Monday, August 30, 2010

Photos uploaded

Click on the photos in the Flickr image/graphic on the right to view photos of :

--Bayeux (France) & Normandy

--Firenze (aka Florence), Italy

Blog posts (descriptions, thoughts, impressions, etc) to come at some point in the future

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

It's My Job

It has been one week since I “officially” started my new job. Correction : my new job function. I am still employed at the same company, but instead of being in Portfolio Management, I am in Business Control. And from conversations I’ve had with many of you, I know you are not quite certain what I do at work. So, here is a (hopefully) understandable explanation of the departments (as they relate to my particular job / business unit / company).

Portfolio Management (Valuation & Risk Management)
--optimize the value of the supply chain and assets (portfolio) by monitoring the business portfolio and commercial environment
--increase financial margin while reducing costs and risks
--ensure that commodity and foreign exchange risks are measured and managed in a portfolio context
--provide deal and project valuation services in a portfolio context
--ensure Portfolio’s models, tools, and processes evolve as needed
--provide annual budget forecasts for the supply chain (operational business), monthly updates, and explanations of variances in budgeted figures versus actual results

Business Control (Finance, Accounting and Risk Control teams)
Finance & Accounting
--management control (budget, medium term plan)
--performance monitoring (results and cash flow)
--financial and fiscal monitoring of commitments (acquisitions, disposals, reorganisations, investments, guarantees)

Risk control

--validate transactions to ensure economic & market risks are captured accurately and are in compliance with Risk Policy
--monitor and perform control actions on the commodity and currency risks ; report exceptions and troubleshoot and repair immediately
--document all financial deals and prepare reports as required by
IAS and IFRS
--follow internal control procedures to ensure proper documentation and information accuracy on transaction modelling, trade capture and deal maintenance. Create, modify, and standardise controls (processes & procedures) as needed
--audit and control inputs into and calculation methodologies within the business unit


Ok, maybe that’s not so clear? Or, it is clear from a conceptual view, but I don’t think it’s clear what I’m giving up and what I’m taking on. Basically, I no longer do the calculation of the hedge requirements or deal transactions. Instead, I validate the calculations once they are done to make sure accurate & consistent assumptions were used, that a calculation was actually done, and that the deal does not add risk to the group. I’ve basically moved from the “
Front Office” to the “Middle Office”. Not really a “creator” but a “monitorer”. And, I know, that doesn’t sound interesting ; and, it sounds more bureaucratic. But, it is a much better fit for me. When I first started in Portfolio with the company 6 years ago, it was a great fit. Now, it’s more technical and high-strung than I prefer.


Also, I put “officially” in quotes because I technically made the change effective July 1, but due to my being on holiday, and other co-workers (including my new boss) being on holiday, I was still doing my old job functions until last week. Well, I’m still doing some, to be honest. And, well, ok, the major reason I am now in my new job function is because I finally changed desks.

And what does changing desks entail ...

It seems it means you ask your assistant to make the request to ‘the people’ in the building and your request sits there a week or two or three and finally you get so fed up you bring in your own screwdriver to remove the “security” lock on your laptop, and you move yourself.

I used to have a ‘room with a view’ – a gorgeous view of Paris/Montmartre, the clouds, sun, etc. Now, I have a hotel. My new area is much quieter, but also darker. The lights are on a sensor, so they often go out. And you can sit in your chair and wave your arms like a goof, but that doesn’t activate the lights. In my old space that was fine because there was all sunlight. I’m not even thinking about how dark it’ll be when winter comes.

I was sitting in an area that was much noisier / active (stands to reason as it operations & trading) and in closest proximity to 3 French men & a Belgian. So it was 90% French all the time, and I found that as every day passed, I was less a part of the group than the day before. (Sure, I didn’t make much effort to stop that from happening ; I think such effort would’ve been futile.) But, I didn’t mind their talking – conversations were business focused, to the point, and short.

Now, I’m in a super quiet part of the floor, in one of the corners, so people don’t really walk by. It’ll be quiet, which I like, but then when people do talk it seems intrusive rather than a part of business. The two women behind me seem to like to talk, and they think they’re being helpful by whispering, but it makes it worse! Instead of blocking out regular talking, all I hear is the high pitch frequency that accompanies a whisper. Nails on a chalkboard. I’m hoping that when the other 2 people in the desk area return from holiday next week that the whispering will stop.

