Application Update

With the confirmations that I mailed out last Tuesday, I have processed 587 riders so far. From what I've heard from Ellie, we will be registering 757 riders plus about 90 more staff, SAGs, truck drivers, bike shops, and sponsored riders. So I am about 2/3 of the way thru the participants and it's already March. I'm going to have to take a week break from working on the applications now so I will be hard pressed to get them all done by the end of March. In the meantime, I'll be sending emails to everyone whose application I haven't processed yet and whose email I have. I hope this will relieve any worries that riders who have sent in applications and haven't heard from us have. Once again, if you mailed in your application and haven't heard from us and haven't had your check cashed yet, don't worry. You are on the ride. We returned all the checks to the people who were too late a month ago. If you are not on the ride, you would know by now. This is counter intuitive, but true.

The weather has been great: lots of sun and the temperature stretching to the 50's. I was able to take a short 10 mile bike ride late Saturday. I used my mountain bike with the knobby tires in case there was any ice and rode on Outer Drive. The sun kept me warm enough even on the way back when I was going against the wind. I haven't ridden a bike since November and it felt like it. Gripping the handlebar and leaning forward made my arms tired. My legs felt stiff and awkward. I could sit on the bike, but then again I didn't go that far. I forgot how much water you need to drink to ride even when it's cool. I've got a lot of work to do before I'm ready for PALM.

I saw more signs of spring. Today I saw an honest to God robin in a tree. Yesterday I saw a rabbit. (Not as thrilling for gardeners as a robin however.) I know that there will be more cold weather and snow this month, but the sun and the 50's sure improved my attitude.

Working away

Things are going slowly on the application front. I did a batch of applications for about 80 people last weekend. I sent out confirmations for those on Wednesday. Everyone should have gotten them by now. I checked with Vickie today and she sent me some more that I should be getting tomorrow. With all this, I'm only up to rider 371. I'm not even half done yet. Ellie has created a list of everyone who is on the ride and when we received their application. I checked it and I haven't started on the people whose applications reached us on Jan 19, the Tuesday after the MLK holiday. That means if you didn't fill out and mail your application the day you received it, there is no way I've processed your application. We've mailed back the checks of everyone who didn't get on the ride 10 days ago so everybody who is not on the ride knows it. If you haven't heard from us, that's a good thing.

While you are waiting for your confirmations, now would be a good time to get your bike in shape. I got a note from my bike shop. He's pretty idle and it's not like you're going to miss any good biking weather this week. You'll get your bike back quickly and you'll be ready for those odd little quirks in Michigan's weather. (Last year it got up to the 50's in February and I was able to ride to Belle Isle and around it from work. Go figure.) For me, I broke a tent pole on last year's PALM. The bike shops helped me jury rig a fix for the tour, but I've got to get it fixed or replaced. Now is the time for me to do it, not May when Sierra Designs will be too busy to care about me.

Amazingly, the gardening stuff has really picked up. Last week I began a 9 week course (Urban Roots) on community gardening. We had the first meeting of the Grandmont Community garden on the Tuesday of the big snow. And we have the potluck next Tuesday that kicks off the Garden Resource Program, a good way to spend Mardi Gras. All this and we can't see the ground for the snow. We must be optimistic in Michigan. I found out that my dog really likes playing in deep snow, so it does have its uses.

Entering Applications

We are well into processing the applications now. I've sent out confirmation letters for 286 people. Basically I sent out confirmations for all the applications we received thru Saturday Jan 16. This would be everyone who sent in their application the day they received it and live close to Michigan. Last week Ellie returned the checks, with regrets, to all the people who sent in their applications too late, ie everybody whose application is postmarked greater than Jan 19. She sent out letters covering roughly 200 people. If you didn't mail in your application the day you got it in the mail, you don't want to hear from us until the end of the week at the earliest.

Vickie has been working me hard. She even sent me applications for 55 people just before she left for Florida for 6 weeks. (She'll be sending me the rest of the applications from there. If you can't get to Florida at least your application can.) I sent out confirmations for this latest batch today, so I am finally caught up. Meanwhile, it's getting cold here and I run outside. On Thursday it was in the low teens with a 10-15 mph wind and I froze. On Friday, it was 3 degrees with a 5 mph wind and I was fine. I wore different clothes on Friday, basically everything I had, but I wore plenty on Thursday too. Today I ran with the temperature in the mid teens and a 10 mph wind. Once again I was cold (but not my hands: I learned my lesson there). It looks like for me, it's all about the wind.

