We jumped from about 250 participants to 414 on the Tuesday after the MLK holiday. When we only got applications for 50 riders on Wednesday, I thought that we could make it thru the week before PALM filled. Wrong. We jumped to 637 on Thusday and then got applications for 200 more people on Friday. We are filled. If your application is postmarked on or before Jan 19 you are on PALM, otherwise you are not.
A word about this: we don't like turning away people from PALM. All of the staff are volunteers. We do this because we love PALM. To tell someone that they cannot be on the ride that you can't imagine living without is very painful. We try to do what we can. Everyone who didn't make it this year will be added to the mailing list. (And once again, the best chance you have of being on PALM is being on the mailing list.) Each year I create an email list of everyone who has missed the cutoff. When we start to fill, I email warnings. This year I did it on Saturday when I saw that we had 250 participants after only 2 days. People do miss PALM, but we do what we can.
I'm starting to enter applications on the computer and send out confirmation letters. Today I'll be sending out confirmations for all the applications that we received on Friday Jan 15 . I'm up to 175 so I have about 600 more people to enter. It will take Vickie and I weeks to check the applications for errors, enter them into the computer, and mail out confirmation letters. We'll be returning the checks of the applications that didn't make it to us in time, with regrets, starting today. Unless you mailed in your application the day you received it, you don't want to hear from us for a while. Ellie has been keeping track of the applications we have received. Wait two weeks. If you really got to know if you are on the ride, email us then and Ellie will tell you. But wait two weeks. If you haven't received your check back by then, the chances are very good that you are on the ride. Your application would have to be lost in the mail and, if we receive it even weeks later and it has a post mark of Jan 19 or earlier, you are on the ride. Remember Ellie is the one with the broken wrist. Give her a break (no pun intended).
Showing posts with label 2010 applications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010 applications. Show all posts
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Applications Are Coming In
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.)
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.)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Applications Have Started Arriving
I guess they really did mail out the 2010 PALM applications because I got mine today. Of course, I'm only 40 miles from where they mail them. This year's applications are in black and white, sort of like winter. The hardest part of winter for me is the lack of light and the color deprivation. That's why I like cardinals. Their red coats in the winter are an act of defiance. You also can show defiance: mail in that PALM application. There will be a summer. You will be able to ride your bike again.
I took a few days off last weekend before the registration rush to go to Florida. It was the coldest it's been there in 27 years. I was going to run a race so the cold weather was great. I was trained for it. The 80's was what I was afraid of. I was probably the only happy person on the plane. The only trouble was the race started at 5:30 AM (Actually I was in the third wave so for me it started at 6:00 AM). There were 16,887 participants so we had to get there early. We were supposed to be at the start at 4:00 AM. This meant that we had to get up around 3:00 AM. All this so that we could wait in the dark and the wind and the cold for the race to start. We had 4 or 5 miles in before the sun even rose. I went with my brother and his training group from Flint. We all did well. My brother was the first finisher from Flint. I was the second finisher from Detroit. Well, Detroit is larger. Oh, I was also the last finisher from Detroit. You just have to look at it the right way.
I should start getting applications this weekend to do my part of registration. I still have work to do to get ready. I had to make changes to the registration program, database, and the confirmation letters. I made the changes but I need to test them more thoroughly to be sure that they work. I made a preliminary test and caught a few obvious errors, but I need to test some more before I start doing things for real. It's best if I do it on weekends when I have more time and am more awake. Wish me luck.
I took a few days off last weekend before the registration rush to go to Florida. It was the coldest it's been there in 27 years. I was going to run a race so the cold weather was great. I was trained for it. The 80's was what I was afraid of. I was probably the only happy person on the plane. The only trouble was the race started at 5:30 AM (Actually I was in the third wave so for me it started at 6:00 AM). There were 16,887 participants so we had to get there early. We were supposed to be at the start at 4:00 AM. This meant that we had to get up around 3:00 AM. All this so that we could wait in the dark and the wind and the cold for the race to start. We had 4 or 5 miles in before the sun even rose. I went with my brother and his training group from Flint. We all did well. My brother was the first finisher from Flint. I was the second finisher from Detroit. Well, Detroit is larger. Oh, I was also the last finisher from Detroit. You just have to look at it the right way.
I should start getting applications this weekend to do my part of registration. I still have work to do to get ready. I had to make changes to the registration program, database, and the confirmation letters. I made the changes but I need to test them more thoroughly to be sure that they work. I made a preliminary test and caught a few obvious errors, but I need to test some more before I start doing things for real. It's best if I do it on weekends when I have more time and am more awake. Wish me luck.
And They're Off
The PALM 2010 applications were mailed out January 12 by 1st class mail. We mailed 3477 of them, up about 400. If you haven't received our application by Friday and want one, check the web site. I'll post a link to a PDF file containing it there. Our printer mailed them out and said that about 300 people had forwarding addresses (they moved or are in Florida). It's going to take some time for the applications to reach these people. If you are one of them, download a copy on Friday.
As advertised, I added anyone who emailed us their mailing address by Jan 2 to the mailing list and you should get an application by mail. Everyone who emailed us after that I added to the mailing list and then emailed them the link to the application on the web today. You should be set. Once again the reason I'm not posting the link to the application on the website now is that lots of our riders are not friends of the web and we want everybody to have an equal opportunity to get on PALM.
A few more things to remember: last year we mailed out the applications Jan 25 and the ride filled (700 rider limit) on Feb 5. Every year for the last 4 years we've filled a little earlier. With the economy in Michigan, who knows about this year, but you've been warned. If you are short on cash after Christmas, remember all you have mail in immediately is the registration fee: $110 for adults 18 and over, $65 for young people 11 to 17, and $55 for children 10 and under. You have until May 15 to add any meals and bus rides you may want. (All meals are optional: you can pick and chose if you want.)
Please fill out your application carefully, Last year about 15% of the applications had errors. Every error means we have to at least make a phone call. If you got the amount wrong, we have to mail you back your check and get a new one. Very time consuming. And please send us a business sized self addressed stamped envelope so that we can send you back a confirmation letter. (That's one of the things I do for registration, so I'm real interested in this.)
As advertised, I added anyone who emailed us their mailing address by Jan 2 to the mailing list and you should get an application by mail. Everyone who emailed us after that I added to the mailing list and then emailed them the link to the application on the web today. You should be set. Once again the reason I'm not posting the link to the application on the website now is that lots of our riders are not friends of the web and we want everybody to have an equal opportunity to get on PALM.
A few more things to remember: last year we mailed out the applications Jan 25 and the ride filled (700 rider limit) on Feb 5. Every year for the last 4 years we've filled a little earlier. With the economy in Michigan, who knows about this year, but you've been warned. If you are short on cash after Christmas, remember all you have mail in immediately is the registration fee: $110 for adults 18 and over, $65 for young people 11 to 17, and $55 for children 10 and under. You have until May 15 to add any meals and bus rides you may want. (All meals are optional: you can pick and chose if you want.)
Please fill out your application carefully, Last year about 15% of the applications had errors. Every error means we have to at least make a phone call. If you got the amount wrong, we have to mail you back your check and get a new one. Very time consuming. And please send us a business sized self addressed stamped envelope so that we can send you back a confirmation letter. (That's one of the things I do for registration, so I'm real interested in this.)
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