The other point of contention will be the air conditioning. The two women don’t like it because it makes noise. But when we turn it off (each area of 4-8 desks has a remote to control the a/c, lights, window blinds), it gets warm and stuffy. However, most French seem to be cold all the time (e.g. when temperatures dropped from upper 80s into upper 60s two weeks ago, scarves, sweaters, turtlenecks, etc. were making appearances).

This should be interesting. But, I’d better learn to adapt as this is my space for 28 more months!

My new space

Monday, August 23, 2010

Quietly Making Noise

I know, I know, I know ... I’ve been gone from here for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about blogging. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve composed hundreds of posts / funny quips in my head ; I’ve written down tens of ideas/first sentences of posts ; I’ve written at least a dozen half-composed posts ; and I actually have a few I’ve written but not posted. Ok, ok, none of that helps you. But trust me, I have plenty of self-imposed guilt and remorse.

In my mind, I have grand plans of leading an organised life in which I : blog frequently ; organise and post all my pictures ; am caught up at work ; am caught up in emails ; send birthday cards before your birthday, instead of mailing it a few days after ; have time during the week to go the gym ; have time/energy during the week to actually cook instead of heating prepared meals or just having crackers & cheese or cereal for dinner ; have time to do jigsaw puzzles (which implies having the time to file/sort/toss all the papers covering my dining table which prevents me from doing any puzzles) ; you get the idea ....

I kind of feel like life is snowballing forward and I have no time to catch up with it, or that I’m trapped inside the snowball and I can’t grab hold of a branch to slow it down. And then what makes me feel even worse is that there are people (most of you) who are way busier than I am, with way more commitments (spouses, houses, children, families, volunteering, etc) and who are way more productive and organised than I am. What is your secret?

In my defense, there are two big reasons for my lack of posting : (1) internet (2) travel.

#1 Internet : Since April, my internet has been loopy at home. I’d say it works about 25% of the time, and not reliably when it is working. I know, I know. I need to call to have it fixed (well, have a co-worker call as my French is not good enough to deal with someone in a call center). So having little to no internet makes it a bit difficult to post a blog, and much more difficult to post pictures.

#2 Travel : I’ve been travelling a lot, so much so that in April through July this year I was away 3 out of 4 weekends every month. I had great fun on all these trips, but that meant my time in Paris during the week was super hectic trying to cram in all personal chores into Mon-Thurs after work. Sorry, but laundry took precedence over blogging.

To recap a year of travel, and much of what I hope to blog about ......

August 2009 @ Belfast

September 2009 @ London : Saturday day trip to tour Houses of Parliament
September 2009 @ Boston / Maine / Cincinnati for 1.5 weeks / 2 weekends

October 2009 @ Mont Saint Michel
October 2009 @ Bordeaux
October 2009 @ London for NFL game (Patriots v/s Tampa)

November 2009 @ Friends visit for 4 days
November 2009 @ London for 2 days work

December 2009 @ Cincinnati for 11 days / 2 weekends

January 2010 @ Marrakech for 4-day weekend

February 2010 @ London for 3 days work
February 2010 @ Rome – supposed to go for a weekend, but that’s another post

March 2010 @ London for 3 days work
March 2010 @ Friends of friends visiting for a week

April 2010 @ Easter : bells at church Saturday & 2 Sundays
April 2010 @ Cincinnati for 8 days / 1 weekend

May 2010 @ Netherlands
May 2010 @ Marseille
May 2010 @ Houston : work for a week
May 2010 @ Cincinnati : 1 week / 2 weekends

June 2010 @ Normandy
June 2010 @ Reims
June 2010 @ Florence

July 2010 @ Canada : 2 weeks / 3 weekends
July 2010 @ Friends visiting for 4 days
July 2010 @ Vienna

And now, August 2010, I’m finally in Paris and I have no trips planned until October for NFL UK (Denver & SF) and November to Jordan.

(Yes, I do know where I was every day of the year – if you had to complete taxes for 3 countries, you too would be able to verify your whereabouts whenever asked. Taxes ... now there’s a whole new post ...)