I know you're thinking: it's the end of January. It's the coldest time of the year. How can he work in something about gardens and vegetables? It can be done. I mentioned that each family garden gets 34 packets of seeds and 102 plants in the Garden Resource Program. The plants come from the greenhouse at Earthworks Gardens by the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. Where do the seeds come from? Some of them are saved from plants grown in the last season. Some are brought in bulk. That still leaves filling the individual packets from the bulk/saved seeds. This year the seeds are being packed by volunteers all over the city organized by Riet Schumack. Last Saturday I helped pack seeds for kidney beans, Swiss chard (one of my favorites), and dill at Rosedale Baptist Church on Evergreen, a place I run by every time I run. And next week I start the Urban Roots gardening program. You see I could work gardens in and summer is coming.

Applications Done

At long last we have entered all the PALM applications except for a handful of problems. We are up to 806 people who have registered. I sent out the confirmation letters on Friday which means that should start receiving them on Monday. This has been an ordeal to say the least. We reached our cutoff before we even started processing the applications but we've closed early before and haven't had this much trouble. There were extenuating circumstances like broken hands and lots of problem applications but still this has taken way too long. This will be something we improve for next year.

I've worked up some preliminary counts. We have 260 first time PALM riders. Typically 35% of our riders have never done PALM before so this is normal. I was worried that because we closed so quickly that first time riders wouldn't have a chance to get on the ride. People who have been on PALM before have applications mailed to them automatically so they would have an advantage. But lots of people who had never ridden PALM before got on the mailing list and received applications when they were first mailed out. That balanced things out.

This year the largest age bracket is 60 to 69 with 183 riders, followed by 50 to 59 with 179, and 10 to 19 with 117. The number of teenagers on our ride has been trending downward since we've started closing early. One of PALM's missions is to promote family biking and to offer a inexpensive family vacation. With this in mind we will need to find out ways that families can know about PALM and feel comfortable registering their families in February for a bike tour that is going to take place in June. If you have any suggestions for how we can accomplish this, please email us.

This year we have 69 riders in the 70 to 79 age bracket and 11 in the 80 to 89 age bracket. This is typical and shows that bicycling is an enjoyable activity that has no age limits and that doing PALM is with in the reach of any active person, not just trained athletes. Roughly 40% of the people who ride PALM are women and women of all ages. (22 of the riders over 70 are women.) The variety of people who do PALM are one of the things that make it a special social and recreational event. It's not just a ride for 20 year old males. And you get a t shirt.

Snow

It has to be ironic that we get hit by our first snow in over a month on Opening Day of the baseball season. We were supposed to get 7 inches but the temperatures were so warm that we had only 3 or 4 inches of very wet snow. It was very heavy to shovel. It was good to remind the North Carolina fans who were here for the Final Four what they are missing by not living here. No hurricanes though.

We had a PALM meeting on Palm Sunday. I got more applications from Vickie who is back from Florida. We now have 696 people registered. She informed me that the final number will be about 825 people. Now you are probably asking yourself how a ride with a 700 rider cutoff can register 825 people. One reason is that we don't count staff. Last year we had 71 staff people including the SAGs (18 of them), truck drivers, and site people. In the last 3 years when the ride closed early, we've had about 50 or so cancellations. We already have 4. If that happens this year, we will be a little over 700 riders, where we want to be. Do you see why we don't have a mailing list?

As Monday's snow reminds us, April is a month when we have to bike when we can, not when we want. I hope that you have gotten your bike out of mothballs by now and had it tuned up. If you've waited until now to have a mechanic check it out, that's another reason you can't bike when you want. If you are like me, you have to get used to sitting on a bike every year. Don't wait for consistent weather, start to bike now for PALM. There will be good days even in April.

Spring?

Well, it is spring. Cold, but spring. Generally 50 degrees is about the coldest that I will bike. The sun makes a big difference, of course. So far the temperatures have been just about 5 degrees too cold to ride and enjoy it. It was a little too cold (and a little too windy) to ride the two Tuesdays after St. Patrick's Day. I did get to ride last Saturday though. There was a peek-a-boo sun and wind. I was able to ride against the wind going out (averaging a sprightly 9.9 mph) and with the wind coming back (total ride average: 11.7). I'm revisiting my old routes one at a time. There is still a lot of debris left over from the snow melt here. There is supposed to be a cleanup for the Final Four but it hasn't reached my neighborhood yet.

