The thirty fourth of my 40 donations goes to the Robin Hood Tax Campaign UK.
The idea behind the Robin Hood Tax is to generate billions of pounds – hopefully even hundreds of billions of pounds, from fairer taxation of the financial sector.
The billions it could raise every year could give a vital boost to the NHS, educational institutions and the fight against child poverty in the UK – as well as tackling poverty and climate change around the world.
I’m mindful that additional taxes are likely to make certain financial transactions more expensive and this risks driving away business but I believe there is a better system than the current one and welcome innovative ideas like this.
Arb, short for arbitrage, is the system of hand signals used to communicate buy and sell information in an open-outcry trading environment.
Traders usually flash the signals quickly across a room to make a sale or a purchase. Signals that occur with palms facing out and hands away from the body are an indication the gesturer wishes to sell. When traders face their palms in and hold their hands up, they are gesturing to buy.
When you touch the forehead, digits equal multiples of ten so below I’m indicating that I intend to sell 40 shares!
Making money hand over fist
The use of hand signals on the trading floor began around the middle of the 19th century. Brokers and traders were trying to get in the best position to see the trading boards and access the brokerage service windows, from which information could be retrieved, interpreted, and acted upon. As you can imagine, it got quite heated at times!
Brokers needed to be able to pass information quickly and directly to a trader on the floor without revealing it to anyone else and this is where arbitrage came in.
Communicating using hand signals is actually very efficient, practical and mainains confidentiality.
These days, open out-cry environments have pretty much all been replaced by electronic methods of trading and whilst I simulated arb for a laugh, all my trading is done either on-line or over the telephone.
I purchased DS Smith stock some time ago and they have continued to do well since.
I purchased at around £3.19 per share so multiplied by 40 that equals £128. I sold 40 shares at £4.40 which equals £176. The difference between the two is £48. Once I had taken the brokerage fee into consideration, coincidentally, this left a margin of almost £40 on the sale of 40 shares!
As I purchased more than 40 shares in my previous transaction, selling the 40 felt more like cashing in some of the profit by liquifying some of that stock.
I hereby pledge to give that profit away via a subsequent #40s440 donation 🙂
The Thirty Third of my Fourth donations goes to OCEARCH. OCEARCH is a non-profit, data-centric organisation built to help scientists collect previously unattainable data in the ocean.
You may have seen footage of them tagging and taking samples from huge sharks on a specially made submersible (and raiseable) pontoon:
OCEARCH is recognized as a world leader in generating scientific data related to tracking (telemetry), and biological studies of keystone marine species such as great white sharks, tiger sharks, and more. OCEARCH has embarked on 39 ocean research expeditions as of September 2020.
Their mission is to accelerate the ocean’s return to balance and abundance, through fearless innovations in scientific research, education, outreach, and policy using unique collaborations of individuals and organisations in the United States and abroad.
OCEARCH maintain a free open-sourced Shark Tracking service so you can see where individual sharks are in the world and how far they travel! This allows scientists, educators, and fans alike to learn about the never before documented movements of our ocean’s apex predators.
However, I could not get in touch with them for love nor money and despite the website being up and running, it doesn’t even seem to be registered on Google Maps.
I thought my luck had run out but on the contrary, it was only just beginning!
An intelligent and bold individual whom I hadn’t previously met their acquaintance messaged me to suggest we should meet 40 times in 40 different places and even proposed the first venue – Forti Pizzeria!
Mashallah, I am grateful for such blessings and people coming into my life.
We shared a Polli and had some drinks (menu can be downloaded via the above link) The Pizza was excellent but only Coke and Water on the menu and Sprite available if you asked – I’m not used to the drink selection being so limited.
In any case Forti was popular and based on the food and the service, it will remain so.
At the time of writing, Four Square have this restaurant rated as an 8.9 out of 10; Google reviews say 4.2 out of 5.
For the past 70 years, UNRWA has been delivering effective and reliable humanitarian support to Palestine refugees living in Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Hostilities in recent days have caused the loss of human life and the destruction of physical infrastructure. Already high levels of psychosocial stress, especially among children, have been further exacerbated. As the need grows, we need your help more than ever. Support Palestine refugees in Gaza now.
