Call center technology is constantly improving. Most modern call-centers record at least some portion of the conversations they initiate. Who listens to these recordings. And what eventually happens to them?

What does this mean for charitable solicitations?

A typical call for me starts something like this;

Me: Hello I'm Henry calling from XXX organization on behalf of the Save the Giant Sequoia Tree foundation. Hows it going today Mr X?

Mr X: Fine, how are you today?

Me; I'm good thanks for asking, not a lot of people do. (this gets a chuckle as often as not, and its true.)

Me: Mr X, I'm going to try to keep things quick today but first I do need to know that this call could be monitored and is recorded for my quality.

Mr X: Ah go ahead the damn government is recording everything we say anyway....


Conversations can go into anywhere from a mild rant against the Bush administration to an all out call for violence made in jest, typical stuff you might hear on The Bill Mahr show. But what the Donor may not realize is that that conversation doesn't necessarily go away, ever.

Ive done fundraising for organizations like the Democratic National Committee, The A.C.L.U and the Human Rights Campaign. At the start of each call we inform donors that their call could be recorded to ensure quality control.

A.C.L.U donors are the most likely to hang up the phone at that point caring too much about their right to privacy to allow themselves to be recorded.

But what about the callers who don't hang up? Ive spoken to extremely opinionated people who
have pulled no punches when it come to their opinion on the current presidential administration, the war on terror, and other highly charged issued.

Politicians have been cursed threats have been made as well as off color jokes.

Could this information be used against a person?

With the warrant-less wiretapping that we know is going on in this country,how smart is it for organizations to save recordings of people?

Donors tend to say anything to an anonymous fundraiser on over the phone. But is it really anonymous. Do the donors have a right to know what becomes of their voice recordings.

I think that call-centers, especially in the fundraising industry, should have a published policy on what they will and will not do with Donor's information, including voice recordings.


Technology and political realities have raced beyond past practices. Its time for call-centers to catch up.

What I can tell you as a professional fundraiser is that.

• You have the right to end the conversation at any time, although I and your organization wish you wouldn't.
• You have the right to request more information about where I'm calling from and what my particular call-center will do with any of your information, including recordings of your voice. ( If your the curious type this might be fun to do anyway)
• The Front-line people who call you, me, have no control over when or why you are called; its all done by computer.
• The national no call-list has little bearing on non-profits, or their agents, (me). Call-centers that do fundraising have their own internal do-not-call lists; ask to be on it and we are obligated to put you on it. You should also let your charities know, by phone, or in writing, that you don't want to be called, or to have your name sold or traded to other organizations.
• Reputable fundraisers charge a flat fee per call. Yes or no, we get the same amount for making the call. It doesn't have to be this way however, Some fundraising agents can keep 80% (or more!) of the revenue a solicitation campaign generates. You have the right to know just what those percentages are; if the person you are speaking to doesn't know, ask for a supervisor.
• Some states also have laws that obligate fundraising groups to send a written copy of this information to any donor that asks, you'll need to contact your attorney general's office to see if your state is one.
• Last note; Federal law prohibits us from recording your credit card information, this is the one part of the call that isn't recorded.

I hope this quick rundown of the issues stirs some discussion. Ill follow up with more on telephone fundraising in the coming days.

More to come later....

Fund raisers working in outsourced call centers, or directly for just one non-profit, face many of the same problems. While non-profit fund raising can be a very rewarding career choice, it can also be very stressful at times.

Donors who support a given charity don't always feel that being contacted by their non profit whether by phone or by means of a direct mail campaign, is something that they want to have any part of.

Often times, a fundraiser will feel that the campaign they're currently raising contributions for is a perfect and fool proof campaign. Donors have other ideas. At times it seems that donors who give to groups like The Humane Society Of The United States or PETA are far more receptive to a general appeal for animal welfare than those donors who support Oxfam International, or Habitat or Habitat For Humanity, when considering helping out on an emergency appeal.

Why should this be so? A quick answer to this question is that those fund raisers who are less emotionally invested in a campaign are better able to communicate the wishes and needs of an organization. Quite frankly, believing that one particular type of campaign is less important than another, will limit your ability to do well on either type of campaign in the long run.

After a year or so of professional, fundraising I had an epiphany; it doesn't really matter so much what you say on the phone to a donor. What matters is how you say it. My attitude changed at that point. I became less concerned with asking and more concerned with communicating. My performance improved, I felt far less burned out at the end of the day, and I began to raise more money.


There are certain truths that are universal to all campaigns. Mastery of these axioms of fund raising can only bring about better performance from fund raisers, and better results for the non profits we work for. Scientists who look deeply into the universe become mystics, fund raisers who strive to perfect their craft do as well. This is the first in a more abstract series of posts known as Fund Raising:102

The first is: Always regulate your mood.

No matter how enthusiastic a fund raiser is about a charity, or a campaign, being in control of ones emotions at all times will provide the best results. Donors can hear our emotions on the phone. Most people would rather hear a calm and compelling fund raiser map out the key strategies of a fund raising campaign than unbridled enthusiasm that borders on mania.

There is perhaps no better skill a fund fund raiser can have than the ability to match their tone, their emotional state, with that of the donor's.

Be enthusiastic, but remember that you are a complete stranger to your donor. You've interrupted their life and what always seems to be a critical time, and you want them to give you money!

So build your enthusiasm during the course of the call. Allow the donor to catch up to you rather than bowling them over. A single moment in a good fund raising call is like an eternity. Donors are compelled to listen the the truth of a good pitch.


