Good News! I just saved $800 on my car...er...health insurance!
Day 41 | $31,450 paid | $59,267 till freedom
Where I work, employees given the opportunity to do a health screening and take a health survey to save $800 on health insurance. In years past, I have always scoffed at this, not having the time in my busy day to make an appointment for the screening and take the online survey. This year was a little different, though.
BAM! Man, I love that. Unfortunately, it's not effective till January, but when it kicks in, I'll be saving almost 70 bucks a month on my health insurance (which I never use, anyway).
I just realized that I'm making a huge deal of saving $800 on my health insurance, which is roughly equivalent to what my buddy spent on alcohol last night.
Holy Hell
Were the first words to pop into my mind when I saw Adnan's status update on Facebook. He's in Vegas and he posted a picture of his receipt from last night, tagged three of his friends in it, and captioned it, "Damn...good night..."
$2,762 between the four of them...almost $700 each. Adnan is my very good friend, and we go out almost every weekend in Austin. He invited me on this trip, but for obvious reasons, I had to decline.
This is the same guy who invited me to Dallas and and got bottle service and whatnot. I declined that trip, too. He's also the one who's least supportive of my mission out of all of my friends. I texted him one day a few weeks ago to see if he wanted to go out over the weekend. I mentioned the flask, and he texted back, "If somebody heard you, they'd think you work at McDonald's!" He's definitely in the minority in terms of supporting me, but given his spending habits, it's clear why. He has the same position as the one I just left, at the same company, just in a different division, so we make roughly the same salary; he just spends his a lot differently.
The Bike is Back!
The issue with my bike has gotten more and more annoying. I can't even run quick errands with it. If I turn it off to fuel it up, I can't restart it unless I get off it, run along it, and hop onto it and pop the clutch to get it started. The mechanic said it could be a starter, charger, or battery problem, costing anywhere from $140-$300 to fix.
I recalled over the week that I actually have a lifetime warranty on the $140 battery. So I went to the shop today, showed them the receipt, gave them the battery, and they gave me fresh one--no questions asked. I popped it into my bike, fired it up, and drove it around for a bit. I stopped at a gas station, fueled it up, put the key in, and then...the moment of truth. Was it a charging or starter problem that would cost hundreds to fix? Or was it a battery problem that could be fixed gratis? I turned the key and pressed the starter button with my thumb. The engine roared to life! I breathed a sigh of relief. The bike is back!
Paying for Sins Past
I got a nice little note from the Department of Public Safety in my mailbox today. They are requiring me to pay a $132 surcharge for my license suspension last year, or they will suspend my license again. Apparently, I will owe them $132 every year for three years to keep my license active.
SUCKS.
Happy to report, however, that I haven't been pulled over since January 28th. I feel like I'm an alcoholic: it's been eight months, 7 days, and 20 hours since my last moving violation.
Stuff I Want/Need
Add this to the list of stuff I want (or need--I'm not sure which one applies here): motorcycle grips
First off, the three bands of safety wire are normal. I did that myself. I park it outside in the sun every day, and the heat completely destroys the glue holding the grip to the throttle tube, so the safety wire is what does the glue's job.
The fact that the blue rubber doesn't stretch all the way across, however, is not normal. The grips are super soft and they take a beating in the 100+ degree days every day, so the rubber is disintegrating and flaking off. When the little pieces get on the plastic body work, they leave behind a really nasty, sticky residue that is almost impossible to take off with just a normal spray cleaner, and the removal actually requires a degreaser and lots of elbow grease.
The old me would have popped these off and replaced them with a new set for $20 or $30 without thinking twice. The new me? I'll do it in July when I'm debt-free.