Your donation helps ensure that Palestine refugees receive essential service including education, health, emergency cash and food assistance and protection.
Show your support to Palestine refugees in Gaza: https://donate.unrwa.org/one-time/~my-donation
Ferrari developed and produced the F40 to celebrate their 40th Anniversary in 1987 so what better way to celebrate being 40 than to drive one?
I had a poster of a Ferrari F40 on my bedroom wall. I loved it in the 1980s and I’ve loved it ever since. It was the first production car to go over 200 miles per hour and remains the furthest evolution of no-nonsense, mechanical engineering.
With it’s lightweight carbon fibre body with only a thin coat of paint, back then, this was more like an race car with a road-going body kit and at the time was Ferrari’s fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car for sale.
In keeping with the car’s unique authenticity, it was also the last model produced that was personally approved by Enzo Ferrari himself.
Some consider it to be the best Ferrari ever made.
Just over a thousand of them came off the production line against an initial run of 400 and so they are rare now.
I remember seeing one on a family holiday from the back of the car as it crossed over a motorway bridge behind me and I still feel lucky!
I was sure I would find one locally and if not may be I could rent one somewhere fairly easily. I hadn’t really considered their current market value.
For example, whilst not completely factory original, recently this rare 1989 Ferrari F40 was the first motor to sell for over £1million on an online-only classic car auction platform:
In any case, remaining grateful for getting what I want, just not in exactly the same form I anticipated or expected, I made a video to capture my experience:
Essentially, the only Ferrari F40 I could find locally was an Authentic Ferrari branded Radio Controlled car! As luck would have it, the model was also on sale so I quickly clicked and collected.
As a child, I used to enjoy racing radio controlled cars. Of all the cars I had, by far my favourite was my Schumacher Cougar 2 Team Works Specification. I still have it although it is something of a classic bordering on a museum piece these days.
This was the first time I’ve ever driven a Radio Controlled car on a treadmill and keeping it lined up and in one relatively small area was actually quite good fun. The basic steering on this model F40 is digital and not progressive whatsoever. Taking this into account and not coming off the back end of the roller was quite a challenge – it was interesting to see how the F40s performance dwindled as the batteries ran out and for sure it ended up crashing off a couple of times as a result!
I had really good fun visiting the Ferrari dealership Fast Auto Technic dressed in all my Ferrari-related merch. and I’m super grateful to Ammar for allowing me to take photos, sit in and start the incredible F8 Tributo!
As luck would have it, I would finally come face-to-face with a Ferrari F40 at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche in 2021. I was really made up, they are not common and obviously very valuable so to be allowed to get up close is unusual, based on my previous experiences.
The Terrence Higgins Trust is a charity that supports those living with HIV – they are the largest voluntary sector provider of HIV and sexual health services in the UK, running services out of local centres across Great Britain.
No one really wants to live with this; it’s not limited to any one section of society.
The Terrence Higgins Trust estimates that about 7% of the roughly 103,800 people living with the virus in the UK, do not know they are HIV positive.
Their vision for 2030 is that there will be no new HIV transmissions in the UK.
I’m extremely grateful to have had a great childhood, probably so much so that I haven’t wanted to grow up!
I recently travelled to see my Mother for her Birthday. Presenting myself for a week was just what we all needed after such a long time apart. Current restrictions meant that I had to quarantine for the duration but that proved to be a blessing in disguise as I enjoyed spending some time working in the garden.
It was during this time that my Mother popped out so my Sister and I started skiving off and messing about. I fixed up my Carrera Vulcan mountain bike and attempted to make the most of the property boundaries by creating a downhill course that went from highest corner of the property to the lowest opposite other.
Playing out with my Sister felt like we were ten years old on the school summer holidays without a care in the world. We had the weather and time and now the benefit of modern technology on our hands.
This was an experience that demonstrated ‘you’re only as young as you feel’ – even falling off into a bush did not deter me.
My Sister was so good on the camera we did the main bit in just one take although I did boss her about quite a bit – just like any self-respecting older Brother should!
I completed the course numerous times – it was really technical and fun, especially on those Continental Contact Reflective commuter tyres but I think we need a ski-lift installing to keep enjoying it all day!