Fund raisers who speak slowly and clearly, with a mastery of their fund raising campaign, are far less likely to be hung up on at all. Knowledge of the subject matter of a campaign, confidence in the virtue of the cause you are fund raising for, and empathy with the donor with whom you speak, create instant gravitas.

Instead of a rambling mendicant, a skilled fund raiser personifies the true meaning of the word solicitor; An authoritative figure who by virtue of the truth of their cause, and the strength of their argument, compels those who hear to listen, and those who listen to act.

This brings us to the second rule; focus on listening at all times, even while speaking.

If a donor shows a high level of enthusiasm for your campaign then by all means match that enthusiasm. Always strive to be listening to the donor listening to your voice. This concept surpasses what can be taught about fund raising, it must be experienced first hand; an experienced professional fund raiser can measure the attitude and attentiveness of a donor.

Listening to a donor while speaking at the same time is done by knowing, and believing in your campaign enough to stop listening to yourself say the words, and focus solely on the fact that you are speaking with another human being. Not a name, or a telephone number on a screen, not a statistic in a database, a person. The donors can hear this in your voice.

This strategy can change the outcome of virtually any fundraising call in a positive way. If a random donor plucked out of a database somewhere in an autodialer in the belly of your call center can tell what kind of mood you're in, how much better at doing the same thing should a fundraiser who makes 500 to 1000 calls each week?

Anyone who's had even limited success at fund raising through telephone campaigns has had life changing and inspiring conversations with people from all walks of life. Great fund raisers enjoy these moment several times per day.

BethDunn just wrote a great post about mail fundraisng appeals and two schools of thought that are applied to them throughout the industry.

On the one hand there is the practical appeal to a donor's sense of logic and decency. On the other hand, there are the emotional appeals dripping with manipulation sent out to shock or shame a donor into action.

While On Fundraising's primary focus is telephone fundraising, this subject matter is relevant to On Fundraising for two reasons.

Mail appeals and phone appeals are generally part of the same campaign. Sometimes a donor is called first, other times they'll get a mailer and then a follow up call.

Increasingly donors are savvy enough and self-aware enough to take strong offense at the manipulative tone of fundraising letters. We live in an age where almost any information is available to those who want to find it. Todays activist donors do just that.

Donor's often know more about a subject than the front line people raising money for it. As well they should. So sending out these mail broadsides is certainly no good way to show respect for a donor's intellect or for their prior support.

The second reason this issue applies to On Fundraising, is that many telefundraisers mirror or amplify the sentiments expressed by these letters in a misguided attempt to manipulate donors into reactionary giving based solely on emotion. This works for now, however donors are self-aware and savvy enough to know when they're being manipulated. Surprisingly enough, they don't like it.

Todays donors aren't simply tithing blindly in the hopes that some good will come of it. More and more, donors support organizations as active participants in an effort to improve our world. How does a person like this feel when they receive a dunning letter dripping with sensationalized woe? Like a patsy.

All in all, these medieval scare tactics don't belong in modern fundraising. Yes psychology has its place in fundraising, but too often psychology is a euphemism for manipulation. Fundraisers who are good at their jobs are masters of speech, language, and persuasion. Its better to convince someone to give than to trick them into it .

http://smalldots.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/the-model-of-a-modern-major-fundraising-letter/

When asking for a pledge, the fundraiser has many informational advantages over the donor. Simply asking for the proper amount ensures that a donor will consider giving at the level you request. Starting out with a sufficiently high donation request amount allows you to find your donors preferred level of giving as rather than targeting the amount which is the lowest possible amount that a donor can possibly give to your campaign.


If a donor could give more to their charity, they probably would. When donors who maintain a strict charitable budget and give a fixed amount annually hear requests for support that are above the amount which they are willing to give, they let fundraisers know just how much they are willing to give and when they intend to give it. In the rare event that a donor is offended by large or additional requests, a skilled fundraiser can apologize for the offense and leave the donor feeling good about the level of support which they do give.


There is no downside to “asking high”.




Becoming a better fundraiser is a continuing process. There is always more to learn and more skills to master.

The conclusion to this article will be posted here in the coming days.

 An increasing number of charities and nonprofit groups are electing to solicit donations through Telefundraising campaigns. Despite having different goals and needs, disparate organizations find that Telefundraising is an effective use of resources . For many groups, the option of telefundraisng makes sense.
For large groups with vast amounts of members, telephone fundraising provides an effective means of outreach.  Charities withsignificant fundraising budgets see impressive returns from telephone fundraising efforts. Large organizations are results oriented, this is why they continue to support Telefundraising campaigns.

Small non-profits use telephone fundraising efforts as ameans to gain support for little upfront investment.While wide-scale print and media campaigns are often beyond the reach of small organizations, phonecampaigns can be executed in an extremely cost effective manner. Adjustments to telephone campaigns are virtually instantaneous, while other types of fundraising efforts need much more planning to alter.
Organizations of any size can quickly realize significant benefits from telephone campaigns. The relative low cost of phone fundraising campaigns is an attractive feature, regardless of organizational size. Paired with simple initial equipment requirements, this makes raising money by phone an easy choice for most non-profits.


Raising money is not the only goal of telephone solicitation campaigns. Contacts that end without a donation can still prove to be useful. Basing success on donations alone, overlooks other possible benefits to an organization.
Receiving a call from an organization helps to personalize the charity to its donors. Phone calls keep organizations on the minds of their supporters. These calls provide donors with the latest information on the cause they support. Well informed donors provide more frequent support.
Donation calls properly made, can be an important source of feedback for an organization as well. Donors use telefundraisng contacts as an opportunity to sound-off about their feelings about an organization.  Organizations can take these valuable insights, and use them to tweak their efforts.
Solicitation calls can provide much more than donations alone. Fully grasping this truth greatly improves campaign results.Positive campaign results are limited only by the imaginations of the organizations which run them.