I'm up to rider 625 as far as processing PALM applications. We've hit a snag though. Vickie, who does the intial processing (correcting all the errors, filling out all the sheets for the accountant, etc.), tripped and broke a bone in her right hand. Her job entails writing. She and the applications were down in Florida then, but she's back in Michigan now. At first she was going to let Ellie take over, but she thinks that she can still do it, cast and all. I won't get any more applications until the PALM meeting on Sunday (Palm Sunday!) In the meantime, Vickie's sent emails to everyone whose application she has (and who gave us an email address) to calm people's jitters.

The Garden Resource program's seed distribution took place on Monday. I got 13 packets of seeds, more than I can possibly plant. It seems a little early to think about actually planting. I just got the seeds as an act of faith. I haven't even thought about raking up the leaves that I'm using as mulch and clearing out the dead flowers that I left for the birds in the garden, let alone preparing it for planting. I'm supposed to get plants in two weeks. We'll have to see about that. But I'm starting to see rabbits so we must be closer than I think.

More Applications

Now this is winter in Michigan. When I ran on Friday it was 52 degrees, today it is 10 degrees, and last Tuesday it was 8 degrees. This is what I expect, not 6 weeks where it doesn't get above freezing. Even though it is cold, all the snow and ice are gone in SE Michigan. You can see the debris that's gathered over 2 months but you can't do anything about it: it's all frozen in the ground. I once tripped on a piece of cloth on a sidewalk that was frozen solid. At least there is baseball being played in Florida and articles on the Tigers in the paper. I followed my own advice and took the bikes in to have them tuned up for the summer. I may not have to pick them up for a while though.

I got more applications to process. We are now up to 389 riders registered so we are about half way. There were a lot of the staff in this batch, but not mine. If you got a email/call from Vickie about a mistake/omission you made on your application, you are not alone. I made a mistake in the money and had to send her a new check. My number could be in the 500's. PALM riders do come from all over. In this last batch we had riders from North Carolina, Colorado, New York, and Kansas. The great majority of the riders are from Michigan but from all over Michigan. Lots of small towns.

Paczki Day

More applications today. Now we are up to 332 riders. I'm even beginning to see applications from the PALM staff. Not mine though. I mailed mine in on Jan 25, two days after I got it. This year that meant that I was mailing it in late. I wrote a check for the wrong amount, which meant that Vickie had to call me up and tell me to mail her the right amount. It looks like I'm part of the problem as well as part of the solution. It will be a while before I see my application.

One of the nice things about living close to Hamtramck is paczkis. (I even know how pronounce the word.) It's one last indulgence before Lent, made from more butter, eggs, and sugar then you could belive possible. Each paczki is 450 calories. It's a Polish tradition but I buy them from the Danish bakery by my house. (All the Polish bakeries in Hamtramck are owned now by people from the Balkans as is my Danish bakery.) I'm originally from Flint and I didn't know about paczkis until I moved here. It was an easy transition to make: the Poles have it all over the Irish here.

When I run in the morning I turn down the same street that I bike. I'm very used to seeing this part of the road. When I run now, I can picture what the road looks like under the ice and snow. And when I do this, it's easy to imagine that I'm on my bike instead of running. Winter is losing its hold. Now is a good time to take your bike in to get it tuned up for PALM. If you do it now, you won't miss any days biking. Your bike shop isn't busy and they will be glad to see you. My bike shop is even having a sale, so I'll be taking mine in this weekend.

Back From Florida

I came back from Florida last night about 9:30. There was already a packet of applications waiting for me to process. This will bring the number of riders up to 203 when I enter them tonight. I checked the day's emails and Vickie wrote me that she sent another packet of applications yesterday. I've got to hurry.

Vickie emailed me later last night to tell me that I messed up my application and that I needed to send her a corrected check. I mailed my application on January 25. She is just now getting to my application. If you mailed your application on January 25 or later, don't worry if you haven't gotten a confirmation or had your check cashed. This is proof that we haven't gotten to your application yet.

We stayed in Jacksonville Beach. Since we were on the east coast and we stayed on the beach, I got to watch sunrise starting when it was still dark and the moon cast shadows to when the sun rises out of the sea to cast a different shadow and all the steps in between. There were two days when there were no clouds (unlike Michigan). Of course, it did rain one day and, since we were in northern Florida, the temperature only got up to 65. Enough for short sleeve shirts, but not enough for shorts. I guess you need Tampa or Orlando for shorts.

