I really like being able to sit back and chill all day. I’ve probably said that many times before since graduating, but I can’t understate how good it feels to wake up and know that you can ust hang out all day. I’ve got to get myself out of that comfortable mindset because I start my job at McKinsey in about a month, but I am enjoying it while I can.
In other news…The process of moving to ATL is coming along smoothly and it’s becoming even more real that I’ll be out of here soon. Yesterday, I had my car picked up by a transport company to haul it to ATL for me, which was the last remaining “big moving item” outside of me actually driving my boxes from my mother’s house to my new place in ATL. For a while, I considered driving my car back to the East Coast as a means to “go full circle” after having driven from VA out to Cali in August 2004. I eventually decided against driving the car to ATL because my last moments of freedom would be better spent relaxing than driving 3000 miles…plus, I had relocation funds from McK to cover stuff like that, so I might as well use it. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at the fine-print rules of the transport company because they require that a car have a gas tank that is between ¼ and ½ full before hauling it. Having overlooked this, I got a fill-up two days before the pick-up and was freaking out because I thought the company might not take my car. Well, I found out about that rule 24 hours before the scheduled pickup and ended up having to drive aimlessly up and down US-101 trying to burn gas to make sure my car wouldn’t get rejected. It was painful…not because of the time I had to spend driving…but because gas is up over $3.25/gallon in Cali and burning that gas going absolutely nowhere just seemed foul at prices like that. I guess that was better than having the transport company tell me that I’d be stuck having to drive cross country myself to get my car out there
Dealing with other parts of the move has been a pain and I can’t wait to have it finished. For example, I had clue that it would be so hard to find a van that I could rent in VA and drop off in ATL. At first I was looking for a cargo van, but each of the rental companies I looked at either didn’t carry any cargo vans or wouldn’t allow me to drop the van off outside of the immediate regional area of the rental agency. I ended up having to get a minivan and I’m hoping that it will be big enough to carry all of my junk. Also, I should have done more research into this a while back because I was surprised to find out that the rental companies charge a huge “restocking fee” if you do a long-distance one-way move/rental. I’ve got to start my own car rental company because those places make out like bandits…their profits must be ridiculous!!!
Well, now that my car is on its way to ATL and I’ve got my rental, I can look ahead to tomorrow’s LEAD Conference in San Jose. My next entry will be a quick run-down of what I saw and heard there and I hope it’ll be worth reading
Before I close this out, i’d like to recommend that you guys check out the DVD “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”. I just watched it yesterday and was impressed by the way it laid out the details of the Enron fraud and bankruptcy. The moral of the story is the negative effects that greed, shaky ethics, and overconfidence in one’s own intelligence can have on business people. This video should be a mandatory part of every MBA program’s pre-term session and, if you’ve got a Blockbuster nearby and a couple of hours free, you should check it out.
In other news…The process of moving to ATL is coming along smoothly and it’s becoming even more real that I’ll be out of here soon. Yesterday, I had my car picked up by a transport company to haul it to ATL for me, which was the last remaining “big moving item” outside of me actually driving my boxes from my mother’s house to my new place in ATL. For a while, I considered driving my car back to the East Coast as a means to “go full circle” after having driven from VA out to Cali in August 2004. I eventually decided against driving the car to ATL because my last moments of freedom would be better spent relaxing than driving 3000 miles…plus, I had relocation funds from McK to cover stuff like that, so I might as well use it. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at the fine-print rules of the transport company because they require that a car have a gas tank that is between ¼ and ½ full before hauling it. Having overlooked this, I got a fill-up two days before the pick-up and was freaking out because I thought the company might not take my car. Well, I found out about that rule 24 hours before the scheduled pickup and ended up having to drive aimlessly up and down US-101 trying to burn gas to make sure my car wouldn’t get rejected. It was painful…not because of the time I had to spend driving…but because gas is up over $3.25/gallon in Cali and burning that gas going absolutely nowhere just seemed foul at prices like that. I guess that was better than having the transport company tell me that I’d be stuck having to drive cross country myself to get my car out there
Dealing with other parts of the move has been a pain and I can’t wait to have it finished. For example, I had clue that it would be so hard to find a van that I could rent in VA and drop off in ATL. At first I was looking for a cargo van, but each of the rental companies I looked at either didn’t carry any cargo vans or wouldn’t allow me to drop the van off outside of the immediate regional area of the rental agency. I ended up having to get a minivan and I’m hoping that it will be big enough to carry all of my junk. Also, I should have done more research into this a while back because I was surprised to find out that the rental companies charge a huge “restocking fee” if you do a long-distance one-way move/rental. I’ve got to start my own car rental company because those places make out like bandits…their profits must be ridiculous!!!