Calling campaigns are always an effective solicitation method. For the best possible outcomes, additional factors should be considered as well. Holidays represent an excellent time for telephone fundraising efforts. This time of year is when many donors are most receptive to giving.Wise non-profits leverage the holidays to increase their rate of success.
Topical campaigns have increase significance to givers. These campaigns can be combined with additional media efforts. By closely monitoring the news cycle, it is possible to create campaigns that take advantage of current news, and require no additional effort to spark media interest.
Close attention to relevant news is useful, but not essential to telephone fundraising. Calling campaigns that are well structured can drive their own press coverage.  Press coverage is useful in some cases, but not an absolute requirement for all calling campaigns.


Implementing a successful telephone campaign is not substantially different than other types of solicitation methods. Good Telefundraising applys traditional fundraising methods to the phone. The benefits of applying telephone fundraising are obvious.
Telephone campaigns are an excellent way to overcome the problem of donor fatigue. Combined with other strategies, Telefundraising can strengthen listing campaigns. Fundraising by phone can produce results in and of itself.
Carried out properly, there is no application where telephone fundraising campaigns cannot be attempted with positive outcome.Effective fundraising campaigns require detailed planning. Phone fundraising and other solicitation efforts should be designed to work in harmony.
Fundraising by telephone requires serious preparation. Calling efforts should be well managed and adequately staffed. The results of telephone campaigns are based largely on the dedication of the organizations which run them.


Pound for pound, telephone fundraising delivers better results than other fundraising techniques. The advantages of telephone fundraising fluctuate across organizations, but remain significant. While income is an important factor, it is not the only way to evaluate the performance of a fundraising effort.
Phone campaigns can be implemented with minimal staff requirements. Well managed small teams can out performs much larger groups . Small teams are capable of delivering large gains.
Changes to phone fundraising campaigns can be implemented without halting the camapaign. Important updates can be quickly integrated. News and current events can be incorporated into the campaigns virtually instantly.Comparable fundraising methods need significant time to alter.
Speaking directly with prospects ensures valid contact. Direct  contact with donors is assured with calling campaigns.

Some call centers are very strict about fundraisers reading directly from a script. Other call centers advise fundraisers to stick to the script, but add additional details when the call requires these extras. Still other fundraising call centers allow fundraisers a great deal of freedom as long as the fundraiser stays within the general parameters of the fundraising campaign. Each strategy has its own merits, however there are some common elements that should be included in all fundraising calls.

Getting a foot in the door.

The first step in most calls is the greeting. Usually the fundraiser identifies their self and the group which they are calling on behalf of. This step should be gotten through quickly but not rushed. The realities of the campaign will dictate how the fundraiser proceeds with the introduction. In some cases the introduction can be delayed until after the a basic description of the organization and its funding need is made. Promise to be brief with your call and stick to this promise./

Expressing gratitude.

The next step is to thank the donor. Whether its a simple thank you for taking the call or a more elaborate thank you for past contributions and supporting the cause, this is an important step. Sincere and elaborate thank yous let the donor know that their help is appreciated. Thank yous also tend to extend the call; people rarely hang up on callers while the caller is praising their support and reaffirming their decision to support the cause. Additionally, the longer a donor stays on the phone, the more likely they are to make a contribution.

The reason for the call.

Next, quickly go into some of the current issues faced by the organization and what is being done about these issues. Don't skimp on the details but don't speak in a monotonous way either. Express some real interest in the cause. Listen for cues from the donor during this and all stages. If they agree with something you're saying; elaborate on the subject. Build rapport. Remember; men and women process information differently. Read other posts on this site to find out which language to use for each kind of donor. Alternatively, if the donor indicates that they're busy; acknowledge that. Repeat that you'll be brief or just get right into your first donation request.

Going for the donation.

The first ask. Given the reasons stated above make a solid ask for a minimum of 3 times highest past gift. Be assertive and let the donor respond. Don't laugh, don't whine. If the need is real, the request should be real as well. Defend your request if required to; don't just lower it. Defending the amount of the first ask gives instant credibility to the importance of the issue, In fact, state that the reason you're requesting a large donation is because of the serious nature of the issue, Only then begin to lower the amount that your'e requesting.

A second attempt.

The second ask. Quickly elaborate on the need. Acknowledge that the donor isn't able to give 3 times their highest past donation. Considering the need, ask for 2 times the past donation. Again defend your request. The more legitimate you sound, the more likely the donor is to give you money. For many fundraisers lowering ask amounts deteriorates into desperation. Although this is a negotiation the need is legitimates and as a fundraiser you want to get the highest possible donation,

One more try.

The third and, not necessarily, final ask, This is where the fundraiser asks the donor to meet the level of their last contribution. This is obviously the level that the donor has been comfortable giving at in the past. Again stress the need and elaborate on the potential consequences of not reaching an adequate level of funding for the campaign in question.

Taking no for an answer.

If stopping here, without securing a donation, take the time to sincerely thank the donor once more. This establishes that you, the fundraiser and the organization, respect the donor no matter what they can or cannot give at the moment. This also helps to reinforce an attitude of respect and gratitude which should be extended to all donors at all times.

The forth ask and so on.

Many times a donor who can't match a previous donation will express regret that they simply cant afford the same amount. If applicable, ask for an even lower amount down to the minimum level of donation that can be taken on a specific campaign. Remind the donor and yourself that every donation, no matter what size, counts. After all in most fundraising campaigns, the many small donations greatly out number the amount of money which is generated by the larger ones.

Get it on a credit card.

