spacekadet

is that what i am? is this person in a pressed shirt and pointy shoes really me??

i've been working at the bank for two weeks now. two weeks? time flies in the desk farm. i'm reluctant to write about it; i get the sense that it's the kind of job that might be jeopardized if i said anything, good or bad, about what happens beyond the lobby. after all, it took three months of background checks for me to get a security badge to the place.

though the precise tuning of the bank's gears is a well kept secret, surely my feelings about being a part of it are not.

the work itself is interesting, the kind of thing i'd always hoped to do as an applied "mathematician". i'm digging through data, looking for patterns, making pretty pictures, using my brain, and learning a shit ton of cool math tricks, and less cool but necessary knowledge about finance and accounting. i'm a part of The City of London, and that in itself is a beautiful, fascinating thing. i'm behind the scenes, observing London from the inside, getting to the heart of what makes this city work. there's history here, in its narrow ways and old stone buildings and tiny pubs, in its train stations and bustling markets and ridiculous business suits. i feel like a spy, and that's kind of fun.

but part of being a spy is pretending to be something i'm not. and fun as that may for now, i wonder how long it will before my face gets sweaty behind this heavy mask. i wish it were only the clothes that made me feel this way. i could deal with wearing nice clothes (and so could the rest of the world, i'm sure).

bah, i shall say no more about that. instead: i'm learning lots of useful math and that's really exciting. it's also good to be working again. weird having a real grown up job. luckily i don't work with grown ups. i work with youngsters like me, some even younger. there are math geeks and engineering nerds and mba biz-kids and people from all over the world. everyone is smart and motivated and that in turn motivates me. really, what more could i want in a job?!?!?!? aside from the chance to save the world.....