Deja Vu All Over Again

One thing I like so say is that history repeats itself but is never the same. Or is it?

As I contemplated starting to blog as the Bully gain, I decided to show some of my old posts to my girlfriend.

Low and behold, I stumbled upon this gem from December 2009:

http://thebullycockpit.blogspot.com/2009/12/will-work-for-food.html

My god, why didn't I listen to myself? Well here I am almost two years later having gotten a Master's degree in teaching on blind faith alone. And blind faith has failed me! Teaching just wasn't right for my inner snake. But I'm not going to harp on the past, it's time to look forward.

So it's back to the drawing board. Back to the financial game. I'm motivated to prove I can not only make it back, but prosper as well. I have a new perspective and a renewed energy.

I will be posting about my efforts to find a job. It's going to be a combination of networking, craiglisting, headhunting and searching company websites. I think they say that looking for a job can take upwards of 6 months even in a good economy. So sit back and get ready for some good blogging content (at my emotional expense).

Fixated

My metamorphosis from Wall St. bigwig (cough cough) to student over the past year is being paralleled by a fundamental shift in my cycling viewpoint.

When I moved to Queens, I got a single speed bike for commuting and running local errands. I love the simplicity of a single speed. No more anticipating changing gears, changing gears, and wondering if you are in the right gear. The constant tinkering works against the inherent simplicity of cycling.

I recently took a deeper dive into simplicity and switched to a fixed gear bike. A fixed gear doesn't allow you to "coast". You have to pedal at all times and you brake with your feet by stopping the pedals. Some people use front brakes with this setup because as you could imagine it sets you up for a hugely dangerous scenario not being able to stop very quickly in the face of danger.

The best analogy of how feels to be on a fixed gear bike when danger is approaching is when you are skiing on a steeper slope than you are comfortable with and you start speeding toward a tree out of control and you are having problems turning your skis. I've actually had a few close calls so far -- even thought about bailing off my bike to take the lesser pain of road rash vs. crashing into a car. But so far I've managed to escape each situation by keeping my cool. The upshot of riding a fixed gear bike is it is fun in an intense way and the workout is multiples of a regular bike because your legs are constantly in motion and your muscles are always working to control the cranks.

The more I write here the more I think I need to get a front brake. The bike doesn't look as cool but it sure beats dying.

Here's a pic of my rig. Bike porn at its best.

He's Baaaaaaaaack

The Bully's back. I've got a new look and most likely some new angles. Not sure which way the new blog is headed content-wise. Stay tuned and we'll figure it out together.

A Week of Firsts

This is a big week. Weather permitting, I'm going to do my first cycling ride of the season tomorrow. I hope to get in about 25 relatively flat miles.

Perhaps even bigger, on Thursday I start my master's degree in elementary education at Hunter College in NYC. This will likely be a traumatic event that will result in a few posts. So at the very least it will be entertaining for my reader(s).

Open Reading

I've done a fair bit of reading over the past year so I figure why not give my reader(s) some of the benefit. I'm going to list the books I've read with a one or two sentence review/recommendation. Each time I finish the book I'll update the list. (FYI, if you double-click on the list it will open in a separate window and be much easier to read.)

Will Work for Food

My long vacation is coming to a creeping end and it's now time to find work. When I lost my job a year ago, I felt like I was given a new lease on life and the freedom to pursue whatever I wanted.

However, over the past few months, as my mind grinded on my next pursuits, I was humbly gripped by fears of taking two years off to go back to school and starting over in a completely new capacity (teaching) on blind faith alone. In my time of reflection, my firSSt revelation came from a friend who reminded me of the story of a farmer that found a frozen snake in the field. He took the snake into his home and nurtured it back to good health. As he picked up the snake to release it, the snake bit him. Perplexed, the farmer asked the snake why he bit him after he saved his life. The snake responded "I'm a snake, that's what I do."

While channeling my inner snake, I realized I'm a finance guy. Starting in the new year, my search for a job in finance will begin in earnest. However, I'd prefer to trade quality of life for stress/pursuit of riches. Here's my wishlist:

1. Job in finance department or strategic development area of a company (e.g., position reporting to CFO)
2. Institutional equity sales
3. Buyside analyst

I realize the search isn't going to be easy given the current employment situation. Thus, I'm taking a systematic approach:

1. Networking
2. Headhunters
3. Websites

I will keep you guy(s) updated on my progress.

Who's Going to Save the Savers?

What a difference a year makes. Or does it? Has anything really changed in our societal behavior patterns? What our economy needs in the long-term is some good old fashioned prudent saving but everything the government is doing encourages the opposite.

Consumption, speculation and greed. Feels like deja vu all over again. God save you if you decide to save -- he may be all you'll have left.