The credit card ask. Credit card donations fulfill instantly. There are no pledge cards to send out. Obviously securing a donation on a credit card is favorable to a mailed in pledge card. Credit cards on the phone are favorable to online donations as well; donors can easily be distracted and forget to make their donation.

Ease their mind.

Security is the main concern with credit card donations, Donors are rightfully fearful of identity theft. Every call center has methods in place to protect the credit card information of donors. Patiently explain these procedures as well as why credit card gifts are the best gifts that donors can make.

Be prepared to further explain  the value of credit card donations and their secure nature. Many donors will give by credit card once they have been properly assured of security measures. If not, follow your organization's standard pledge card procedure.

Wrapping up the call.

Again, take the time to sincerely thank the donor for their help. Answer any additional questions and then politely end the call. Following this method on every call improves dollars raised as well as the quality of each outbound call.

The short answer to this question is, yes. While the rules have changed a bit since the early days of raising money online, the necessary elements all still exist in great supply. These are; a large and motivated donor pool, innovative organizations and fundraisers and the technology that brings it all together. This post will cover this complex topic with updates to come. In the mean time, voice your opinion on the relevancy of online fundraising in the comments section below.

The first step to success in online fundraising is the cause. While its possible to raise money for just about anything, what really promotes success is having a well defined mission statement. This is something that resonates with donors quickly. The shorter it takes to express your mission statement, the more likely it is that donors will stick around to learn more about your organization and its needs. This does not necessarily mean that they'll make a contribution, but donors who leave your site out of boredom, frustration or confusion certainly wont be making any.

After a well defined cause, presentation is the next most important element of online fundraising. Donors are quick to leave sites that are'nt easy to navigate. Ideally donors should be able to make an online gift in just one or two steps, the more complicated a donation system is, the less likely donations are to be made. Simple. modern interfaces are the key to increasing online donations.

With the economy finally starting to gain some traction, few people are thinking about those whom society is le aving behind. These are the working poor, the sick and the elderly. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, we will see more soldiers and their families in need.

Sometimes fundraising calls for a national effort. The only way to gather money and resources quickly is by calling or mailing into every state for support. This is a proven method of soliciting money. This isn't the case for every fundraising effort however.

There are some issues that could just as well be taken care of locally. Additionally, some causes are actually better served by using local fundraisers. Local has a number of benefits; we'll name a few below.

More of the money goes to the cause.
Some national fundraising companies can take as much as 80% of what they raise for an organization. Millions of dollars are wasted in this way. Local groups just can't afford to pay these prices. A local campaign, whether staffed by volunteers or local professionals, ensures that more of the donated dollars go to work immediately.

No one knows local issues like local people.
Using locals to fund raise means having a team that understands the issue and is passionate about it. The more knowledgeable and interested in an issue a fundraiser is, the more likely they are to secure donations.

As a nation, a number of important issues are affecting Americans;
children going to bed hungry, seniors and veterans not getting the care that they deserve and homelessness are just a few of these issues. What all of these issues all have in common is that they begin and end locally.

We can choose to wait for a solution from Washington, but President Obama's job forces him to look at the big issues, not the small ones. National organizations face similar problems; they have the money and resources, but not the organization to implement relief locally. Local fundraisers raising and spending money locally have an immediate effect on communities.

Bringing the idea of raising money in the community and solving problems locally is one whose time has come. More local groups are starting to see the power of collecting donations at home. As the idea spreads, the benefits will only become greater.

Excellent fundraisers, as well as average ones often find themselves reaching a plateau when it comes to their fundraising abilities and the dollar amounts that they raise.  On a plateau, it is just as easy to move upward as it is to slip backwards; losing progress. Fundraisers are only interested in moving in one direction; upward.

pla•teau (plæˈtoʊ; esp. Brit. ˈplæt oʊ) 
n., pl. -teaus, -teaux (-ˈtoʊz, -toʊz) 
v. -teaued, -teau•ing. n.1. a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side.
2. a period or state of little or no growth or decline, esp. one in which increase or progress ceases: to reach a plateau in one's career.v.i.3. to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline; stabilize

Definitions #2 and #3 have the most significance in fundraising, but definition #1 can be a useful visualization tool.

So how do we get beyond the fundraising plateau?

1. Go back to basics. Find something in your fundraising routine that can be improved and work on it. Can your greeting be made more friendly? Can your donation requests be tightened up? What ever it is, work on it. Working on any one issue has the added benefit of providing new perspectives on other issues.
2. Ask the donor. Ask donors, whether, they give or not, what they thought of your performance. Most will provide at least one useful bit of information. Some donors will provide so much valuable criticism that you may find yourself reexamining your entire fundraising strategy.
3. Ask another fundraiser. Sometimes we let shyness, pride or professional competition get in the way of improving our skills. Every fundraiser, at every stage, goes through the plateau problem. Reach out to your fellow fundraisers and get their advice.
4. Become an expert. Often after fundraising for a certain cause for a long time, fundraisers began to feel like experts on the issue. There is always more to learn. Find books magazine articles and any other materials that you can. The more you know about your issue, the better you can fund raise for it.
5. Remember, Plateaus aren't permanent. Keep slugging away, doing the best job that you possibly can. Eventually, you will begin to see some progress.

This is a story we've been following for well over a decade (see "Selected readings").  Improbable as it may seem that the Korean alphabet might be adaptable for writing an Austronesian language of Indonesia, there are some promoters of this idea who continue to push it enthusiastically: "An Indonesian Tribe’s Language Gets an Alphabet: Korea’sThe […]

The Spring 2023 issue of Agapé, the official journal of U.S. Grand Lodge O.T.O., is now available. This and all previous issues can be found here.