I did bring back a cold from Florida. I'm glad that I have a day to transition back to winter here. (It's going to be 38 today before dropping to 25 tomorrow.) Maybe I'm lucky that it wasn't 75 or 80 there. Then 25 would have killed me.

Feb 10: 58 degrees

58 degrees was a record for February 10 in Detroit. During the summer we do a Tuesday night ride around downtown. We start whenever the temperature gets above 50. By then the days are long enough to ride. Well, when it was Tuesday and it was above 50, I rode my bike downtown. I didn't do the official route. I rode from work to (and around) Elmwood Cemetary, to (and around) Belle Isle, to Earthworks Garden, and back to work. I rode at noon instead of after work. Since I rode in the middle of a school day, there wasn't much traffic and there was lots of sunlight. As I mentioned before, unlike my neighborhood, all the ice on the roads was gone downtown and most of the snow was melted on the grass. Elmwood was beautiful and riding around Belle Isle was great. There were puddles and there were still Canadian geese and swans. It convinced me that spring was a possibility and I think I know what it will look like. I know winter will be back soon and it will be bad, but I sure appreciated the break.

The next two days were also in the 50s. All 15 inches of ice covered snow melted in my yard. All the ice in my driveway melted. Even my compost heap thawed out. Of course, the rain helped. It makes me wonder why I'm going away to Florida this weekend. That will mean that I won't be processing applications again until next Wednesday, Feb 17. I got some today that I will do tonight, but that will only get us up to 153. I mailed my application on Jan 26 and I'm not in the 153. Unless you mailed your application before Jan 26 there is no way we could have processed it yet. Don't worry.

So far Ellie has mailed back 170 applications with regrets. We really hate doing this, Ellie especially. All of the staff are volunteers who have done this ride for years and really love it. (Ellie's done it 25 years.) To turn someone away from something you yourself love and that you know they would love too is very upsetting. If you mailed in your application after Jan 26, you don't want to hear from us until, say, next Thursday.

New Single Day Application Record

Yesterday we had 285 riders signed up for PALM. Yesterday's mail had 101 applications in it with 181 riders on them: a new one day record. Now we have 466 riders and, with a rider limit of 700, the ride is 2/3 full. It looks like PALM will fill before the middle of next week. If you sent in your application already, good. If there are people that you are hoping to see on PALM, call them and make sure they have sent in their application. If they haven't sent it in yet, tell them to do so immediately and then light a candle. (Click here for an application.) We've started to make our calls: the oldest rider from last year (90) has mailed his in. Gino has mailed his in. Others we reminded.

If you've mailed in your application already, you're on the ride but your check won't be cashed nor will you get a confirmation for weeks. Let me outline the PALM registration process. First Ellie picks up the mail. She dates and opens the envelopes to count the number of people. Then she sends batches of applications to Vickie in Florida. Vickie checks the applications and assigns rider numbers: all the signatures there? emergency contact? dollars add up? 20% of the applications have errors. Then she has to call people up, get them to correct the errors, and send new checks, applications. When the application is correct, she gathers the info that the accountant uses and then sends the applications to me in Michigan. I enter the corrected applications into my home PC and generate confirmation letters that I mail to you in the self addressed, stamped envelope that you have provided. (Later I'll generate bus lists, meal lists, and the mailing list for next year's applications from what I've entered.) So where are we in the process? The applications have come in so fast that Vickie has yet to get the 1st one. So Vickie and I are 466 applications behind. You won't get your confirmation letter for weeks.

FAQs:

Why can't I register for PALM online? It costs money to do that (I pay $5 to register for races) and we work for free. It will take us a few weeks, but the ride isn't until June and we save riders money. Plus we have a lot of riders who are not friends with the internet.

Why isn't my check cashed? Vickie doesn't cash the checks until she verifies that the applications are correct and 20% of the applications have errors.

If I made a mistake on my application, will I miss PALM? No. Vickie assigns you a rider number and a place on PALM while you correct your application and/or send her the proper amount.

I Sent in My Application

I got my PALM application on Thursday, but I live 45 miles away from where they were mailed. I got an email from PALMsters in Arkansas and Nebraska. They just got their applications on Saturday. It looks like its taking a bit longer for the 1st class mail to be delivered. Give yourself a few more days before you panic. I'm mailing in my application tomorrow, but you'll be glad to know that the riders in Nebraska and Arkansas have already beaten me. It's the quick and the dead.