The thirtieth of my 40 donations goes to World Animal Protection. What appealed to me what their Sea Change campaign that reduces the huge suffering caused by ‘ghost gear’ – abandoned fishing gear that turns oceans into death traps for sea animals. This is something I am passionate about having almost always returned from a dive with some cast off fishing gear or other rubbish in my pocket.
Spending longer underwater than some people work in a week sounds extreme but breaking it down into 40 one hour-long scuba dives way off shore in the Red Sea made it a pleasure, especially during the pandemic!
Most dives last around 1 hour. At least, that is what I typically aim for. Sometimes, if there is strong current or some other issue then they may be shorter and equally, provided that it is safe to do so, it may be worth hanging around under the surface a bit longer (like I did to spend more time with the shark under our boat in the below video).
Plan the Dive, Dive the Plan:
My plan was to do all the dives during the pandemic once domestic travel was possible. I therefore would do the following trips to try and achieve it:
Farazan Banks July 2020 (a total of 9 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 9
Yanbu September 2020 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 21
Yanbu October 2020 (a total of 11 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 32
Rabigh May 2021 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 44
I figured that with 44 dives to go at, I had a 10% buffer / margin of error to make up any shortfall. However, things don’t always go to plan…!
Highlights:
Being able to do this during the pandemic kept me sane; a few things really stand out so I have listed them below:
Interaction with a Silky Shark
Freediving the Aiona
My deepest dive to date
Having a reef named after me (Budgie Smuggler Reef, Marker 35)
Farazan Banks July 2020 (a total of 9 dives over 3 days):
We did 9 dives over the long weekend and had some amazing experiences including a very up close and personal encounter with a beautiful and inquisitive Silky Shark:
The dive sites were as follows:
Day 1:
Canyon Reef
Malathu Island
Shi’b Ammar Reef (night dive)
Day 2:
Belgium Reef
Malathu Island
Marmar Island
Shi’b Ammar Reef (night dive)
Day 3:
Aramco Reef
Aramco Reef
God laughs at people who make plans:
Due to an avoidable and thoroughly regrettable error on my part, I did not download the detailed data files from my dive computer before they were overwritten by the data from new dives. The computer records the total number of dives and has therefore recorded the dive took place but it only has capacity to hold the detailed data for 59 dives.
So, I can prove I was there and that I did 9 dives but if I rely on these dives, I will be unable to prove categorically that these dives equate to 9 of the 40 hours underwater!
This issue was exacerbated by me using my diving watch for freediving. Even when it is on Gauge mode, the number of dives racks up fast and risks overwriting important earlier dive data. I have addressed this by purchasing a separate watch, specifically for freediving.
I hereby commit to downloading my dive computer data after each and every trip going forward!
Moving on:
Since then, I managed to do the other 35 scuba dives so I’m confident that I have spent well over a total of 40 hours underwater. That being said, for the sake of completeness, I will gladly do another 5 dives to collect the 40 dives worth of data and post it on this blog.
For each dive, I’ve put a picture of the relevant dive maps or nautical charts below with some other links and photos etc. I’ve also included the detailed data from my dive computer for each of them. This allows you to see the maximum depth, total time, water temperature and dive profile of each dive, amongst other things.
Yanbu September 2020 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days):
Yanbu, KSA – nautical chart
The dive sites were as follows:
Day 1:
Aiona Wreck
Marker 32
Abu Galawa
Abu Galawa (night)
Day 2:
Mansi
Marker 39 Tes Tes
Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef
Abu Galawa (night)
Day 3:
Marker 34
Marker 29
Shermo Reef / Aiona
Shermo Reef / Aiona (night)
Dive computer information and maps:
Aiona Wreck:
Marker 32:
Abu Galawa:
Abu Galawa (night):
Mansi (HH):
Marker 39 Tes Tes:
Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef:
Abu Galawa:
Marker 34:
Marker 29 (no map available):
Shermo Reef / Aiona:
Shermo Reef / Aiona (night):
The sun setting at Shermo Reef
Yanbu October 2020 (a total of 11 dives over 3 days):