The deadline to propose a presentation for National O.T.O. Conference XIV in Denver, CO, is May 10, 2023.

NOTOCON XIV is fast approaching! The cutoff date to receive our group rate at the hotel is Friday, July 21st. Please reserve now. The speaker schedule has been published on the NOTOCON website. Event registration is still open! We can’t wait to see all of you in August, and wish you all safe travels!

SAVE THE DATE for NOTOCON XV: The Crowned and Conquering Child to be hosted in Portland, Oregon from July 25 through the 27th, 2025 EV. The call for speaker proposals is now open and we are accepting Volunteer and Vending sign-ups. Registration and hotel reservations will be available in August 2024.

Hello team!

I turned 45! It happens every year (not the same age, but the same feeling, of time marching forward, with me along with it) so no big surprise. This weekend was the Great Race, also every year, but I unsubscribed from their e-mail list at some point months ago because they seem to operate this list under the misconception that subscribers want to think about Great Race 24/7 all year round. I thought: It should be easy to just remember when the Great Race is, as it always falls on the weekend near my birthday, and I do not need a list constantly mailing me reminders. Easy. But then I forgot about the Great Race, so I didn't run it.

I did take the day off for my birthday despite this being the busy time of year at work, which was worth it: I made some good progress on some projects that had been backed up in my anxiety-brain for some time. Of course they are confidential, but here is a graphic of some significant progress:

Minusweeper

I forgot to mention this one when I did it, but did you know that you can "buy" a Unicode codepoint, by making a donation to the Unicode consortium? So of course I bought ASCII 0x37, which is the digit 7.

True story: I did a lot of film photography when I was younger, and although I do miss film, I'll admit that the saddest thing I feel about its obsolescence is actually that those little black plastic film canisters are no longer all over the place to be repurposed to hold little objects. I found them very satisfying and useful! Fortunately now that I'm old I found another similar ubiquitous shape, which is these orange prescription medicine bottles. I've been using those for a while to "organize" small parts like screws (e.g. when I take something apart that I might want to put back together, I put the screws in the medicine bottle and label it) but then they just roll around in the drawer of crap. So this:


RxBox, Unpopulated
RxBox, Populated

A very simple part, of course, but what could be more satisfying than 3d printing your own holder for canisters for fasteners that goes in a drawer in a cabinet?

And speaking of satisfying, I finally finished Chippy (regular difficulty) which was really quite hard. Several of the last bosses I had to practice over several evenings before I beat them! It was a good and creative game, though. I'm mid-way through Solar Ash, which is good (but it's no Hyper Light Drifter IMO!) and just started playing Satisfactory, since they finally put out a 1.0 version of that. It's quite well done, but I'm not sure if I actually like it (seems a bit heavy on the cookie crafting; in fact I'm letting it craft in the background as I write this). I am getting a kick out of allowing thinking about my messy design as the "saddest factory," a joke which I'm sure occurs to everyone, but that's Game Design!

Some of the most common trials to face JPs nowadays are the Section 172 cases that arise from the ubiquitous speed cameras. Some people (such as Christopher Huhne) simply lie about who was driving the speeding vehicle, and others claim not to know the ID of the driver, but the consequences of being caught can be nasty. These cases tend to be listed in just a few courts, which can be pretty tiresome for the bench members. As it happens these cases are a rarity in my court, so this week the S172 that appeared on my list was the first that I have ever done, in about 30 years on the bench. The evidence was pretty thin, and we acquitted. The clerk told us later that these cases often fail to stick.

They are a tidy source of revenue for the various loophole specialists in the legal profession, as many people will cough up a hefty sum to keep their driving licence.

I sat today in a bench of two with a liked and respected colleague who is to retire in a couple of months when she reaches seventy (although you would never guess it)..Before the off, we fantasised about how bulletproof we felt, as disregarding the guidelines could at worst result in ejection from the bench that would take longer than we have left to sit.

We dealt mostly with breaches of community orders: the miscreants were mostly addled by drugs, and immune to letters or calls from probation. I was obliged, several times, to explain in plain language that it was the defendant's reponsibility to stay in touch with probation, rather than the other way round.

Our powers are limited in these cases, so I went home doubting that we had achieved very much.

The TV news tonight interviewed various locals who oppose the proposed new runway at Heathrow, some of them in an emotional state. One lady said that she had lived in Harmondsworth for over twenty years - but the airport opened in 1946, since when anyone who cared to elevate their gaze might have deduced that there was an airport across the Bath Road.

The MoJ's planning for recruitment to the bench is no better than their usual planning, unfortunately. When I was sworn in in 1985 I became one of about 29,000 JPs in England and Wales; today the Bench is more like 19,000 strong, the drop being largely due to the increase in out-of-court disposals such as fixed penalties and cautions. In the meantime numbers have gone up and down, and during the years of amalgamating benches just over five years ago there was a virtual freeze on recruitment for some time. Now the system is struggling to recruit enough JPs to do the job. Nowadays, the biggest obstacle is the reluctance of many employers to allow JP employees time off. This even applies to public services such as the fire brigade, who used to be known for being relatively generous with time off for public service, but are now more niggardly.

I shall not fill the blog with the minutiae of how to apply, because the website  (www.gov.uk)  is very good, but I can say that if you are even slightly interested in the justice system you should consider applying. I wouldn't have missed it for the world, and your chances are probably better than you would expect

British number one Zoe Gillings finishes sixth at the penultimate round of the boarder-cross World Cup in Valmalenco.

British number one Zoe Gillings is "over the moon" with World Cup podium in Valmalenco.