I talked to Ellie who picks up the PALM mail. Only 5 applications came in on Friday, about 20 on Saturday. Last year the applications started coming in with a bang. The real test will be at the start of the week. If we get a lot of applications then we could be in for a repeat of last year when we reached our 700 rider limit on February 19. We've had a lot of people asking to be added to the mailing list, but I've also had people telling me that they are going to be registering now, but paying for their meals later. We won't know anything more until Tuesday or Wednesday because Ellie is off cross country skiing in northern Michigan. At least she stayed in Michigan and didn't go to Florida.

Currently I'm working in downtown Detroit. I was by the downtown library at lunch and what did I see? A robin. It's 22 degrees and there is a foot of icy snow on the ground which has been there for weeks and I see a fat robin. A robin and a PALM application in the same week. This can't be a coincidence.

And They're Off

The PALM applications were mailed off on Wednesday Jan 21. We got our application in the mail today, but we are only 45 miles from where they were mailed. We mail applications 1st class, so, if you are on our mailing list, you should your application tomorrow. If you haven't gotten an application by Monday, the chances are you are not going to get an application by mail. The application is not on the web site yet. I'll put it there Tuesday so you'll be able to download it. This is important because last year we filled up by Febuary19, 3 weeks after we mailed them out. If this year is like last year (and we've been getting a lot of inquiries about our ride), time is of the essence.

The latest PALM meeting was last Sunday. Last Saturday the weather was horrible, even for winter. It was below zero in the morining, then it snowed 6-8 inches during the day with wind. I was on the expressway on Saturday night (fool) and you couldn't see the lanes. You could drive 30 mph, but at 35 you would start losing contol. So I was really looking forward to driving to Lansing. But once I got past Novi on I-96, it wasn't a problem. When I got to the meeting in Lansing, there were staff from all over the state there: Muskegon, Columbiaville, Three Rivers, Coldwater, etc. Hardy people. We were able to distribute applications to everyone to take back to their bike shops, bike clubs, and friends. (That's another way to get an application.) So I was able to mail off applications to all the Canadians on the mailing list on Monday. They may get all the low rider numbers.

We all know times are tough. You may have enough for the registration, but not have enough money to pay for meals and bus rides just yet. You may want to wait until you have all the money before you submit your application. You don't have to. You can send in the registration fee now ($110 for riders 18 and over, $65 for riders 11 thru 17, and $55 for riders 10 and under) and reserve your spot on PALM and send in money for meals and buses later (before May 15 though). Even though every bit of green is under 18 inches of snow and the roads are not fit for cars, never mind bikes, watch for that PALM application. Summer starts when you mail it in.

Applications

I called the printer and the applications are scheduled to be printed at the end of this week. That doesn't mean that they will be mailed right away. The applications have to be printed, then folded (another machine), then tabbed (another machine), then stamped (yet another machine), and then mailed. The different machines could be backed up. Look at it as a plane flight with multiple connections and you get the idea. But it does look like the applications could be mailed before the 18th rather than after. Once again, I'll post the exact date they are mailed when it happens so you'll know. I have to submit my mailing list to them by the end of the week. I hope you are on it already. We'll mail out apps to any stragglers, but they will be behind.

The next PALM meeting will be Jan 18th. Staff come from all parts of the state. They'll get some applications to distribute to bike shops, bike clubs, friends, and acquaintances in their area. This is another way to get an application, but it is more hit and miss. I'll learn more about this year's sites that I can share. One thing though: with the populations of the sites under 3000, there may not be any microbreweries. We are supposed to go thru Frankemuth though.

As you know, every day I feed the birds. I am trying to feed the cardinals, the only spot of color in the winter, but to do this I end up feeding pidgeons and squirrels (2 or 3 of them) too. I scatter the seed so that cardinals, juncos, chickidees, and sparrows have a chance. I came out one morning this week and there were two black cats out there too. When I looked around, I noticed that there lots of nice places for cats to hide, waiting. Just who am I feeding anyway?

Robins and Applications

On St. Patrick's day I saw my first robin in the neighborhood, high up in a tree. (A bird watcher at work told me that some robins do stay here over the winter. To see them you have to go to parks or woodlands. After all they have to eat.) Over the next couple of days I saw more of them, this time foraging on the ground. Yes, I can finally see the ground, but it's still in the low 40's. It's still a little too cold for me to ride, and I'm getting desperate. I haven't ridden all month. I complain that biking has a 8 month season in Michigan, but this year it's been true. Wait, stop complaining. I did see robins, today really is the first day of spring, opening day is 11 days away and Easter is this Sunday. Never mind the winter storm that is predicted for tomorrow. You have to live in the moment.

