Week 15 – Day 99 – Monday – Resignation

Today is President’s Day.  No one really knows or cares about this holiday in the working world.  It’s just the 3rd day in a long weekend.  All the public needs to remember is how America is still the land of opportunity and you’re entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The 3rd item in that list is the most elusive.

I decided today that I’m going to put my notice of resignation in tomorrow.  I have thought this over the past few days, and I have come to the conclusion that I do not want to work at this firm.  I’ll discuss my reasons in tomorrow’s post.

Week 14 – Day 95 – Thursday – Another SNOW DAY

Holy FUCK.  I was out at 5am this morning digging a path for my car to get out of my driveway.  When I backed my car out, it got stuck in the street about 6 feet from my house.

The situation was FUBAR.  There was absolutely no way for me to get to work other than walking, which is obviously a crazy thing to do.  I wouldn’t make it on time anyway.  If I’m not in the boardroom by at least 8am, then I get sent home.  See what I said yesterday about how bad it is missing one day of work at this firm?  Well missing two days back to back is enough to get me fired.  People have been fired for less.

I called my 2nd in command senior broker and he told me to just make sure I show up tomorrow.

At around 8am, my main senior broker called me.  Conversation is as follows.

“Yo *** where are you?”

“I’m at home.”

“What are you doing at home?”

“Didn’t ******* tell you what happened?”

“Yea, you can’t get to the trains?”

“No, I take a bus in, but I can’t drive to the station.”

“Well where’s the train station?”

“Like 30 minutes from me, maybe longer because of how it’s like today.  My car is stuck so I can’t get there.  They did a bad job plowing the roads here.”

“…Did you see the YMCA sign outside this building?  Does this look like a nonprofit come whenever you want?”

“No…what?”

“Work here is MANDATORY.  This is unbelievable…you just passed your test and you missed two days of work.  Listen I have no problem cutting you, I have people coming from farther away than you.  Everyone’s here.  You want to make money?  You are to NEVER miss a day of work again.”

“Ok…I understand.”

“We’re never going to miss work again right?”

“Right…”

“Ok then, I’ll see you tomorrow in the AM.”

Well after that call, I spent the day wondering if it was worth the risk to continue working at this firm.  I got lucky.  I could have gotten fired.  What if one day I legitimately can’t make it in, and I get fired because of it?  All the senior staff there have no problems getting to work because they all live like blocks away from Wall Street.  They wouldn’t really understand any sort of excuses.

Do I want to take the risk of having months and months of hard work taken away from me?  I cannot believe I’m already starting to doubt working there.  My doubts aren’t just because of a snow day, I’ve been having them for weeks now, but after starting work as a real broker, things are starting to become more real.

Week 14 – Day 94 – Wednesday – SNOW DAY

I had to call out today because a blizzard was starting that would eventually whiteout the entire upper east coast.

It was a good call by me since I probably wouldn’t have been able to get back home.  Public transportation stopped running at like 7pm.

By the end of the day, there was like 2 feet of snow in New Jersey.  People in NYC wouldn’t understand what it’s like to live in the suburbs.  Snow gets cleaned up quickly and efficiently in the city within a few hours, and there’s subways to get around.  If you’re outside of the city, a blizzard will pretty much trap you in the house for the entire day.

Missing a day is really bad though.  This firm has almost no leniency with that.

Week 13 – Day 89 – Friday

Wooo, didn’t do anything today!

Week 12 – Day 82 – Friday

Rocky IV is just awesome.  Unintentionally funny moments, but it is inspiring to see Rocky overtake Ivan Drago who looked massive.

I love this quote.

“It’s not enough to succeed.  Others must fail.” – Gore Vidal

Week 12 – Day 81 – Thursday

So I heard my firm is starting an uprising against the Obama administration and trying to bring the glory and pride back to Wall Street.  It was all over the financial outlets.  This is how big things start…small with a few voices crying out to be heard.  This should be a big hint as to who I work for.

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.” – Booker T. Washington

Week 12 – Day 80 – Wednesday

I almost had a heart attack today because my firm called and told me they scheduled my 63 for this Friday.  I had them reschedule for next Wednesday because I’m not ready to start studying hardcore yet.

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas Edison

Week 12 – Day 79 – Tuesday

This week is going to be pretty mundane so I’ll just post a qu0te a day until next week.  I’m not going in this week because it’s impossible to study with a class going on.  I’m trying to learn the material for the Series 63, and I have a guy at the head of the classroom telling me what’s important on the Series 7.  Just not gonna work.

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” – Confucius

Week 11 – Day 75 off Wall Street

I woke up really late today.  I figured I would take the day off to just unwind.

Most of the trainees in my group have passed the exam.  I think the lowest score so far is an 83.  We all studied too long.

Week 11 – Day 73 off Wall Street

This is it, last day before the exam tomorrow!

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”  – Michael Jordan