Well, now that my car is on its way to ATL and I’ve got my rental, I can look ahead to tomorrow’s LEAD Conference in San Jose. My next entry will be a quick run-down of what I saw and heard there and I hope it’ll be worth reading
Before I close this out, i’d like to recommend that you guys check out the DVD “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”. I just watched it yesterday and was impressed by the way it laid out the details of the Enron fraud and bankruptcy. The moral of the story is the negative effects that greed, shaky ethics, and overconfidence in one’s own intelligence can have on business people. This video should be a mandatory part of every MBA program’s pre-term session and, if you’ve got a Blockbuster nearby and a couple of hours free, you should check it out.
Dear Marquis,
Congrats on getting your MBA and MA degrees!
I’m Gautam from Pune, India.
I began reading your blog in Oct. 2005 but lost touch for a few months this year. Then I got back to reading it this week and realised how much life had changed for you since your internship at ACN!
Congrats on getting through to your dream company!
I’m thinking of applying to Stanford for my MBA this year. I feel I’m ready for it now. (I don’t want to waste your time with details of my professional life in this post…maybe later, if you’re interested)
I lived the life of a Stanford MBA student vicariously by reading your blog and was thrilled to see you go through the ups and downs and come up stronger each time.
I’ve been to Stanford earlier; in 2003 to be precise for the BASES B-plan competition as a finalist. I presented my b–plan at similar competitions at Rice and the Univ. of San Francisco that same week, but I had to rush back to India without presenting my plan at BASES ‘cos my visa was about to expire! One of my partners came along to Stanford a week later to present my plan.
However, I spent 2 full days at Stanford and also the GSB while I was there and I’ve been in love with Stanford ever since! I can’t think of any other b-school to graduate from and California feels like home to me, even though I spent just a fortnight there.
I met Prof. Tom Byers but missed Dr. Tom Kosnik. I also met-up with a few Indian grad students.
Needless to say, I was blown away by the beauty, smells and feel of The Farm!
I can’t remember a single day of my life in the last 4 years that I haven’t dreamt of getting into Stanford for my MBA and I hope I get accepted this year. It would be the greatest privilege of my life!
BTW, I intend to specialize in Real estate and I was pleased to learn that you took a class in Real-Estate Investment in your last quarter. Where do you intend to put that knowledge to use? Do you have any specific plans in mind?
Congrats again and all the best to you and Grace for your new life at McK in Atlanta!
I hope to hear from you!
Sincerely,
Gautam Swami.
gautamswami@gmail.com
Gautam,
Thanks for your comment. I sent you an email with more of a response to your question.
-M
Bush and the Republicans were not protecting us on 9-11, and we aren’t a lot safer now. We may be more afraid due to george bush, but are we safer? Being fearful does not necessarily make one safer. Fear can cause people to hide and cower. What do you think? What is he doing to us, and what is he doing to the world?
If ever there was ever a time in our nation’s history that called for a change, this is it!
The more people that the government puts in jails, the safer we are told to think we are. The real terrorists are wherever they are, but they aren’t living in a country with bars on the windows. We are.