Britain's number one snowboarder Zoe Gillings will receive podium funding towards the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia.

Today's pizza a day diet pizza came from the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. at 1305 W. Oltorf (right next to the train tracks).

I hit the place in mid-afternoon, so it was pretty empty (Happy hour is from 3 pm to 7 pm, though, so it filled quickly :-)).  You order food and beer at the bar and they bring it to your table.  Inside are long wooden tables with benches, for social/communal beer-gardening in the Bavarian tradition.  Outside are round tables under the live oaks for beer gardening in the Austin tradition. :-).

I ordered a sausage pizza (boring, I know :-), but I like to try new places out on the basics).  It was delivered hot and fresh; the crust was somewhat soft but firmed up after I let it cool a little.  It had a nice chew and stood up to the ingredients.  The sausage had a more subtle flavor than I was expecting, but I really liked it and its freshness.  The cheese and sauce were also quite good.


One of their "by the slice" choices had also caught my eye, so I ordered it as well.  This was venison, spinach, pesto, white bean, roasted tomato, roasted garlic, and ricotta.  This one was amazing (not that the sausage was bad).  The crust had just the right amount of crispness and chew, but the combination of toppings really made it.  It had a richness from the venison without being gamy or overwhelming, and the remaining ingredients provided a terrifically contrasting texture in every bite.


Oh, and the beer was darn good, too. :-).

Day 8 of ‪#‎PizzaADayDiet‬ is another thin crust, this one from Southside Flying Pizza. They call it “Neapolitan style,” which I guess is a really thin crust. I chose the whole wheat crust and it was pretty good – it stood up to the ingredients but I wouldn't have minded if it had been a tad crisper. The cheese was thoroughly melted and excellent, though, as were the toppings. The sausage had a good flavor and the peppers were nicely al dente. And the side salad was really good, as well.

The famous Distance Challenge fridge magnets

It's been a few months, but I finally have some time to sit down and blog my having completed the Austin Distance Challenge (long course), sponsored by the Austin Runners Club.  I'd done most of the events before, but decided to do the challenge itself (six races, culminating in the Austin Marathon), because I wanted to put more structure into my training for the marathon. I'd done several in the 90s, but this was my second of the century and I wanted to do better than my last one (2013).

The first race was the Run Free Texas 80s 8k (for those who don't think in metric, that's about five miles) up in Cedar Park.  Naturally enough, there were a couple of DeLoreans, each outfitted with a flux capacitor.  Time travel being what it is, they were obviously the same car but from different time periods. :-).  The course was through residential neighborhoods and parks and had some rolling hills -- nice for a beginning of the season race.

Back to the Future!

The second race of the Challenge was the Run for the Water Ten Miler.  The course was along Lady Bird Lake and up through Tarrytown and then back downtown, There were some great hills on this course and let me know I needed more hill work...And, ironically enough, it was raining. :-)

Rain and hills

Race three was the Decker Challenge, a half marathon in early December with a course around Decker Lake.  It's notorious for hills and really bad weather.  (The last time I ran it, it was in the 40s and pouring rain).  If anything, last year, it was a bit too warm.  The hills were pretty brutal, though. 

My face when attacking the hills

But Santa was there!
After that, we had a month break until the Rogue Distance Festival 30k (about 18.6 miles) in early January.  This one was fairly cold and probably my least favorite of the events.  It was up in Cedar Park again and ran through residential neighborhoods which was fine.  There was an issue with marking the course, though, so most of us got off track, which meant the mile markers were out of order so it was impossible to figure out a pace. (I think at some point, we were going in circles -- and ended up going about a mile farther than we should've.).  Still, it was my longest run before the marathon and I was kind of glad it happened that way. 

Yay!  I'm done! :-)

With four events done, it was all downhill from there.  Literally.  The 3M Half Marathon starts up in the Great Hills area and runs a straight line down to downtown. It also has a swag bag filled with useful (and not so useful) 3M products.:-)

Leo checks out the swag bag

This one also started out pretty cold and way too early :-). 

Before dawn, in the warm car before the cold race.

I really enjoyed this one, though, and it was a nice preview of many of the neighborhoods on the marathon route.

Finisher!

The piece de resistance, of course, was the Austin Marathon in mid-February.  I like the course, but the first time I ran the Austin Marathon, it was all downhill, starting up north and snaking its way downtown.  Now, there's a good bit of uphill until around mile 18.  I still like the course, though, and it's not like the hills from the Decker Challenge or the Run for the Water races.

I was pretty happy with my time -- my second fastest of the century!  I did it in under 4 hours, which had been my goal.  Next year, I'll work more on speed, but this time, I just wanted to not have my quads seize up in the last two miles :-).

Running through UT campus

Made it! Best time of the century!

Anyway, thanks to everyone involved in putting on the races and the challenge itself: organizers, volunteers, emergency personnel, and all the rest!  You keep Austin running!

Well, it's been a busy summer writing-wise.  I'm letting a draft of a middle grade sci-fi adventure cure for a bit and also completed a work-for-hire project, and two-and-a-half nonfiction projects. (The half is still in-progress :-)).

Circa 1995.  No hills :-).

After the Cap Tex Tri weather debacle, I reconsidered my original plan to try the Austin Half-Ironman (or Ironman 70.3 as they're calling the things these days).   I'd wanted to do a couple Olympic distance races this summer (the other would've been the Tri Rock Austin Triathlon over Labor Day weekend) to get the kinks out before going for the longer distance.

Unfortunately, the schedule didn't quite work out (and I'm going to be doing some school and bookstore visits in October, prime training time :-)).  Also, this allows me to delay buying a new bike -- my current one is a 1989 Trek that is fine, but riding 50+ miles around the Hill Country, I can see where handlebar shifters would be useful :-).

