London Calling…

My first day of work was mainly an education in how well-run companies can be. 5 minutes after I arrived I had signed my contract and received a hardcopy, 5 minutes after that I had a desk, a phone line, a very comfortable chair, and had been shown the kitchen, which has a coffee machine, apparently limitless supplies of tea, coffee and cereal (any kind available on request), and fresh fruit every morning. I must admit to being impressed by this. So when I get an email later that day, saying that the massage people are in the office, so could anyone who wants a massage let them know, because a meeting room has been reserved for massages all day, I go from somewhat impressed to downright amazed. Oh, and I can read this mail because by 11am I have a laptop, exactly like everyone else’s, a cute little ibm thinkpad. Which has a docking station at my desk attached to kb, mouse and huge flatscreen monitor. I like my job. At this point I don’t know what my job even is yet, but I like it.

Then I begin to discover what it is. Or rather, what our software actually does. To understand what the software is supposed to do, I have to understand what is actually prompting it’s use. Which is collateral trading. For anyone who, like me of last week, has no idea what this is, collateral trading is the stuff of Nicholas Leeson fame, the management of millions of worth of government bonds, gold, equities, and the swapping around of same with various financial institutions, for (I assume) fun and profit. To say that I now understand this stuff would be parallel with claiming that by learning to drive I could infer how to build an engine, but I’ll get there eventually.

Went to see one flat, which was ok, a little far out, with some boring women living in it, so I wasn’t really pushed about getting it. Then went out with Agnes and her crazy friend Sophie, who is incredibly friendly, but I happened to be wearing a low cut top at the time, and about halfway through the evening she informed me that my breasts were lovely but they were making her horny, so could I stop leaning over to talk to her. I was both complimented and amused by this, but put my jumper back on. Sophie turns out to be moving back to Paris in a few days, and wants to make a night of it. This being Agnes’ week off, she is eager to comply, unfortunately I am about to drop dead of exhaustion, so she kindly gives me her keys, and my evening ends there. Naturally, on the way back I get lost. I reiterate once again that cities should consist of a logically numbered grid. That is all.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2006 at 10:36 am and is filed under London Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.