Value for Money

I'm having a dreadful time at work right now, and I am, quite honestly, hating every second. I'm in the middle of annual budget planning and all the restructuring, cost savings, tactical and strategic switches and manoeuvring that that process involves. Its never much fun, but its made worse just now by the fact that I am leaving in a couple of months. I am acutely aware that I am leaving a legacy for someone else to inherit - good or bad! The other main reason for my difficult time is that I had to sack someone last week. It's never easy, and despite the fact that I know its a fundamental part of my job, I can never treat it casually. I always feel it like its me on the receiving end. So it always hurts, even though I know I am doing it for the best for the company. I try to separate my emotional response from the logical, business view, and I succeed. But this one was harder than any other that I've done, because this was Oscar, my pal. In one hit I lost a salesman, a friend, and a cycling buddy. That was a bad day. 

So if my focus at the moment is all about achieving value for money, you might question the latest outgoing from my personal budget. I've just "invested" $139 in search of additional advantage for the Escape from Alcatraz race. In return for my investment I get taken out into San Francisco Bay, right out to Alcatraz, and pushed off a boat into the freezing cold water. BUT! I don't get pushed in by just anyone - oh no. I get pushed off BY EXPERTS! And then, after a bit of splashing about, they pick me out of the water, take me a bit further into the Bay and - you guessed it - push me in again. The final part of the session sees me getting plucked out of the water again, taken to within reach of land and - yes - pushed off again. All this for only $139. You can see why I signed up for that, can't you? Always the businessman, getting true return on my investment.