So I decided to dive back in to the Austin Distance Challenge and take up the Austin Runners Club on the marathon training (which would also help with next year's triathlons).  My goal is a personal best or possibly Boston Marathon qualifying. (With the age-group corrections, BM qualifying has finally caught up with my PB :-)).

The ARC program is based on the Runner's World "Run Less, Run Faster" program, which has you run three days a week and do other cardio work two days a week.  One of the days is a track workout, one is a tempo run and the third is a long run, with pace times based on a one mile time trial we did a couple weeks ago. I have no idea if it will work, but I like it because I want to keep up the biking and running as well.

After the long run

I just completed the first week of the program and didn't actually hit any of my goal times, but I've never actually tried running for time, so at least the effort is interesting.  I ran a trial mile of 7:10, slightly slower than my 6:50 from last spring and a lot slower than my PB of 5:55 (granted, twenty years ago :-)).

From this, the track workout was supposed to be 4x1000 m at 4:09; my times were 4:20; 4:14; 4:15; and 4:22, so not terrible.  The tempo workout was supposed to be 4 miles at a 7:38 pace and my actual pace was 7:46. I figured it would be a challenge to hit those marks but was glad to have been close.  

The long run was supposed to be 11 miles at 8:57, which I though I could do, no problem, since I'd done my half marathons last year at around 8:24.  But with the humidity and heat (in August, hydration tends to be my biggest problem) and having only three hours of sleep (due to small feline mammals), I only did seven miles at a 9:07 pace.

Based on limited data, I like the program because it's not just about racking up mileage, which was getting a bit old. Also, the track workouts are not far from where I live :-). 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the challenge of a new marathon best time, at the 2017 Austin Marathon!

Setting my PB on a wintry spring day

    



 

This past year, I signed up for the Austin Distance Challenge again, because it was intrinsically fun, but also to ensure that I would get enough running in for the Austin Marathon. The Distance Challenge, sponsored by the Austin Runners Club, involved five races: The Run Free 8k, the Run for the Water 10 miler, the Decker Challenge half marathon, the 3M Half Marathon, and the Austin Marathon.

The Run Free 8K is out in Cedar Park, a considerable distance from downtown.  It leaves from one of the high school football stadiums and winds through residential neighborhoods before returning to the starting line. It's a nice start to the fall training season.

The first piece of the puzzle

Run for the Water goes through downtown and along the lakefront. It's one of the prettiest routes in the challenge and much of it is along routes I train on.

Starting line on Cesar Chavez

The drum group at the finish line

A friend got this shot of me at the starting line.

After that came the Decker Challenge -- a hilly route just east of Austin in Decker, and notorious for terrible weather.  This year, it wasn't bad --- a bit misty with a steady drizzle. By the finish line, my glasses were so fogged up I had to take them off to see anything at all. Which made it difficult to see things like potholes...

Glasses fogging up as I climb the hills

Blindly crossing the finish line

 Not on the Challenge, but still an Austin staple was the Turkey Trot!  One of the more fun races, it usually features a good number of costumes and a large helping of whimsy.



After the holidays, the next race was the 3M Half Marathon. It's almost the exact opposite to the Decker Challenge, because it's all downhill. It starts up in the Great Hills area and winds its way downtown. This year it was a particularly fast run because there was an incredible wind out of the north. Several folks, including myself, were nearly blown over as we ran past the UT football stadium.

A selfie at the starting line

the 3M photographer got a shot of me taking my selfie

After the finish in sight of the Capitol

And the last race was the Austin Marathon!

But. About three weeks before the race, in the middle of the night, I slipped and came down on the edge of my entertainment console and tile floors. Result? A nice set of bruised ribs and a strangely linear scar on my right side.

By race day, I could still feel it a bit but had gone on short runs with only minor discomfort, so I decided to go for it.  The first half went pretty well, but the second was less pleasant.  But I'm still glad I did it...

Looking all chipper and optimistic before the race starts

Vulcan salute for the photographer

Gritting it out with a hundred yards to go

Finished!

So my time for the marathon ended up being a personal worst, although I did make it under five hours :-).

Anyway, thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, emergency personnel, and everyone else involved in putting on these races! You keep Austin running!
Next up? The Capital of Texas Triathlon! Hopefully there won't be rain...

Never actually saw anyone on a horse

So after having completed my first triathlon in 20 years, I decided to sign up for the Austin Ironman 70.3 on October 29! It's a "half Ironman" distance race, meaning it's a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run. I figured the swim's only a little longer than an Olympic distance tri and the bike and the run are only about twice the distance, so why not?

Even better, the race was just outside Austin, so I wouldn't have to travel. The swim was in Decker Lake (Walter E. Long Lake), the bike was a 56 mile loop almost out to Elgin, and the run would be in the park by the lake and up to the Travis County Convention Center.  I was a little concerned about the hills (having run the Decker Challenge Half Marathon more than once) but decided that that was what training was for.

That started in June, not long after the Capital of Texas Triathlon. Yes, training would be through the height of a Texas summer.  And every time I went out, I would remember Noel Coward's line that "[m]ad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun..."

My training program was based Triathlete Magazine's Week by Week Training Guide and involved nine workouts a week. I didn't completely adhere to all of the mileage suggestions (some weeks doing more, some less), but mostly kept to the program of two a days.  

