Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Bling Situation...(or Year End 2005 Financial Analyst and Financial Forecast)

Yesterday the boss gave us our bonus. He does this every Xmas. He gave less than last year. I over heard him talking about how sales have been decline over this year. Ironically, he is going on a vacation in Xmas (on one hand, we can say sarcastically.."oh business is not good this year..time to go on a vacation"..on the other hand..my boss is a hard worker..and he, like any human being, needs a break). And more ironically, the database has some corrupted data and I am expected to work on it during Xmas (can you say Argh). Going to work on Wed instead. I want a break.

I haven't crunch the numbers yet. But I believe I have some extra cash that is lying around. The teeth situation (lost a few teeth in Sept b/c of a bike accident for those who don't know), well the dentist ain't touching it b/c my gums ain't healed. He gave me some mouth wash to rinse my gums. I won't see him until June. Argh..6 months...it will go by fast. I will see how my gums are after the mouth wash. If they are healed (no redness), I want to see him earlier so the Operation Fix My Teeth won't interfere with my Triathlon races. I am going to save more for the teeth budget. It will be costly with no dental plan....(unless I found another job that has one :) ).

I have been tempting with the idea of getting a tri bike this spring. I figure a budget of $2,000 Canadian (like $1739 US) should be minimum. This does not include getting the bike fit and accesseroies and so on. I will scour around the classification and bike shops across Toronto. The best scenario is I get the tri bike by April or May. Then train with it until I start the tri season in June. I also need to get a wetsuit.

For now, this is what I want:
- aero bars
- bike computer that measure cadence
- new mp3 player (going to fight on Boxing day for one)
- an extra pair of running socks
- subscription to Triathlete magazine

The bling situation is not as bad as I thought. With every scraping and every penny pinching, the most important is training. The discipline to get up everyday and train. This is deinitely I have to work on.

13 comments:

Bolder said...

bling BLING!

William said...

Buy a gold tooth man.

Jank said...

Favorite Simpsons Moment - "Dental Plan ... Lisa needs braces ... Dental Plan ... Lisa needs braces ..."

Cliff said...

Jank,

I had that episode in my head too...

"Tri bike...Cliff needs new teeth...tri bike..Cliff needs new teeth"

Hilda said...

You just can't go and say I am an athlete... it costs money!!! That's not fair.

Steven said...

Congrats on the bonus, Cliff. It may not be as much as last year, but there are 1,000's of people not getting one at all. You should feel good about it.
Have fun bike hunting, too!

Unknown said...

cliff... i would appreciate you not blogging further about your plan to get a tri-bike. in other words: cease and desist ALL TALK of tri-bikes!!

this only serves to put the idea into iron benny's head that he needs one... and i have to play the heavy. no fun for me.

as for your teeth... good luck, my man. i hope they don't affect your racing season. my root canals kicked my ass (or was it the trifecta from the root canal? whatever).

Queenie said...

Hey Cliff

Thanks for your comment on my blog. My mate Al Carter has just commented here too. How cool is that!!

I'll be visiting her on Saturday.

Hope all your dreams come true next year.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

That's great about the bonus, even if it isn't what it was last year. Do make your teeth the priority though, unless that tri bike is going to make you fast enough to earn money racing!

Battman said...

Fix the teeth, and enter every free bike contest you can find...
Chewing is definitely underrated.

Anonymous said...

Tri-bike....I was happy with my trek 2300. Yet to jump into a tri event.

Kewl Nitrox said...

Tri Bike or teeth......? No competition - have fun riding it. ;)

Merry Christmas Cliff, it is a real blessing to have met you online. May 2006 bring you a fresh abundance of the Lord's generous blessings!

Jennifer P said...

See if there are any clubs in your area that offer bike rental programs. I rode a mountain bike for 2 years because real life got in the way of buying a bike. Teeth aren't as much fun as a bike, but PEI saltwater taffy isn't good without teeth (I LOVE PEI!)