Ellie and Vickie went to the PALM post office box on Friday and it contained the applications for 143 participants. There goes my chance for a low number and I mailed my application on Thursday night. I went to Ann Arbor on Saturday to pick up the first few applications from Vickie (26 of them) so that I could test the changes I made on real data. They brought in Saturday's mail. I counted 70 envelopes. That should end up being about 100 people. We picked up mail for two days and PALM is already 1/3 filled. Since there is no mail on Monday, Tuesday could be a big day. If it is and you want to be on PALM, you had better send in your application this week. Remember all you have to send in with your application is the registration fee ($110 for adults, 18 and over; $65 for young people, 11-17; and $55 for children 10 and under). You can select and pay for meals and bus rides up to May 15. If you need an application, you can download one from here.
Besides the PALM application, the application to join the Garden Resource Program came in Tuesday's mail. My two favorite things for the summer in the same mail. I've expanded my garden to 20 by 25 with an additional raised bed behind the garage, but I'll be getting 108 plants and 34 packets of seeds. I'm going to be hard pressed. There is going to be a community potluck on Feb 16. There is nothing better than to talk about gardening in the dead of winter. They also sent out a list of classes that I can take. I took one on bee keeping last year to see what was involved. It was very interesting. Did you know that keeping bees is illegal in most cities, including Detroit? Something about harboring wild animals. Did you know that almost all cities are losing pollinators, but not Detroit? (Could have something to do with the 40% of Detroit that is vacant land.) Did you know if you move a bee hive 20 or 30 feet, the bees won't be able to find it? (They navigate back to the hive using the angle of the sun. They'll find where the hive used to be.) But if you move a hive miles, no problem. (When the bees leave the hive after the move they realize that their geographic bearings are messed up and they will recalibrate.)
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Observation from an out of state fan of PALM. I received my application in the mail on Fri. Jan. 15. Given the 3-day holiday, I didn't mail it back until Tuesday 1/19, and used USPS Priority Mail to get it to Ann Arbor by Thursday 1/21. There was basically no savings in waiting for the application by mail -- I could have printed it out the same day.
Perhaps it's time to streamline the application process by using online registration and payment. I know you want to be inclusive, but really, what percentage of PALM riders refuse to use the Internet these days -- 10%? 5? My suggestion is that those folks be mailed an application several days before the online process opens for the year.
The other advantage of course is that the PALM staff will save hundreds of hours of tedious labor. I just spend more than $5 to ensure the arrival of my application. I would gladly pay $5 or less for an online processing fee if that's what it took.
If PALM is going to stay 700 riders or more, I think you owe it to the ridership and yourselves to consider this next step. Looking forward to our second ride in June! Best to all, Ken
Fascinating Tidd-bits about bees. They're amazing creatures!
Elizabeth Tidd
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