117. A Shiv-away Update

Sorry for the long delay in giving an update on the Shiv-away Giveaway. I received 117 messages – it feels weird to call them “applications” – for the bike. Yup, one hundred and seventeen. In order to not be affected by judging bias (psychologically, you are biased by time – what you read first, what you read last, etc), I did not read any of the messages until after deadline passed (and I gave some leniency to some people who just missed the cutoff), and then I just compiled them into a master list. So now, with the help of the same folks that helped me last year, we’re weeding down 117 to hopefully a more manageable number. And then that manageable number will get narrowed down to some finalists. And then I’ll pick someone. 

My goal is to pick someone by the end of January, but it might take a bit longer than that. Anyway, sorry for not giving an update sooner. It’s been a very busy winter, and I was also overwhelmed by the number of folks writing in. Thanks.