I got another packet of applications for about 70 people. This brings us to rider number 791. (So much for our 700 rider cutoff. Do you see why we don't have a wait list?) I'll be mailing out the confirmation letters over the weekend. There will be more cancellations than applications from here on out.

I notice in the comments that people looking for people who are going to cancel so that they can replace them. If you do this, please let us know. We still need you to sign the waiver to be straight with our insurance. If you do take over another's registration, you have until June 1 to change the meals and bus rides on it, until April 1 to get a jersey. The only thing you can't do is add somebody extra to the registration.

Applications: common errors

Right now we have 28 applications that have errors. Until the errors are corrected riders cannot be registered. This delays my sending out confirmation letters and raisies anxieties.

First thing's first: applications are assigned numbers as they come in, whether they have errors or not. So even if your application has an error, you are on the ride if you beat the famous 700 rider limit. But it delays you getting your confirmation letter.

The most common error is adding up the dollar amounts incorrectly: either overpaying (5) or underpaying (12). (If you overpay, we can't cash your check. ) On the application we mention: check your totals twice. That's why.

Missing signatures is the next most common error with 9. You have to sign the waiver before you can join the ride. There are special signatures necessary when you are riding with people under 18 who are not your children. I spelled these out in an earlier blog.

Two people forgot to pick a t-shirt size, to round out the 28.

Please be sure to enter your emergency contact. It's another required field. We keep a list of all the emergency contacts and phone numbers at the day's site. We also print your name and emergency contact information on the other side of the flag that has your PALM number on it and is attached to your bike. There is a chance that if you get hurt you won't be able to tell us your name. So emergency contact is an important field. One more thing: you can have up to two emergency contacts and each of them can have two phone numbers. (I know there isn't room for them on the application, but you can put them there.)

PALM Applications Mailed

The PALM applications for 2007 were mailed out on Sunday January 21 from the Redford 24 hour post office. You should start receiving them today. If you haven't gotten an application by next Monday, email PALM to have one sent to you. You can also go to the web site and download the application in PDF format.

Last year the ride filled on April 11 and we mailed back the applications for more than 100 riders. This year we have been contacted by several groups about participating in the ride. One of them has ridden with us in the past has over 30 riders. Try to signup early if you can.

I sent in my application today. The way I look at it, I'm buying summer and I would gladly pay more that the registration and meals for summer right now. Just to be able to see the sky and not the bottom of clouds! By the time the ride comes around, the check has cleared so long ago that the ride is free. (This same logic works for baseball tickets. Try it.)

Large Groups: Please don't wait until every last straggler has given you his/her check before you send in your applications. You may not make it in time and there is no way we can register a block of riders after we've reached our limit. The schools this year are smaller (and older) than last year and there really is no room. Your group will be disappointed and not be very happy with us. A straggler can be put on a waiting list and could make it on the ride anyway.

Applications, continued

The applications are ready, but there was some drama. I started before Thanksgiving marking up last year's application with the changes for this year: no jersey this year (so sad), meal prices went up, a new route (of course), it's 2007 now, etc. I got it to the printer at the start of December. We had two rounds of proof correction. This took a little longer since I emailed it out for other staffers to look at since it was an agenda item at one of the PALM meetings. Now it's edging to the end of December, still plenty of time. The printer takes her whole family on a family reunion Christmas vacation, but the applications are going to be done and I'll be able to pick them up a week before the meeting. A little tight, but still OK. Then one final glitch:
an ice storm which knocks out power to tens of thousands of homes and our printer. Homes get priority over businesses especially when the downed power line only affected two of them. The applications were printed, but not folded or tabbed. Maybe we could have the people at the PALM meeting fold 3000 applications, staple them as well as put stamps and labels on them? Hmm, maybe not. Or maybe I could have everybody pick up their applications at my house and we save on stamps? We could answer any questions that they have right there. But maybe that wouldn't work either.

Anyway you all were saved. The electricity came back on Friday, they were able to finish the applications on Friday afternoon, and we had a staff member who lives right by the printer pick them up at 5:00. Good thing, since they are closed on Saturday.

All this is to say that we are going to be mailing out the applications on Sunday January 21 (from a 24 hour post office). You should start receiving them by Tuesday.