're working on a glass of Sprite. Oh well. One thing I'm trying to really work on is being more outgoing. When you're drunk, you lose inhibition and really open up, so I need to be like that without the alcohol.

The female interns in our group get a LOT of attention from the analysts and associates, especially when they wear lower-cut blouses. It's kind of annoying how much the analysts fall over themselves trying to talk and joke with the girls, but oh well. I figure that it will only get the girls so far - in the end they'll want to take somebody who can get the job done. Not that a girl couldn't do the job well, but just that it won't be the final measure of the job whether or not you look good. I think that one of the female interns made a bet with one of the second-year analysts that she could get me to drink before the summer is over. I kind of overheard it and just laughed to myself - that's $20 she'll never see again.

I left after a while to go study for the CFA. Everybody else went out to other clubs, but I needed to study so I went back to the office. I helped an associate for a little while then just stayed at my desk and studied until about 10:00. It felt weird to leave then, but there was literally nothing left to do in the office.

If you stay late you get to take a black car home, which is nice because I live so far away.
Well today I'm just studying (the CFA is next week!). I'll go into the office this afternoon to make sure nobody needs help, and to not feel bad about not coming in on Sunday.