By early August, the mileage was starting to pile up but it didn't seem particularly efficient (and also was getting a little tedious), so I decided to join the triathlon training/masters swim group at Pure Austin Gym and, really, it was the best decision I made in the entire process.  The awesome Coach Peri Kowal leads two swim workouts a week, mostly in a pool but also including two a month in the Quarry Lake, so participants can get used to open water swimming. (Also, during the summer, the gym does a Splash N Dash (Swim 750k, then run 2k) once a month; it's good practice for the whole "group of people in the water, don't get kicked in the face" thing).

Quarry Lake

Somewhat to my surprise, the group was a mix from beginning triathletes to multiple Ironman (and Kona) finishers.  Everyone was enthusiastic and supportive, even when insufficiently caffeinated during the Thursday morning (6 AM) workouts.

Insufficiently caffeinated

Best of all, there were a number of folks for whom the Austin Ironman 70.3 was to be their first half Ironman, as well, so we fell into an ad hoc training group of the equally blissfully ignorant, typically doing our long bike rides and BRicks together on weekend mornings. It was great having a mutual support group and not just when we got flat tires...(Incidentally, if you get a flat in Texas, watch out for fire ants).

Anyway, here are some pics of the process:

Training happens even when you're away on business

Igloo coolers are our friends!

Monkey Road really needs to be resurfaced

Don't drive off with your cell phone on the roof of your car

The gang poses after a long BRick

Starting the run after a 40 mile bike ride...

Kevin and Alec hamming it up...

My first shoes to come with an instruction manual

Celebrating Coach Peri's birthday!

Sights you see along Town Lake

More sights...

About to test out a wetsuit

Went through a lot of these...

Feeling punchy three days before the race...

On the whole, training took a lot of time and work and there were moments in early October when I was really ready for race day to arrive. OTOH, I'm also happy I had that extra three weeks of training....

In the end, I was really glad to have been able to do race-distance open-water swims in the Quarry Lake and to bike the race route. I think we ended up riding the route about 5-7 times altogether and it was helpful not just for putting in mileage but in learning where the potholes and seams were. Also, the BRick workouts were really helpful -- when I had done triathlons in the 90s, the bike to run transition was always terrible. This time, not so much...but that's for another post :-).

I finished training feeling cautiously optimistic -- I'd put in the time and the mileage and the BRicks and the intensity and worked out my nutrition and hydration requirements and figured out how to change a flat tire without getting bit by fire ants in under ten minutes.  We had generally accounted for every possible variable and had kept in mind the mantra, "Don't try anything new on race day."

Except that having trained through blistering heat and humidity of Texas in the summer and fall, the weather was forecast to be 39 degrees at race start... 
















So, how did that go? Well, I'll do Race Day Weekend in another post...

This was a big week in space, from Curiosity stumbling upon sulfur crystals to an exoplanet discovery and a major advocacy effort.

The snake-like robot is being designed to autonomously navigate the challenging terrain of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, including descending into fissures in the moon’s icy crust. The skills it needs in order to explore this distant, unfamiliar world may make EELS well equipped to explore even more alien worlds, perhaps including exoplanets.

From X-ray imaging to slithering beneath Enceladus’ crust, space technology is always expanding what we can see for ourselves.

When a skyscraper-sized asteroid narrowly misses Earth in 2029, three spacecraft may be along for the ride.

The Planetary Society and Lerner Publishing Group have teamed up to bring young readers an engaging series of books that make space science fun and accessible.

Looking at life on Earth from another perspective.

Looking to the past to guide the search for life.

Weeks before the new fiscal year, Congress still hasn't finalized NASA's 2025 budget.

A Martian cloud atlas, LightSail wins big, and multiple missions coast toward launch.

Perseverance faces a hard climb, but New Horizons proves it’s worth going the distance.

How the inclusion of Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano on the bill legitimises the carnival of Mike Tyson v Jake Paul in Texas

Christmas serving board in progress.

Learned something new today— resin fidget spinner. ????

I have an idea of making a few stands of Draugr, the Viking dead. I have bought some nice Colin Pattern sculpts but thought I'd have a go at making some.
I have loads of Viking sprues left over from the Lake town project, these I mixed with some Oathmark undead sprues. I will add some greenstuff to these to make them a little more Viking.


 

A Dwarf king and his elite guard take to the field.

 Amongst the Eagle helms of the shield wall is the kings champion himself. Nothing must get to the king and the champions blue axe, will see that nothing does.

I could use this base for King Balin when he tries to retake Moria. A future project of mine.
The King points out floors in the enemies formation to the chief engineer.
The Dragon standard flies over head echoing the Kings mighty dragon helm.
This base has been created for the upcoming Hobbit battle, replacing Dain's base in the ranks. This allows Dain to roam freely as a character on the field.

 The figures are beautiful old sculpts from Asgard and Citadel. There has been a bit of tweaking on a couple of them, like the axe and the standard.

 Here are the unit sizes in Muskets and Tomahawks that are good to see as a guide. All just early days still just throwing ideas around to see if something sticks.

Drilled Vs irregular base.I decided to go with 60x60mm bases to give a more spread out look. Also these Galloping Major figures are quite large for 28mm so it suits them better.

Here are my test bases for the French and Indian wars, using the Bonnie Blue Flag rules.
I quite like these bases, they have more character than the single ones for me. Hopefully, these few test bases will inspire me to do a few more and finish the unit.

Galloping Major figures are so nice that you want to do them justice.

These have just been flocked and need a bit of a dusting off.
Mixed herbs make great leaf litter that is a classic look for the ancient Canadian forests.
When painting these figures I used a few coloured fine tip pens to detail the belts and pouches. I also gave them a coat of Dark tone dip from the tin. I was trying to think of a way of speeding up the painting process.
The Huron, allied to the French.

I love the long muskets and rifles.

 Twigs from the garden make for great moss covered logs.